West Africa experienced a decline in freedom of expression in the third quarter of 2022 as violations rose by 9% during the period compared to the previous quarter.
The MFWA’s Freedom of Expression Monitor revealed that forty-six (46) violations affecting a total number of 254 victims were recorded in eight (8) countries between July and September 2022. The figure for the second quarter of 2022 stood at 42.
Out of the 46 violations, Guinea recorded 18 violations to top the table of repression, followed by Nigeria (10 violations). Sierra Leone and Ghana recorded 7 and 4 violations respectively. Senegal, Liberia, and The Gambia recorded 2 violations each, while Burkina Faso recorded a single violation for this quarter.
The quarter saw a relentless assault on the rights to freedom of assembly. The authorities in Guinea banned outright all street protests and processions. At least 8 protesters died in the country during deadly repressions against defiant demonstrators opposed to the military government’s decision to stay in power for three years. In Sierra Leone, a violent crackdown on protests left at least 27 people dead and more than a hundred arrested, amidst an internet shutdown and a curfew. Student protesters in Liberia were brutalised.
About 40 journalists were victims of violations during this quarter. Eleven of them were arrested during peaceful demonstrations at the premises of their media outlet in Senegal, while at least 6 of them were victims of physical attacks during protests in Guinea.
The report also highlights other key freedom of expression developments in West Africa, including redress for violations and recommendations to key stakeholders.
Press freedom in Ghana received a major boost on Friday, January 13, 2023, with a court ordering the heads of three major State institutions to apologize to a journalist whose rights were abused.
The Human Rights Division Court 2 in Accra ruled that Ghana’s National Security Coordinator, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General render an apology to Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, Editor of online news portal, ModernGhanaonline.com for the abuse of his rights.
The court also ordered the head of the State institutions to pay compensation and costs to the journalist. The respondents are also to pay for the journalist’s gadgets including a laptop, two mobile phones and a tablet which were seized by National Security agents.
The lead lawyer for Mr. Ajarfor Abugri, Samson Lardy Anyenini, confirmed the judgment to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in a phone conversation. He explains that the court presided over by Justice Nicholas Abodakpi, had adopted the terms of settlement that the parties had filed.
“These are terms of settlement that we had reached with them (respondents) after they had deliberately wasted a lot of time filing baseless defences,” Lawyer Anyenini said.
The decision is with respect to the violation of the human rights of the journalist who in 2019 was abducted and tortured by National Security operatives over two articles that his platform had published about National Security Minister, Albert Kan Dapaah. The heavily-armed security agents stormed the offices of the online news portal on June 27, 2019, and arrested Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri and Emmanuel Britwum, a reporter of the online news portal.
Emmanuel Ajafor Abugri was abducted and tortured by National Security operatives over two articles that his platform had published about Ghana’s National Security Minister |Source: Ghanaian Times
Without telling them their offense or presenting any warrant, the officers bungled the two into a black van, strapped their heads in black polythene bags and sped off.
Following the virtual abduction of the journalists, the Ghana Journalists Association and the MFWA issued statements condemning the action and demanding the release of the journalists. The MFWA would later threaten court action.
Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, later told the media he was subjected to torture, including being afflicted with electrical shocks while in detention. The National Security Secretariat denied the journalist’s allegations, claiming the two were picked up for allegedly engaging in cybercrime.
On July 5, 2019, State prosecutors filed cybercrime charges against Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri, Emmanuel Britwum and an Editor of a local radio station, Peace FM, Obeng Manu, alleging unlawful access to an email account belonging to Peace FM.
Lawyer Anyenini told the MFWA that the cybercrime charges were part of face-saving shenanigans that the State had resorted to.
“How do you sue the Editor of Peace FM for cybercrime, claiming he and the two ModernGhana journalists illegally accessed the emails of Peace FM to publish a story?” Lawyer Anyenini asked rhetorically.
The State was forced by the Accra High Court to drop the charges the first day the journalists appeared in court after the judge, Afia Asare Botwe, pointed out glaring errors in their claims.
Ajarfor sues
Meanwhile, Mr. Ajarfor on July 11, 2019, initiated legal action against the National Security Coordinator, the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General for the torture he suffered at the hands of the national security operatives.
The journalist prayed the Human Rights Division of the High Court to direct the Attorney-General to find, name and subject the National Security Coordinator and the officials who were involved in the violation of his human rights to criminal prosecution or punishment. Additionally, Mr. Ajarfor Abugri prayed the court to order the immediate and unconditional release and surrender of all seized items to him.
The application for the enforcement of Mr Ajarfor’s fundamental human rights was filed on his behalf by Samson Lardy Anyenini who was working with a legal team including Dr Justice Srem Sai and Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo.
On October 8, 2021, the MFWA led a group of journalists who had been abused, including Emmanuel Ajarfor, to engage the Minister for National Security, Hon. Albert Kan-Dapaah on a growing trend of attacks on journalists by security agents.
The meeting was called by the Minister after the MFWA mobilised 642 journalists and supporters of press freedom to petition the Minister and Parliament to take steps to end the wave of attacks on journalists in the country. The Minister expressed regret over the incidents and affirmed his commitment to protecting the safety of journalists.
Decision hailed with caution
The judgment comes at a very sombre time for the press in Ghana – it coincides with the 4th anniversary of the gruesome murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale who was shot by unknown gunmen on January 16th, 2019.
It therefore should lift the mood within the media fraternity in Ghana, which has recent times come under intense attacks, particularly from State actors.
However, Lawyer Lardy Anyenini said he had little reason to be happy. “If you look at the way the case went, the perpetrators, which are state institutions, were not willing to admit their faults. They used all manner of delay tactics including filing those baseless cybercrime charges. This does not give hope that these institutions will in future be protective of journalists.”
Lawyer Anyenini said his consolation is in the fact that the courts can be relied on to do justice in press freedom violation cases.
The judgment has been received with excitement by the media and press freedom advocates in Ghana.
“MFWA welcomes the decision of the court as a major breakthrough in the fight against impunity. This is particularly significant because the perpetrators are institutions that are themselves expected to have been playing frontline roles in protecting journalists from attacks but who have unfortunately abdicated this responsibility. We hope this decision causes these institutions to sit up,” said Muheeb Saeed, Head of Freedom of Expression at MFWA.
January 16th remains a blood-stained day on the calendar of press freedom in Ghana because of the grisly memory it carries of Ahmed Hussein Suale – It was on this day in 2019 that the investigative journalist was gunned down gangland style in Accra, Ghana.
Under better circumstances, his family, friends and loved ones, should be remembering Ahmed’s lifetime and taking solace in the fact that his murderers have been brought to justice. However, four years down the line, a disappointing aftermath of state failure to apprehend his killers drags on.
In the period, the state has been window-dressing its failure at justice, flipping between half-hearted assurances about supposed investigations and insinuations to the effect that Suale’s death may be unconnected to his job as a journalist.
All in all, it has been four years of delayed justice for Ahmed Hussein Suale, his family, loved ones and the media fraternity, as January 16th comes round again and brings back with it the haunting déjà vu of his dastardly killing.
It has been a painful odyssey of assurances, denial, inertia and silence. On the occasion of the third anniversary of Ahmed Suale’s murder, the Media Foundation for West Africa MFWA retraces the high and low points of the single most appalling attack on press freedom in Ghana:
6th June 2018 – Tiger Eye Private Investigations, for which Suale works, screens “Number 12” an investigative documentary that exposes massive corruption in Ghana and African football.
The screening is in spite of a campaign of hate by a leading member of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and MP, Kennedy Agyapong. The MP threatens to expose corrupt deeds of Anas Aremeyaw Anas, leader of the Tiger Eye PI team, if Tiger Eye goes ahead to screen ‘Number 12’.
Following the screening of ‘Number 12’, Mr. Agyapong’s attacks on the Tiger Eye PI team intensify, and by late June, the MP is publishing photographs of members of the team including Anas and Suale who are always disguised.
Soon Mr. Agyapong escalates his campaign of hate against Ahmed Suale in particular, the lead investigator in the “Number 12” expose. Agyapong publishes Suale’s photographs on Net 2 television which he owns. While blowing the cover of the journalist, Mr. Agyapong also calls on his supporters to attack him, assuring all would-be aggressors that he would assume responsibility for the consequences.
16th January, 2019 – Ahmed Suale’s vehicle is waylaid in traffic at Madina, a suburb of Accra, by two unidentified gunmen who shoot him three times, twice in the chest and once in the neck.
21st January, 2019 – Police announce it has already interrogated Ken Agyapong and former Ghana Football Association President, Kwesi Nyantakyi, in connection with the murder.
22nd January, 2019, one whole week after the murder, a high-powered police delegation visits the crime scene. They had earlier the same day commiserated with Ahmed Suale’s family and assured them of apprehending and prosecuting the perpetrators
30th January, 2019 – Kennedy Agyapong says publicly that he does not regret blowing the cover of Ahmed Suale.
7th February 2019 – police arrests six suspects over the murder. By March, all suspects are released for lack of evidence.
July 2019 – Attorney General announces she is yet to receive a docket on the Ahmed Suale case from the Police.
9th September 2019 – President Akufo-Addo says at a Ghana Bar Association conference in Takoradi that the assassination of Suale may not be necessarily connected to his job as a journalist and therefore it cannot be said for sure that the murder was an attack on press freedom. The MFWA protests the President’s statement, describing it as unfortunate.
May 24th, 2021 – Ken Agyapong accuses Head of Police, IGP George Akuffo Dampare, of knowing, but refusing to reveal the identities of Suale’s murderers. The MP goes on to name one Ansu Gyeabour as the killer of Suale. Ansu Gyeabour refutes Ken Agyapong’s allegation.
13th December, 2022 – At a forum to commemorate World Human Rights Day, Ghana’s Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame, reiterates President Akufo-Addo’s insinuation that the murder of Suale may be unconnected to his job as a journalist. The MFWA responds with an article.
December 22, 2022 – President Akufo-Addo vows that his government will continue to search out for the murderers of Suale – “I continue to be deeply regretful that despite the unseasoned best effort of the police, the perpetrators of the murder of Ahmed Suale can still not be found. But I assure you that, so far as I remain President, the dossier cannot be closed until they are brought to justice.”
Impunity over Ahmed Suale’s killing is a blot on Ghana’s press freedom record and a dismal emblem of the steep deterioration of press freedom in the country. It was an incident that was supposed to galvanise the country into an iron resolve to protect press freedom and end impunity. Unfortunately, the country has since recorded dozens of press freedom violations including arbitrary arrests, detentions, physical attacks on journalists and media houses with no consequences for the perpetrators, most of them state actors.
In spite of the apparent lack of political will to tackle the menace, the MFWA urges all actors in the media sector to remain steadfast in the demand for an end to impunity over Ahmed Suale’s murder as well as the many press freedom violations since then which are yet to be redressed. Despair is not an option.
A judge in Dakar has ordered the release of prominent Senegalese journalist and government critic, Pape Ale Niang, who was detained for the second time in two months.
The judge on January 10, 2023, ordered the release of the journalist subject to judicial control and other conditions including prohibition from commenting on the substantive case in which he is being prosecuted on charges of false publication and undermining state security.
Niang, founder and manager of the news website Dakar Matin, was arrested and detained on December 19, 2022, only five days after his release from the previous six weeks of detention. Niang was first arrested on November 6, 2022, accused of publishing false information and confidential military information.
The second arrest of the journalist followed his critical remarks about Senegal’s Inspector General of Police which prosecutors say violated the order not to comment on the case. However, one of the journalist’s lawyers, Moussa Sarr, told RFI that his client “did not mention the ongoing investigations”, insisting that “his outbursts had nothing to do with the current case.”
Though released, the journalist is yet to return home, as he is hospitalised, following a hunger strike that began on December 24 to protest his detention.
“He held out, it was very hard, but he was fighting for a principle and he has won,” another of his lawyers, Cire Cledor Ly, told the press.
Niang’s detention was widely condemned by the media, civil society and Senegal’s political opposition. With financial support from the MFWA and moral support from our Board Chair who is also based in Dakar, the media professional organisation, Coordination des Associations de Presse (CAP), set up the Comité pour la libération de Pape Ale Niang (Committee for the Release of Pape Niang). The Committee organised a series of demonstrations to condemn the journalist’s arrest and demand his freedom.
The MFWA run also a social media campaign for Niang’s release and sent petitions to a number of UN bodies, Africa Union and ECOWAS leaders.
In a statement welcoming Niang’s release, the CAP asked the authorities to drop the “fantasy and political charges” against the journalist.
The MFWA joins the media and other rights groups in Senegal and abroad to demand an end to the apparent political trial of Pape Niang. We also call on the authorities to pause, reflect on the deteriorating press freedom environment in Senegal and take measures to arrest the steep decline. This is urgent, especially as the country heads into presidential elections in just a year’s time, with the media expected to play a crucial role in the process.
Nigeria will hold its seventh general elections in the democratic era in February 2023 with the build-up to the polls proving ominous for the media. President Muhammadu Buhari, a retired military general, had promised that one of the legacies he would leave behind is free and fair elections, in emulation of his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who is hailed to have handed over power after organizing rancour-free elections.
Buhari has also on multiple occasions touted his administration as having upheld press freedom and freedom of expression, and recently reaffirmed this position in the build-up to the 2023 polls.
Prrsident Buhari has promised to supervise a free and fair elections |Source: Premium Times Nigeria
“We must stay united in supporting media professionals who work hard to de-escalate violent conflict and promote peaceful societies without compromising the responsibility to report,” he said, pledging to ensure the protection of the rights and privileges of journalists in the discharge of their professional duty.
But so far, the president’s administration has utterly failed to deliver on the assurances of press freedom. In the past few months since campaigns for the 2023 elections kicked off, there have been a clampdown on press freedom and freedom of expression, with several officials close to President Buhari among the culprits.
Campaign council demands journalists’ sacking
In one of the most recent cases, the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) of the president’s political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), allegedly asked that journalists Shaka Momodu and Rufai Oseni of the Arise Media Group be sacked by their employers over “unfavourable reportage” on the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.
Momodu is a columnist and the editor of THISDAYNewspaper, Oseni is a co-host of TheMorningShow on the media group’s TV station, ARISENews.
In a joint editorial published on December 12, the boards of editors of THISDAY Newspaper and ARISE News disclosed that they had been receiving calls from some APC campaign officials who apparently were unhappy at the work of journalists Momodu and Oseni.
“We also note that two senior APC campaign officials had separately requested that we move THISDAY Editor and columnist, Shaka Momodu, and The Morning Show co-host on ARISE News, Rufai Oseni, from their current positions to stop the attacks or get a reprieve from a future Tinubu presidency,” a paragraph in the editorial reads.
The editorial specifically accused the APC PCC Special Adviser on Media and Strategic Communication, Dele Alake, and the Director of Media and Publicity, Bayo Onanuga, of mounting pressure for the sack of the journalists.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) observes that the Arise media group have been having issues with the APC and candidate Tinubu’s camp.
In the build-up to the 2023 elections, ARISE News has been organising a series of town hall meetings in which presidential candidates from all political parties are invited to discuss their manifestos and share their visions for the Nigerian people.
Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the APC, has refused to participate in the town hall meetings. His team and social media followers have repeatedly attacked and accused ARISE News of bias.
In November, Alake of the APC campaign council wrote a petition against ARISE News regarding news aired by the station that the country’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was considering investigating Tinubu for alleged money laundering and drug trafficking cases.
INEC dismissed the news as false and the media regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), fined RISE News to the tune of NGN2 million (US$4,500).
Student activist arrested and detained
Another example which shows clearly that Buhari’s administration has not kept its word on upholding freedom of expression was the arrest of Aminu Adamu Muhammed, a 23-year-old final-year student of the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa State, in northwestern Nigeria.
Aminu Adamu Muhammed was arrested for a tweet about the Nigeria’s First Lady| Source: BBC
Muhammed was arrested on November 8, 2022, by suspected federal security agents allegedly on the orders of President Buhari’s wife, Aisha. The student activist’s offence was a tweet he posted sometime on June 8 at which the first lady apparently took offense. In the Twitter post, the student trolled the first lady in Hausa: “Su mama anchi kudin talkawa ankoshi,” whose literal translation means: “the mother has gotten fat by eating [the] masses’ money.” Muhammed posted his tweet alongside a recent picture of the now plump Aisha, compared to widely circulated pictures of her slender stature when her husband was being sworn in for his second mandate in 2015.
Eyewitnesses said the student was beaten by the security agents before being taken away from the university campus to Abuja, where he was detained in a prison facility till December 2.
Activist and lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, said if Mrs Buhari felt defamed, she should have sued the student for libel, adding that the use of security forces to arrest and detain the victim was evidence of the culture of crass impunity.
“Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. It is not acceptable to deploy state apparatus in such a draconian, vindictive and oppressive manner the way Mrs Aisha Buhari has done to settle personal scores,” he said.
Media houses shut down
In another move to suppress press freedom ahead of the 2023 elections, on October 15, 2022, the Zamfara state government, in northwestern Nigeria, shut down four broadcast stations: three television stations and a radio station.
The affected stations were the federal government-owned Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Pride FM as well as privately-owned Gamji TV and Al-Umma TV. All the stations are located in Gusau, the state capital.
The ban on the stations followed their coverage of a political rally organised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. The state governor, Bello Matawalle, is a member of the APC, President Buhari’s party.
However, two days after, after severe backlash, Matawalle reversed the order shutting down the media houses and tendered apologies to the outlets.
In a similar manner, on August 19, the broadcasting regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission, revoked the licences of 52 television and radio stations. Heavyweights including African Independent Television and Silverbird Television which are perceived to be opposition-leaning, were affected by NBC’s hammering.
NBC said the directive was consequent upon the stations’ indebtedness to it amounting to at least NGN2.6 billion (US$6.1 million). The regulator’s move has, however, provoked a flurry of criticisms by media and press freedom advocates as many wondered why NBC took the action in a period when the people required critical information that would define their choices in the upcoming 2023 elections.
On August 29, the Federal High Court in Lagos ruled against the Nigerian government’s decision to revoke the stations’ licences, maintaining that the media plays an essential role as a vehicle or instrument for the exercise of freedom of expression and information in the country.
Assault on journalists
On November 1, the majority leader in Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Alhassan Doguwa, reportedly assaulted Abdullahi Yakubu, a journalist working with the Leadership newspaper in Kano, the capital city of Kano State in northwest Nigeria.
Doguwa reportedly gave Yakubu a blow in his right ear when the journalist approached him to seek his account of a reported fight him (Doguwa) and Murtala Sule Garo, the APC candidate for deputy governor in Kano state.
However, Doguwa later apologised to Yakubu after the journalist dragged him to the magistrates’ court in the state.
On November 4, Kehinde Olatunji, a reporter with The Guardian Newspaper, was assaulted by Theophilus Akorede, an aide to the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor.
Akorede was said to have forcefully bundled Olatunji from Adediran’s campaign office because she had sat on the governorship candidate’s seat. Olatunji had to go to the hospital to be treated for minor pain and shock after the encounter.
On November 9, Mary Chinda, a journalist with Arise News, a privately owned television station, was injured after armed thugs attacked the convoy of Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the forthcoming 2023 elections in Nigeria. The attack took place in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State in northeast Nigeria and the epicentre of the Boko Haram terrorist group.
The media plays a critical role during elections by monitoring and reporting on the processes to ensure that they are transparent. They offer platforms for the contestants to amplify their manifestoes and also moderate discussions on the various issues at stake. When they are attacked, threatened or harassed, they cannot discharge this function effectively. The impairment of this crucial media watchdog role opens the door to abuse of the electoral process, with possible disputed outcomes.
In view of this, the MFWA calls on the government and all political parties in Nigeria to respect press freedom and ensure that journalists can work freely and safely before, during and after the general elections in February 2023.
When a private hospital in Ghana contracted a cybersecurity expert to fortify its online presence against data breaches, little did it know it was rather opening itself to future hacks that nearly compromise its client-doctor confidentiality.
A month after the hospital paid thousands of cedis to hackproof its online infrastructure, hackers took over its website and internal database for clients.
A pornography site lorded over its website while nurses, doctors and lab technicians struggled to access clients’ database.
The hackers demanded a payoff or have patients’ health records leaked.
The cyber security expert the hospital contracted insisted he had nothing to do with the cybercrime. An audit later showed the system had malware infestation which made it easy to spy and steal data.
However, the cybersecurity expert denied knowledge. Eventually, another company was hired to fix the problem.
Cybersecurity threats including malware infestations an everyday occurrence in Ghana with some practitioners said to be operating without ethics because their victims (individuals and institutions) for the fear of losing their clients keep mute.
But the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) says it would soon throw such service providers out of business. Starting from January 2023, all cybersecurity service providers would have to register to practice.
This would make Ghana the only country in Africa and second in the world after Singapore to require the licensing of cybersecurity service providers.
High levels of compliance
The Deputy Manager in charge of International Cooperation at the Authority, Emmanuella Darkwah, revealed this at the opening of a national roundtable on addressing Ghana’s cyber security capacity needs in Accra.
In a speech she read on behalf of the Director General of the Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Bosiako, she said the move was meant to “attain a higher level of compliance and ensure industry standards, in line with international best practices.”
“If you are a business, a firm or an individual, you will not be able to offer cybersecurity service to anyone unless you’re licensed or accredited by the authority,” she stated.
The event, which was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa with support from the UK-based Global Partners Digital Ltd, was meant track the progress the country had made in building its cybersecurity capacity and its challenges.
With an increasing reliance on information communication technology and digitization, Ms Darkwa said there was the need to ensure that country’s ICT investments were well protected.
“This is to ensure that different individuals who are using these platforms are able to safeguard their experiences. Due to COVID and reliance on ICT, a lot of people are transacting online.”
But with the opportunities come vulnerabilities, she pointed out.
“In spite of the potentials we can gain from it[digitization] there is a lot of opportunity for cyber criminals to utilize as well, and intercept peoples’ experiences. They take advantage of reliance on these platforms for malicious purposes,” she said.
It was in response to these threats that the government passed the Cybersecurity law.
The implementation of the law, she said had yielded dividends, and pointed to Ghana’s position on the Global Cybersecurity Index.
Ms Darkwa said as part of the implementation of the law, the Authority had embarked on major campaigns nationwide to draw the attention of the public to be conscious about online hazards and the need to protect themselves in addition to the launch of a cybercrime incident point of contact.
“This provides the platform which allows citizens to reach computer emergency response team (CERT) in the authority. If you have any issue, you’re able to call the CERT team. This bridges the gap between the authority and the citizenry.”
The team, she said had received more than 13,000 calls in 2022. However, only 559 of the complaints were related to cybersecurity.
In another presentation that touched on how Ghana is ensuring a human-rights respecting implementation of international cybersecurity capacity and security initiatives such as UN-Open-Ended Working Group on ICT, she said the country is guided by the global cyber norms. The norms focus on cybersecurity in the context of international peace and security.
They are hinged on 11 pillars: interstate cooperation on security, consider all relevant information, prevent misuse of information communication technologies (ICTs), cooperate to stop crime and terrorism, respect human rights and privacy, no damage to infrastructure, protect critical infrastructure, response to request for assistance, ensure supply chain security, Report ICT vulnerabilities and Do no harm to emergency response teams.
Ghana passed the Cybersecurity Act, 2020 (Act 1038) to help in cybersecurity development and in response to cybersecurity challenges.
As a build-up to the implementation of the law, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) was set up in October 2021 to implement the law and regulate the cybersecurity ecosystem in the country.
MFWA commitment
Delivering the welcome address, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, noted that it was one thing having the Cybersecurity law and another thing people taking advantage of it and using it to empower themselves.
He said it was important to educate and empower the citizenry to understand the law and also use it to assert their rights as they engaged in the cyber and digital space.
While pledging the MFWA’s commitment to champion digital literacy in Ghana, he also rallied key stakeholders including the Cyber Security Authority and the Data Protection Commission to create awareness among the populace the reduce their level of vulnerability in the cyber and digital space.
The participants made the following suggestions and recommendations to help build a more robust cybersecurity capacity in the country:
There is the need for the CSA to share feedback on complaints and actions taken to improve trust and confidence in its work.
The CSA needs to provide a balance of engagement on awareness creation both on social media and mainstream media.
The need to highlight human right issues in the cybersecurity space.
The CSA needs to increase its awareness creation in markets and other informal business settings to rope in more segments of the population who are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks.
There is the need for regular capacity building in Cybersecurity for ICT teachers to keep them updated with the evolving cybersecurity world.
Civil Society Organisations and the CSA should focus more on community level interventions and design awareness programmes that take into consideration local languages.
The CSA needs to engage academia and religious organisations, particularly churches and mosques to increase its reach.
The Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) needs to be more proactive and live its mandate of empowering the vulnerable and under-served communities throughout Ghana.
The Girls in ICT project by the Ministry of Communication and Digitalisation needs to revised and modelled to benefit more girls across the country.
The CSA needs to engage more in the internet governance space.
The CSA needs to be consistent with its awareness creation in schools because in behaviour change communication and cybersecurity, one off interventions do not make much impact.
The CSA and the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation must be concerned about the safety-by-design standards of the apps approved for public use.
Stakeholders must engage the telecommunication companies on the increasing cost of data which could leave millions of people behind in the digital space.
The Senegalese authorities have rearrested Pape Ale Niang, five days after the journalist was provisionally released from one month’s detention.
Niang, who is the owner and editor of the news website Dakar Matin, was first arrested on November 6, 2022, on charges of false publication and undermining national security.
The police arrested Niang for the second time in six weeks in the evening of December 19, 2022. They interrogated him briefly and later took him into detention at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID). According to sources, his arrest follows a breach of the judicial control imposed on him and his bail conditions, including prohibition from commenting on the substantive case.
Reports say the journalist was arrested after he appeared on Mollah Morgun’s live show and made highly critical remarks about the Inspector General of Police.
One of Niang’s lawyers, Khoureychi Ba confirmed that the journalist’s arrest is related to his remarks about Inspector General of Police, Bocar Seydou Yague, and that the Public Prosecutor had formally requested the judge to revoke the judicial control measures.
Another counsel for the journalist, Moussa Sarr, told RFI that his client “did not mention the ongoing investigations”, insisting that “his outbursts had nothing to do with the current case”.
The re-arrest of Pape Ale Niang for his comments about a public figure who has made no official complaints is untenable and alarming. The new development brings back to the starting point the tireless campaign mounted by the media, human rights activists, the Senegalese public and international media freedom organisations including the MFWA which got Pape Niang freed a week ago.
The MFWA offered financial and moral support to the Coordination des Associations de Presse (CAP) to set up the Comité pour la liberation de Pape Ale Niang (Committee for the Release of Pape Niang). The Committee organised a series of demonstrations to condemn the journalist’s arrest and demand his freedom, with our Board Chair, who is based in Senegal, playing a guiding role in the campaign.
The MFWA run also a social media campaign for Niang’s release and sent petitions to a number of UN bodies, Africa Union and ECOWAS leaders. The MFWA sent petitions to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ms Irene Khan; the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay; and the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Volker Türk. We also petitioned the AU Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information; the Chairperson of the AU Commission; the Chairperson of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), alongside the ECOWAS Chairman and the President of the ECOWAS Commission.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is alarmed by the re-arrest of Pape Ale Niang and urges the authorities in Senegal to release him. His critical comments about the IGP have nothing to do with the prohibition to comment on the substantive case for which he is charged. We reiterate our continuing commitment to supporting the media fraternity in Senegal in its advocacy for Pape Niang’s eventual freedom.
The persecution of Pape Niang risks denting Senegal’s image as a tolerant and democratic country. The authorities must, therefore, not only ensure the immediate release of the journalist but also take steps to reverse the recent trend of repression that has seen Senegal drop sharply in international press freedom rankings.
Sierra Leone repealed its criminal libel and seditious laws (Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965) in 2020. Thereafter, press freedom has been expanding in the country with the progress story punctuated by improvements in the legal environment, development of press freedom watchdog institutions and a consolidation of the architecture of these institutions.
And all of these positives have been happening amidst fine cooperation between government and the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), a trade union of journalists in the country.
However, there still remain troubling chapters in the story – physical attacks, threats, judicial harassment, summons, arrests and detentions, and intimidating interrogation of journalists by government institutions still happen in Sierra Leone.
Then there is the problem of the country’s telecommunicationslaw still empowering officials to revoke the licenses of broadcast media houses at the discretion of the authorities.
Consequently, two years after Sierra Leone repealed its criminal libel law, the state of press freedom remains an admixture of the good, the bad and the ugly.
The good
On the 12th of September 2022, executives of the SLAJ met with the Minister of Information, and Communications, Mohamed Rahman Swaray in Brookfields, Freetown and struck a conversation that threw up many exciting positives for press freedom.
President of the SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla cited the repeal of the criminal libel law (in 2020) as one of a number of good developments from a fine relationship that SLAJ has with the government. This achievement has since served as launch pad for other positives including the hosting of a media viability and investment conference.
President of the SLAJ, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, has been at the forefront of the media’s engagement with the government
Nasralla reported that the conference, which was funded by the BBC Media Action through the Government of Sierra Leone, has led to Sierra Leone being listed as one of 17 countries to benefit from the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM).
In anticipation of the windfall from the IFPIM, Nasralla said SLAJ and other media stakeholders have been working with the Ministry of Information and Communications to put in place structures to manage and administer the local counterpart of the IFPIM that the Government will also commit funds to.
Also, he recounted, a Multi Stakeholders Advisory Board and a Technical Working Group have been set up in advance in that regard. These groups, he added, will be responsible for follow-up on, and implementation of the other recommendations that came out of the historic media conference.
The government, in addition, has instituted an annual subvention to SLAJ as a way of strengthening the press association champion the cause of journalists and journalism in the country.
Probably, the most important fruit that has yielded from the cooperation between the government and SLAJ is the enactment of the Cyber Security and Crimes Act 2021. This law which now governs the cyber space in Sierra Leone provides guidelines on online conduct.
Also, under a USD50 million World Bank grant, the Government of Sierra Leone is identifying all critical national information infrastructure to declare critical. Meanwhile, a Data Protection Bill is to be tabled before Parliament. And as part of the general progress, the government has committed to help the SLAJ with state lands for the construction of a national office and satellite offices for the Association in the Eastern and Southern regions.
On November 2, 2021, SLAJ signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the national security administration to commemorate the international day to end impunity for crimes against journalists after a round table dialogue on law and order. Around that same time, Sierra Leone signed the Global Pledge on Media Freedom, becoming the fifth country in Africa to commit to the values and principles of Media Freedom Coalition.
In 2021, Sierra Leone’s ranking on the world press freedom index improved by ten places from 2020’s position of 85 out of 180 countries to 75 out of 180.
However, in spite of the convivial relationship between government and SLAJ, there are concerns.
The bad
Certain aspects of the Cyber Security and Crimes Act have the potential to infringe on citizens’ right to free expression, especially when online. in this regard, Section 44 of the Act is particular, harbor various offenses that could easily be used unfairly against journalists.
Also, it has been of concern that media and civil society representatives are not included on the Advisory Council provided for in the Act.
But probably, the most problematic of the bad things conspiring against press freedom in Sierra Leone are the country’s telecommunications laws. Specifically, Sections 30 and 65 of the laws allows the media regulator, National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), to suspend or cancel broadcast licenses for various violations. The list of violations include fraud, treason, and, according to the law, “where the suspension or cancellation is in the public interest.” This particular part of the law is very worrying because it amounts to arming the authorities with power to close down stations at whim.
Also, Section 65 requires broadcasters to obtain “a general or specific license” to operate a radio transmitter. On the basis of this law, NATCOM suspended the licenses of privately owned broadcast networks Star Radio and Star TV for over two weeks in August, 2022 and denied workers access to the broadcaster’s transmitters in Brookfields, a neighborhood in western Freetown. This was for the alleged nonrenewal of broadcast licenses.
It remains a concern that the government has failed to pass a Data Protection law which is long overdue after the passage of the Cyber Security and Crime Act. Similarly, a National Computer Security Incidence Response Coordination center, which is supposed to manage cyber security incidents, is still yet to be set up.
Meanwhile, in spite of the 2020 repeal of the criminal libel law and an increasingly cosy relationship between the SLAJ and the government, media practitioners strangely, continue to suffer arrests, detentions and crude attacks in Sierra Leone.
The Ugly
Journalists continue to suffer brutalization at the hands of all manner of persons, from private citizens to security agents. In addition to assault and battery, and even murder attempts, journalists have also suffered intimidations and summons over their work.
On February 17, 2022, journalist Alusine Antha, was attacked by about 30 people in the western city of Waterloo, while he was covering a meeting over a land dispute.
In April 2022, TV reporter, Gibril Gottor, was the subject of what a suspected assassination attempt. His home was doused in petrol in what appears to be a planned arson against him. It is believed that he became a target due to his investigation of a number sensitive issues, including the alleged rape of a minor by a police officer and the extortion of fishermen by naval personnel.
In the course of his investigations, Gibril had also received threats and a number of court summonses. As a result of the suspected arson attempt, he has been forced to stay away from his family in order to not endanger them.
Investigative journalist Fayia Amara Fayia was beaten by military personnel in Kenema on April 2, 2020, for taking pictures of a COVID-19 facility
Earlier, in April 2020, journalist Fayia Amara Fayia of the Standard Times newspaper, was attacked and beaten up by about 10 soldiers in Sierra Leone’s eastern Kenema city. He was hit with guns and kicked according to a statement by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, a local press freedom group. Fayia whose phone was seized in the attack was set upon after he photographed a new COVID-19 quarantine center. Later he would be arrested and charged with allegedly assaulting a soldier and District Head Mohammed O. Sesay, a local official who was at the scene and arraigned before court.
Meanwhile, the country’s media regulator, NATCOM, in August 2021, suspended the licenses of privately owned broadcast networks, Star Radio and Star TV, over alleged default in the renewal of broadcast licenses.
In October 2021, The Times newspaper editor, Salieu Tejan, received death threats while President Julius Maada Bio reportedly made moves to get him arrested over his critical reporting. Mr. Tejan was forced to flee the country to escape the President.
The rundown
The press freedom environment in Sierra Leone is certainly a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly so that even though commendations may be in order for the government such commendations can only be given, tinged with sadness.
To improve the situation, the government and stakeholders’ have their duties cut out for them. Tougher muscle certainly needs to be brought on perpetrators of attacks on journalists. Government needs to have a second look at the aspects of the cyber law that create potential for people to be arrested for expressing themselves online while Sections 30 and 65 must absolutely be repealed to disarm the NATCOM of the power to capriciously close down broadcast stations.
Of course, SLAJ should take advantage of its cosy relationship with government to nudge government into undertaking reforms. Also, it should instigate public educational campaigns on the need for a truly free press environment in Sierra Leone while media houses must beef up security for their journalists.
Ghana needs to take advantage of the ongoing curriculum reform in junior and senior high schools to include cybersecurity in its information communication technology syllabus.
This would prepare the next generation of Ghanaian children for a safer digital future which is currently threatened by increasing exposure to unhealthy online content. This is the proposal of stakeholders at a national roundtable on addressing Ghana’s cyber security capacity needs in Accra.
With a few schools running cybersecurity clubs while child online safety has become a growing concern, they said the current system discriminated against students who did not belong to clubs.
They, therefore, want cybersecurity awareness and capacity building in schools mainstreamed through the curriculum rather than school clubs to benefit all students.
“Club activities in schools have been disrupting academic work, according to the Ghana Education Service. So, if we have ICT being taught in schools as a subject, what stops us from aligning security conversations through ICT lessons?” the Executive Director of Child Online Africa, Awo Aidan Amenya, said.
Experts say young people under 18 are the most attracted to the internet and the most likely to face risk including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content and invasion of privacy. They are also unlikely to know about the sophisticated phishing and other malware schemes that criminals use to seize control of digital devices, compromise email and text messages or spy on online activities in an attempt to steal one’s identity or financial information.
However, Amenya said a sustained empowerment of children in schools could make cybersecurity a lifestyle issue among children.
“If you belong to a club, you will be informed about cybersecurity but if you don’t belong to a club, you’ll be ignorant about it. We can make this a lifestyle issue for the children if it is in the ICT curriculum,” she said.
Helpline vs hotline
Mrs Amenya was also worried that there was still no dedicated helpline that addressed the concerns of children online.
“It is not enough for us to have a hotline; we need a helpline and a child line. The difference is that the hotline allows the public to reach out, the helpline offers counselling and the child line offers services that are not within the helpline and the hotline. We need to have all three working together and speaking to each other.”
Other participants who bought into the idea of curriculum reform advocated that the Cyber Security Authority and civil society groups should consider introducing peer-educator initiatives into schools to tame the pervasive interest in pornography and betting among students.
Others also raised concern about the knowledge deficit of teachers handling ICT in schools and called for ways to bridge the gap.
“We must also make sure that teachers who are instructing students are mindful of their own standards. It will interest you to know that teachers who are teaching ICT are not mindful of cybersecurity issues.”
Responding the concerns, Emmanuella Darkwah, the Deputy Manager in charge of International Cooperation at the Cyber Security Authority said the cyber regulator, would consider the idea of peer educators in schools.
She observed while most countries were concerned about protecting critical infrastructure, Ghana’s approach was to strengthen the capacity of individuals not to make themselves vulnerable to cyberattacks.
“Our position is to provide a deeper understanding that technology use is not a bad thing, but its malicious use is what we must prevent. We currently have a trainer of trainer’s programme for judges. Having one for schools is a welcome idea,” she said.
Delivering the welcome address, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, noted that it was one thing having the Cybersecurity law and another thing people taking advantage of it and using it to empower themselves.
He said it was important to educate and empower the citizenry to understand the law and also use it to assert their rights as they engaged in the cyber and digital space.
Personal safety
Contributing to the discussions, a representative from Ghana’s Computer Emergency Response Team, Stephen Cudjoe Seshie, said the authority was running cybersecurity programmes in schools to create awareness.
He said while the authority was interested in public safety online, it was important that internet users take personal responsibility for their safety.
He advised the public not to use the same password across the different platforms as it made it easy for cyber criminals to take over all other accounts of a victim if account one is compromised.
The event, which was organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa with support from the UK-based Global Partners Digital Ltd, was meant track the progress the country had made in building its cybersecurity capacity and its challenges.
Un rapport élaboré fin décembre 2022 par la Fondation des médias pour l’Afrique de l’ouest (MFWA) constate d’importants défis qui nuisent à l’épanouissement des femmes journalistes du Burkina Faso sur le plan sécuritaire et professionnel. S’appuyant sur des entretiens approfondis, l’étude réalisée à Ouagadougou auprès de 22 femmes journalistes et de 10 rédacteurs en chef et directeurs de publication présente des résultats aussi bien intéressants qu’interpellateurs.
D’entrée de jeu, le rapport indique qu’il n’existe pas une organisation spécifique liée au genre dans les rédactions. Les journalistes hommes et femmes travaillent sans aucune considération sexuée ou genrée. Non seulement, il n’existe pas dans les médias des politiques en matière de genre qui spécifient les tâches et les rôles selon le sexe, mais aussi les femmes ne bénéficient pas de protection particulière en matière de sécurité.
Toutefois, de manière intuitive ou circonstancielle, certaines rédactions n’affectent que certaines tâches à des femmes et d’autres uniquement à des hommes. Selon les horaires de travail ou la pénibilité de la tâche à exécuter, l’équité est parfois la règle non écrite qui structure et organise l’activité journalistique. Pour les terrains risqués ou sensibles, les reportages où il peut avoir de la violence, des efforts physiques énormes à consentir ou des voyages urgents de dernière minute, on évite de privilégier les femmes.
Le rapport pointe également du doigt les violences dont les femmes journalistes sont victimes. Ces violences sont de deux ordres : les violences organisationnelles et les violences publiques. Les violences organisationnelles se produisent dans les rédactions ou au sein de l’entreprise médiatique. Les plus couramment commises sont, selon le rapport, la violence verbale, le harcèlement sexuel, la discrimination fondée sur le sexe, l’assignation systématique des femmes aux « soft news » alors que les « hard news », qui pourraient faire la notoriété d’un journaliste, sont réservés aux hommes. Cette réalité dépeint le fait que les compétences et capacités professionnelles de femmes sont parfois, à tort ou à raison, consciemment ou inconsciemment, minimisées ou sous-valorisées.
Quant aux violences publiques, elles se produisent hors des rédactions. Elles sont l’œuvre d’acteurs non journalistiques comme les sources d’information, les annonceurs, les publics médiatiques et la société de manière générale. Les types de violences publiques dont les femmes sont l’objet sont le harcèlement sexuel, le cyberharcèlement, la discrimination religieuse. Elles sont aussi victimes de cas isolés et marginaux de violence physique parmi lesquels les attouchements, les bousculades lors des manifestions, mais cette dernière catégorie de violence physique concerne aussi bien les femmes que les hommes journalistes.
Le rapport révèle en outre que la forme de violation la plus régulière et la plus pressante subie par les femmes journalistes concerne les préjugés et les stéréotypes. Celles-ci sont perçues par la société comme des « femmes aux mœurs légères », des « femmes incapables de réussir une vie de foyer », des « mauvaises mères », d’«effrontées », de « perturbatrices sociales ».
Ces attaques affectent moralement, socialement, intellectuellement et professionnellement ces femmes journalistes qui décident de vivre ces violations dans le silence des plus assourdissants. Cette tendance à se murer dans le silence est, d’une part, le fruit de la peur des victimes d’être objet de raillerie. D’autre part, elle vient du fait que l’environnement médiatique du Burkina Faso traite généralement le harcèlement sexuel comme un sujet tabou. Aussi, l’absence d’un cadre de gestion des violences ne favorise pas la dénonciation, tout comme l’absence d’assistance, par des psychologues, des victimes.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) welcomes the release of Pape Ale Niang from detention and urges the Senegalese authorities to drop all charges against the journalist.
The managing editor of the online newspaper, Dakar Matin was released provisionally on December 14, 2022, after his lawyers’ application to that effect was granted by the court, according to Moussa Sarr, one of his lawyers. The journalist is, however, under judicial control and must report regularly to the authorities.
“The arrest and detention of Pape Ale Niang for over one month for exercising his profession as a journalist was unfair in the first place. To commit a journalist who has not been convicted to one month in jail over a critical publication would be concerning even in an autocratic regime. To do so in democratic Senegal is shocking and regressive,” Muheeb Saeed, Head of Freedom of Expression at the MFWA.
Pape Alé was arrested on November 6, 2022, on false publication and national security charges after he published a story in which he cited military sources. The journalist referenced a document that indicated that a military investigation had cleared a leading politician who is standing trial for rape.
Niang’s detention drew uproar from the media fraternity in Senegal which mobilised massively to demand the journalist’s release. With financial support from the MFWA and moral support from our Board Chair who is also based in Dakar, the media professional organisation, Coordination des Associations de Presse (CAP), set up the Comite pour la liberation de Pape Ale Niang (Committee for the Release of Pape Niang). The Committee organised a series of demonstrations to condemn the journalist’s arrest and demand his freedom.
The MFWA run also a social media campaign for Niang’s release and sent petitions to a number of UN bodies, Africa Union and ECOWAS leaders.
“The journalist is on hunger strike and his health is failing. Consequently, we are requesting your intervention with the authorities in Senegal to help secure the release of the journalist to prevent further abuse of his rights and a possible fatal outcome,” the MFWA wrote in its petition to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ms Irene Khan, the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay and the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Volker Türk.
The MFWA also petitioned the AU Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information; the Chairperson of the AU Commission; the Chairperson of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), alongside the ECOWAS Chairman and the President of the ECOWAS Commission. A similar petition was also addressed to the Ambassador and Head of the European Union delegation in Senegal as well as France, United States and United Kingdom Ambassadors in Senegal.
We are therefore excited about the release of the journalist who should not have been arrested in the first place. We urge the authorities in Senegal to drop all charges against Pape Niang and take measures to address the growing threat to the safety of journalists in Senegal. We commend our partners in Senegal for the great collaboration and the resolute mobilisation in support of the journalist and in defense of press freedom.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has petitioned a number of UN bodies, Africa Union and ECOWAS leaders to help release Senegalese journalist Pape Ale Niang who has been detained for over a month now.
“The journalist is on hunger strike and his health is failing. Consequently, we are requesting your intervention with the authorities in Senegal to help secure the release of the journalist to prevent further abuse of his rights and a possible fatal outcome,” the MFWA wrote in its petition to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Ms Irene Khan, the Director General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay and the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Volker Türk.
The MFWA also petitioned the AU Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information; the Chairperson of the AU Commission; Chairperson of the Africa Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR), alongside the ECOWAS Chairman and the President of the ECOWAS Commission. A similar petition was also addressed to the Ambassador and Head of the European Union delegation in Senegal as well as France, United States and United Kingdom Ambassadors in Senegal.
Niang is the managing editor of the privately-owned news website, DakarMatin and a regular panelist on socio-political programmes on radio and television in Dakar. The Senegalese police arrested and detained him on November 3, 2022, on the orders of the public prosecutor, Amady Diouf.
The arrest followed a publication about the trial for rape of a leading opposition politician, Ousmane Sonko, in which the journalist cited military sources. In a video published online, Pape Niang read a report which purportedly shows that the military had conducted investigations that absolved the politician from the rape allegation. On November 9, 2022, the judicial authorities granted the police authorisation to continue to keep Niang in detention after formally charging him. He was charged with revealing information likely to undermine national defense, possessing military documents, and disseminating false news likely to discredit public institutions. The journalist has denied the charges.
The MFWA argues in its petition that Pape Niang merely made public the content of a document that has a bearing on the trial of a public figure, which is a matter of public interest.
It also said the authorities have failed to establish their claims of undermining national security to meet international norms for restricting the right to free expression. Citing the United Nations Human Rights Committee (general comment No. 34, para. 35), the MFWA said States invoking public safety or national security reasons to restrict freedom of expression must establish a direct and immediate connection between the expression and the said threat. “Incidentally, the Senegalese public, whose security the government is supposed to be protecting, have mobilised massively in support of the journalist,” the petition said.
The MFWA also cited the deteriorating health of Pape Ale Niang who is on hunger strike and called on the various authorities petitioned to intervene to help secure the journalist’s release. Read the full petition here.
