The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and its partner press freedom organisations from fifteen West African countries have petitioned President Umaro Sissoco Embalo of Guinea Bissau to personally intervene to help improve the press freedom environment in that country and combat impunity for crimes against journalists.
The petition was dated February 10, 2022, and was delivered physically and by mail to the President on February 15, 2022. The action followed a number of recent attacks on press freedom in Guinea Bissau, the highpoint of which was an armed attack on a radio station in the capital, Bissau on February 7, 2022. In the said incident, a group of men in military uniform raided the premises of the Bissau-based radio station, Radio Capital FM, and destroyed practically all equipment at the facility. The hooded attackers, most of them in military uniform, fired several shots in the studios and offices, forcing the terrified staff to flee. One of the victims of the attack, journalist Maimuna Bari, is in coma with severe rib and spine injuries.
The attack occurred hours after the station had broadcast a programme discussing the failed February 1, 2022 coup attempt and offered listeners the opportunity to comment on the fatal incident. Another group of armed officers later attacked the home of one of the panelists of that programme, Rui Landim.
The petitioners expressed deep concern about the involvement of security personnel in the attacks and asked the President to personally ensure that the attacks are thoroughly investigated and justice served.
The 16 organisations also condemned the January 1, 2022 coup attempt in Guinea Bissau. “We are firm in a conviction that what is needed for the development of Guinea Bissau and its people is a thriving, sustainable democracy in which the fundamental rights of people are respected and protected. We, therefore, will, under no circumstances endorse a military takeover of governance,” the petitioners affirmed.
Among other requests, the petitioners urged President Sissoco Embalo to ensure that Radio Capital is offered every support necessary for it to resume broadcasting as soon as possible and to beef up security presence at the radio station to ensure adequate protection for the media organisation and its staff.
For far too long, women and girls in Africa have endured discrimination and inequalities in nearly all spheres of life. Across Africa, women and girls have far fewer opportunities than men and boys in access to education, health, wealth, technology, political participation, among others.
This phenomenon of persistent inequality and disempowerment against women and girls has remained one of the major obstacles to the fight against poverty in Africa and globally.
While some progress has been made in addressing the challenge, women and girls remain less visible, less heard, and less involved in matters of development and empowerment. Thus, addressing the inequality will partly require an ambitious effort to make women more visible, more heard and on the frontlines of public policy and decision-making.
From this year, therefore, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), is putting women empowerment at the center of its work. The organisation will be to harnessing the power of media and journalism across all its programmes to drive a robust women’s empower agenda that will focus on enhancing the Visibility, Voice, Leadership, and Participation (VVLP) of women.
As part of this effort, the 2022 edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA 2022) will be focusing on the theme: Media and Women Empowerment in Africa.
WAMECA 2022, the sixth edition since the event was commenced in 2017, will be held over three days (from October 20 to 22). The first two days will be dedicated to discussing various topics under the theme while the last day will be for the annual awards, which honours the best journalistic works in West Africa.
Participants at this year’s event will explore the role of the media and journalism in addressing the challenges women face in African societies including challenges related to access to education, health, and technologies; abuses such as domestic violence and child marriages; inequalities in visibility, voice, and participation; among and others.
“WAMECA 2022, is dedicated to discussing ways in which the media in Africa can play a critical and meaningful role in putting the rights and empowerment of women and girls at the forefront of national conversations and policy decisions. At the same time, participants will be deliberating on how the media on the continent can give women and girls the needed visibility, amplification of their voices, driving women’s participation in governance and showcasing women’s leadership in all fields,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.
WAMECA 2022 will bring together prominent gender activists, human and media rights advocates, academics, editors, and journalists. The event will also host government officials, members of the diplomatic community, and heads of civil society organisations across the continent.
In the last five years since the MFWA has been hosting WAMECA, the event has tabled varying topics for media and press freedom experts to deliberate on. The topics have bordered on media development, media and good governance, freedom of expression, digital media regulation, and misinformation and disinformation.
Last year, guests and participants at the event shared insights on the evolving phenomenon of “Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation and Journalism in Africa”. The theme was necessitated by the growing number of legislation in Africa that tend to strengthen state control over citizens’ use of the internet, online communication outlets, and digital media platforms including social media platforms.
In 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world on its head and was distressing an already precarious media ecosystem on the continent, WAMECA focused deliberations on “The Future of Journalism”. In the previous year (2019), WAMECA focused on the theme: “Social Media, Fake News, and Elections in Africa”.
For enquiries, partnership, or participation at the event, please contact us at wameca[@]mfwa.org or call on +233302555327.
I bring you warm compliments. As you are obviously aware, in the last two weeks, a number of radio presenters and other activists have been arrested by the police and put before the law courts. In nearly all the cases, the arrests and ongoing prosecution is for the offence of publication of false news and offensive conduct.
Your Excellence, last week, I wrote an article titled: “Ghana’s Journalism and Media Freedom Crisis” in which I expressed serious concerns about the wave of reckless conduct in the media and by the media. I indicated in that article that such reckless conduct had a great potential to undermine media freedom and emasculate the value and critical role of the media in our budding democracy. I went on to condemn such reckless acts for their potentially serious consequences for our dear nation.
Apart from highlighting the challenges that reckless, unprofessional media conduct pose for our democracy, I also indicated that another main challenge for our democracy has been a high level of intolerance and autocratic tendencies by your government as far as media freedom and free expression is concerned.
The purpose of writing to you is to point to you the basis of my claim and accusation that you and your government are being intolerant and exhibiting autocratic tendencies when it comes to media freedom and free expression.
Mr. President, the basis of my accusation stems from two principal reasons:
Evidence of increased incidents and gravity of media rights violations with impunity under your regime and
My firm affirmation and strong conviction of your position on matters of free expression and free speech while you were seeking to be President of our dear country.
Your Excellency, I will touch briefly on the incidents of media rights violations and the culture of impunity over such violations.
Under your first term of four years, there were over 55 individual incidents of violations of media rights in the country. The number exceeds what was witnessed over any four-year period since President John Kufuor’s government. But what is even more significant is the gravity of the violations that occurred during your first four-year tenure.
Ahmed Hussein Suale was gunned down by unknown assailants on January 16, 2019, in Accra, Ghana
During the period, we witnessed the murder of a journalist, Ahmed Suale; the storming of the offices of Modern Ghana, arrest and blindfolding of journalists and confiscation of the equipment of the arrested journalists by national security officers; storming of the offices of Citi FM/TV by national security officers and the arrest of journalists; selective and politically-motivated closure of opposition-aligned radio stations; brutal, life-threatening assault on several journalists; and a journalist having to leave the shores of the country for some time, after serious threats to his life. These are just to highlight some of the serious incidents of violations that have occurred.
In all these and the many other several cases, we have not seen any serious action on the part of the state or government towards ensuring justice for victims of violations and sending a strong signal about government’s abhorrence for acts of media rights violations. In fact, what we have witnessed has been impunity and impunity for every violation.
I will say more about the incidents of violations in another letter. In this letter, I want to dwell more on the second reason why I say your government has been intolerant and why I am getting convinced that you have changed your principles on the value of free expression in a democracy, since you became President.
Mr. President, I believe you will agree that we have seen more arrests and prosecution of persons on the charges of publication of false news and offensive conduct under your government than any other government in the Fourth Republic. In fact, in one instance, the police ambushed and arrested the publisher of WhatsApp News, for publication of false news that was yet to be published. Isn’t that incredible?
Your Excellency, I am surprised about what is happening under your leadership because, in 2011, you spoke strongly against the use of the same laws (publication of false news and offensive conduct) during the President Attah Mills government.
On August 4, 2011, you expressed your opposition to the application of the obnoxious laws when you spoke eloquently, on the topic: “Outlawing Criminal Libel Laws in Ghana” at a Conference that had as part of its theme: “African Constitutionalism And The Media.” The conference was co-organised by the Institute of Comparative and International Law and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
In your speech, you described the laws on publication of false news and offensive conduct as “arcane” and their application as a threat to media freedom.
Here is what you said against the laws and their application by the then government: “Despite the repeal of these laws (Criminal libel and Seditious libel), media freedom is threatened by some of the arcane laws still on our statute books.
“This has become particularly apparent since the government of the National Democratic Congress once more assumed office in January 2009 after winning the 2008 general elections. Bereft of the convenient tools of criminal and seditious libel laws, the ruling government has had to comb through the Criminal Code and to seize upon the offence of offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace and the sister offence of publishing false news likely to cause fear and alarm to the public.”
Your Excellency, you continued your accusation against the then government for using the Criminal Code by citing an incident that had happened at the time. You said: “Desperate to keep in check a robust media, the police first seized on this offence to invade a radio station to arrest a panel member who had made certain unsubstantiated allegations against the former President of the Republic, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings, regarding a fire that gutted to ashes, his official residence. A mob of youthful supporters of the ruling NDC party was quickly mobilised to lay siege to the radio station, threatening to attack it. Instead of the police arresting them for unlawful assembly and conduct conducive to breach of the peace, they rather arrested the radio panellist.”
Mr. President, I agree with your position at the time. At the time, the government, acting through the police, was desperate to keep in check, a robust media. That was certainly bad.
But we are witnessing the same things at even an alarming rate under your government. The police seized on the same offences to storm Accra FM recently to arrest a journalist. The reason for storming the station in that incident you referred to in your 2011 speech, was about an allegation against former President Rawlings. In the case of the incident under your government, is in relation to an allegation against your wife. Just as you correctly stated in 2011, my conviction is that your government is also using the obnoxious laws because it is desperate to hold in check, a robust media.
You also mentioned in your 2011 speech that at the time, when the police arrested the radio panellist, there was public outcry and the police, “shamefaced, responded by changing track,” by claiming that they had taken the radio panellist to the police station for his own protection. You concluded on that point by confirming that the charges were never pursued.
Mr. President, unlike what happened in the incident you cited in 2011, in the cases happening under your government, the charges have not been dropped. They are being pursued. Why?
Your Excellency, in that speech of yours, you further accused the then government and the police in a manner that makes it safe for one to conclude that perhaps after becoming President, you have changed your principles and convictions on matters of free expression in a democracy. This is because what is happening under your watch are worse forms of the acts you complained about then.
You said at the time that: “Sensing that the offence of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace could not easily be harnessed to the prosecution of journalists and media practitioners for what they say and write, the police next turned to the offence of publishing false news likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace.”
You went on to cite two instances in which the law on publication of false news was invoked. You narrated that “one involved a commentator on a morning newspaper review programme, who was arrested on suspicion of having committed the offence of publishing false news likely to cause fear and panic. Again, the outcry that greeted the arrest and the ridicule of the conduct of the police, together with the intervention of the Ghana Journalists Association, led to the release of the journalist and eventually the dropping of charges against him.
“The other case involved an allegation made by a young woman in a radio phone-in that she was on board a bus travelling from Accra to Tamale in the Northern Region of Ghana when the bus was waylaid by armed robbers who forced the passengers to have sex with one another. She was arrested and charged under the offence of publishing false news likely to cause fear and panic to the public. The matter is currently sub judice.”
Mr. President, what is different from what you condemned at the time and what is happening under your government? In fact, you mentioned that public outcry led to the dropping of the cases. In the cases happening under you, are there no public outcries? Have the charges been dropped?
You also accused the government at the time of applying the law in a selective manner and said there were also instances of abuse and use of the laws in cases where they should not even apply. Your Excellency, I wouldn’t want to go into the matter of selective application of the laws at this time.
Your Excellency, what is even more cardinal in your speech at the time in relation to the ongoing developments in our country, was your position on the validity of law on publication of false news.
You said: “The more fundamental question, however, relates to the constitutional validity of the law, given the overly broad and sweeping terms in which it is couched. It may very well be legitimate to have a law that criminalises the deliberate publication of false news likely to lead to personal injury associated with the fear and alarm the false news causes.”
You continued: “But, then, there ought to be a direct causal link between the false news and the injury sustained. The manifest example is the typical case of a mischief maker who cries fire in a packed cinema hall, when it is obvious that this will lead to a stampede in which persons are likely to suffer injury, including in extreme cases death.”
Mr. President, you then went on to diagnose the problem with our law on publication of false news by saying that: “the problem with our current false news law is that it is more directed at mere expression and the state of mind, namely fear and alarm, which in the best of worlds is difficult to determine.”
Mr. President, has the law changed? Is the law being applied under your watch different from what you diagnosed as being problematic? The obvious answer is no. What has changed is perhaps your position and convictions.
After your brilliant diagnosis, you proceeded to make an emphatic and a very significant pronouncement on the law at the time. You stated eloquently that: “As the offence of publishing false news, therefore, currently stands, it is, in my view, inconsistent with the constitutional provisions on free expression, being overly broad and accordingly not proportionate to the legitimate public interest sought to be protected.” Mr. President, the law remains the same, so why is it being used so rampantly under you?
With these reminders, Mr. President, I urge you to remain loyal to the principles you held in high esteem in 2011, as far as free expression is concerned. The actions against free speech that you strongly condemned while in opposition are happening at an alarming rate under your leadership.
We cannot love media freedom in opposition and oppress it when in power. We cannot love democracy and hate free speech. When free speech dies, democracy dies.
Sincerely,
Your good friend,
Sulemana Braimah
The writer is the Executive Director of Media Foundation for West Africa
Sunday, February 13, 2022, is World Radio Day. The day has been set aside by UNESCO to celebrate the contribution of radio to civilisation. As we mark this important day, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) salutes the contribution of radio to building democratic and enlightened societies through information, education, and promoting public discourse.
From the struggle for independence in Africa to the early independence years, through to the military-rule era of the 70-90s, radio has played an indispensable role in the lives of many African nations. Through the above function, radio has put its indelible imprint on the daily lives of people in all spheres of life. Its accessibility, affordability, and real-time delivery of news and information, especially in local languages, has made radio the medium of choice even in the modern era of the internet.
Indeed, the internet has provided an impetus to radio, allowing original radio content to be received in different formats such as podcasts, spaces, and on social media platforms.
Radio can facilitate experience and knowledge impartation from an accomplished but illiterate farmer, linguist, oral historian, counselor, conservationist, herbalist, or artisan to a literate audience, a quality that is not available for the newspaper. Radio has built for itself a reputation as one of the most accessed sources of news and its ability to enable its audience to participate and provide feedback through phone-ins has endeared it to the public.
In recent times, however, the values that radio stands for, particularly trust, are being eroded. It is out of concern over the dwindling credibility of radio that UNESCO has chosen as the theme for this year’s World Radio Day celebration “Radio and Trust”.
Indeed, over the years, there have been concerns about falling standards across all media types across West Africa. Given the close correlation between ethical standards and credibility, the concerns over dwindling public trust are well-founded.
For instance, the MFWA’s monitoring of ethical standards in the media in Ghana confirms the deterioration. Radio recorded the highest ethical breaches in MFWA’s monitoring of the content of newspapers, online news portals, and radio. Out of 2710 ethical violations recorded, 65% were recorded on radio. Unfortunately, the bulk of the infractions occurred at prime-time, and sadder still, some presenters were cited to have done a terrible job of their gatekeeping duties. Not only did they fail to disallow foul language, incendiary remarks, ethnically-divisive language, expressions liable to trigger violence, among other infractions, the moderators in many cases uttered and allowed unsubstantiated allegations which left some of their audiences confused as to what information was to be trusted. The study underlined lack of training, and professionalism among show hosts, radio presenters, and news anchors as key reasons for the waning ethical standards and trust in radio. Another major factor accounting for this slide into mediocrity is not far-fetched; a good number of media outlets are owned by politicians.
The findings of the ethics monitoring in Ghana, as we have observed over the years, fairly represent the dropping professional and ethical standards across the West Africa region, needing urgent collective action.
In spite of these drawbacks, radio continues to enjoy relatively higher trust among the public compared to other media genres. At the outbreak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, radio, with its ability to transmit in local language, was used as a tool to combat the infodemic that characterised the spread of the virus. The MFWA worked with many locally based radio stations to fight the wave of misinformation and disinformation about the pandemic while educating their audiences on the nature of Sars-cov-2 and how to prevent it. Having the partner radio stations on board as trusted channels of information immensely contributed to mitigating the devastating impact of the pandemic.
As a medium that reaches masses of people, it is imperative that the public’s trust in radio is boosted at all times since they rely on its information to make informed choices in their daily lives. The MFWA, therefore, calls on all stakeholders in the radio industry to rededicate themselves to preserve the credibility of radio to regain lost grounds in terms of public trust. Specifically, the MFWA recommends that
Owners
Despite the political leanings and affiliations of media owners, they are encouraged to institute high professional standards at their outlets and respect the general ethical principles and guidelines that bind the work of the media.
Owners are also encouraged to periodically organize or provide opportunities to build the capacities of their journalists and presenters on the best practices in media professionalism and ethics.
Media practitioners
Practitioners must consciously and willingly clamp down or stand against the spread of misinformation, disinformation, and all forms of unsubstantiated allegations and inaccuracies that aggravate the waning trust in radio.
Media practitioners, especially editors and show hosts, must institute a zero-tolerance policy for the use of abusive language and general unprofessionalism on their shows.
Regulatory bodies
Media regulatory bodies must constantly quell the disregard of ethical principles by the media in all fairness and without political influence. They must continuously monitor and invite media owners, hosts, and journalists to dialogue and build consensus on upholding professional standards.
A High Court in Accra has sentenced a broadcast journalist with Accra-based Power FM, Oheneba Boamah Bennie, to 14 days in prison after he was found guilty of contempt of court.
The presiding judge, Justice Elfreda Dankyi, also fined the journalist GH¢3,000 (about USD 450) in her judgement delivered on February 8, 2022. Bennie will serve his sentence at the Nsawam Prison, one of Ghana’s most notorious maximum security prison facilities.
The journalist was dragged to the High Court by Ghana’s Attorney General after he alleged in a Facebook video that President Nana Akufo-Addo had met eight judges Supreme Court judges to influence their decision in the electoral petition they were hearing. The petition had been filed by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) to challenge the results of the December 7, 2020 elections that was won by the incumbent.
On December 14, 2021, the Criminal Investigation Department(CID) of the Ghana Police Service arrested the radio presenter in Accra. According to the CID, Oheneba was being investigated for allegedly insulting and issuing threats against President Akufo-Addo in a Facebook video.
On December 17, the Attorney-General (A-G) dragged Bennie to court in a contempt of court application over the same video. According to the A-G, Bennie’s allegations suggest that judges do not decide cases independently, but on the orders of the President. This statement, the A-G contended, amounted to gross disrespect for the judiciary and is liable to bring the image of the country’s judges into disrepute.
The journalist appeared to have expected his conviction. Ahead of the verdict, on February 8, 2022, he posted on his Facebook wall this poignant message;
“The Lord is my strength. Each and every one of us will face our own judgment one day. Today is mine. Tomorrow will be that of President Nana Addo Danquah Akuffo Addo and Godfred Dame [Ghana’s Attorney General]. Time will tell. Good morning”
A similar incident occurred on July 2, 2013, when the Supreme Court convicted Ken Kuranchie, editor-in-chief of the Daily Searchlight, newspaper of criminal contempt and sentenced him to 10 days in jail.
The journalist had published critical editorials on June 27, 2013, about the court’s handling of a petition by the opposition New Patriotic Party following Ghana’s December 2012 presidential elections.
The MFWA has in the past flagged what we consider to be serious ethical breaches by some journalists and a number of radio stations including Power FM and Ohenaba Boamah Bennie. As part of efforts to promote decent campaign language on radio, the MFWA engaged the Management of the stations which had recorded infractions in the course of our Elections Campaign Language Monitoring exercise. We, therefore, admit that professional standards in the media leave much to be desired.
While we concede that Oheneba Boamah erred in publishing the unsubstantiated and libellous material about the Supreme Court judges, we still consider his jailing as unfortunate and avoidable.
We would have wished that, in the spirit of the constitutional guarantees for press freedom and the global trend towards abolishing custodial sentences for press and speech offenses, the court would have handed him a suspended sentence and a heavier fine rather than commit him to serve a jail term.
Having said this, the MFWA urges media organisations and journalists to prioritise capacity building with a view to promoting ethical standards and professionalism in their work.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) strongly condemns the armed attack on the privately-owned Rádio Capital FM based in Bissau and demands thorough investigations into the incident.
On February 7, 2022, at about 10 am, a group of men in military uniform stormed the radio station and reduced the facility to shambles. Firing indiscriminately to scare away the staff, the hooded attackers stormed the studios of the radio station and destroyed every piece of equipment in sight; furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters.
Ansumane So was treated for a fractured arm after the attack
Three journalists were also injured. One of them, Ansumane So, was rushed to the Military Hospital in Bissau for treatment for a fractured arm. The others are Maimuna Bari and Bala Sambú. Maimuna Bari is currently in coma. Doctors say her condition is critical, having suffered rib and spine injuries from a fall from four meters.
Other staff who sustained injuries trying to escape the attack are Lassana Djassi, Bakar Kuiaté, and Alssene Kandé.
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The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters
The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters
The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters
The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters
The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters
The attack comes six days after an abortive coup attempt claimed a dozen lives in the presidential palace where the Cabinet was in session. Radio capital is a highly critical media organisation perceived to be against the current government. This is the second time in less than two years that the station has been attacked by unidentified men in uniform.
On July 26, 2020, a group of armed men in police uniform raided the station and destroyed its equipment. Despite the Interior Minister, Botchá Candé, visiting the station after the attack and assuring the management of thorough investigations, nothing happened.
About two weeks after the incident, thirty radio stations across the country suspended broadcasting for 24 hours to show solidarity with Radio Capital FM and demand action from the authorities.
Bullet cases left behind after the gunshots by armed military men
The distraught Executive Director of Rádio Capital FM, Lassana Cassamá, lamented “They have destroyed the radio again,” in apparent recall of the July 2020 attack.
Sumba Nansil, head of training and capacity building at Radio Capital, told the MFWA the latest attack has been encouraged by the lack of accountability for the previous one. Nonetheless, the station has reported the matter to the police. The police have gone to the station to assess the extent of the damage caused.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior has denied claims of government involvement in the attack. Speaking at a press conference hours after the incident, the Deputy Commissioner for Public Order at the Ministry, Salvador Soares, also dismissed allegations of government losing control of the law and order.
“The situation is already calm and people can go back to their daily lives”, the government official assured, adding that the attack is an “isolated incident”.
Diamantino Lopes, a journalist with the SINJOTECS, MFWA’s national partner in Guinea-Bissau, told the MFWA that “there are no legal reasons for this invasion by armed men. It is simply an abuse of power. You cannot attack a radio, simply because you disagree with its editorial line”, he added.
A delegation from the SINJOTECS has visited the premises to condemn the attack and express solidarity to the media outlet. Fátima Tchuma Camará, Vice-president of the SINJOTECS, described this attack as an “attempt to silence Rádio Capital FM”. She added that people can always resort to court if they have any disagreement with a radio, instead of attacking and ravaging a radio’s premises.
The MFWA is deeply concerned about the attack on Radio Capital which adds to the climate of insecurity created by the attempted coup of February 1, 2022. The cowardly attack aimed at intimidating the media house into silence cannot be tolerated in any democratic society. The MFWA expects the military authorities to be equally concerned about the incident, especially because the perpetrators were said to be clad in military uniform. We call on the government to redeem itself in respect of its failure to unravel the previous attack on radio Capital by acting promptly and decisively this time around to arrest and punish the perpetrators.
In March 2021, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) launched The Fourth Estate, as an independent, not-for-profit, public interest and accountability journalism project in Ghana. The project is aimed at reviving quality journalism, the kind of journalism that holds the powerful to account, enhances public sector transparency, and amplifies the voices and needs of the marginalised.
In less than a year of its existence, The Fourth Estate has already established itself as one of Ghana’s most trusted news sources. So far, it has succeeded in proving that journalism, when well done without undue interferences, can truly hold the powerful accountable and serve the interest of the public.
With a core team of eight fairly young journalists led by award-winning investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, several critical and impactful stories have been produced within the last ten months. The stories cover corruption, human rights, environment, health and a few other generic topics of relevance.
On corruption, an investigation into acts of bribery at Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority resulted in the dismissal of the Authority’s head of legal services. Another investigation titled: “Bongo Scandal” that revealed fraudulent activities at a community bank in Bongo, a town in Northern Ghana, prompted an investigation into activities of the bank by the regulator for rural and community banks in Ghana, the ARB Apex Bank.
On human rights, a great story on police and military brutalities in Ghana presents a detailed account of over two dozen incidents of police and military killings and other forms of brutalities by the security agencies since 2017.
There is also a compelling story of how personnel from national security raided a casino in Asankragua, a town in the Western region of Ghana. With exclusive video footages, the story details how hooded security officials in mufti, brandishing weapons, terrified and manhandled some staff of the facility before their eventual action of breaking into rooms and dismantling security cameras.
Still on human rights, an investigative piece titled: “The licensed sex predator” revealed how a number of women were sexually assaulted by a self-styled physiotherapist, Jonathan Ohene Nkunim. The story resulted in the arrest of Jonathan who is currently facing prosecution. The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), has named the story among the top 10 investigative stories from Sub-Sahara Africa in 2021.
And there is even more. Within the short period of its existence, The Fourth Estate has also proven just how journalism can help advance public sector transparency and accountability, through the utilisation of Right to Information (RTI) legislation. The Fourth Estate, has been a major driver in putting Ghana’s 2019 RTI law to the test.
In the first five months of its operation (March to July, 2021), The Fourth Estate team filed 36 RTI requests to 33 public institutions. The institutions to whom the requests were filed include the Parliament of Ghana, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, Public Procurement Authority, Minerals Commission (the regulator of Ghana’s expansive mining sector), Ministry of Roads, among several other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MMDAs) of state. By the end of 2021, more than 50 RTI requests had been filed.
As expected, many of the institutions failed or refused to comply with their obligations to provide requested information as mandated by Ghana’s RTI law (Act 989). In an article, The Fourth Estate presented the 33 public institutions that passed or failed its RTI test.
After the stipulated 14 days within which institutions are required to make a decision and respond to requesters of information under the RTI law, 52% of institutions failed to acknowledge or respond to requests filed by The Fourth Estate. Per the RTI law, non-response within the stipulated period constitutes a refusal to grant requested information on the part of information-holding institutions.
But the quest to receive requested information doesn’t end when institutions fail to respond to requests or refuse to grant requests. In fact, what follows next is where the victories and great stories emerge.
Petitions are then filed with the RTI Commission requesting the Commission to adjudicate and compel information-holding institutions that are in default to release requested information. Other cases filed at the RTI Commission were to challenge what is considered illegal fees imposed by institutions as a condition for the grant of requested information.
By the end of 2021, The Fourth Estate had filed 11 petitions before the RTI Commission. These were against state institutions that had refused or failed to grant requested information, and those that were demanding fees deemed too high or illegitimate.
Indeed, the very first decision by the RTI Commission on an RTI request was on a case filed by The Fourth Estate. In that case, The Fourth Estate had requested information from the Minerals Commission of Ghana on mining licenses that had been issued by the Commission. The Minerals Commission responded that The Fourth Estate needed to pay the equivalent of US$1,000 in local currency as fees (about GHC6,000), in order to be granted the requested information.
The Fourth Estate then filed a complaint with the RTI commission in June 2021, arguing that the amount being charged by the Mineral Commission was astronomical and at variance with the provisions of the RTI Law. In a decision on July 19, 2021, the RTI Commission directed the Minerals Commission to release the requested information to The Fourth Estate via email (as was requested) and at a cost not more than US$0.3 or GHC2. The Minerals Commission has since filed a suit at the High Court to challenge the decision of the RTI Commission.
There have been other ground-breaking decisions by the RTI Commission in relation to cases filed by The Fourth Estate.
For example, the Commission recently fined the Ghana National Fire Service GHC50,000 (about US$8,000). This was after the Fire Service had failed to grant The Fourth Estate’s requested information and also failed to provide an explanation to the Commission on why it refused to grant the requested information.
The RTI Commission has also recently imposed a fine of GHC30,000 (about US$5,000) on the Health Facilities Regulatory Agency (HeFRA) for failing to grant information requested by The Fourth Estate and also for failing to respond to the RTI Commission’s enquiry in relation to The Fourth Estate’s request.
Following another case by The Fourth Estate, the RTI Commission ordered the state Scholarship Secretariat, to release the list of all scholarship beneficiaries for 2019 and 2020 to The Fourth Estate, as requested. The Scholarship Secretariat had argued that it could not grant the requested information due to concerns of data protection. The RTI Commission, however, determined that the excuse of data protection was not tenable and not supported by the exemptions provisions of the RTI Law.
It does appear that more of these kinds of journalism projects may be what will help revitalise quality and watchdog journalism in Africa to inspire hope and trust in the media; and to reinforce the indispensable role of the media in the democratic development of African countries.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has noted with great concern a number of freedom of expression violations in Burkina Faso in the course of events leading to the January 24, 2022 military coup in the troubled nation, and calls on the new military authorities to uphold all fundamental freedoms including the right to information.
The military took power in Burkina Faso after a weekend of mutiny by aggrieved soldiers, backed by the masses who organised demonstrations against the perceived failure of President Marc Roch Kabore’s government to tackle insurgency that has killed thousands in the Sahel country.
Reading a communiqué signed by Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, president of the new junta (Patriotic Movement for Safeguard and Restoration – MPSR), a junior officer, Captain Kader Ouedraogo, announced on national television that the constitution has been suspended, the National Assembly dissolved and the country’s borders closed. A night curfew has also been imposed.
On January 22, 2022, the first of two days of demonstrations, Ibrahim Compaoré, reporter with La Chaîne au Coeur de l’Afrique (LCA), was hit in the left arm by a tear gas projectile thrown by the security forces while filming protests. The journalist who got his left arm fractured due to the choc of the impact was able to receive treatment.
On January 23, 2022, a day before the coup, mobile internet was cut for 35 hours amidst heavy-handed policing against anti-government demonstrations. The authorities had banned demonstrations and the police enforced the ban by using tear gas to disperse protesters, arresting over 30 people.
On the same day, freelance journalist Henry Wilkins and Sam Mednick, who works for the Associated press, were threatened and detained by soldiers at the Sangoule Lamizana military camp in Ouagadougou. The soldiers frightened the journalists by aiming their guns at them. The military officers also confiscated the equipment of the journalists who were briefly detained in the camp. The journalists had their equipment returned after they were released.
Netblocks, a private organization that monitors digital rights, cybersecurity, and internet governance around the world, reported the internet disruption on Twitter.
“The incidents since Sunday morning have been masked by the imposition of a nationwide internet blackout”, it added.
Sawadogo Delwende, a journalist with L’Economiste du Faso, and Noufou Kindo, Editor-in-Chief of Burkina24 have expressed outrage at the internet disruption, describing it as a backward action and a violation of the right to information.
“The events of the last weekend and the coup of Monday were important incidents that created public anxiety. The need for information and the work of journalists become particularly critical during such occasions. It is, therefore, a blatant violation of press freedom and citizens’ rights to information to disrupt the Internet at these times. The pressure is too much,” Noufou Kindo told the MFWA in a telephone interview.
Sawadogo Delwende, expressing her expectations, said “the first thing is that the internet should never again be cut, it should be an absolute freedom… And also, journalists should be protected.”
Media sources reported, meanwhile, that a political activist, Korotoumou Anaïs Drabo (Mouvement Sauvons le Burkina Faso) was arrested by the police on Saturday morning while on her way to a Court in Ouagadougou to which the movement had appealed the ban on protests by the municipal authorities. She was released later on the same day, having been beaten in detention at the Wemtenga police station, according to her narration to the local media.
The demonstrators also perpetrated their part of violent lawlessness. The campaign headquarters of the Mouvement du Peuple pour le Progrès (MPP), which is located in the Nonsin district of Ouagadougou, was vandalised and set on fire on January 23, 2022. Protesters set also fire to tyres in some streets of the capital and other big towns and threw stones in retaliation of police brutalities.
The coup in Burkina Faso confirms a growing fear of democratic a relapse in West Africa following similar military takeovers in Mali and Guinea. The region, once touted as a bastion of democracy in Africa, has seen been racked by political upheavals, especially in the Sahel countries and Northern Nigeria. Constitutional autocracy is on the rise as the traditional two-term presidential mandates have been breached in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire and Togo.
The MFWA strongly condemns the brutal violations of citizens’ rights to demonstrate, and to access information in Burkina Faso. We welcome the release of some of the arrested individuals during the troubles and call on the military authorities to investigate the violent attacks on protesters as well as the excesses on the part of rioters in order to redress all wrongs.
The MFWA also urges the ECOWAS, the African Union, the United Nations to work together with the military regime and civil society in Burkina Faso to restore constitutional order as soon as possible.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) roundly condemns the attack on the Radio Ada (93.3 FM), a community radio station in the Greater Accra region of Ghana and demands immediate investigations and prosecution of perpetrators.
A group of thugs numbering about 12 on January 13, 2022, stormed the premises of the community radio station, assaulted two of its journalists and vandalised equipment.
A journalist at Radio Ada who is also the External Communications Officer of the media house, Julius Odoi, told the MFWA that the hoodlums invaded the station at around 11:45 am (GMT) after a drinking binge at a nearby drinking bar. They demanded to see the Manager and when told by the security guards that he was not available, the intruders forcibly entered the building. They broke the studio door and caused mayhem. According to Odoi, the thugs ordered Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, who was presenting a music programme, to stop his presentation.
“Before the presenter could react, they disconnected cables, smashed computers and attacked the console and microphones, disrupting the broadcast in the process,” Odoi told the MFWA in a telephone conversation.
After upsetting the studio, the thugs assaulted the presenter amidst warnings to the station to stop its Manor Munyu programme, a regular feature that discusses the state of the salt mining industry, the mainstay of the Ada economy.
The invaders who had come carrying bottles of alcohol, also forced another journalist, Gideon Amanor Dzeagu, to kneel for several minutes while they proceeded to turn the whole premises into a mess by breaking their bottles and littering the place with alcohol and shards.
The thugs assaulted journalists at the radio station and vandalised equipment at the studio
The Ada Songhor programme is highly critical of the operations of Electrochem, the firm accorded the rights to mine salt in the Songhor Lagoon. Electrochem has in the past had to write to the Management of the radio station to complain about alleged misrepresentations about its operations and demand an apology. There is, however, no indication that the attackers are linked to the salt mining firm.
Meanwhile, the presenter, Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, is said to be responding to treatment, having been rushed to the District Hospital for attention.
The Ada District Police Commander, DSP Andreas Mifetu, confirmed to the MFWA in a telephone chat that his outfit issued a medical form to the presenter after the station reported the assault.
The Police chief also confirmed that a team of officers have been dispatched to the premises of Radio Ada to verify the incident, as part of investigations.
The management of the radio station, in a statement, has announced that the station will shut down for a few days to enable it to review and repair the extent of the damage caused.
Radio Ada has a reputation for critical reports which hold the powerful to account. On August 2, 2018, the police stormed the station in search of one of its radio presenters, Joseph Korletey Korley, popularly known as DJ Koxterio. The journalist had angered the chiefs of the traditional area by demanding that they account for the funds raised at the annual cultural festival, Asafotufiami.
The MFWA vigorously condemns this shameful attack on Radio Ada and its staff by the cowardly hoodlums. It is a vicious attack that seeks to silence the media house and instil fear in journalists. We are confident that the station and its staff will continue to stand firm in service to the public and demand that the authorities take measures to provide them the needed protection. We urge the police to conduct thorough investigations into the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.
An investigative report by Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) independent journalism project, The Fourth Estate, has been named among the best investigative reports in sub-Saharan Africa for 2021.
This comes barely a year when the MFWA established the non-profit, independent investigative journalism project.
The Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), an international hub for the world’s investigative reporters, named the “The Licensed sex predator, an investigative piece by The Fourth Estate’s Editor-in-Chief, Manasseh Azure Awuni, among the top 10 best investigative stories from the continent.
The ten stories that made the list were selected from eight countries—Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia and Uganda.
“This collection of 10 investigative stories across eight countries in Africa is a demonstration of what’s possible when reporters on the continent receive the right leadership and support,” the GIJN wrote.
In an investigation that lasted over a year, The Fourth Estate revealed how some women were sexually assaulted by a self-styled physiotherapist, “Dr” Jonathan Ohene Nkunim in his Nature’s Hand Therapeutic Centre.
“Dr” Ohene Nkunim’s victims included a couple who had gone to Nature’s Hand Therapeutic Centre, Gbawe, Accra in 2018 to seek his help to be able to conceive. He ended up sleeping with the woman. Feeling guilty about the affair, she confessed to her husband and that was how the seven-year-old marriage ended.
A young woman was on the verge of suicide because the heart-wrenching pain from her spinal cord convinced her that ending her life was a better option. Someone offered her a lifeline, Jonathan Ohene Nkunim’s hotline.
Ohene Nkunim raped her the first day she entered the facility in pain and lay on the massage bed.
He left incriminating evidence in his WhatsApp conversation with her after the ordeal. He admitted he did not seek her permission before having sex with her.
Nkunim claimed the procedure he wanted to perform required sexual arousal. He said he should have “sensitised” her before proceeding. Nkunim then apologised profusely. But he did not stop.
Eulogising the story, the GIJN said:
“Ghana’s latest investigative journalism nonprofit,The Fourth Estate, created by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), was the force behind one of the most consequential investigations to come out of Africa this past year.
“Braving harrowing testimonies from victims and disturbing evidence from an undercover investigation, reporter Manasseh Azure Awuni exposed a health practitioner who used his registered practice to sexually assault women seeking reproductive treatment and support. The three-part series is one of those instances where an undercover investigation provides irrefutable evidence, despite denials by the perpetrator.
“Eventually, the overwhelming proof against that proprietor led to his arrest and confession, putting to an end to his exploitation of desperate victims.”
The GIJN described as “remarkable” the level of investigative journalism that emerged from sub-Saharan Africa in 2021 particularly at a time newsrooms in Africa were increasingly struggling with shortages of cash and threats to press freedom.
“For many of the eye-catching stories that made it to this year’s editor’s pick, the reporting time ranged from three months to a full year. This points to a growing ability by journalists in Africa to dedicate ample time — and, indeed, resources — to a single story,” it said.
But there is more to it.
“Several factors account for this strong dedication to in-depth reporting. First, nonprofit media outlets are helping fill the vacuum created by cash and resource-strapped traditional media organizations. Foundations and development agencies are also offering more consistent and more generous reporting grants, with greater opportunities for long-form investigations, even for freelance journalists,” it explained.
About The Fourth Estate project
The MFWA launchedThe Fourth Estate in 2021 as a non-profit, independent investigative journalism project.
The project emerged out of about three years of planning and brainstorming and is a response to the dearth of critical, analytical, in-depth, and independent journalism in Ghana and in many countries in West Africa.
TheFourth Estate project was established to focus on asserting the watchdog role of the media to promote transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption in governance through independent, fact-based journalism
The project prioritises quality investigative and in-depth reporting in the areas of governance, environment (especially climate change issues and the extractives sector), health, and human rights.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) roundly condemns the threats and insults directed at Asmaa James Kamara, the director of Freetown-based Radio Democracy by a popular rapper and his alleged fans.
Alhaji Amadu Bah, popularly known as LAJ, described Asmaa James Kamara as a “bastard child” and threatened that “the next time I see you I will piss on your face.”
The threat and abuse were contained in a Facebook video that LAJ posted on December 11, 2021, following Radio Democracy’s extensive coverage of a case in which the artiste is standing trial for causing public disorder and assaulting a police officer. The case was last called on December 6, but the accused failed to turn up, which was also reported by the radio station.
Kamara told RSF that she was “shocked” by the rapper’s insults and that she had received several threatening calls from the rapper’s fans since he posted the video.
“It is unacceptable and criminal to threaten anyone with physical harm. And it is more outrageous when the threat is issued by a popular artiste against a professional journalist doing her reporting job,” said Muheeb Saeed, head of Freedom of Expression at the MFWA.
Meanwhile, we welcome the decision of the rapper to render an apology to Kamara as an important gesture of conciliation. LAJ posted the apology on Facebook on December 13 after he received a barrage of condemnation from the public. Nonetheless, on December 16, the police arrested and detained him on charges of “public insult and misconduct under Sierra Leone’s 1965 Public Order Act.
The MFWA has also learnt that the veteran female journalist and station manager for Radio Democracy has forgiven her bully, who has since been released on bail. Kamara announced the pardon in this open letter:
We reiterate our condemnation of the threat and insults by LAJ and urge the authorities to ensure that the law takes its course as far as the criminal aspect of the matter is concerned.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has facilitated a tour for senior officials from the Information Services Department (ISD) of the Republic of Gambia to learn and share experiences on press freedom and access to information in Ghana.
The four-man team was in Ghana from December 13-17, 2021 for engagements with the MFWA and other key actors in Ghana’s media and access to information space. Led by Deputy Director of the Service, Ebrima Njie, the team was received at the offices of the MFWA by the Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, and board member, Professor Kwame Karikari. at the start of their five-day tour. The engagement focused on the press freedom environment in Ghana and the country’s experience so far with the implementation of the Right to Information (RTI) law passed in 2019.
Following the fall of the 22-year autocratic regime of Yahyah Jammeh, the new authorities in The Gambia are seeking to lay strong institutional foundations for a democratic rebound. The MFWA and its national partner organisation, Gambia Press Union (GPU) have over the past five years engaged extensively with the new government led by President Adama Barrow and other stakeholders to introduce legal reforms that have greatly improved The Gambia’s media and freedom of expression environment. Press freedom violations, very rampant under the 22- year autocracy of Yahyah Jammeh, have considerably reduced. The country has adopted an Access to Information law and partially decriminalised libel through a Supreme Court decision.
It is within the framework of the country’s efforts to sustain the reforms momentum that the senior officials from the Gambia’s ISD came to Ghana to engage with various relevant organisations and individuals on democracy, press freedom and access to information. Ghana also adopted a Right to Information law recently and is considered among of the best examples in the sub-region in terms of press freedom. The Gambian Information Services Department (ISD) is in charge of ensuring the establishment of the implementation framework for the Access to Information Law in their country.
A senior programme officer at the MFWA, Muheeb Saeed, led the Gambian delegation to the offices of the National Media Commission for their second engagement. The Gambian officials were received by the Executive Secretary of the media regulator, George Sarpong, who briefed them about the legal framework regulating the media space in Ghana. He underlined the unique mode of nominating members of the Commission and the selection of the Chairperson by his peers, adding that the arrangement assures the complete independence of the Commission in carrying out its regulatory duties. The next port of call was the International Press Centre, where they met executives of the Ghana Journalists Association, led by its acting President, Roland Affail Monney.
On the third day of the tour, the delegation went to the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). Management of the organisation was led by the Director-General, Professor Amin Alhassan, who explained how the organisation is run. He explained that the head of GBC is appointed by the independent National Media Commission and is insulated from executive interference. Professor Alhassan told the Gambians that GBC operates as a public service broadcaster, catering to the needs and interests of all segments of the public. He said the RTI law has not yet been fully tested, but expressed confidence in the commitment of the RTI Commission to ensure a smooth implementation and greater accountability from public institutions.
The delegation visited the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)
On the fourth day, the delegation from The Gambia was at the Ministry of Information as guests of their Ghanaian counterparts, the Information Services Department (ISD) Ghana. They were received by the Minister, Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Mrs Mamle Andrews, the Ag. Chief Information Officer of ISD, David Owusu-Amoah. Others were the Head of the Access to Information Division, Dr Winnifred Nafisa Mahama and Mrs Ethel Amissah-Cudjoe, Head of Public Relations Coordination Division. The Minister said over the past five years, ISD Ghana has been transformed in terms of its structure, operations and equipment, and expressed Ghana’s readiness to accompany The Gambia in its quest to reinforce its ISD.
The Gambian delegation posed with the Minister of Information (middle; in suit and tie) and his team
The Ag. Chief Information Officer of ISD Ghana, David Owusu-Amoah, briefed the Gambian guests about the structure and functions of ISD Ghana and the two Institutions discussed how they could collaborate to improve access to information and advance good governance in their respective countries. The guests were later taken on a tour of the various departments and installations within ISD Ghana.
The delegation ended the fourth day of their tour at the offices of A- Partners @ Law, where they engaged with the head of the law firm, Samson Lardy Anyenini, one of the leading figures in the campaign leading to the passage of Ghana’s RTI Law and an authority on the law. Samson outlined the major features of Ghana’s RTI law, the work of the RTI Commission and his experience as counsel for some institutions which have gone to court or appealed to the Commission after being denied their RTI requests. He advised the Gambians to prescribe reasonable amounts as fees for information requests in order to prevent information holders from charging arbitrary and dissuasive fees.
The delegation rounded off their tour of Ghana with a visit to the office of the RTI Commission on the fifth and final day, accompanied by the MFWA’s Administrative Manager, Daisy Prempeh. They were received by the Executive Director of the RTI Commission, Yaw Sarpong Boateng, who explained the work of his outfit to the guests. Mr Boateng assured the delegation of the RTI Commission’s willingness to share experience and collaborate with the Gambia to create an enduring culture of openness and transparency in public administration through an effective implementation of the RTI laws. Mr Boateng advised against allowing public institutions to turn the RTI fees into avenues for generating funds internally.
The delegation rounded off their tour with a visit to the office of the RTI Commission
The leader of the Gambian and Deputy Director of the Gambian ISD, Ebrima Njie, noted that although the Gambia was now fully democratic, the hangover from the autocracy of the past could still be felt in the reserved attitude of public officers and their willingness to disclose information.
“Civil society and journalists still find it difficult to get information. Senior public officials are not willing to provide information. They hide behind the cliché of having an order from above not to provide information,” Mr Njie said.
The delegation left Ghana on December 20, 2021, after paying a courtesy call on the Executive Director of the MFWA to thank his organization for hosting them and facilitating their tour. They expressed satisfaction with the outcome of their engagements in Ghana adding that the tour will greatly enhance their work in overseeing the setting up of the structures for an effective implementation of The Gambia’s Access to Information Law.
