Lighthouse Chapel, a leading Charismatic Church in Ghana has filed multiple suits against The Fourth Estate, an independent journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa.
The suits follow a series of reports published by The Fourth Estate about alleged abuse of the rights of some six former pastors of the Church.
The three-part story reported by The Fourth Estate catalogued the alleged abuse of the former six pastors including the non-payment of SSNIT contributions of the clergymen who have since resigned from the church.
The six have resigned and sued the Lighthouse Chapel International and are praying the court to compel the church to pay their SSNIT contributions and damages for the rights, which the church violated.
Eight months after the publication, the church in a suit said it was unable to “quantify and or particularise the loss it has suffered or sustained” after the series of stories on the issue.
It named the Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Estate, Manasseh Azure Awuni; the reporter who worked on the story, Edwin Appiah; the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), as defendants.
Part of the suit said, “It is the plaintiff’s contention that the relationship of the plaintiff [LCI] and its founder is a closely fused and inseparable that an attack on the plaintiff’s leader is as good as an attack, both directly and indirectly, against the plaintiff.”
The Lighthouse Chapel International contended that the publication dented its image and it had “suffered considerable damage distress and embarrassment, and has also suffered special and aggravated damage,” and wants the court to restrain The Fourth Estate from publishing “similar words defamatory of the plaintiff.”
The church claimed that The Fourth Estate’s publication meant that, The Lighthouse was engaged in a “long term deceptive agenda of inducing its employees and volunteers into untoward reliance on the plaintiff and so succumbing to subservient dependence on the plaintiff.”
Aside from these, it also wants The Fourth Estate to apologise for the stories and also pull down all the stories.
However, Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the MFWA, has maintained that the independent journalism project will be unfazed by the suits.
“We are undeterred by these suits and remain resolute in our mission to produce compelling stories that serve the public interest. We are mindful of the challenges we will face in our efforts to revive and bolster watchdog journalism that holds the powerful accountable. We will remain on the side of the public and vulnerable,” Mr Braimah said.
In the pretext of fighting misinformation and disinformation online, many governments in francophone West Africa are adopting legislation that is being used to suppress freedom of expression online and digital rights. In this article, Programme Associate, Edzodzi Kokou Ahiadou outlines these pieces of legislation, countries where they have been passed and some of the victims of these repressive laws.
Freedom of expression both offline and online is guaranteed in most West African countries. The enactment of relatively friendly legal frameworks in a number of countries demonstrates a progressive effort in promoting freedom of expression online.
However, there is a creeping culture of repression in recent times. A trend of physical attacks and arbitrary arrests and detentions have been observed.
With the growth in internet penetration and the massive use of social media, several governments have modified existing laws, while some have adopted new ones such as cybersecurity or cybercrime laws that can be used to suppress free speech. In several instances, these new laws have been invoked and interpreted to target and abuse critics and dissidents of governments across countries in the region.
Though libel and defamation have been decriminalized under press codes in many countries, new concerns about fake news and publication of false information have led to the adoption of false information laws, often with vague provisions that are exploited to harass critical media houses and journalists publishing online, particularly on social media. Similarly, the laws are interpreted to suit individual and political agenda, especially when critics and dissidents of government or influential individuals are targeted.
This article presents some of the key adopted legal frameworks that are considered detrimental to freedom of expression particularly for online and social media publication in seven countries in francophone West Africa. The piece also details how these legislations have been used to suppress dissidents of governments and critical voices.
Benin
The freedom of expression both offline and online is guaranteed by the Benin Constitution, under article 23. Article 142 gives power to HAAC, the media governing body, to regulate the media landscape both offline and online. Too often, this body goes after outspoken media houses and journalists in what is perceived as a state-sponsored crackdown. For example, the HAAC in 2020, threatened several online media organisations with a shutdown. It took an outcry from the media fraternity for the regulator to rescind its decision.
Benin’s digital code was adopted in 2018 under President Talon’s regime
Equally worrying is the digital code (in French: le Code du Numérique) which is widely denounced as inimical to freedom of expression online. Article 550, paragraph 3 of the law punishes the dissemination of false information with up to six months’ imprisonment. Based on this law, several journalists and political activists were arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to prison in the country. For instance, journalists Ignace Sossou, Casimir Kpédjo, Donatien Djéglé and the activist Jean Kpoton, were arrested and brought before the court under the Digital Code.
Burkina Faso
Article 8 of Burkina Faso’s 1991 Constitution guarantees and protects freedom of expression both offline and online for all persons, regardless of the media channel. Aside from the constitutional provisions, there is la loi n°058-2015/CNT which regulate the online press, and the ordinance (n°086-2015/CNT), which serves as a legal framework for the online press in the country. These laws are generally considered progressive and protective of media and freedom of expression.
In addition, other legal frameworks regulate electronic or digital communications and seek to enshrine freedom of expression, access to information both online and offline. The country has adopted a law (loi n.010-2004/AN) that protects privacy and personal data.
However, with the surge in terrorism in the Sahel region confronting Burkina Faso, the country recently reviewed the penal code by imposing some restrictions and controls on the free flow of information. This poses threats to freedom of expression and restricts media and press independence.
Two laws were adopted that modified the penal code. These laws are law n°025-2018/AN 31 May 2018 of the Penal Code of Burkina Faso and the amending act, law n°044-2019/AN. These laws regulate the publication of information about military operations related to terrorists’ attacks. These laws effectively reverse the gains made in terms of depenalisation of press offences and impose criminal sanctions on what is otherwise a non-criminal press offence. It imposes prison sanctions, including fines up to 10 million CFA francs (1,7980 USD) for publication, in any medium, liable to undermine security.
Also, the law enjoins media and journalists to obtain authorisation before publication and gives full power to the authorities to crack down on or block online publications on the military. In 2018, Naim Toure, a social media activist, was arrested and sentenced to prison for criticising the security forces.
Côte d’Ivoire
Freedom of expression online is guaranteed under articles 18, 19, and 20 of the 2016 Constitution. Though press offence is decriminalised by the law, (in french) loi n°2017-868, it imposes hefty fines on media and journalists found culpable of defamation, publication of false information, etc. either online or in the traditional media.
The fine varies between 8500 USD and 17 000 USD. Several media houses and journalists have been fined and this seriously undermines the viability of media.
Also, the offence of insulting the President is punishable severely under the criminal code. The sanction can go up to 2 years in prison, with a fine of up to 3 million CFA ($US 5,740). For instance, in 2018, Eddie Armel Kouassi, a student, was brought before the court for allegedly posting an article questioning the nationality of President Alassane Ouattara and Fabrice Sawegnon, an influential individual.
The provision on the offense of insulting the President is extremely vague, elastic and liable to broad interpretations. This silences critical media regarding certain publications about the President.
In 2013, Côte d’Ivoire adopted a cybercrime law (loi 2013-451, relative à la lutte contre la cyber sécurité). This law punishes by up to twenty years and fines of up to 185,163 USD perpetrators of cybercrimes including press offences committed online. While the adoption of cybersecurity law is laudable to fight against crimes in cyberspace, they are potential threats as they can be invoked arbitrarily by a repressive government to crack down on dissent and opponents for critical publication online.
Guinea
Like most countries in West Africa, Guinea guarantees its citizens freedom of expression both online and offline. However, there are other frameworks regulating telecommunications, internet and communication-related issues. There is no specific law governing the internet and social media. Meanwhile, the press code, L/2010/02/CNT, regulates journalist and media work both offline and online and decriminalises press offences.
The authorities often invoke the cybersecurity law (N. L/2016/037/AN) to crackdown on freedom of expression online. Article 32 and 33 of the cybersecurity often stretched to cover “state and public security’’ providing a pretext to harass, arrest, detain, prosecute and imprison journalists.
For instance, Algassinou Diallo, a journalist working with the privately-owned radio, Lynx FM, was subjected to judicial harassment on the basis of the above articles in 2019. The journalist had granted a telephone interview on radio to Madame Sanoh Dossou Conde, a fierce critic and dissident of the government.
Similarly, several journalists and social media activists were arrested on the basis of the cybersecurity provisions for critical publications against President Conde’s attempt to seek a third mandate. Oumar Sylla, a leader of the FNDC, a political protest movement, was arrested and sentenced to prison in April 2020, for publication of false information.
On October 27, 2020, Mamadi Condé, a sympathizer and social media activist of the opposition party, was arrested by the security forces. He was accused of undermining state security, incitement to violence, incitement to the destruction of public property through his publications on social media.
Mali
The digital space is regulated by several texts in Mali. Concerning media and freedom of expression online, the Constitution guarantees freedom for all, under article 7.
In addition to the constitutional provision on freedom of expression, other laws govern the media space both online and offline, namely the law; la Loi N° 00-046/AN-RM du 7 Juillet 2000 on press regime and offence, Loi n°2012-019/ related to private audiovisual communications services.
However, Law No. 00-046/AN-RM is the most significant one as compared to the repressive disposition of legal frameworks of 1988 and 1992. But still, there is much to be desired. This is because the law does not decriminalize press offences. Several journalists were arrested and sentenced to prison for their publication both online and online.
Article 4 of this law, contain disposition that can be interpreted to repress fierce critics and dissident based on public order, security or national unity. Indeed, article 4 states that: “No one shall be allowed to use the audiovisual media to incite hatred, violence, undermine the integrity of the territory or jeopardize national harmony and unity”.
Furthermore, there are other legal frameworks regulating cyberspace. These are Law No. 2019-056 on the repression of cybercrime and Law No. 2013-015 of 21 May 2013 on the protection of personal data, and a third, Law No. 2016-011 of 6 May 2016 on the rules applicable to the means, methods, services and systems of cryptology.
Articles 74 to 78 are liable to undermine privacy and personal data protection. Other articles like 83, 84, 85 and 86 authorise surveillance and interception of telecommunications. What all this means is that the invocation, interpretation and application of these articles can be abusive by an ill-intentioned and repressive government. Variably, these provisions can be invoked to target opponents or critical dissidents at the behest of state security or other state-sponsored attacks on freedom.
For instance, journalist Ibrahim Adiawiakoye was arrested on September 18, 2020. Officials of the judicial police raided the premises of the online newspaper, Mali Scoop. Without presenting any summons or warrant, they arrested the journalist upon the complaint of the former minister, Harouna Touré, following an article published by the online media.
Niger
The current Constitution of Niger, in article 30, protects and guarantees freedom of expression. In addition to the constitution, there are several other frameworks that govern electronic communication and related matters of freedom of expression, media freedom both online and offline in the country.
The adoption of the ordinance N° 2010-35 du 04 Juin 2010, on the freedom of expression regime was considered a major milestone. This law decriminalises press offences, however, several journalists have been arrested for their publication on social media, under the civil code or cybersecurity law.
Similar to Mali, Niger cyber security law intrude into privacy and forestall freedom on line. Articles 27 to 32 of the cybercrime law (LOI N°2019-33 du 03 juillet 2019) listed a series of offences, including defamation and publication of false information.
The law imposes up to 3 years of imprisonment with fines that can go up to $ US 8000.
Several journalists and individuals have fallen victims to this repressive law. For instance, the journalist Samira Sabou, Kaka Touda, Ali Souman have borne the brunt of this cybercrime law.
Additionally, individuals and activists such as Amina Maiga, working in a district court in Niamey, the activist Mahaman Lawai Nassourou, and Garba Dan Saley Laouali were among other individuals that were persecuted with the cybercrime law for either sharing or publishing articles deemed unfriendly to authorities on social media.
Togo
Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution form the basis of freedom of expression and press freedom in Togo as in all the six countries featured in this analysis. Additionally, other laws and frameworks come to underpin specific rights and regulations, according to the sector. The press code (loi n. 2020-001 du 7 Janvier 2020) also guarantees the freedom of the press both offline and online. Press offence is also decriminalised. There is no specific law governing online newspapers.
However, there is a criminal code whose article 498 is considered repressive. Its application is susceptible to undermine freedom both online and offline. Under this article, a journalist or anyone deemed sinful of false publication or dissemination of false news or fake news can be prosecuted and sentenced to six to two years in prison, with a fine at the tune of 500,000 FCFA ($ US 894) to 2,000,000 FCA ($ US 3,575).
Also, article 25 of the cybersecurity law (loi n° 2018 – 026 du 07/12/18) poses a threat to freedom of expression. It imposes one month to 3years prison terms, including one million ($ US 1,787) to three million francs CFA ($ US 5,362) fines for anyone found guilty of false publications through a digital system.
Article 498 of the criminal code and article 25 of the cybersecurity laws can be interpreted abusively to target any critical publication under the pretence of the fight against false information and disinformation.
Recently, a court fined Ferdinand Ayite, an investigative journalist and editor of the newspaper Alternative, to pay more than $US 7000 as a defamatory fine for exposing corruption involving high profile authorities in the oil sector scandal in Togo.
Conclusion & Recommendations:
Given constitutional provisions and specific laws on the press, telecommunications and freedom of expression, it appears that many countries in the West African sub-region, particularly in Francophone countries, have decriminalised press offences with the advent of democratic rule and the multi-party system.
However, these advances are gradually being undermined by liberticidal laws under the pretext of the fight against cybercrime, which is certainly indispensable but should not target democratic gains, including freedom of the press and of expression as well as the enjoyment of civil and political rights. Therefore, these few recommendations are proffered to advance and protect the gains of freedom of speech, access to information and free expression:
States must guarantee freedom of expression and of the press at all times, both online and offline, as this is essential for citizen participation in the management of public affairs
Law enforcement agencies must respect the rights of the media, journalists and all persons to access information and freedom of expression, and refrain from arresting, detaining and beating people exercising their civil and political rights
Courts and tribunals must ensure the protection of the rights to freedom of the press and of expression both online and offline, by refraining from the abusive interpretation of repressive laws
Parliaments should be willing to pass cyber security laws without undermining progressive efforts to protect fundamental freedoms, freedom of the press, of expression, as-well-as civil and political rights on the internet and social networks.
All people should make responsible use of the internet and social networks.
Two-thirds of countries in West Africa have adopted Access to Information (ATI) laws. These laws are supposed to remove barriers to public access to information, improve transparency and accountability in governance, and help reduce public sector corruption. But has the adoption of ATI laws by West African countries contributed to or resulted in improved democratic governance, transparency, accountability and reduced public sector corruption? Our Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, explores this question and highlights what the MFWA is doing to promote public access to governance information in West Africa.
The adoption of Access to Information (ATI) laws represents a noteworthy milestone for transparency and accountability in governance. By extension, such laws are also significant for fighting public sector corruption. This is because ATI laws are regarded as sunshine laws that should ordinarily enable people to seek and receive information about various governance issues about how their resources are utilised by those in authority.
As observed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “the right to access information is an essential part of open government. It enables citizens to participate more fully in public life, it helps combat corruption and protects citizens’ rights.” The importance of ATI to democratic governance is, for example, highlighted in paragraph 3 of the preamble to Liberia’s Freedom of Information Act (2010), which acknowledges that “access to information is indispensable to genuine democracy and good governance.”
Given the great potential of ATI laws to improve governance, the passage of such laws is often considered a demonstration of some level of willingness on the part of state leaders to be more transparent and accountable to the people. This explains why the adoption of an ATI law by a country is often celebrated by governance and anti-corruption activists as a major boost for transparency and accountability.
At the moment, West Africa has the largest number of countries that have adopted Access to Information (ATI) laws in Africa compared to the other regional blocs on the continent. Ten out of the 15 ECOWAS member states have adopted laws that are supposed to remove barriers to public access to information and guarantee the fundamental rights of access to information held by public institutions.
Liberia and Guinea were the first in the region to adopt ATI laws in 2010. Nigeria and Niger followed in 2011, then Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire in 2013. Burkina Faso and Togo adopted their laws in 2015 and 2016 respectively, while Ghana and The Gambia adopted their respective laws in 2019 and 2021 respectively.
But has the adoption of ATI laws by West African countries contributed to, or resulted in improvement in democratic governance, transparency, accountability and reduction in corruption? Unfortunately, the evidence so far does not reveal any positive impact of ATI laws on governance and anti-corruption in the region.
As far as governance is concerned, despite an impressive progress towards democratisation over the last two decades, West Africa is currently suffering from severe democratic turbulence characterised by an accelerated retrogression of the marginal democratic gains that had been made over the past two decades.
Citizens participation in governance and respect for fundamental rights to free expression and access to information are suffering from increasing and routine restrictions. In an article published by Freedom House, the authors highlight West Africa as the region with the fastest decline in political rights and civil liberties in 2019, which the authors described as an “alarming development.”
In Freedom House’s Freedom of the World report for 2020, it notes that out of the countries that witnessed the largest year-on-year score declines around the world in 2019, five of them are in West African namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, and Nigeria. Of these five, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Nigeria have ATI laws.
President Patrice Talon’s Benin hurriedly passed new eligibility conditions that prevented opposition candidates from contesting in the country’s 2019 Parliamentary elections.
After years of democratic rebuilding, Mali and Guinea are back to military rule. Cote d’Ivoire and Togo are saddled with third and fourth term governments respectively. In Benin, the National Assembly is monolithic and bereft of opposition party representation. This follows a hurriedly-passed law, which introduced new eligibility conditions that prevented opposition candidates from contesting the country’s 2019 Parliamentary elections. Acts of repression and other autocratic tendencies have become prevalent in nearly all countries. Evidently, the region’s admired democratic progress is severely under manifest threat from multiple fronts.
While the adoption of ATI laws may have limited influence on the general democratic ethos of nations, it is believed that they do have a direct impact on improving the fight against corruption and enhancing accountability. However, despite having many countries with ATI laws, corruption remains perhaps the most virulent obstacle to development in West Africa.
As observed in a report by the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU), corruption is still a major problem across West Africa. Indeed, the performance of West African countries as far as corruption is concerned, has remained below the global average.
Analysis of data from Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) for the last few years, for example, does not show that countries that have adopted ATI laws in the region have experienced any significant improvement in their corruption scores. In fact, in several cases, the levels of corruption (per the TI’s CPI scores) gets worse in countries after the adoption of ATI laws. And no country with an ATI law in the region has ever scored up to the half mark of 50.
Liberia, for example, adopted its law in 2010. In 2012, when the law took full effect with all structures in place, the country’s CPI score was 41 out of 100 and that score has remained the country’s best performance since then. In 2013, the score dropped to 38. It further dropped to 37 for three consecutive years (2014, 2015, 2016). In 2017, there was a further drop to 31, then a point up the following year to 32. For 2019 and 2020, the score dropped again to 28 out of 100.
The case of Nigeria is not different. In 2012 ( a year after the adoption of the law), Nigeria’s CPI score was 27 out of 100. The following year, the score dropped to 25 and regained two points again back to 27 in 2014. In 2015, the score dropped to 26. In 2016 country gained two points scoring 28, which remains the country’s best score for the last ten years. In 2017 and 2018, the score was back to 27, with further drops in 2019 and 2020 to 26 and 25 respectively.
The pattern is the same for Sierra Leone, which adopted its law in 2013. In the year the law was adopted, the country’s score was 30 out of 100. There was a marginal improvement to 31 in 2014 and a drop back to 29 in 2015. For 2016, 2017 and 2018, the score stayed at 30 with marginal improvements in 2019 and 2020 when the score moved up to 33 in both years.
The case of post-ATI law CPI scores among francophone countries in West Africa is relatively better compared with those of the Anglophone countries. While many of the francophone countries score lower than their Anglophone peers, whereas the scores of anglophone countries tend to dip post the adoption of ATI law, francophone countries experience marginal improvements in scores post-adoption of ATI laws.
Cote d’Ivoire adopted its ATI law in 2013. In the year the law was adopted, the country’s score was 27 out of 100. The score jumped to 32 for both 2014 and 2015 and saw a further increase to 34 in 2016. In 2017, there was a further improvement in the score to 36 and a reduction by a point to 35 for both 2018 and 2019; and a point increase to 36 in 2020. Overall, the scores remain abysmal and the pattern is such that any marginal increments in scores cannot be attributed to the existence of ATI laws.
In the case of Guinea, in 2012 (two years after the adoption of ATI law), the country’s CPI score was 24 out of 100. The score was the same in 2013 and marginally increased to 25 in 2014 and 2015. It further increased to 27 in 2016 and 2017; with a further increase to 28 in 2018. In 2019, there was a further single point increase to 29 before dropping back to 28 in 2020. In this case, therefore, the scores for the various years did not dip below the base year score of 24. Despite what appears to be marginal increases, it is important to underscore the fact that the country has failed to score even 30% of the total possible score of 100.
In Niger, where an ATI law was adopted in 2011, the 2012 CPI score was 33. The score marginally appreciated in 2013 and 2014 to 34 and 35 respectively. In 2015 the score dropped back to 34 and increased to 35 again in 2016. In 2017, there was a drop to 33, picking up a point in 2018 to 34 before dropping to 32 for both 2019 and 2020.
Indeed, the performance of some other countries in the region that are yet to have ATI laws further highlights the lack of impact of ATI laws on levels of corruption or perceived corruption.
For example, despite not having an ATI law, Senegal has seen consistent improvement in its CPI score since 2012 and outperforms peers with ATI laws. In 2012, Senegal’s score was 36. The score jumped to 41 in 2013; 43 in 2014; 44 in 2015 and stagnated at 45 from 2016 to 2020.
In Ghana, the best performing years in the last decade in terms of the CPI scores, have been prior to the adoption of the country’s ATI law in 2019, which became operational in 2020. In 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, Ghana scored 45, 46, 48 and 47 respectively before dropping to 43 in 2016. However, in 2019 when the law was adopted and 2020 when it became operational, Ghana scored 41 and 43 respectively.
For now, the evidence suggests that while ATI laws have great potential for improving governance, the mere adoption of such laws is just necessary but not sufficient to guarantee good democratic governance, promote transparency and accountability, and reduce corruption.
What is critical is the effective application and compliance with the law after its adoption.
For an efficient implementation of ATI laws to happen, a number of conditions including the following six conditions are critical:
First, members of the public must understand the law; appreciate how it enables or enhances their right of access to information; and how they can assert that right to demand transparency and accountability in governance. This requires continues capacity building, awareness creation and public education about the law and the opportunities it presents for enhancing governance transparency and accountability. It also requires support for members of the public, especially marginalsied groups, to assert their right through the filing of requests and doing follow-ups on requests till information is accessed.
Second, public institutions that are information holders must understand the law and how its compliance helps to build public trust and confidence in governance. They need to also understand how compliance with the law engenders public support for government policies and programmes including the willingness among members of the public to fulfil their tax obligations.
Third, beyond understanding the law and the willingness to comply with the law, the necessary resources (financial, logistical and human) and right record keeping approaches must be in place to facilitate compliance with the law. For example, trained information officers must be in place; they must have the required logistics (computers and internet etc) to operate. Institutions also need to have the right filing, archiving and bureaucratic systems in place to facilitate easy access to records, and as much as possible, provide proactive disclosure of information.
Fourth, the implementing bodies (often an ATI Commission) mandated to promote the law and enforce compliance, must assert their independence from governmental control. Such bodies need to also engage with members of the public to boost public confidence as well as deal expeditiously with cases of appeal brought before it by members of the public. Such institutions need to be adequately resourced by the state to play their role.
Fifth, the Law Courts, which are often the last resort for enforcement of rights under the law, need to expeditiously deal with complaints filed before it and ensure that good judgements are given and are fully enforced. This requires capacity building for judges too.
Sixth, and perhaps more importantly, journalists and their media organisations must be at the forefront of contributing towards the attainment of the above five conditions. This, they can do through consistent public educations and awareness through routine programming and reporting on the law and developments around implementation. Journalists should also be able to take advantage of the law to access vital pieces of information that are critical for their reporting, especially investigative reporting. This, however, requires that first of all, journalists and their editors have a good understanding of the law and appreciate its utility for the performance of their watchdog role.
On the basis of the foregoing, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is ramping up its work on Access to Information across the region through the following interventions:
Improving the capacity of the media to lead in providing public education and awareness about ATI laws, their utility for members of public and how members of the public can assert their right of access to information under the law. So far, training programmes have been held for journalists in Ghana, Cote d’ Ivoire and Niger and a guidebook for journalists
Empowering journalists through micro-grants to enable them utilise ATI laws for investigative reporting on transparency, accountability and anti-corruption issues. Such support include support for litigation in cases of information requests denials.
Enhancing public access to information at the local levels by setting up local ATI citizens groups in partnership with local community groups; training them about the law and partnering them with local media for advocacy and utilisation of ATI laws to access information on governance issues at the local levels.
Conducting routine research on constraints and barriers to public access to information and ways of removing such barriers to improve public access to governance information, to enhance citizens participation in governance and improve responsiveness by authorities.
Continuous engagement with authorities and other stakeholders (through public forums and advocacy publications on access to information.
The Gambia goes to the polls on December 4 as a beaming light of hope for press freedom and democratic governance in a West Africa region where such ideals are fast dimming.
The region, previously touted as a poster child of democratic governance and freedom of expression when compared with the other regional blocs on the African continent, is quickly running out of examples. Senegal, long praised for its democratic credentials, has in recent times recorded disturbing incidents of abuses underlined by the March 2021 killing of protestors, social media disruptions and shut down of media houses. Ghana, its counterpart, has lately been scoring low on press freedom, underscored by the 2019 killing of investigative journalist, Ahmed Suale. Most of the other countries in the region are performing worse with Mali and Guinea plunging back into military rule.
The Gambia heads into the polls with a different narrative from its compatriots in the West Africa region. For many years the country was noted for the atrocious crimes perpetrated against journalists, opposition leaders and dissidents by its despotic leader, Yahya Jammeh. The story has been different in the last five years following the end of the Jammeh regime. The Gambia has made tremendous progress in freedom of expression and democratic governance. The upcoming presidential elections could either add more to the gains or dissipate them.
Improving press freedom credentials, media landscape whip interest in polls
The country has moved from the 143rd position in the global rankings on press freedom by the RSF during the last elections in 2017 to a tremendous 87th position in the 2021 rankings. This improvement has been accompanied by rapid numerical growth in the media landscape with many privately radio and TV stations springing up and reporting issues surrounding the elections from diverse angles. The development has whipped up euphoric interest in the electoral process. The situation is contrasted with elections in the Jammeh regime where state-owned radio and TV had broadcast news monopoly.
“We have a lot of media houses now. During those periods [Jammeh regime], if you can recall, the people didn’t care about current issues; they just focused on entertainment. But now everybody is there in the media landscape,” Mohammed Ba, Vice President of Gambia Press Union, said in an interview with the Media Foundation for West Africa. “Everyone claims to be a journalist and they are inviting politicians to have discourse about the elections.”
The media and journalists are not only buoyed to facilitate the conversation about the polls, but they also have the assurance that they will not be arrested for doing that work, Mr Ba added.
“There are no threats. People feel the government is not going to interfere. People are using current issues to generate political discussions and they are also inviting opposition parties. But then it was a taboo to invite opposition. They might even come and pounce on your media house sometime in the morning or evening, arrest or tell you to go off-air. These are things are not happening now,” Mohammed Ba said.
According to a 2021 Afrobarometer study, 82% of Gambians think the media is completely or somewhat free to do their work without interference or censorship by the government.
The Gambia held its first ever presidential debate in late November | Source: Twitter/@poetlala
Indeed, on November 22, The Gambia hosted its first presidential debate. The debate afforded the candidates the occasion to expound on the policies and programmes they intend to implement when elected and as well critique the incumbent government’s performance and policies. The electorate was afforded the rare opportunity of raising critical questions to the candidates. Even though only two of the six candidates cleared to contest participated in the debate, the organisers, the Commission on Political Debates, considered it a success given its novelty.
The newfound freedom in the Gambian media landscape is the result of many pivotal decisions and developments. Key among these developments is the Supreme Court’s ruling as unconstitutional, the criminal libel law of the country, the compensation paid to the Ebrimah Manneh and Deyda Hydara, two journalists who were killed during the Jammeh regime, and the recent passage of the access to information law.
Nonetheless, as the media landscape improve, there have been concerns about the partisanship, coverage bias and unfairness among some of the media houses leading to the elections. The state-owned media has particularly been noted.
“The state-owned media is still bias. What we expected was a level-playing field to ensure that all political parties have access to the state-owned media. But the problem is still there. There’s a trend. The President is still the face. They used to do certain newspaper reviews we had some kind of critical balance reporting but now the state media is not doing it anymore,” Mohammed Ba said.
The private media, despite the vibrancy they have added in the reportage, is also a culprit of the biased coverage.
“It happens mostly to the online media houses. For instance, Kerr Fatou has been nicknamed as Kerr UDP [the leading opposition party] meaning they are mostly in line with the UDP while sometimes Fatou Network, another online media house, also accused of being pro-NPP [the governing party],” Sait Matte, Executive Director of Center for Research and Policy Development in The Gambia, told the MFWA.
Mr Matte, however, believes the media houses are making great efforts to ensure balance despite the perceived bias.
Threats of old laws and seeming hardship
The progress in media freedom and human rights are perhaps among the only few steady developments the Gambia have witnessed in recent years, as 60% of citizens believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. This is contrasted with 2018 when only 29% said the country was going in the wrong direction.
Citizens who believe the country’s economic conditions are good have reduced from 58% in 2018 to 25%. Similarly, the number of citizens who believe their personal living conditions are good have also reduced from 66% to 35%.
The recent Afrobarometer study reveals widespread perceptions of hardship and economic downturn among citizens.
Source: Afrobarometer, 2021
Even though almost all the candidates have promised to improve the living conditions of citizens including the incumbent Adam Barrow, the apparent economic downturn poses a major threat to the sustainability of the media.
What is also threatening to the media are some of the repressive legislative remnants left behind by the Jammeh regime. Yahya Jammeh supervised the passage of many laws he used to silence the media and dissenting voices. President Adam Barrow has failed to repeal these laws despite promising to.
Still existing is the infamous section 138 of the Information and Communications Act which gives national security agencies, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and other state investigative bodies the powers to monitor, intercept and store communications for surveillance purposes. The law grants the bodies do these without any effective judicial oversight.
The Criminal Code of Gambia still contains clauses that prevent the exercise of the right to free expression. The criminal sedition relating to the President also still exists. It provides penalties including imprisonment for the president’s critics.
“There are still laws that are very bad with regards to the sedition against the president. He can use it if he wants,” Mohammed Bah revealed his fears about the laws.
Fake news, social media and the elections
Hours before the last presidential elections in 2016, Yahya Jammeh’s government shut down the internet including telephone connections.
“Internet in 2016 was a taboo,” Mohammed Bah said. “People struggled to get the internet. Government shut down the internet. People were struggling to connect. Now the internet is free and the speed has also increased a bit though it’s still a problem and it is accessible.”
Yahya Jammeh shut down the internet hours before the 2016 presidential elections
Today, about 430,000 Gambians are on social media, which is a 16% increment compared to 2020. Internet penetration in the country has improved to 23%, according to the Data reportal. Afrobarometer reports that 65% of the citizens have social media as their source of information.
The growth and increasing usage of social media platforms have provided diverse opportunities for popular participation, particularly among the youth.
“Social media is the locus of contention. It is where most of these political debates are taking place, especially with the online media houses and also the individual influences. Social media is very crucial especially WhatsApp and Facebook. They have been used effectively by the political parties. Some of these political parties have their own Facebook TV and WhatsApp space where their share their videos and voice notes,” Sait Matte explained.
However, as the double-edged nature of social media will have it, the platforms are facilitating the spread of misinformation and disinformation.
“The social media have also become the platforms for the transmission or the distribution of fake news and those different issues which are very central to these elections,” Sait Matte noted.
Nearly 90% of the citizens believe social media is the foremost purveyor of false news ahead of politicians and political parties, government officials, and the news media and journalists.
These issues have resurrected concerns of whether the social media platforms should be interrupted ahead of the elections on Saturday, December 4, even though the government has so far not indicated any such intention. Many media stakeholders continue to caution the government against it. In an open letter to President Adam Barrow, Access Now called on the government to provide assurance against a shutdown.
“Ensure full internet access nationwide, and refrain from arbitrarily blocking access to social media platforms, and websites of media outlets; publicly assure the people of The Gambia that the internet and all other digital communication platforms, will remain open, accessible, inclusive, and secure,” the letter said.
As the Gambia goes to the polls on December 4, 2021, the MFWA’s Senior Programme Officer for Freedom of Expression, Muheeb Saeed, throws light on the remarkable progress that the country has made in the freedom of expression space over the past five post-Yahyah Jammeh years.
For his personal involvement in, and endorsement of numerous outrages perpetrated against journalists, activists and outspoken opponents of his brutal regime, Yahya Jammeh was crowned West Africa’s King of Impunity by the MFWA in 2014.
Among Jammeh’s star victims was Deyda Hydara, editor of The Point newspaper and outspoken critic, who was shot and killed on December 16, 2004. Another emblematic victim was Chief Manneh, a journalist with the Daily Observer newspaper. Manneh was arrested and detained by then National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and eventually disappeared. Musa Saidykhan, editor-in-chief of the Independent newspaper, now defunct, was arrested and severely tortured in detention. The three became the dismal trademarks of Jammeh’s brutal crackdown on the media. Threats could not be taken lightly, and so several journalists fled the country after receiving death threats.
President Yahya Jammeh kept the justice system under his thumb and manipulated a largely partisan legislature to enact a raft of repressive legislation aimed at stifling dissent. In 2013, for instance, the National Assembly amended the Criminal Code to increase the penalty for “giving false information to public servants” (Section 114). The Prison term for breaches was increased from six months to up to five years.
President Yahya Jammeh kept the justice system under his thumb and manipulated a largely partisan legislature
In July 2001 the Gambian Parliament passed the highly-controversial and liberticidal National Media Commission Act. Among other ludicrous provisions, the Act imposed annual licensing on journalists, with the Commission clothed with discretionary powers to renew or refuse applications from journalists and media houses. The Commission was also granted the power to force journalists to reveal their sources. Curiously, all these new regulations were not to apply to the government-owned or controlled media. Driving the final nail into the press freedom coffin was a provision insulating all decisions of the Commission from being contested in court.
In a country where the average salary currently stands at Dalasi 16,000 (about US$310), Parliament in July 2013, passed the Information and Communication (Amendment) Act which imposed a fine of US$74,690 for spreading false news. The law was perceived to be aimed at stifling dissenting opinions and especially targeted at journalists, bloggers, human rights activists and critical citizens.
New Dawn
In December 2016, Jammeh was voted out and forced into exile, ending 22 years of one of Africa’s most brutal dictatorships. Four years after his exit, a new era is emerging. From the notoriety of being among the countries with the worst freedom of expression (FOE) environment in West Africa, The Gambia is gradually shedding that unenviable image, and fast establishing itself among the superstars of the sub-region.
Since the news administration took over, The Gambia has been making impressive strides on the political and freedom of expression (FOE) fronts that have seen it competing favourably with Ghana and Senegal, two of the region’s shining lights in democracy and press freedom. The Afrobarometer Report 2021 affirms that “An overwhelming majority of Gambians say the media is in fact free to do its work without government interference.”
The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) monitoring recorded a total of five violations in 2017, a significant improvement over the 13 violations bequeathed by the Jammeh regime in its final year. With only four violations, 2019 was the least repressive of the past four years under President Adama Barrow’s stewardship.
The country in 2018 recorded eight violations, the country’s worst record since Jammeh’s departure. The total number of violations recorded in The Gambia over the past four years, therefore comes to 25, same as Senegal’s for that period, and much better than that of Ghana which stands at 79 violations over the same space of time. Additionally, violations recorded in The Gambia in the three worst years of the Barrow regime – 2017 (five) 2018 (eight) and 2020 (eight) – stand at 21, same as Ghana’s total for 2020 alone.
The Gambia ended the first quarter of 2020 (January-March) with 7 violations and recorded a single violation in the second quarter (April-June, 2020), eventually rounding up the year with eight violations, having remarkably gone incident-free during the entire second half of the year.
What is even more significant, the single violation recorded on June 21, 2020, stood for ten months – that is until April 19, 2021. In that incident, the police detained Ebou N. Keita, an editor and camera operator with the privately-owned Gambian Talents Television. The journalist was covering a protest against COVID-19 restrictions when the security officers arrested him for filming their operations.
On April 19, 2021, a group of prison wardens manhandled Yankuba Jallow of the Foroyaa newspaper at a court premises in Banjul after he refused an order to surrender his phone. He had been accosted for filming a group of remand prisoners after court proceedings. The ten months’ interval is the longest respite and a remarkable milestone in a country where press freedom violations was a daily nightmare for journalists during the Jammeh era.
President Adama Barrow’s four-year-old regime is putting The Gambia through effective press freedom rehabilitation with encouraging results so far. It is carrying out reforms to the legal frameworks to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information. The attitude of government officials and security agents towards the media and public criticism has greatly improved. For example, following the last incident mentioned above, the director of prisons met the aggrieved journalist and rendered an apology. Under Jammeh’s rule, the journalist would not have dared defy a security officer’s orders, albeit unlawful, to surrender his phone. Such resistance would have been judged foolhardy and would most probably have attracted a few hefty slaps, kicks and/or detention.
The notorious National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Yahya Jammeh’s pet instrument of repression, has been renamed State Intelligence Service and stripped of its extensive powers of coercion. Additionally, several former NIA officials have been arrested and are facing trial for their roles in human rights abuses, including press freedom violations, and media houses arbitrarily shut down by the previous government have been reopened.
In June 2018, the Adama Barrow-led government paid some compensations to the families of the Ebrimah Manneh and Deyda Hydara, who, together with Musa Saidykhan, became the symbols of former President Yahya Jammeh’s brutal crackdown on critical journalists. The deal was struck through the mediation of the MFWA and its national partner organisation, the Gambia Press Union (GPU), with support from IFEX.
The facilitation role played by the MFWA and GPU was part of engagements with the Gambian government to support and strengthen the Gambian media sector to contribute effectively to the democratic transition processes in the country after the fall of Jammeh.
The MFWA and its partner organisation, the Gambia Press Union, are proud to have contributed to the remarkable improvement in press freedom in The Gambia.
Media Law Reforms
On July 1, 2021, Gambia’s National Assembly approved the Access to Information Bill 2021 in a major milestone in the country’s march towards genuine democracy in the post-Yahyah Jammeh era. President Adama Barrow subsequently signed the bill into law in August to give Gambians, for the first time in the country’s history, the legal right to demand public information. The adoption of the law crowned five years of advocacy and stakeholder engagements and was hailed as a major boost for fact-based and investigative journalism.
On May 9, 2018, the Gambian Supreme Court’s declared as unconstitutional the country’s law on criminal defamation. The ruling followed an April 2017 civil suit filed by the MFWA’s national partner organisation, Gambia Press Union (GPU). With regard to sedition, the Court said that sedition could be established if the alleged defamatory material targets the person of the complainant. However, it said there is no sedition when the target is the government as an institution.
The improved press freedom environment has encouraged the proliferation of private broadcasters and online media outlets with media pluralism on full display.
Lingering Concerns
Despite the massive improvement, some concerns still linger. For instance, a constitutional reforms process has come to unstack with parliament failing to endorse the new draft constitution. The government had initiated the process in line with its electoral promise to rebuild the foundations for good governance and democracy in The Gambia.
Among the proposed innovations was a presidential term limit with retrospective effect for the incumbent, curbs on the powers of the Executive, a minimum of a bachelor’s degree for presidential candidates and political inclusion of marginalised groups (including women, youth and people with disabilities). It is a huge disappointment and a waste of two years of efforts that included broad consultations and enjoyed massive support.
A few attempts by the government to test the pulse of the media have ruffled more than a few feathers. In March 2019, the authorities introduced a new security screening for journalists seeking accreditation to cover the Presidency. The procedure, which involved appearing before the State Intelligence Service for scrutiny, was denounced as too intensive and liable to discriminatory use to favour or target certain journalists and media houses. After a strong backlash, the policy was withdrawn.
While this incident was interpreted as evidence that government would not spare the opportunity to suppress the media, others pointed to its withdrawal as a sign that the new Administration is responsive to the media’s concerns.
On January 26, 2020, there was a massive crackdown on demonstrators who were demanding the coalition government’s departure in line with its promise during the 2016 election campaign to stay in power for only three years. The constitution provides for a five-year term, but the demonstrators were holding the government to its campaign promise, after three years in power. Security forces arrested dozens of demonstrators, shut down three radio stations and arrested four journalists, including editors, throwing the country into a shock and reviving chilling memories of the Jammeh era.
The Gambia has a small and weak economy which translates into a tiny advertising market. This poses a major sustainability problem for the media which has been hard hit already by the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are also lingering concerns about the media laws. The Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling which decriminalised the spreading of false news online, left intact sections of the criminal code that penalise similar offences with fines and even prison terms.
The President of the GPU, Sheriff Bojang, fears the government can press the buttons of this repressive legal machinery whenever it likes.
“While we celebrate the gains in The Gambia as far Press freedom is concerned, we are disturbed and worried that some of the repressive media laws used by the Yahya Jammeh regime to imprison and harm journalists are still existing under President Barrow. As we get closer to the December presidential election, we are concerned that journalists might be targeted by the security forces as well as political party militants,” Bojang told the MFWA in a telephone interview back in July 2021.
The elections are just a week away and, fortunately, the campaigns have proceeded smoothly with the media allowed all the space to do its work. There have so far been no incidents of attacks on journalists and no major professional breaches by the media. The MFWA urges the media to maintain its professional posture in reporting issues and moderating the political debate to educate and inform the electorate.
Despite the gains made in the press freedom space, there is still some work to be done to put The Gambia on a strong democratic footing. We, therefore, urge the government that will emerge from the December 5, 2021 elections to carry on with the review of the media legal framework to eliminate all repressive elements. In particular, the new government must expunge the remnants of the Criminal Code that restrict press freedom and freedom of expression in The Gambia. We wish the people of The Gambia successful polls and a peaceful outcome.
Ten early-career journalists and student journalists are beginning a 5-month fellowship with the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).
The Fellows will be working directly under the MFWA’s public interest and accountability journalism project, The Fourth Estate. They will receive intensive practical training on data journalism, fact-checking and visualization, investigative journalism and basic multi-media and mobile journalism. They will also be taken through how to use the RTI law to access important datasets that can serve as the basis for groundbreaking journalism.
The five-month fellowship will also afford participants the opportunity to learn from the experiences of some of the finest in investigative journalism in West Africa.
The fellows, who are between the ages of 20 and 33, were selected through a competitive application process including aptitude test and interview.
Key Fellowship activities include bootcamps, seminars; story writing and factchecking including field work; Media and Institutional tours; Speaking engagements with high profile industry players and some recreational activities. At the end of the Fellowship, each Fellow is expected to produce at least one significant report. They will also receive a certificate of participation.
The Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, said the initiative is meant to contribute to grooming the next generation of investigative journalists.
“Quality journalism is perhaps what our country needs the most in terms of our aspirations for development and good governance. We believe this project will help boost journalistic works around transparency and accountability, and provide a platform that will serve as a training ground for young aspiring investigative journalists.
The Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Estate, Manasseh Awuni Azure, was optimistic that by the end of the fellowship, participants would be equipped to tackle quality, well researched investigative stories that to contribute to transparency and accountability and ultimately good governance.
The maiden edition of the MFWA’s Journalism fellowship is funded by Deutsche Welle Akademie and is expected to run from November 2021 to March 2022.
Below are brief profiles of the fellows:
Deborah Pokua Bempah
Deborah Pokua Bempah is passionate about Investigative Journalism and has since worked towards practising same. Prior to joining the fellowship, she worked for over a year as a reporter/ editor for Central University’s campus-based online news portal, Miotso Herald.
She has participated in journalism-related workshops notable amongst them is Television Production from Södra Vätterbygdens folkhögskola, Jonkoping Sweden and Digital Photography from the National Electronic and Media Institute of South Africa.
Esther Adomah Osei
Esther Adomah Osei is a final year broadcast journalism student at the National Film and Television Institute. She has a keen interest in research and investigative journalism and still learning to achieve the best.
Before joining the fellowship, she had a two-week internship with Media General and also work as an editor for Sucvee resolution, a corporate and event planning organisation.
During her leisure moments, she read books on African philosophies and African History. Esther is motivated to practice investigative journalism because, in her view, many journalists are refusing to play the watchdog role and shirking their responsibility of being the voice of the people.
She is most impressed when she sees change.
Richard Mensah Adonu
Richard Mensah Adonu holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies with a specialisation in journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).
Before joining the fellowship, he worked as a National Service person with BAT-Ghana as an Assistant Trade and Market Analyst. He is passionate about the environment, specifically climate change and human wellbeing.
In 2020, he won an award after entering a competition called “the new decade challenge” that focused on the challenge of rising sea levels in Keta. He loves teamwork.
Richard also loves research and volunteering, the reason he co-founded Assignment Desk Educational Consultancy, a firm that provides educational support specifically mentorship, teaching, and research assistance to students at various levels. He is also an amateur video editor and graphic designer.
Leonard Kofi Agyei
Leonard Kofi Agyei is a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He is currently a Teaching Assistant at the same institution where he doubles as the Editor-in-chief of the institution’s campus radio, Radio GIJ. He developed an interest in investigative journalism when volunteering for the campus radio.
Leonard has worked as a client relationship officer, and a sales and marketing officer for an E-commerce platform, Shopnaw, where he gained a lot of experience with consumer engagements.
Outside the classroom, he served as the President and Vice-president of the Rotaract GIJ and the Writers and Debaters Societies respectively, where he learnt and mentored many of his colleagues in the art of public speaking and debating.
Prosper Prince Midedzi
Prosper Prince Midedzi graduated from Central University with a major in Print Journalism and Public Relations.
His interest is in story writing and investigative journalism made him volunteer to be a reporter for Miotso Herald, a campus-based newspaper, he wrote a series of news stories while in school.
He worked for more than two years with Rich Robes Ministry as Public Relations Officer, and as head of media and publicity team prior to joining the fellowship.
Josephine Badu-Nyarko
Josephine Badu-Nyarko is a final year undergraduate student at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. Her interest in investigative journalism is born out of her belief that critical journalism that exposes corruption can lead to sustainable development.
Prior to joining this fellowship, she interned at GHOne TV of EIB Network and completed the mandatory national service at the Public Affairs Directorate, University of Ghana as an administrative assistant in the office of the Director.
Michael Aidoo
Michael Aidoo aspires to become one of Africa’s best investigative journalists, specialising in governance and corruption reporting.
Before joining the Fellowship at MFWA, Michael was a teacher of communication skills at the Shiv-India Institute of Management and Technology, an I.T. professional college in Accra, and of the English language at Dasein Practical School, a private secondary cum remedial school in Accra with several branches.
He undertook his mandatory national service at the communication unit of the secretariat of the Association of African Universities (AAU), a network of more than 400 universities across Africa. At AAU, Michael’s strength in the English language afforded him the rare privilege to edit news stories and outgoing mails in addition to his regular roles of producing and hosting a programme on the Association’s TV network, AAUTV.
Michael Aidoo holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies (Journalism major) from the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Accra, and a Certificate in Phonetics and Presentation Skills from GBC Radio Training School, Accra. He is also awaiting graduation with a Master of Art in Communication Studies (Public Relations and Advertising major) from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Joseph K. Kpormegbey
Joseph K. Kpormegbey is a budding journalist whose interest lies in social issues and accountability journalism.
He has worked at Ghana’s biggest newspaper the Daily Graphic as an intern and also held the position of News Editor of Wisconsin International University College campus newspaper, Wisconsin News.
As part of his work experience over the years, he has played the role of a School Administrator as well as a Contact Centre Agent/Brand Ambassador for Africa World Airlines.
He enjoys reading and is motivated by the desire to ensure that all persons have access to basic social amenities as well as deserved solutions through the stories he pursues.
Redeemer Buatsi
Redeemer Buatsi is a freelance journalist and researcher in media and journalism with interests in social and environmental problems that confront many communities today, especially the poor.
Prior to joining the fellowship, he worked with Amnesty International Ghana as a Youth Leader and advocate, where he worked to defend human rights of marginalized groups in Ghana and around the world.
During the 2020 elections in Ghana, he worked as social media analyst assistant at the European Union mission (EUEOM 2020).
He has a keen interest in psychology and philosophy and seeks to contribute his quota to the development of Ghana through his work.
Emmanuella Dadugblor
Emmanuella Dadugblor is a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where she wrote for a student-run newspaper, The Y-Times. She has also worked with Class FM and GBC Volta Star Radio where she developed great passion for journalism that speaks truth to power and expose corruption.
Before joining the fellowship, she co-run a marketing and communication firm, Dittotype Solution which champions effective corporate communication and brands management.
Emmanuella believes that although the pen is said to be mightier than the sword, what actually makes the difference is the pen holder and not necessarily the pen. Thus, opportunities that empower young people such as herself to sharpen their skills to be better pen holders to make a difference in the world attracts her utmost interest and commitment.
The second quarter of 2021 (April-June) registered a 42% drop in freedom of expression violations but it also recorded violations of alarming severity compared to the second quarter (January-March).
A journalist was killed in Nigeria and two others died in a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso. Additionally, a pressure group and social activist killed in Ghana where two citizens were also shot dead in a crackdown on demonstrators.
Twitter was banned in Nigeria on June 4 and the order was in force as of the end of June, making it the longest social media blackout in West Africa.
A terrorist group affiliated to Al Qaïda abducted a freelance French journalist, Olivier Dubois in Gao, Mali. The 46-year-old freelancer who writes for Le Point, Jeune Afrique and Libération, was still in the custody of the abductors as of the end of the monitoring period
Twenty-nine violations were recorded in ten countries, 42% less than the 50 violations recorded in the first quarter. Nigeria recorded ten violations, same as it did in the first quarter, followed closely by Ghana with eight. Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire recorded three and two respectively. The Burkina incidents include the killing, in line of duty, of two foreign journalists by armed terrorists.
Eleven incidents of physical attacks and four of killing were recorded during the quarter under review. Three cases each of arrests/detentions and of seizures or destruction of journalists’ equipment were also recorded.
As the world marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists today, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is calling governments and relevant state authorities across West Africa to take action to protect the rights and freedoms of journalists and to ensure redress for violations against media professionals.
The ideal environment for a thriving democracy is one where journalists operate in an environment where they do not only feel that their freedoms are guaranteed and their safety assured but are also empowered to effectively discharge their roles as watchdogs of society.
We have noted with great concern the growing fear and danger surrounding the work of journalists across the continent. Many journalists today report that they do not feel safe in the wake of attacks and threats to their lives.
Indeed, within the past five years, hundreds of journalists have been subjected to a wide range of violations including physical attacks, arrests and detentions, imprisonment, threats and even murders. A recent report jointly produced by the MFWA and the Nigeria Union of Journalists NUJ revealed that over 300 press freedom violations have been recorded in Nigeria over the past six years. The violations included the unresolved murders of seven journalists. One more journalist has since been killed.
Ghana, which has long been touted as a country with a culture of respect for press freedom and divergent opinion, has over the same period taken a turn for the worse. On January 16, 2019, an investigative journalist, Ahmed Suale, was murdered in cold blood with the perpetrators yet to be found. On 23 August 23, 2021, a British journalist, Syed Taalay Ahmed, was killed by armed robbers in Northern Ghana, where the 31-year-old was shooting a documentary for the London-based Muslim Television Ahmadiyya International (MTA). Though Taalay Ahmed was not targeted because of his work, it is sadly relevant that he was killed while he was carrying out his journalistic duties.
Across West Africa, four journalists have been killed in the course of this year, two of them foreign nationals attacked by rebels in Burkina Faso, a third foreign national was killed in the line of duty by armed robbers in Ghana while unknown assailants fatally gunned down a local journalist in Nigeria.
According to UNESCO, over the past decade, one journalist is murdered every four days with nine out of ten of the perpetrators going scot-free. In 2020, 62 journalists were killed globally. The almost absolute lack of redress or accountability for these violations and many others such as arbitrary detentions, physical assault and torture, threats and judicial harassment amounts to a near-total failure of national and global efforts to fight impunity for crimes against journalists.
Democratic reverses and their impact on the media
The reverses in press freedom witnessed in Nigeria and Ghana reflect a general trend of deteriorating press freedom environment in West Africa that mirrors the sub-region’s falling democratic standards. After the fall of the last two of its most obstinate dictators, Blaise Compaore (Burkina Faso) and Yahyah Jammeh (the Gambia), West Africa effectively rid itself of entrenched strongman-rule.
However, after subsequently earning itself international applause for its respect for Presidential term limits and its tradition of peaceful regime alternation through elections, West Africa now has two countries under military rule: Mali and Guinea. The political crises in Guinea and disputed election results in Guinea Bissau created a toxic environment for the media in the two countries. Northern Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have been racked by armed insurgencies which have created a highly insecure environment for journalists in the Sahel zones.
An armed group killed two foreign journalists in Burkina Faso recently. A newspaper editor Toure, disappeared in Mali in 2016 and is feared dead. In Niger, a number of journalists have been put in jail using a cyber-law that was enacted ostensibly to prevent online publications that could undermine the military’s counter-terrorism operations. Burkina Faso has a similar law that has effectively snuffed out any critical reporting on the rebellion.
Beninois journalist Ignace Sossou’s arrest and imprisonment typify the abusive use of anti-fake news laws by West African authorities to stifle critical online journalism. Sossou was imprisoned for a year after Benin’s Public Prosecutor accused him of misreporting him on Twitter. Despite presenting audio evidence that showed that the journalists did a faithful quoting part of the Prosecutor’s conference speech, the court sentenced him to 18 months in prison.
Positive developments
Across the West African region, a number of steps have been taken over the past few years to ensure that journalists get access to critical information, work in a safe environment and are less brutalized for their publications. In view of this, Sierra Leone decriminalized the libel law which was a deadly weapon against journalists whilst the Gambia, and Ghana passed RTI laws which gave journalists and other interested parties unprecedented access to public information.
As a media development organisation, the MFWA has and continues to organize a number of workshops and forums aimed at protecting journalists and ensuring that the press is not muzzled. Our work has generated a lot of impacts across the West African Region, some of which include the organization of forums and production of report on safety of journalists practices in media organisations inGhana, Liberia and Sierra Leone. We have also trained some 210 journalists on safety of journalists practices in Ghana, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.
Given that the media needs public confidence in order to receive support it comes uner attack, journalists must win this confidence through quality work that visibly contributes to development. In this regard, the MFWA monitored of close to 100 radio stations for ethical infractions, use of hate speech, and other incendiary expressions before, during, and after elections in Ghana and Niger. The check on possible excesses contributed to relatively successful in elections in these two countries, despite a few post-election skirmishes.
Recommendations
In all, the safety of journalists’ situation in the region remains dismal and disturbing. The situation requires the efforts of all stakeholders to bring a positive change. To this end, and in line with the theme, for this year’s celebration, the MFWA urges:
The prosecutorial services (the police, intelligence service, public prosecutors and the courts) to learn to appreciate the important role of the media and treat attacks on journalists with the seriousness that they deserve.
The courts to hand down sentences that are deterrent enough and award compensations which are commensurate with the severity of the injury suffered and the legal costs incurred.
State institutions to collaborate with journalists as partners in development and in order to build stronger systems that guarantee both individual and media freedoms that are key ingredients in nation building.
Media managers to have in place efficient safety practices and protocols, provide safety training and appropriate safety tools and equipment for their journalists
Journalists and their employers to report attacks to the police and ensure a follow-through until justice is served.
When on May 12, 2021, Zoe Abu-Baidoo, a journalist with Citi FM in Ghana, received a WhatsApp message from her colleague inviting her out for lunch, it did not arouse any suspicion in her. After all, it wasn’t the first time.
What she did not know was that the person on the other side of the chat was not her colleague, Caleb Kudah, but rather a national security operative who was trying to lure her to arrest her.
It took the timely intervention from another colleague, in the media house located in the heart of Accra, to scuttle the plot, as Zoe got to know that her supposed lunch date had been arrested for filming inside a national security installation.
But uncovering the plot did little to prevent seven strong men wielding weapons to pursue Zoe from the car park of the station into its kitchen.
Zoe who struggled to dam her emotions declined recounting the story when she joined other panelists at a Conference on safety of female journalists in Ghana on Friday, October 29. This is because she was yet to recover from the trauma.
When she took her turn, Rosaline Amoh, a Deputy News Editor of the state-owned Daily Graphic, `narrated how she narrowly escaped assault in 1999 when thugs invaded her house for reporting on a Stadium renovation probe that indicted some high-profile personalities. She had to deny her identity, telling the thugs “Rosaline lives here but has travelled.”
Her small frame might have saved her, she said smiling, but that encounter sent chills down her spine as the assailants who did not know her left a message, warning her to stay away from the probe or risk being beaten to a pulp.
But a year earlier, she was not as lucky. She said she received a slap from a spectator during Ghana’s World Cup qualifier against Morocco at the Kumasi Sports Stadium for doing her job.
In the case of Doreen Ampofo of the state-owned broadcaster, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), a case of mistaken identity during the collation of Ghana’s 2020 general elections in the Ablekuma Central Constituency in Accra nearly got her assaulted. But she sustained various degrees of injuries when she fled from her attackers who mistook her for an official of the Electoral Commission.
The horrifying experience of these female journalists was a major highlight of the one-day conference in Accra which brought to the fore the vulnerability of female journalists in the face of increasing attacks on journalists in Ghana and other parts of West Africa.
Organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) with the support of the Netherlands Embassy in Ghana and the Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA), the conference forms part of activities to mark this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalistswhich falls on November 2, 2021.
More than 80 active and retired female journalists attended the event in Accra, which also became a motivational session for young female journalists.
Zoe said beside female journalists facing threats and physical assault outside newsrooms in Ghana, they also had to deal with sexual harassment, which came from colleagues and superiors.
Those daring enough to demand the right tools for their work were also seen as all-knowing. This is worse for entry-level female journalists, she added.
For Doreen Ampofo, there was no form of orientation in newsrooms to raise the consciousness of journalists on safety on the field, which made female journalists in particular vulnerable.
Repercussions
Research shows an upsurge in attacks that undermine the safety and security of female journalists in particular across the world. Abuse against female journalists takes many forms –physical violence, entrenched behaviours (such as marginalization and hostility against them), unequal working conditions and online abuses.
These attacks have repercussions, the Programme Manager of MFWA in charge of Freedom of Expression, Muheeb Saeed, said, as he pointed out that the trends of abuse were pushing some female journalists and media workers to self-censorship, adopt lower public profile, switch beats to report on less controversial issues or even quit the profession.
“Some have also experienced psychological and physical harm as a result of some newsroom practices, inequalities/injustices, job security and sexual harassment. When women journalists are restricted or hounded out of the profession, society is denied access to a diverse range of information and perspective.”
Guest speaker for the event, Eyram Bashan, whose experience in the newsroom and management spanned more than 20 years agreed.
“Women journalists bring a unique perspective to storytelling and must be provided with the necessary tools and safety measures by their employers,” she explained.
She observed that the number of attacks on male journalists was because the media in the country was male-dominated.
She, however, said it should not mean that female journalists should not be protected even if their numbers were small.
“Male managers must understand that it is not a one-fit-all solution, there are peculiar needs of female journalists that need to be addressed but that understanding is still not there.
With female journalists complaining about sex predators in their newsrooms and dangers in the field, she urged her peers in leadership positions in the media to use their position to articulate safety for female journalists.
She was worried that some media owners would even fail to provide transportation for female journalists to and from work, leaving them in the worst form of vulnerability.
“Transportation is a basic tool for journalists without it, female journalists are stripped of all dignity.”
To empower themselves against abuse and shield themselves against exploitation, she urged women in the media to seek and negotiate properly their safety nets including insurance, Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), job security and career development.
She also urged all female journalists to invest in their personal security and not to leave it in the hands of only their employers.
To employers, she had a caveat, “you can’t send female journalists to high-risk assignments without insuring them,” while urging the trade unions to create gender desks to fight for female journalists.
Convenor of the Alliance for Women in Media Africa (AWMA), Shamima Muslim, observed that while the country’s television and radio space now had an impressive list of women, there was still a long way toward bridging the gap of inequality.
The conference, she said was, therefore, in line with AWMA’S commitment to building a meaningful partnership that took it closer to its goal of empowering female journalists.
Contributing to the discussions, a freelance journalist, Zubaida Ismail, said female journalists working in the regions as correspondents suffered the most and were the least resourced but the least protected.
But the Business Editor of Joy News, Odelia Ntiamoah Boampong, said the antidote to the challenges facing women in the media was that women were not represented enough in terms of leadership and ownership in the media.
“More women need to put themselves up for leadership and opportunities. Once the top is populated by men, they connect our issues to the menstrual cycle and stress from having children,” she explained.
On safety, she urged her colleagues to consciously look into their environment while on the field.
“If you’re not comfortable, trust your instinct and leave,” she advised.
The conference preceded a forum on October 28 which discussed media professionalism, safety of journalists in Ghana.
In the milieu of democratic governance, the media plays a pivotal role in providing an inclusive and critical platform for public dialogue, demanding accountability from duty bearers and instigating policy-making that benefits a greater number of people. These responsibilities must, however, be delivered in the context of a set of ethical principles and professional standards as indicated in the Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists.
Journalism and media practise is guided by a set of principles, standards, and values, across the various platforms. The objective has been to promote adherence to professional competence and responsible use of information. While there may exist hundreds of media/journalistic codes of conduct used internationally, key media ethical norms have always included decency, objectivity, accuracy, fairness, balance, respect for privacy, and protection of minors.
The 1992 Constitution guarantees free and independent practice of journalism, and an unrestrained media environment. The roles and freedoms assigned the media require them to adhere to high standards of ethics and professionalism in the delivery of their mandate.
In 1993, at the onset of the 4th Republic, the media landscape was dominated by state-owned media until it was liberalised in 1996. Today, the media landscape is dominated by privately-owned media organisations with over 550 radio stations and about 150 TV stations, according to the National Communication Authority. The country also has about 50 active newspapers, numerous news websites, and 48% of citizens who have access to the internet. This represents a marked improvement from what existed at the beginning of the 4th republic.
However, the growth in the media landscape has come with concerns of lowering professionalism and disregard for ethics. The falling standards in professionalism have resulted in waning public trust and confidence in the media and press freedom, with some section of the population calling for government control, according to findings of the 2019 Afrobarometer report.
This has prompted the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to monitor the media in identifying and highlighting incidents of ethical infractions in the media and draw attention to such breaches as a way of fostering adherence to ethical principles.
In 2014, the MFWA monitored 40 media organisations comprising 25 radio stations, 10 newspapers, and 5 new websites. The monitoring observed that radio stations and news websites record most of the ethical violations with decency being the most abused ethical principle in the media landscape.
In 2020, a similar ethics monitoring exercise was commenced involving the daily monitoring of the content of 26 selected media organisations comprising 10 Akan language broadcasting radio stations, 10 newspapers, and six news websites. The monitoring which commenced in June 2020 with support from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana also includes the publication of periodic reports capturing ethical violations and naming the media organisations that committed such infractions.
The content monitored included news, features, columns, opinions /letters to the Editor, editorials, headlines, and pictures/illustrations in the newspapers and news Websites. On radio, the project monitored news bulletins, talk shows and panel discussions, call-in segments/audience opinions, and documentaries.
From June – December 2020, a total of 13,391 programmes were monitored. Out of the 13,391 programmes, 1,762 ethical violations were recorded. The monitoring reports over the period show the top five most violated ethical principles in the Ghanaian media as:
Indecency
The principle of Decency enjoins the media to publish or broadcast language, expressions, or pictures that are free from obscenities, expletives, and vulgarity. One would have thought that given the critical role the media plays in engendering popular participation and the impact it has on the country’s democracy, peace, and stability, the principle of decency would be the most valued.
On the contrary, Decency is the most abused ethical principle in the media. Out of the 1,762 violations recorded for the period, 883, which is more than 50% of the violations, were infractions related to the use of indecent language, expressions, or pictures in the media.
The frequency of the violation of Decency was highest on radio, which is also the most dominant source of information. Nearly 90% of the incidence of indecency recorded during the period of monitoring were cited on radio stations. This was followed by news websites and newspapers.
This is particularly worrying because the indecent use of language in the media has contributed to several political crises and destabilisation of democracies in Africa including the Kenyan 2017 crisis and the Rwandan genocide.
Inaccuracies
In journalism, news is often differentiated from information on the grounds that the former is verified and confirmed to be true or accurate. Verification is one of the most hailed virtues of journalism, without which the practice loses its significance.
However, publication of factual inaccuracies, unverified claims, and unsubstantiated allegations is becoming a bane in the media. Accuracy is the second most abused principle of the media. Out of the 1,762 violations recorded in the period of monitoring, 407 (23%) were infractions of the principle of Accuracy.
Over 90% of the inaccurate publications were mostly recorded on radio stations, mainly on talk shows and panel discussions that aired at prime time. What’s far more worrying is that on radio, a good count of the violations of the Accuracy principle was also recorded on news bulletins, where news stories are assumed to have been carefully selected and verified for facts and accuracy.
The violation of the Accuracy principle was more pronounced on partisan or politically aligned radio stations. Show hosts and news anchors on these partisan radio stations showed little or less interest in subjecting their guests or interviewees to strict proof of claims made. In fact, in some cases, the show hosts were the perpetrators of false claims and unverified information.
Offending Good Taste and Public Sensibilities
Journalism is not practised in a vacuum but in the context of society. In Ghana, journalism must be practised taking into consideration the cultural and moral sensibilities of the society.
The principle of Good Taste and Public Sensibilities enjoins the media to publish content that does not provoke public displeasure, elicit public disgust, or the feeling of outrage.
Nonetheless, over the period of the monitoring, 246 (14%) incidents offending the principle of Good Taste and Public Sensibilities were recorded, the third most abused principle. Six out of 10 of these violations were recorded on news websites.
Specifically, the comment sections of some news websites have been left unregulated by editors and have become an avenue for online news audience to continue to posting disgusting comments, lies, and as well as maligning the subjects of news. These offensive comments once posted by the audience are immediately published on the news websites.
Prejudice and Stereotyping
The ninth article of the Global Charter of the Ethics for Journalists states:
“Journalists shall ensure that the dissemination of information or opinion does not contribute to hatred or prejudice and shall do their utmost to avoid facilitating the spread of discrimination on grounds such as geographical, social or ethnic origin, race, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, disability, political and other opinions.”
On the contrary, prejudicing and stereotyping remain one of the main ethical sins of Ghanaian media, the fourth most violated. A total of 95 incidents of prejudice and stereotyping were recorded within the period of monitoring. These stereotypes and prejudices bordered on gender, ethnicity, social and political discriminations.
News websites (65%) and radio (35%) accounted for the incidence of prejudicing and stereotyping, recorded mostly on talk shows for radio and comments sections on the websites.
Mixing Facts with Opinion
An infraction recorded mainly on radio stations, mixing facts and opinions is noted to be among the top ethical violations of the Ghanaian media. During the period of monitoring, 48 of such incidents were recorded.
The ethical violation of mixing facts and opinion was mostly recorded on news bulletins and talk shows where news anchors and show hosts were noted to be spinning facts and adding subjective commentaries while presenting news stories.
The monitoring also observed the penchant of news anchors to intersperse the material facts of news stories with unnecessary jokes and embellishments, sometimes leading to the dousing of the severity of new stories.
In an era where the spread of misinformation and disinformation (Fake News) is denting the credibility of the news industry and threatening its sustainability, professional and ethical journalism is a vital piece in the armoury of defending facts and truth. Media ethics must therefore be upheld always.
Key Recommendations
In view of the waning ethical and professional and professional standards of the media, the following are recommended for show hosts, presenters, editors, and media owners.
a) Hosts/Presenters and Editors
Editors of the various media organisations are encouraged to develop practical editorial policies and standards where it is absent or ensure strict adherence to them where such policies exist.
Editors must institute zero-tolerance to certain unethical statements, particularly prejudicial and stereotypical comments that border on ethnicity as such comments can inflame tensions and incite people to violence.
Editors of news websites are also encouraged to review readers’ comments that are shared on their web pages before they are published.
Editors of radio news bulletins and talk shows are also encouraged to ensure as much as possible thorough screening of the comments that their audience share with them through social media before they are aired.
It is also advised that presenters of news bulletins and hosts of the political talk shows hold their guests and panelists to the highest standards of professionalism in their commentaries while they also abide by same.
b) Media Owners
Media owners may have their own political affiliations and leanings. They are however encouraged to subject their organisations to the general ethical principles and guidelines that bind the media.
Owners must also ensure that they build the capacities of their journalists and presenters on the best practices in media professionalism and ethics. Associations
Concerted efforts are needed from media associations such as Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Ghana Independent Broadcasters Associations (GIBA) to ensure that their members abide by the ethical principles that are supposed to guide their work. In cases where disciplinary and punitive measures must be instituted, these bodies must ensure that it is exercised to serve as a deterrent to other members.
c) Regulatory Body
• The efforts of the National Media Commission (NMC), the constitutionally mandated body that regulates the content of the media in Ghana, is also much needed to quell the disregard for ethical principles by the media. The NMC must continuously monitor and invite media owners, hosts, and journalists to dialogue and build consensus on upholding professional standards.
In the last three years, monitoring reports by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) shows that close to 200 incidents of press freedom violations have been recorded across West Africa. These violations have included physical attacks, threats, and arbitrary arrest and detention.
This is despite the steady development in the media landscape with constitutional guarantees for press freedom, freedom of expression and access to information. Particularly, in Ghana, there is a noticeable trend of a relentless cycle of attacks on journalists and the media by security agents. For instance, as of the second half of 2021, the MFWA had recorded nine (9) cases of violations against journalists and the media in Ghana, most of which were perpetrated by security agents
Related to the issue of the safety of journalists and the media is the growing concerns of the lowering media professionalism standards and disregard for ethics in the media in recent times. The falling standards in media professionalism have resulted in waning public trust and confidence in the media and press freedom.
Between June 2020 and May 2021, the MFWA’s monitoring of incidents of ethical infractions/violations by some selected media houses in Ghana showed a high record of ethical violations on radio, followed by news websites and newspapers. During the period of monitoring, a total of 22,271 media content were monitored on 26 selected media organisations out of which 2,710 ethical violations were recorded. Out of the total ethical violations recorded, 1,754 (65%) were recorded on radio, 906 violations (33%) were recorded on news websites whilst 50 (2%) were recorded by newspapers. The monitoring report noted that politically-affiliated media organisations perpetrated over 50% of ethics violations.
As part of efforts to improve media safety and professionalism in Ghana, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) will on Thursday, 28th October 2021 hold a public forum on Media Professionalism and Safety of Journalists in Ghana. The forum forms part of activities to mark this year’s International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists which falls on November 2, 2021.
The applause was loud and took time to die down when two journalists, Kwetey Nartey of Ghana and Samad Uthman of Nigeria, were announced joint winners of the West Africa Journalists of the Year 2021.
With their works too close to call, the judges decided to hand over the ultimate prize to the two journalists at the fifth edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA).
Kwetey Nartey’s story—Robbing the Poor—is a two-part investigation. It was an inquiry into how some produce buying clerks find dubious means to cheat cocoa farmers. The clerks also paid the farmers less for premium cocoa, certified ordinary cocoa as premium, and smuggled names into beneficiary communities under the cocoa certification programme.
These acts defeat the purpose of Ghana’s Cocoa Sustainability Programme. And Kwetey Nartey’s story exposed that.
Before emerging as the favourite for the top award, Kwetey Nartey had earlier swept the Investigative Reporting category award for the night.
His Nigerian peer, Samad Uthman, also won the Health Reporting category for his story, which tracked participants of a Pfizer Meningitis vaccine trial 24 years ago in the Northern Nigerian state of Kano.
The victims who are still suffering from the side effects of the vaccine were not compensated. Although they have not been compensated, Pfizer claimed it obtained closure on the matter in 2016.
It was a night of many firsts—it was the first time two journalists split the honours for the coveted journalism prize since the inception of the award in 2017. It was also the first time a Nigerian won the ultimate prize.
Nartey spoke of the threats, intimidations and psychological scars he endured after the story was aired. He said the award was a relief for those scary moments.
His Nigerian counterpart, Samad Uthman, who fought for the health of others said he also fell ill while in Kano. The award was a gratifying moment for him.
Nartey and Uthman were part of the 21 finalists selected by a jury from the 711 entries submitted by journalists across the sub-region.
The two take the crown from last year’s winner and Ghanaian investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, also a former employee of the Multimedia Group. Mr. Azure has won the ultimate price twice, in 2018 and 2020.
Other category winners of the night were:
Category: West Africa Journalist of the Year
Winner: Kwetey Nartey
Media House: Multimedia Group
Country: Ghana
Category: West Africa Journalist of the Year
Winner: Samad Uthman
Media House: Dataphyte
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Category: Environmental Reporting
Winner: Chinedu Asadu
Media House: The Cable
Country: Nigeria
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Category: Anti-Corruption Reporting
Winner: Caleb Ojewale
Media House: Business Day
Country: Nigeria
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Category: Health Reporting
Winner: Samad Uthman
Media House: Dataphyte
Country: Nigeria
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Category: ICT Reporting
Winner: Gideon Sarpong
Media House: iWatch Africa
Country: Ghana
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Category: Business Reporting
Winner: Alfred Olufemi
Media House: PREMIUM TIMES
Country: Nigeria
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COVID-19 Reporting
Winner: Chikodi Okereocha
Media House: The Nation
Country: Nigeria
Organised by the Media Foundation for West Africa, WAMECA honours exemplary work, in-depth investigations and exceptional storytelling.
Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, in his welcome address hoped “WAMECA awards will continue to inspire and motivate winners and at the same time inspire others to do more.”
This year’s WAMECA was held under the theme, “Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation and Journalism in Africa.”
Deborah Pokua Bempah is passionate about Investigative Journalism and has since worked towards practising same. Prior to joining the fellowship, she worked for over a year as a reporter/ editor for Central University’s campus-based online news portal, Miotso Herald.
Esther Adomah Osei is a final year broadcast journalism student at the National Film and Television Institute. She has a keen interest in research and investigative journalism and still learning to achieve the best.
Richard Mensah Adonu holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication Studies with a specialisation in journalism from the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).
Leonard Kofi Agyei is a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism. He is currently a Teaching Assistant at the same institution where he doubles as the Editor-in-chief of the institution’s campus radio, Radio GIJ. He developed an interest in investigative journalism when volunteering for the campus radio.
Prosper Prince Midedzi graduated from Central University with a major in Print Journalism and Public Relations.
Josephine Badu-Nyarko is a final year undergraduate student at the Ghana Institute of Journalism. Her interest in investigative journalism is born out of her belief that critical journalism that exposes corruption can lead to sustainable development.
Michael Aidoo aspires to become one of Africa’s best investigative journalists, specialising in governance and corruption reporting.
Joseph K. Kpormegbey is a budding journalist whose interest lies in social issues and accountability journalism.
Redeemer Buatsi is a freelance journalist and researcher in media and journalism with interests in social and environmental problems that confront many communities today, especially the poor.
Emmanuella Dadugblor is a graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where she wrote for a student-run newspaper, The Y-Times. She has also worked with Class FM and GBC Volta Star Radio where she developed great passion for journalism that speaks truth to power and expose corruption.
