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Fifth edition of the biggest journalism event in West Africa opens in Accra on Friday, Oct. 22

Kwaku Asante
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Fifth edition of the biggest journalism event in West Africa opens in Accra on Friday, Oct. 22

The 2021 edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) opens on Friday, October 22. The event which is the fifth edition since it commenced in 2017 will be held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

The one-day event, which starts at 9 am, focuses on the theme: Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation and Journalism in Africa. It will dissect the increasing phenomenon of misinformation and disinformation, the rising enactments of legislation across Africa to regulate the digital space and their impact on journalism in Africa. Discussions at the conference will seek to make key recommendations for good governance and media development.

WAMECA 2021 will host West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana; media experts, editors, academics, freedom of expression advocates and high-profile personalities from across West Africa and beyond.  Also present will be representatives from the AU, ECOWAS, the UN systems, high commissions/embassies, civil society organisations (CSOs) and international organisations.

The conference’s curtain will be raised by Ghana’s Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. Other key personalities to speak at the event which is the largest gathering of media stakeholders in the region are Dapo Olorunyomi, Co-Founder, CEO and Publisher of the Premium Times, Nigeria; Manasseh Azure Awuni, Editor-in-Chief, The Fourth Estate, Ghana; Idayat Hassan, Executive Director, Centre for Democratic Development-West Africa and Joseph Warungu, Media/ Communication Consultant and former head, BBC African News and Current Affairs Department.

The others are Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative, Nigeria; Julie Owono, Executive Director, Internet Without Borders, United States; Elias Okwara, Africa Policy Manager, Access Now, Kenya; Dora Boamah Mawutor, Programme Manager, Media Foundation for West Africa.

The awards component, which starts at 4.30 p.m., will honour outstanding journalists in West Africa whose works are impacting lives in society.

The Awards competition received over 700 entries from across 14 West African countries. A 5-member Jury of the Awards after a thorough review of the entries shortlisted 21 finalists from five countries who will be honoured at the Awards event.

West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA 2021) is supported by MTN-Ghana, the US Embassy in Ghana, Stanbic Bank, Hewlett Foundation and OSIWA. The event is also supported by over 50 media partners across West Africa.

Register to participate in both the Conference and Awards.

Ghana: Regulator’s approval of licenses to 133 radio stations is a face-saving exercise – MFWA

Kwaku Asante
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Ghana: Regulator’s approval of licenses to 133 radio stations is a face-saving exercise – MFWA

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) considers the decision of Ghana’s media regulator, National Communications Authority (NCA) to approve licenses for 133 radio stations to operate in the country, as a face-saver. The shutdown exercise was an embarrassment that the communications regulator could have avoided.

“The Governing Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA), at a Board meeting held on 11th October 2021, approved the grant of a total of One Hundred and Thirty-Three (133) FM radio broadcasting authorisations, which include new applications from entities whose FM radio stations were closed down after the 2017 FM Audit, as well as existing stations which applied for renewal of their expired FM radio broadcasting authorisations,” the NCA said in a statement on October 12, 2021.

The radio stations that benefited from the reprieve include Radio Gold and Radio XYZ , aligned to the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). The two were shut down alongside dozens of others in 2019 based on a 2017 audit that found the affected stations to have been operating without authorisation or failed to renew their licenses.

“We at the MFWA have always expressed deep concern about the shutdowns, arguing that it was extreme, discriminatory and toxic for our democracy. The only redeeming feature of the decision to allow these stations to resume broadcasting is the fact that it enhances press freedom and the right of citizens to access information from their trusted sources. The decision rectifies a situation that we believe could have been avoided,” said Muheeb Saeed, Senior Programme Officer at the MFWA.

Background

On September 28, 2017, the NCA revoked the licences of 34 radio stations across the country for failing to renew their operating licences, among other infractions.

A total of 131 FM authorisation holders were affected by the exercise carried out in enforcement of Section 13 of the Electronics Communications Act (2009), Act 775. The regulator said the authorisations of the stations involved had expired over several years. These included very popular stations like Montie FM, a station aligned to the main opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Hello FM and Kapital Radio.

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) subsequently mounted a legal challenge to seek redress for nine of the affected stations which are its members without much success.

In May 2019, the regulator again revoked the licenses scores of radio stations across the country, in line with section 65 (1) of the Electronic Communications Regulations, 2011, L.I. 1991 that prohibits the use of radio frequency without authorisation.

On July 22, 2020, the MFWA, through its Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, submitted a request for information application under Article 21(1)(f) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution and under Ghana’s Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).

The MFWA had requested from the NCA, among others, the full list of all authorised FM stations as of the second quarter of 2020, with details on the dates of first authorisation, dates of last authorisation renewals, locations, and operational status of the radio stations, and confirmation as to whether they are on-air or off-air.

MFWA had noticed from the NCA’s website that its “List of Authorised VHF-FM Radio Stations in Ghana as of Second Quarter 2020” included some radio stations whose last authorisation renewal showed they had defaulted were still operating, suggesting a discriminatory exercise. This information was pulled down from the website after the MFWA made calls to the NCA to demand explanation for the apparent favouritism and discrimination.

After initial foot-dragging, the NCA asked the MFWA to pay GHC 2,000 (USD 345) to enable it generate the requested information, citing the Electronic Communications Act to justify the amount.

Convinced that the amount the NCA is demanding is prohibitive and liable to set a bad precedent, and a breach of the fundamental right to access information, the MFWA filed a suit at an Accra High Court to seek the following reliefs;

  1. A declaration that the amount of GHC 2,000 demanded by Respondent in order to generate the information is unconscionably exorbitant and constitutes constructive denial of the MFWA’s right to information under Article 21(1) (f) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana
  2. A declaration that if Applicant were liable to a charge/fee, same ought to be an ascertainable amount to cover the actual cost of reproduction or photocopy of the information sought only.

Disappointing Ruling
On June 17, 2021, the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Gifty Agyei Addo, ruled that the MFWA should pay GHC1,500 instead of the GHC 2000 the NCA had demanded in order to grant the request. The court also ordered the NCA to provide the information the MFWA was requesting, but declined the request for the regulator to explain the changes it had made to the status of radio stations as earlier published on its website.

The decision was a pyrrhic victory for the NCA and a disappointing one for the MFWA and the Right to Information coalition. The fee of GHC 1,500 decided by the Court was still exorbitant and far in excess of the cost of “REPRODUCTION of information” as prescribed at section 23(3)(d) of the RTI Act (Emphasis supplied).

Another disappointing part of the Court’s decision was its declaration that the information the MFWA requested was not of public interest, despite the fact that the work of the affected radio stations is a service to the general public. Indeed, the Minister-designate for Communication, Ursula Owusu, was intensely queried about the radio station shutdowns during her vetting.

Given the above embarrassment, the recent decision by the Governing Board of the National Communications Authority (NCA) to approve licenses for 133 FM radio stations cannot be celebrated. It cleans up a mess that should not have been created in the first place.

The radio station shutdowns, the opaque manner in which it was carried out and the court’s declaration that the MFWA’s request for explanation is not in the public interest could only have held Ghana up to ridicule in the eyes of the civilised world. The shutdowns were reported and recorded against Ghana in press freedom rankings. It was, therefore, ill-advised in the first place.

Not much has changed regarding the status of the radio stations that were shut down. The planned sensitization workshop for the radio station managers and the current spirit of rapprochement could have been adopted to avoid the highly political and discriminatory shutdowns.

MFWA meets with National Security Chiefs on Press Freedom and Safety of Journalists in Ghana

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MFWA meets with National Security Chiefs on Press Freedom and Safety of Journalists in Ghana

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has led a group of journalists to hold discussions with the Minister for National Security, Hon. Albert Kan-Dapaah, and the National Security Co-ordinator, Major General Francis Adu Amanfo (rtd), over concerns about Press Freedom and safety of journalists issues in Ghana.

The meeting, which involved journalists who had been victims of brutality and serious threats, discussed matters relating to the involvement of national security personnel in brutalities against journalists and what could be done by the leadership of the National Security Ministry to end such attacks.

The meeting followed a petition that was signed by 642 journalists and supporters of press freedom, urging the National Security Ministry and Parliament to take steps to end the wave of attacks on journalists in the country.

The petition to the Minister and Parliament was prompted by a series of threats and attacks on journalists in the country including a scathing verbal attack on Mr. Erastus Asare Donkor of the Multimedia Group by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr. Kennedy Agyapong. The MP had called for physical attack on the journalist over his reports on violence that broke out in Ejura, a town in the Ashanti region of Ghana.

In 2019, the same Assin Central MP issued similar verbal attacks and threats against Mr. Ahmed Suale who worked with investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas. Months after the threat, Ahmed Suale was shot dead by unknow assailants. No arrests have since been made for the crime.

Led by Sulemana Braimah, the representatives of the petitioners reiterated their concerns about the threat against Erastus Asare Donkor and demanded action by government to call Mr. Kennedy Agyapong to order. They deplored the raid on the premises of Citi FM/TV by National Security operatives and the arrest and torture of its journalist, Caleb Kudah.

The team also condemned the brutal assault on Peter Tabiri, a correspondent of Pent TV in the Western Region, also by National Security operatives and expressed deep concerns about the continued lack of redress for the arrest and torture of Emmanuel Ajarfor, Editor of ModernGhana.com as well as the killing of Ahmed Suale.

Responding to the concerns, the Minister, flanked by the National Security Co-ordinator and the Deputy National Security Co-ordinator, expressed regret over incidents of attacks against journalists involving national security personnel. He said the Akufo-Addo Administration values the work of the media as an important part of democratic governance and remained committed to promoting press freedom and protecting the safety of journalists.

Hon. Kan-Dapaah affirmed his personal commitment to ensuring redress for violations against journalists, particularly those committed by National Security operatives. He called for a stronger and cordial relations between national security and the media indicating that such a collaboration and relation will contribute strongly to democratic consolidation, and the peace and security of the country.

The other representatives of the petitioners at the meeting were Kofi Yeboah, General Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA); Muheeb Saeed, head of the press freedom and freedom of expression programme at the MFWA; Manasseh Azure Awuni, Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Estate; and Richard Mensah, News Editor of Citi FM/TV. The rest were Emmanuel Ajarfor, Editor of ModernGhana.com, Erastus Asare Donkor of Luv FM, George Mbeah, the Multimedia Group’s Head of Legal.

Mr. Kan-Dapaah thanked the MFWA team for the engagement and called for ways to collaborate, engage and educate the media on the work of security agencies and also educate security operatives about the work of the media.

MFWA commences comprehensive media support project in Guinea Bissau

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA commences comprehensive media support project in Guinea Bissau

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has commenced a major three-year media support project in Guinea Bissau. The project, which is being funded by the European Union, is titled: Promoting Media Freedom and Access to Quality Information in Guinea Bissau.

The project is aimed at enhancing the capacity of media associations and unions in the country; promoting media freedom and professionalism; and strengthening the capacity of journalists and media organisations to enable them to produce quality and fact-based reporting that contributes to enhancing human rights, democratic development and counters tendencies of extremist radicalisation.

Through collaborative, multi-stakeholder and locally-driven processes, the project will involve the capacity building of local media actors such as the main union of journalists in the country, Syndicat des journalistes et techniciens de la communication sociale (SINJOTECS); the association of community radio stations, association of journalists, and association of female journalists. Other state actors such as the Ministry of Communication, the statutory media regulatory body, the police, the military and the Human Rights Commission will also be involved in the project.

The Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah, explained that the media in Guinea Bissau have an instrumental role to play in rebuilding and consolidating democratic gains in the country by enhancing citizens’ participation in governance processes, holding duty bearers accountable, and countering extremist tendencies that could undermine peaceful co-existence in the country. The project, thus, is in line with MFWA’s objective of strengthening the media across West Africa to play a major role in such processes.

“As an organisation, we recognise the tremendous role the media can play in consolidating democracy and improving governance and development in the region. What we aspire for is having highly professional, ethical and independent journalists, media organisations and local media actors, that can collectively promote media rights, improve the quality of journalism and counter radicalization and violent extremism especially among the youth,” said Mr. Braimah.

From September 20 to 24, 2021, a three-person team made up of MFWA’s Board member from Cape Verde, Ms. Hilda Regina Melício Teófilo, Executive Director, Sulemana Braimah, and Projects Administrative Officer, Daisy Prempeh, joined a team from SINJOTECS to hold consultation meetings with various stakeholders in the capital Bissau.

The MFWA had consultative meetings with various stakeholders

The stakeholders who were met to discuss the project included officials of the Ministry of Communications; officials of the media regulatory body; the leadership of the military; the leadership of the various journalist unions; officials of the Communications Authority that oversees frequencies and ICTs; among others. All the stakeholders expressed commitment to the project and its implementation.

Some of the stakeholders who were met to discuss the project included leadership of the military

The project will be implemented with funding support from the European Union.

West Africa Media Excellence Awards 2021: List of Finalists

Kwaku Asante
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West Africa Media Excellence Awards 2021: List of Finalists

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has announced the list of finalists for the 2021 edition of the prestigious West Africa Media Excellence Awards (WAMECA 2021).

This year’s event, the 5th edition, will be held on Friday, October 22, at the Alisa Hotel, Accra, Ghana and will be graced by media experts, high-level personalities and delegates from sub-regional bodies and civil society groups.

The event will host West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, as Guest of Honour. The renowned human rights lawyer will present the award to the overall best journalist in West Africa.

The 2021 West Africa Media Excellence Awards received 711 entries from 14 countries in West Africa. The five-member jury after a thorough review of the entries shortlisted 21 finalists from five countries.

The shortlisted finalists for WAMECA 2021 are:

SOW Daouda, Médi1 TV, Senegal

Chinedu Asadu, The Cable, Nigeria

Sawadogo Delvende Elza Sandrine Clotilde, L’Economiste du Faso, Burkina Faso

Caleb Ojewale, BusinessDay, Nigeria

Gideon Sarpong, iWatch Africa, Ghana

Chijioke Arinze Gideon, Ripples Nigeria, Nigeria

Emmanuel Kwasi Debrah, Multimedia Group Limited, Ghana

Niyi Oyedeji, The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Nigeria

Kingbewe Yao Hervé, Banouto, Benin

Olugbenga Adanikin, The International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR), Nigeria

Ibrahima Olou Ndiaye, Ouestaf News, Senegal

Araba Koomson, Multimedia Group Limited, Ghana

Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim, Edutorial, Nigeria

Hakeem Onapajo and Jelili Adebiyi, The Republic, Nigeria

Samad Uthman, Dataphyte, Nigeria

Seth Kwame Boateng, Multimedia Group Limited, Ghana

Chikodi Okereocha, The Nation, Nigeria

Kwetey Nartey, Multimedia Group Limited, Ghana

Alfred Olufemi, PREMIUM TIMES, Nigeria

Jesusegun Alagbe, The Punch Newspapers, Nigeria

The winners for the various categories including the West African Journalist of the Year will be announced at the Awards event.

All finalists will receive a Certificate of Merit. Ultimate winners will receive plaques, certificates and cash prizes.

All 21 finalists will also be inducted as fellows of the MFWA’s Journalism for Change Network and will be offered regular training opportunities both locally and internationally to enhance their capacity to influence positive change in society through journalism.

West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA 2021) is supported by MTN-Ghana, the US Embassy in Ghana, US-based William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Open Society Institute for West Africa (OSIWA), and Stanbic Bank Ghana. The event is also supported by about 65 media partners across West Africa.

Join the  2021 West Africa Media Excellence Awards by registering here. Also, follow the event on all our social media pages.

For more details on the event, visit www.mfwa.org/wameca.

Contact Abigail Larbi-Odei (+233244867074) and Kwaku Krobea Asante (+233249484528) for media interviews.

Hurray! West Africa’s Biggest Journalism Event, WAMECA, is 5years old

Kwaku Asante
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Hurray! West Africa’s Biggest Journalism Event, WAMECA, is 5years old

When West Africa’s biggest journalism event comes off on Friday, October 22, 2021, in Ghana, it would be a celebration of an impressive milestone – the five-year anniversary of the prestigious West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA).

For the last five years, it has been an annual pilgrimage for freedom of expression, media and governance advocates and experts to congregate and discuss pertinent issues and trends impacting journalism positively or otherwise and preferring concrete recommendations on how to strengthen the media landscape in the region to contribute effectively towards participatory, accountable, and peaceful democratic governance in Africa.

The region’s finest journalists in print, online and broadcast journalism who brave the odds as watchdogs to produce stories that significantly impact society also showcase stories that compete for awards, the ultimate being the West African Journalist of the Year.

The fifth anniversary goes beyond merely marking five years of existence as West Africa’s most prestigious media excellence event—it is also a celebration of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA’s) commitment to participatory and accountable governance, freedom of expression and the desire to see a resilient media in the sub-region.

Back into memory lane

This year, guests and participants will share insights into the raging phenomenon of “Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation and Journalism in Africa”. This has been necessitated by the growing number of legislation in Africa that tend to strengthen state control over citizens’ use of the internet, online communication outlets and digital media platforms including social media platforms. West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana, will be the Special Guest.

In 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world on its head and distressing an already precarious media ecosystem on the continent, WAMECA focused deliberations on “The Future of Journalism”. The event hosted many prominent personalities including the Senior Editor, Africa TV and Media Management Executive of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Vera Kwakwofi and George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of Ghana’s National Media Commission and underscored the need for the media to engage in research and advocacy, adding that public education and robust interrogation should be the journalist’s role, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The event also hosted His Excellency Abdourahmane Diallo, UNESCO Country Representative in Ghana, as the Special Guest.

In the year prior (2019), WAMECA sought antidotes to the phenomenon of “Social Media, Fake News and Elections in Africa”. It was a healthy discourse ahead of 2020 when at least 25 countries on the continent were headed for the elections. The event hosted Chairpersons of the elections management bodies of Ghana and Burkina Faso, top state security officers in some countries in West Africa and a representative from social media giant, Facebook. The Guest of Honour, was Pansy Tlakula, Chairperson of the Information Regulator of South Africa and past Chair of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights. Others included Jean Mensah, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, Ahmed Newton Barry, Chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Burkina Faso and the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, Oyedapo Oyekunle “Dapo” Olorunyomi.

Further back in 2018, participants at WAMECA deliberated on “Media Development, Financing and Sustainability” necessitated by the fact that the industry was battling the combined effects of poor standards, repression of media freedoms, weak economies and absence of contextually relevant media management data, which had culminated in a serious challenge of sustainability for many media organisations in West Africa. His Excellency Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, the United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, and head of the UN Office in West Africa (UNOWAS) graced the occasion.

The most exciting perhaps of all was the maiden edition in 2017 which certainly set WAMECA off to a good start with a strong and bold showing by the MFWA. It focused on four key thematic areas including promoting safety of journalists and countering impunity for crimes against journalists and the media, democratic transitions and accountable Governance in West Africa. That also marked the 20th anniversary of the MFWA.

Entries, Winners and the Jury

Since its inception on October 28, 2017, WAMECA has received more than 3,500 entries from seasoned journalists across West Africa.  Out of this, 40 journalists have been awarded for producing compelling works which have had significant impact on society. Journalists who wear the WAMECA badge of honour are those who braved the odds in researching and publishing compelling stories to make the world a better place.

The most coveted Overall Journalist of the Year prize has been taken by investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni winning it twice in 2018 and 2020 after Seth Kwame Boateng, grabbed the honour in the maiden edition. In 2019, Burkinabe journalist, Sama Tounwendsida Hugues Richard of Burkina Faso took the crown.

Manasseh Azure Awuni has been adjudged West Africa Journalist of the Year twice (2018 & 2020)

Over the years, the WAMECA Awards scheme has empaneled for its Jury some of the seasoned media experts and celebrated journalists across the continent including Kenya’s Joseph Warungu, Senegal’s Sophie Ly Sow and Tidianne Sy, Ghana’s Cameroun Duodu and Elizabeth Ohene, Nigeria’s Lanre Idowu, Liberia’s Rodney Sieh, Cote D’Ivoire’s Selay Kouassi and Reyhanna Masters from Zimbabwe.

Commenting on the achievements of WAMECA over the last five years, the Programme Manager of the Media and Good Governance programme at the MFWA, Mrs Abigail Larbi-Odei, was excited about the milestone chalked.

“We are indeed happy that WAMECA has become an anticipated platform to raise key and relevant voices to address the critical issues that confront media development, freedom of expression and good governance in the West Africa region,” Mrs Larbi-Odei said.

“We have remained resolute and resilient in the last five years and certainly look for better days in the coming years. As a media development organisation, the MFWA believes that media excellence is crucial for development and transforming lives. WAMECA will continue to inspire journalists in the region to produce stories that positively impact society,” she added.

Sponsors and Supporters

The MFWA team is immensely grateful to organisations such as the US Embassy Ghana; MTN-Ghana; STANBIC Bank Ghana, US-based William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Open Society Institute for West Africa (OSIWA); Facebook; Tullow Ghana; CBOD; Access Now; Deutche Welle Akadamie; GCB Bank and CIMA for their generous support and commitment towards promoting media excellence in West Africa through their support and sponsorship of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards and to the over 50 media partners across the region.

MFWA, Ivorian partners examine Cote d’Ivoire’s ATI Law, 14 years after adoption

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA, Ivorian partners examine Cote d’Ivoire’s ATI Law, 14 years after adoption

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), in partnership with its Ivorian partner, l’Observatoire de la liberté de la presse, de l’éthique et de la déontologie (OLPED) have organised a forum to evaluate the law on access to public information in Côte d’Ivoire.

The forum, held on 21 September 2021 at the Manhattan Suites Hotel in Abidjan, sought to examine the law to establish if it adequately meets the objectives of promoting transparent and responsive governance as envisaged by the authorities in Côte d’Ivoire.

The meeting was organised with funding support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), a Dakar-based organisation that works to promote democracy, good governance and broad citizen participation in the governance process.

The law on access to information in Côte d’Ivoire, N°2013-867, was adopted on 23 December 2013. The adoption of this law was followed in 2015 by the establishment of the Commission d’accès à l’information d’intérêt public et aux documents publics (CAIDP), the institution responsible for its effective implementation. The CAID is supposed to ensure that journalists, civil society or ordinary citizens can access the information they need from public administrations and some private organisations to ensure the effective management of public resources.

In his address, Mr. Muheeb Saeed, Programme Officer at MFWA, noted that good governance is about transparency and accountability to citizens. However, journalists still find it difficult to obtain information from reliable sources in order to fulfil their duty of informing the public and demanding accountability from public authorities, who, moreover, have a reflex to withhold information about the way they carry out their responsibilities. “This culture of secrecy often leads to speculation and the dissemination of false information. It is therefore in the common interest of the authorities, journalists and the public that transparency is promoted in public administration,” Mr Saeed noted.

According to Dr Bamba Souleymane of the Commission for access to public information and documents (CAIDP), the Access to Information Act (ATI) has brought about a change in the sense that any person requesting information from a public or private administration can now appeal to the CAIDP. The latter has the possibility to enforce compliance by the organisation in question in case of refusal or non-cooperation.

The representative of the Minister for Communication, Media and Francophonie, Agnès Kraidy, stressed that the President of the Republic, Alassane Ouattara, with the establishment of a ministry in charge of the fight against corruption, is “taking a clear stand” with regard to the management of public affairs.

The chairman of the OLPED steering committee, Zio Moussa, said that the advent of this law is a big step forward, but that much remains to be done. In this regard, he urged all stakeholders to take inspiration from the Access to Information law of Sierra Leone which is “one of the best laws”.

“We have to make sure that we use this law that exists, not only us journalists but also as civil society and as ordinary citizens. We need to use it, understand how it works, its content, spirit and letter so that we can make proposals to improve it further,” he added.

The participants ended the meeting by calling on

Public institutions;

  • To make proactive disclosure of information to enhance public trust their operations
  • To respond promptly to demands for information to give meaning to the law and prevent litigation

(The CAIDP);

  • To diligently monitor the level of compliance to the law by public institutions and apply the relevant sanctions without fear or favour
  • To promptly attend to complaints from applicants whose demand for information is unlawfully denied by the information holders
  • To commission periodic review of the ATI law in order to propose appropriate amendments to suit changing needs and circumstances

Journalists;

  • To use the law to demand information in order to give depth and credibility to their articles or publication
  • Help combat Fake news by obtaining authentic information from official sources in order to publish fact-based stories

Civil Society;

  • To collaborate with the media to educate citizens to recognise and exercise their right to demand accountability from public institutions using the law.
  • To work with the media to campaign for redress for journalists, citizens, and institutions whenever they are unjustly denied information requested under the law.

The Abidjan forum was the third in the year after those in Accra and Niamey. The meeting was followed by a two-day residential training workshop held in Grand Bassam. Fifteen journalists benefited from the training which was facilitated by Dr. Selay Marius Kouassi, a media trainer and consultant and lawyer Dogbemin Kone.

The participants were trained on the ATI law and how it could be used to develop compelling stories and give credibility to news reports.

IDUAI 2021: Limited Knowledge, Awareness derail effective implementation of RTI law in Ghana

Kwaku Asante
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IDUAI 2021: Limited Knowledge, Awareness derail effective implementation of RTI law in Ghana

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, the world will mark the International Day of Universal Access to Information (IDUAI) under the theme: The Right to Know – Building Back Better with Access to Information. This year’s theme highlights the role of access to information laws and their implementation to build back strong institutions for the public good and sustainable development, as well as to strengthen the right to information and international cooperation in the field of implementing this human right.

Ahead of this year’s celebration, our Media and Governance team in this report looks at the implementation of Ghana’s Right to Information Law (Act 989) at the local governance level.

Specifically, the report, titled, Gauging Local Authorities’ Responsiveness to Right to Information requests – Experiences from three Districts in Ghana, highlights some challenges and critical emerging issues on how local government authorities in the three districts are responding to information requests under the RTI law. It also highlights experiences of some citizens who have requested information from their local assembly officials under the RTI law and how their experiences conform to or contrast with the Act.

In essence, the report notes that the Absence of Information officers or RTI Officers at post; Limited knowledge among public officials of their obligations under the RTI law as well as Local Authorities’ asking Applicants to provide reasons for requests made are the major setbacks derailing the effective implementation of the RTI law in Ghana.

Kindly click here to access the detailed report.

MFWA to host West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, at WAMECA 2021

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA to host West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana SAN, at WAMECA 2021

The 2021 edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) will host renowned human rights lawyer and West Africa’s foremost media defence lawyer, Femi Falana, as the guest of honour.

Femi Falana is a legal practitioner and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who specialises in constitutional and human rights law. He is also a former President of the West Africa Bar Association (WABA).

Over the last two decades, Femi has built a reputation as an activist and defender of the rights of journalists and citizens across the different countries in West Africa. He has won several landmark cases in Nigeria and at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.

He recently took on the Federal Government of Nigeria for freezing the bank accounts of the #ENDSARS protest leaders for over 90 days without due cause. He also sued the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, in the ECOWAS Court for suspending Twitter, calling the ban on Twitter a “provocative infringement.”

In 2008 and 2010, he secured landmark victories at the ECOWAS Court against the government of The Gambia in favour of Gambian journalists, Musah Saidykhan and Chief Ebrima Manneh, who suffered torture and enforced disappearance respectively, at the hands of the Yahaya Jammeh government.  He also served as lawyer for journalist and founder of online publication, Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, who was held by the Nigerian authorities in breach of his rights. In 2019, he secured the release of the Editor and Publisher of The Source Newspaper, Jones Abiri, who had been detained by Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) since 2016.

In recognition of his exceptional qualities in, and dedication to human rights law and criminal law, Femi Falana in 2008, received the International Bar Association’s Bernard Simons Memorial Award. He has been a keynote speaker at conferences of the ECOWAS Community Court and many other international legal convenings.

As Guest of Honour at this year’s WAMECA, Lawyer Femi Falana will make a statement on the rising spate of digital legislation in Africa that tend to strengthen state control over citizens’ use of internet, online communication outlets and digital media platforms including social media as well as present the award to the overall best journalist in West Africa.

This year’s edition of West Africa’s biggest journalism event will be the fifth since the initiative was instituted by the MFWA. Both the Conference and Awards will come off on Friday, October 22, 2021, under the theme: Misinformation, Digital Media Regulation and Journalism in Africa. It is will host more than 250 participants virtually and in person from West Africa and beyond.

WAMECA brings together stakeholders from government, media, civil society, academia and the general public each year to deliberate on key challenges to media development and explore ways to support the media to promote good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa. The Awards ceremony held each year (after the Conference) honours West African journalists who have produced compelling works which have had significant impact on society.

To participate in the 2021 edition of WAMECA, click here to register for in-person participation or here for virtual participation.

Meet the WAMECA 2021 grand jury

Kwaku Asante
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Meet the WAMECA 2021 grand jury

The MFWA is delighted to announce the jury for the 2021 edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Awards.

The jury, made up of distinguished and experienced media experts in Africa, will assess and shortlist deserving entries and also determine the ultimate winners of the various categories in the 5th edition of the West Africa Media Excellence Awards. The Awards will be held on October 22, 2021, at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

Below are the profiles of the judges:

Cameron Duodu—Ghana

Cameron Duodu is a seasoned and celebrated journalist, broadcaster, editor and novelist with a career spanning about six decades. He started as editor of a general-purpose magazine, New Nation in Ghana, and reporter for Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), where he became an editor of radio news during the era of the independence struggle in Ghana. He later edited the most popular and biggest-selling newspaper in Ghana, the Daily Graphic. Cameron has also edited several magazines including Ghana’s edition of South Africa’s Drum.

He has worked as a freelance journalist for the BBC, the Financial Times, the Economist, the Guardian, the Observer, the Sunday Times and De Volkskrant, Amsterdam.

Currently, Cameron writes columns for New African magazine (London), City Press (Johannesburg) and the Ghanaian Times (Accra) and frequently appears on BBC World Service radio news programmes to discuss African politics, economy and culture.

Joseph Warungu—Kenya

Joseph Warungu is a media and communication consultant and trainer with 30 years of experience in international journalism. He was head of the BBC African News and Current Affairs Department and is a former Knight International Journalism Fellow. He is widely travelled in Africa, working as a journalist, trainer and moderator of public debates on radio and TV.

He specialises in media management training and building the capacity of media to tell in-depth and compelling stories on development issues such as health, education, business and technology. He led the African Story Challenge, a continent-wide competition to inspire and support African media to tell more and better stories on development issues.

Warungu also runs Top Story – a national mentorship programme for young journalists in Kenya, which takes the form of a popular reality TV show.

Hamadou Tidiane Sy—Senegal

Hamadou Tidiane Sy is the founder and Director of E-jicom, a journalism, communication and digital media school based in Dakar. He is also the founder of the award-winning online media organisation Ouestaf News (ouestaf.com).

Tidiane Sy is a seasoned Senegalese journalist, now mostly active as a journalism trainer and consultant throughout Africa. He worked for major media outlets, including the BBC, AFP (Agence France Presse), Global Radio News, Channel Africa, etc. Tidiane is also involved in the activities of the West African Investigative Network “CENOZO” where he edits investigative reports.

As a reporter Tidiane has extensively covered Africa, and more particularly the West African region and has conducted major investigations, culminating with his participation in the global “Panama Papers”, “the Swissleaks”, and “Fatal Extractions” projects. He is recognised as a social innovator in the field of “News and Knowledge” by the Ashoka and Knight Foundations. He is a board member at Cenozo and Africa Check.

Reyhana MasterSmith—Zimbabwe

Reyhana Masters-Smith is an experienced and distinguished Zimbabwean Media and Communications Consultant who has worked as a reporter, editor, media trainer and researcher for many local and international organisations.

Reyhana has served as the Editor for So This Is Democracy, a publication by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) which analyses the political and economic landscape and media policy frameworks in Southern Africa. She has also worked as the Editor and Content Creator for the MISA Regional Website and Communication Portal.

For many years, she worked as the deputy features editor of  The Daily News – the first privately owned daily newspaper established in Zimbabwe in 1999 and as the Moderator of the African Media Barometer, an analytical tool that measures the national media environments on the African continent.

Currently, Reyhana Masters is the Sub Saharan Africa regional editor of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) and also serves as the chairperson for the Information for Development Trust—an investigative journalism media hub she co-founded.

Selay Marius Kouassi, PhD – Cote D’Ivoire

Selay Marius Kouassi is a renowned award-winning investigative journalist, media trainer and academic.

His works over the years have spurred civil society organisations and global decision-makers to take action while holding political leaders to account across Africa.

Selay initiated the transnational investigation into ‘Fair-Trade’ chocolate, ‘The Fair-Trade Chocolate Rip-Off.’ joining the Swiss Leaks Project team, an investigation initiated by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), to trace billions lost annually in Africa in the chocolate industry.

Selay has worked with various international media outlets including The Guardian, DPA (German Press Agency), SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) and the BBC.

He is a part-time trainer for the ‘Wealth of Nations’, a programme run by the Thomson Reuters Foundation to investigate tax abuse and illicit financial flows from and in Africa.  He is also the co-founder and member of the AIPC (African Investigative Publishing Collective) and a member of FAIR (Forum for African Investigative Reporters).

Deepening access to information for accountable governance in Ghana – the MFWA experience

Kwaku Asante
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Deepening access to information for accountable governance in Ghana – the MFWA experience

Access to information is a universal human right. Accordingly, it is recognised in several international human rights treaties and protocols such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. These instruments place obligations on States that have ratified them to respect, protect and fulfil citizens’ enjoyment of the right to information.

Access to public-held information is also a critical tool for attaining the key indicators of good governance i.e. participation, transparency and accountability among others. It strengthens and institutionalises mechanisms for citizens-government engagements on development issues that affect their lives. It empowers citizens to demand transparency and accountability on matters of public interest thereby holding governments and public office holders accountable for their stewardship.

Ghana is a signatory to these international and regional instruments and protocols. Accordingly, the 1992 Constitution and the recently passed Right to Information law (Act 989) grant citizens the full enjoyment of this right. Sadly, however, the mere existence of an RTI law does not guarantee citizen participation, state accountability and state responsiveness. The law is almost needless without real structural mechanisms and political will to provide information, and the ability of citizens to claim their right to information and to use it to demand better governance and public services.

In view of this, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), since the passage of the RTI law in 2019, has been implementing a series of activities to sensitize and promote public awareness and engagement on the RTI law in Ghana. Below are some key specific interventions undertaken by the organization.

  1. Capacity building and sensitisation on the RTI law

 According to Alianza Regional (2009)[1], lack of training on access to information is one of the major obstacles to its effective implementation. This is because users need to know and understand the law, as well as their rights and obligations under the law in order to effectively evoke it. The MFWA in this regard has organised several sensitisation programmes, capacity building and training sessions for journalists and public officials across Ghana. In 2019, for instance, the organisation trained over 150 journalists from the Ashanti, Northern and Greater Accra regions on how to utilise the RTI law for critical reporting. In 2021, the organization brought together some 15 investigative journalists in a three-day residential bootcamp to equip them with skills and knowledge on how to use the RTI law to advance their investigations. To also improve local governance accountability, the MFWA has trained 30 journalists from community-based radio stations in some parts of the country on the RTI law, information request processes and how they can seek information to facilitate more detailed and factual reporting. About 150 local government officials made up of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives, Coordinating Directors and Information Officers from various Metropolitan Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have also been trained on their obligations under the law. The aim has been to empower both the demand and supply sides of governance of their responsibilities and obligations under the RTI law.

Pictures from forums and radio engagements held on Access to Information in Ghana

2. Publication of a simplified version of the RTI Law

To make the RTI law user friendly for the media and the public in general, the MFWA, with support from the DW Akademie, produced and published a Journalists Guidebook on the law. Titled Essentials of the RTI Law, the guidebook helps readers highlights key areas of the law such as exempt information; information request process; the appeal process etc. So far, over 500 copies of the Guidebook have been distributed to newsrooms, media organisations and some public institutions across Ghana. A copy of the Guidebook is also available online for easy access.

Launch of RTI Guidebook in Ghana
  1. Sensitisation Forums for Media and the Public

To encourage public participation and usage of the right to information law among citizens, the MFWA periodically organises national forums on the law. These forums usually bring together high-profile lawyers, journalists, representatives of the government, the media, citizens and other key stakeholders to discuss these topical issues such as government efforts to ensure an effective RTI regime; how the law can engender Ghana’s fight against corruption; as well as emerging trends and challenges. These Forums harvest key recommendations towards ensuring a more robust access to information regime in Ghana.

Public forums and radio programs held on the RTI law in Ghana

4. Gauging Public Institutions Responsiveness to Making Information Request

Between September 2020 and June 2021, the MFWA has made over 30 requests to some public institutions in Ghana. The outcomes of these requests have triggered reactions that have questioned some of the tenets of the RTI law and called for a look at some grey areas within the law. For instance, in 2020, the MFWA requested information from the National Communications Authority which demanded an exorbitant amount of Ghc2,000 to enable it “research” the information. In a related development, the Minerals Commission of Ghana asked The Fourth Estate, a public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the MFWA, to pay approximately US$1,000 for information that ordinarily should be public information.

MFWA survey on Public Institutions responsiveness to RTI requests in Ghana

So far, demands for fees and charges before the release of information to an applicant have been a major problem that calls for policy directions on the issue. To ensure a holistic implementation of the Right to Information law, the MFWA has held engagements with the RTI Commission on the best ways to address some of these issues.

A call on the RTI Commission by the MFWA (R-L Justice K. A. Ofori-Atta, chairman of the RTI Commission; Abigail Larbi, Programme Manager, MFWA; Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director, MFWA; Yaw Sarpong Boateng, Executive Secretary of the RTI Commission, Adizatu Moro Maiga, Programme Officer, MFWA)

Challenges and some lessons learnt

The MFWA is also picking up lessons along the line as it continues to implement interventions on access to information in the country.

a. Limited knowledge of the RTI law among public officials: There is very limited knowledge on the RTI law among officials of public institutions which is affecting their responsiveness to RTI requests. Majority of them including some of the officials designated or appointed as RTI officers are not abreast of their obligations or responsibilities under the RTI law and request processes.

b. Poor record keeping /information management culture:  The way information is managed within some public institutions are also affecting how requests are treated or responded to. In many institutions, past records or data are not accessible. This is because the record was not kept well or the manner in which it was kept makes it ineligible.

c. Poor human resource management and bureaucracy: Typically, letters and correspondence that go to some public institutions are often recorded at the registry for onward submission to the appropriate offices later. Under the new regime of RTI where an application must be addressed to the designated information officer, the challenge has been in two folds: firstly, if a letter takes longer time at the registry before submission, it takes out from the initial 14-day period within which the institution has to make a determination on the application. The other challenge observed is that, in some other instances, officials in some public institutions are hesitant in receiving RTI requests in the absence of the designated officials who may either be indisposed or on leave.

d. Undue delay in the release of the information requested: Because the law does not state explicitly how long an institution must take to give the requested information, some public institutions turn to abuse the time and, in the process, unduly delay the release of the information being requested.

[1] https://www.palermo.edu/cele/pdf/noticias/AI-training-final.pdf

Call for application – Consultant for Baseline Study in Guinea Bissau

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Call for application – Consultant for Baseline Study in Guinea Bissau

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is a regional, independent, non-partisan, non-governmental organisation that works to promote freedom of expression and media development across West Africa. In the last 24 years, the MFWA has worked with both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and partners at the national, regional and international levels to contribute to improving the media and freedom of expression landscape in West Africa. More details about the MFWA can be found on our website www.mfwa.org.

The MFWA has been awarded a grant by the European Union for a three-year media sector support project in Guinea Bissau. The project is titled: Promoting Media Freedom and Access to Quality Information in Guinea Bissau and has an overall objective of ensuring that: Journalists and other media actors in Guinea Bissau are safe and secure, and produce ethically-appropriate, timely, and fact-based journalistic content that fosters peaceful co-existence and enables public access to quality information in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Under the project, the MFWA is carrying out a baseline study in Guinea Bissau to assess the human rights, media and freedom of expression situation; and the organisational capacity of media actors in the country.

The MFWA is, thus, looking for a Consultant with the requisite expertise to undertake the assignment. Read more about the call here.

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