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Ghana: MFWA condemns violent rhetoric by ruling NPP’s National Youth Organiser

Kwaku Asante
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Ghana: MFWA condemns violent rhetoric by ruling NPP’s National Youth Organiser

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has seen a video in which the National Youth Organiser of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Salam Mustapha, is heard making reckless, rabble-rousing statements, and we do unreservedly condemn same.

“I said, the NPP will not sacrifice power on the altar of peace. We will not do it. We will not submit. We will not be cowed. We will not be intimidated. We will not be pushed,” Salam Mustapha declared during a rally in Takoradi on August 17, a day ahead of the ruling party’s manifesto launch in the Western Regional capital.

The ruling party’s youth organiser then provocatively flexed his muscles, further stating, “look at my muscles, they are natural muscles. In this hand, there are bones. If the NDC believe they are stronger than us, they should dare us in this election and they will see that men are available.”

In simple words, Mr Salam Mustapha is saying that given a choice between maintaining restraint even in the face of provocation and using violence, his party will not hesitate to choose the latter, if that is required to retain power.

This posture is unfortunate and unbecoming of a National Youth Organizer of the governing party. It is irresponsible and should attract the severest of condemnations from all well-meaning members of society, starting with the leadership of his own political party, the NPP.

If Mr Mustapha is aware of any plans by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) or any other political party to unleash violence during the election, let him provide the evidence to the police for their intervention. Otherwise, it is safe to say that he is only daring to meet imaginary violence with real violence. His ranting, gambols and muscle-flexing are simply reprehensible.

This aggressive posture is all the more abominable because of the mayhem recorded during the 2020 elections which resulted in at least seven deaths. With that as a background, we had expected all players in the political field to show some sobriety and prioritise peace and mutual trust in order to ensure violence-free elections this time around.

Salam Mustapha’s irresponsible declaration was made in the name of the ruling party, making it imperative that the party distances itself from it and also sanction the irate National Youth Organizer.

That it has been four days since the declaration was made and the ruling party has not sanctioned Salam Mustapha is unfortunate and worrying.

The MFWA also notes with concern that the NPP has similarly failed to sanction its  Member of Parliament for Abetifi, Bryan Acheampong, who has twice declared in recent times that the party will never hand over power to the NDC.

It is one thing for party leaders to assure their followers that they are doing everything possible to secure electoral victory and another thing to vow not to hand over power to the opposition.

In a contest that is always characterised by tension and distrust, the least any politician can do is avoid statements that can stoke further tension or alarm.

It is a well-known fact that the handing over of political power is a matter of law. It is subsequent to the outcome of elections as announced by the Electoral Commission. A political party cannot therefore take or hand over power with its own whim. It is the electorate that decides.

The declaration that the NPP will not sacrifice power on the altar of peace and the bragging that “We will not hand over power” is therefore misplaced, dangerous and deplorable.

The MFWA reiterates once more its disappointment in the latest violent rhetoric and wishes to caution all political parties that their conduct and utterances can plunge Ghana into chaos if they are not measured. Specifically, in respect of the ruling NPP, we call on it to dissociate and distance itself from these violent and irresponsible statements and sanction the persons who perpetrate them in the party’s name.

MFWA rolls out phase II of DPI Journalism Fellowship: 60 Journalists to benefit

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA rolls out phase II of DPI Journalism Fellowship: 60 Journalists to benefit

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has launched phase II of its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Journalism Fellowship Programme.

The MFWA-DPI Journalism Fellowship aims to elevate public awareness, debates, participation, inclusivity, and uptake of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in West Africa through increased professional media reporting and public discourse on the region’s DPI and Digital Public Goods (DPGs).

This phase will involve 60 journalists from Benin, Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria. The strategic focus on the four countries is aimed at building on the successes of Phase I, which saw the participation of 20 journalists from 10 West African countries. The fellowship will also sponsor selected Fellows to participate in International DPI events, create a website for the fellowship activities and also provide financial support to the Fellows’ media organisations.

Phase II of this exciting and impactful fellowship has kicked off with one-day webinars in each of the four focus countries in August 2024. The webinars will provide journalists with critical insights into DPI and DPGs. The Call for application for the Phase II will be announced during the webinars.

Phase I significantly improved media coverage and broadened public discourse on DPI/DPGs in West Africa. This was largely as a result of 115 stories that were produced and published under the first phase. Some of the stories focused on the national identification system and its challenges in Ghana and Nigeria; online passport application and its data security challenges in Nigeria; and digitalisation and healthcare in Cape Verde. Most of the published stories provoked reactions from some government institutions and state actors in the various focused countries.

Notably, this story by a Fellow from Press Afrik in Senegal prompted the Senegalese government to start using a national data storage centre which had become a white elephant. This resulted in the safeguarding of public and the country’s data. The same story also won an award at the sixth edition of the E-jicom Journalism Awards in Senegal. Another impactful story by a Fellow from Premium Times in Nigeria, exposed corrupt practices in the country’s National Population Commission (NPC) Abuja office, leading to stringent reforms.  The government of Cape Verde introduced a self-invoicing tool for the informal sector in response to challenges highlighted by our Fellow at Radio Morabeza in this publication. The Fellow’s report exposed issues with the initial e-invoice system, which created tensions between taxpayers, the informal sector, and the state.

Through the DPI Journalism Fellowship Programme, the MFWA seeks to empower media professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute effectively to the evolving digital landscape, ensuring that the benefits of DPIs and DPGs are widely understood and leveraged across West Africa.

For further clarification, kindly contact the MFWA at info@mfwa.org or Vivian Affoah at vivian[@]mfwa.org. and Dora Mawutor at dora[@]mfwa.org.

Indecent expressions on radio in July: Pro-NDC Show hosts repeat as worst offenders

Ed
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Indecent expressions on radio in July: Pro-NDC Show hosts repeat as worst offenders

The July 2024 edition of the Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) monitoring of indecent language on radio – ahead of Ghana’s December 2024 general elections – reports that show hosts from stations aligned with the leading opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), are the worst offenders of abusive language on radio.

In the report, Nana Kwabena Bobie Ansah, the host of The Citizen Show on pro-NDC station Accra FM, once again emerged as the lead offender, as he did in the June 2024 report. He recorded 30 infractions out of the total 62 documented for the month, accounting for nearly half of the violations in July. Following him were Oheneba Boamah Benie (6) and Mugabe Maase (4), hosts on Power FM, another pro-NDC station.

The July report, covering the period from July 1 to July 31, 2024, documented 62 instances of indecent expressions across ten radio stations. The report identified insults and offensive comments (39) and unsubstantiated allegations (17) as the most frequently used categories of indecent expressions. It also recorded two infractions each for provocative comments and expressions containing tribal slurs. These violations arose from discussions on elections, corruption, political party activities, conflicts, demonstrations, and general development issues.

While the monitoring of indecent language includes comments from all individuals appearing on radio shows – such as political communicators, politicians, non-political guests, callers, and texters – it is alarming that show hosts, who are duty-bound by media ethics to ensure decent language on the airwaves, are emerging as the worst offenders. This raises significant concerns about the role of media hosts in exacerbating tensions during this critical election period.

In addition to traditional broadcast violations, the report also draws attention to the widespread amplification of these indecent expressions through social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. This digital proliferation increases the reach and potential impact of such harmful rhetoric, further endangering the peace and stability of the nation.

The MFWA recommends that political leaders advocate for issue-based discussions, radio stations enforce professionalism and respectful discourse, program moderators set clear rules for decorum, and regulatory bodies strengthen mechanisms to promote media professionalism.

The full report is available here.

MFWA wins 2024 World Justice Challenge Award

Ed
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MFWA wins 2024 World Justice Challenge Award

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s accountability journalism project, The Fourth Estate, has been named the winner of the Media and Information category at the 2024 World Justice Challenge.

Although projects from four other African countries were shortlisted for awards in different categories, The Fourth Estate is the only project from Africa to win an award this year. It beat competition from journalism projects from Argentina, Mexico, Albania and Azerbaijan shortlisted in the Media and Information category.

The competition featured five categories: Media and Information, Electoral Processes, Justice Institutions, Youth Engagement, and the U.S. Building Trust Prize.

The project was recognized for its independent, research-based journalism that advances the rule of law in Ghana.

“These exemplary projects were chosen for their potential for replication and their demonstrated impact in advancing the rule of law,” stated the World Justice Challenge’s website in its announcement of the winners.

The winning projects will each receive a $20,000 cash prize and opportunities to network and build their global profiles throughout the year.

The winners were selected from 30 finalists from 23 countries, narrowed down from 424 submissions from 109 countries.

The award was presented to MFWA’s Executive Director Sulemana Braimah and the management team at the World Justice Forum, held during the annual meeting of the American Bar Association in Chicago on August 1, 2024.

The category won by The Fourth Estate emphasises programming that safeguards free media and ensures access to a reliable and trustworthy information ecosystem, addressing the challenges brought by 21st-century technological advancements.

Some key impacts that won The Fourth Estate the honour include exposing a $2 million monthly corrupt contract, leading to investigations and suspensions; an investigation prompting nearly 300 public officials to file asset declarations; uncovering fraud in the school placement system, resulting in parliamentary scrutiny and prosecutions; and revealing unlicensed herbal medication promotions, leading to regulatory actions.

Additionally, it highlighted the misallocation of government scholarships, triggering an investigation by the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

Reacting to the honour, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah said: “This award represents the validation of how great journalism can contribute to accountability, rule of law and the overall positive transformation of society. Doing this kind of journalism can be challenging but we will persevere and also inspire others in the West Africa region to use journalism for the good of society.”

The World Justice Challenge is a global competition designed to identify, recognize, and promote good practices and high-impact initiatives that protect and advance the rule of law.

According to the organizers, all the winning projects support this year’s theme, “The Rule of Law: Foundation of Democracy.”

The Fourth Estate’s impactful work has previously attracted global accolades.

In 2023, MFWA Executive Director Sulemana Braimah received the Eisenhower Fellows’ Impact Award from US-based Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) for his successful establishment and operationalization of The Fourth Estate.

Looking ahead, The Fourth Estate aims to strengthen local partnerships and cross-border collaborations across West Africa, to evolve into a regional investigative journalism project.

Call for application: Next Generation Investigative Journalism Fellowship 2024

Kwaku Asante
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Call for application: Next Generation Investigative Journalism Fellowship 2024

Are you a young journalist or a fresh journalism graduate in Ghana looking to specialise in critical, fact-based, in-depth, and investigative reporting on Ghana’s electioneering processes?

Here is a unique opportunity for you!

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is accepting applications for the 4th edition of its Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship Programme. The Fellowship is an initiative to promote public interest and accountability journalism in West Africa through mentorship and training of young promising journalism graduates as well as bolster quality journalism that advances transparency and accountability in governance, and the promotion of human rights.

Under the programme, selected fellows will be hosted in Ghana for a three-month comprehensive mentorship with Fact-Check Ghana and The Fourth Estate, both MFWA’s public interest and accountability journalism projects made up of seasoned journalists. Fellows will receive intensive practical training to enable them to conduct critical, high-quality, fact-based in-depth, and enterprise reporting toward improving lives and promoting good governance through journalism excellence.

Fellows will also be supported to produce compelling investigative and fact-checking reports and will be expected to deliver at least one significant report each by the end of the programme. Fellows will receive a Certificate of Honour upon successful completion of the programme.

This year’s fellowship will be a three-month, non-residential programme. It will cover the period of September to November 2024. Aside from training on fact-checking and investigative reporting, there will also be specific training workshops focused on elections in Ghana and the electioneering processes. The fellows will build their ability to conduct investigations aimed at holding duty-bearers accountable, safeguarding Ghana’s 2024 elections and beyond, and amplifying the concerns of marginalised communities.

Eligibility criteria:

An applicant should be a young journalist or freshly graduated journalist from the ages of 20 to 30 years who has completed national service or is an entry-level journalist in a Ghanaian newsroom, whose schedules are flexible enough to allow for full participation in the fellowship in Accra, Ghana. Female journalists are highly encouraged to apply.

Applicants must be available to fully participate in the three-month fellowship, attend all in-person and virtual training sessions and carry out all assignments throughout the Fellowship duration.

Application Requirements

Interested journalists should submit:

  1. A letter of motivation stating why they want to participate in the fellowship (maximum of 250 words).
  2. A sample of published news article (print, tv, radio or online)
  3. A CV including two referees
  4. A copy of any national identification

Application Deadline

Applications should be sent to applicants[@]mfwa.org no later than August 15, 2024. Note: This call is open to journalists based in Ghana. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.

Indecent expressions on radio in June: Show hosts of pro-NDC stations dominate

Kwaku Asante
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Indecent expressions on radio in June: Show hosts of pro-NDC stations dominate

Hosts of political shows on pro-National Democratic Congress (NDC) radio stations—Accra FM and Power FM—have been cited as the worst offenders in the use of indecent language in June 2024.

The host of The Citizen Show on Accra-based Accra FM, Kwabena Bobie Ansah, recorded the highest number of violations with 14 indecent expressions. This was followed by Mugabe Maase, host of Inside Politics on Power FM, who recorded six violations.

These findings are contained in a report released by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on 16th July 2024. The June 2024 report is the first edition of MFWA’s Language Monitoring on radio stations ahead of Ghana’s 2024 elections.

The monitoring exercise was conducted from June 1 to June 30, 2024, across nine radio stations and identified 46 incidents of indecent expressions. Accra FM (22) and Power FM (11) recorded 33 out of the 46 indecent expressions representing over 70%.

The 46 infractions identified were predominantly insulting and offensive comments and unsubstantiated allegations made during discussions on elections, security, corruption, and development projects.

The findings raise concerns about the role of show hosts who are expected to moderate discussions and maintain decorum. The significant involvement of show hosts like Kwabena Bobie Ansah and Mugabe Maase in making indecent expressions undermines this role and contributes to a toxic media environment.

The full report can be accessed here.

For further information, contact the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager, Daniel Kwame Amofo Adjei (0243767263).

Ghana’s 2024 elections: MFWA, Stakeholders promote culture of peace and fact-based journalism through multiple interventions

Kwaku Asante
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Ghana’s 2024 elections: MFWA, Stakeholders promote culture of peace and fact-based journalism through multiple interventions

In the build-up to Ghana’s 2024 elections in December, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is implementing a number of interventions to promote a culture of peace, tolerance and inclusive social and political narratives devoid of hate speech, toxic and polarising narratives.

Under the ‘Countering Hate Speech and Polarising Narratives to Foster Democratic Consolidation and Peace in Ghana’ Project, the MFWA has trained a total of one hundred (100) journalists across five zones of the country. Two-day training sessions were held for 25 journalists each in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Upper East, and Volta regions between the months of May and June.

These training workshops have enhanced the knowledge and skills of the selected journalists to contribute to reducing incidences of hate speech and divisive narratives that undermine social cohesion, peace and stability in the context of the 2024 general elections. Through fact-checking skills that were imparted, the trained journalists are also in a better stead to promote fact-based public and media discourses on their platforms in order to counter mis/disinformation and enhance richer and productive national conversations. As national institutions mandated to promote democracy through civic education and prevent, manage and build sustainable peace in Ghana respectively, regional representatives of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the National Peace Council (NPC) were present at the training sessions and urged the journalists to be advocates for peaceful elections.

Participants from the training in Bolgatanga engaged in a group exercise
Participants in a group session in the training in Accra

Language monitoring exercise

To counter Hate Speech and toxic narratives, it is critical to monitor and document incidents of incitements and the use of intemperate language that foment polarisation on media platforms, and rightfully call out perpetrators, to ultimately ensure sanitized political discourses and a peaceful environment ahead of the elections.

Thus, the MFWA has commenced another round of its flagship elections campaign language monitoring project which is aimed at monitoring language used by politicians and politically affiliated persons, with the goal to flag abusive expressions. The exercise is designed to monitor key programmes on selected radio stations across the country to track indecent/inflammable expressions uttered by members and sympathisers of political parties.

Following a call for applications and subsequent screening, a total of 10 individuals were recruited, trained, and equipped to track campaign language on 10 radio stations in selected regions. The initial list of 10 stations are; Accra FM (Accra), Angel FM (Kumasi) Ashh FM, (Kumasi) North Star Radio (Tamale), Oman FM (Accra), Power FM (Accra) Radio Gold (Accra), Wontumi Radio (Kumasi), Zaa Radio (Tamale) and Akpini Radio (Kpando). The plan is to scale up the number of media monitors and radio stations in the coming months.

In April, these media monitors were familiarized with a monitoring instrument that guides their work. The instrument, which was jointly developed and validated by stakeholders made up of political parties, media groups, language experts, and CSOs, was used for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 elections language monitoring projects.

Each monitor has been provided with a digital recorder to enable them record expressions that, per the monitoring instrument, constitutes hate speech, insults, pro-violence and provocative language; unsubstantiated allegations; tribal slurs; and other forms of inappropriate expressions. These would be flagged and documented for evidential and verification purposes. The reports will identify the individuals and also name the radio stations on which such expressions are used.

Since 2012 when it was launched, the campaign language monitoring project has served as an important source of data on indecent political campaign language in Ghana and Niger.

In Ghana’s 2020 elections, 60 radio stations selected across the country were monitored from January to June 2020 with a total of 17,280 programmes tracked on the target radio stations. A total of 175 individuals made 582 indecent expressions, with insulting and offensive remarks ranking as the topmost offense.

The language monitoring project is intended to discourage the use of hate speech and other forms of abusive language in political discourses. It also aims to promote fact-based narratives that encourage engagements across groups with divergent opinions, with the ultimate aim to enhance peaceful co-existence, social cohesion and democratic stability in Ghana before, during and after the elections.

National Multi-stakeholder coalition against hate speech and other toxic narratives

On July 17, 2024, a public forum on countering Hate Speech and polarising narratives will be held in Accra to bring together stakeholders to discuss and build national consensus against Hate Speech and Toxic narratives. At the event, a ‘National Multi-Stakeholder Coalition against Hate Speech and Polarizing Toxic Narratives’, which comprises reputable national organizations, will be officially unveiled.

From time to time, the Coalition will issue joint statements on emerging issues of hate speech and polarising narratives, using the reports from the language monitoring exercises, and call for moderation and decent political and election-related discourses to foster peaceful campaigning before, during and after the elections.

Regional Youth Dialogues

In the coming months, other initiatives like a Regional Youth Dialogue will be held in selected regions to mobilise and sensitise the youth about hate speech, mis/disinformation, incitement, and polarizing narratives, and the key role they play in ensuring peaceful elections.

MFWA, CFI train 32 female journalists in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire on Women Empowerment

Kwaku Asante
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MFWA, CFI train 32 female journalists in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire on Women Empowerment

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in partnership with the French media development agency, Canal France International (CFI), has trained 32 female journalists, including freelancers, in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire on women empowerment.

The initiative forms part of efforts to promote gender equality in the media in the two countries under the project titled Equal Voices. The objective of the project is to combat gender inequalities and stereotypes while promoting women at all levels of responsibility in Ivorian and Ghanaian societies through gender-aware and gender-sensitive media practices.

The women empowerment training strengthened the skills and leadership capacities of the female journalists to feel able to pursue professional aspirations and career goals contributing to a better representation of women and their concerns in the media. It also enhanced their knowledge on the concepts, theories and underpinnings of gender and women’s rights, challenges and critical trends as well as the media’s role in promoting women empowerment.

Participants in Côte d’Ivoire in a group photo with Agnès Kraidy, President of the Network of Women Journalists and Communication Professionals of Côte d’Ivoire (sixth from left)

In her remarks at the opening of the training, in Ghana, the MFWA’s Programme Director for Media and Good Governance, Abigail Larbi, bemoaned the dwindling numbers of females in editorial and leadership roles in news media organisations and encouraged participants to avail themselves for such roles.

“When we continue to discuss issues confronting gender inequality, and we’re emboldened to speak up, we get empowered as women. We need to take up positions and also be at the top with the men. There’s more than enough room for both women and men,” he said.

The training workshop, in addition, enhanced the capacities of the female journalists to advocate for and develop organizational policies that foster women’s representation as agents of change.

Participants also engaged in practical story development sessions, receiving guidance to produce and publish more gender-sensitive reports contributing to a more balanced and inclusive representation in media.

(L-R) A presentation by some participants at the Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire trainings

Some seasoned media managers and news editors were also invited to share their leadership journeys and challenges with the participants. Issues such as conflict management, supervisor-subordinate relationship, male competition, public speaking and managing online presence were highlighted.

(L-R) Akushika Acquaye, Head of television at Ghana Television (GTV), Kwaku Owusu Peprah, Channel manager of Multimedia Group in Ghana, Monique Kacou, General Manager at Radio ATM in Côte d’Ivoire

Some of the participating female journalists shared their feedback on the training.

Christiana Anyang-Mintah from Garden City Radio said “This workshop has been very enlightening. I have come to be more self-aware. I’m also taking away lessons on how to better work with people within my professional environment as well as external characters who may influence my work in one way or another. My output on gender-sensitive reports will be more than I was producing prior to participating in this training.”

Below is a screengrab of a participant’s post on Facebook:

 

In September 2023, the MFWA and CFI launched the Equal Voices project to strengthen the capacities of female and male media professionals to establish and develop managerial and editorial policies that promote a better representation of women and a more balanced gender representation.

Eight media organisations – four each in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana – were competitively selected as beneficiaries of the project. Media managers from the selected media organisations also engaged in coaching and mentorship sessions where they were trained to be more gender-aware and institute gender-sensitive policies in their newsrooms. For instance, the Media manager for Radio Soliel CI+ in Côte d’Ivoire, Mambo Marietou, in a conversation with the MFWA, shared how the project has impacted her media organization:

“We have set up a gender-focused show and have introduced a programme for young girls called “Entre Nous Filles” (Between us girls). We have also revised the content of the already existing women’s programme, “Entre Nous Femmes” (Between us women). To promote gender balance in the newsroom, we have also recruited a young female host who will soon start hosting our new show, “Planète Soleil”, where we’ll discuss a range of topics. We’re also in the process of developing a gender policy.”

In Ghana, the Head of Programmes at Radio Justice, Yunus Mumuni also said, “Aside from the eye-opening trainings for our staff, the peer-to-peer coaching sessions for media managers have helped us to put in place a number of initiatives. We have designed a new show called Agenda 30%. It will be hosted by one of our reporters who is a beneficiary of the gender-sensitive reporting trainings and feature discussions on female representation in governance generally and especially towards Ghana’s 2024 elections. We also now have a female journalist who hosts The Super Morning show on Thursdays; previously, the show was hosted by only men.”

Also in Ghana, the General Manager for A1 Radio, William Jalulah, said “As a result of the enhanced capacity received under the Equal Voices project, we have created a new show called “Equal Voices”. And hosted by Humu-Khrusum Tahiru, one of the project training beneficiaries. I’m also putting things in place to set up a Gender desk in the newsroom where gender-related stories will be reported and produced from”.

The Equal Voices show on A1 Radio, in Ghana hosted by Humu-Khrusum Tahiru, a beneficiary of the gender-sensitive reporting and women empowerment trainings under the Equal Voices project

So far 40 journalists – males and females, have benefited from the gender-sensitive and women empowerment trainings under the project and receiving mentoring and coaching for quality story development in order to produce and publish more gender-sensitive reports.

WAMECA 2024 – Time to pause for reflections

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WAMECA 2024 – Time to pause for reflections

[Accra, June 13, 2024] —After seven consecutive years of hosting West Africa’s biggest media gathering, the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA), the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has decided to set aside 2024 for reflections.

The organisation will thus, not be hosting WAMECA 2024, in its usual form. Instead, partner organisations from the West Africa region, will be brought together to reflect on the last seven years of WAMECA, the success stories so far, and how to even make it bigger from 2025.

The decision forms part of the organisation’s ongoing overall strategic planning refresh processes, aimed at leveraging its growth, impact and strategic partnerships (such as its recent partnership with ECOWAS) to effectively meet the current challenges in the region.

Since its inception, WAMECA has grown to become a much-anticipated annual event for West African journalists, thought leaders, policymakers, and civil society organisations.

The two-day conference of WAMECA has always served as a dynamic platform for impactful discussions, knowledge exchange and networking. The journalism awards component of the event has, on the other hand, served as the biggest stage for recognizing, honouring and inspiring journalism excellence across West Africa.

The conference has hosted over 50 panel discussions, workshops, and keynote speeches, bringing together seasoned journalists, media practitioners and industry experts to discuss pressing issues in West Africa and their nexus and impact on media freedom and development. These sessions have enabled collective ideas to tackle obstacles to media freedom, sustainability and development in the region and beyond.

As the organisation looks back on the successes of the past seven years, it also recognizes the importance of continuous improvement. The decision to pause the event this year stems from a commitment to ensure that WAMECA remains relevant, impactful, and aligned with the dynamic media ecosystem in West Africa and the current realities in the region.

MFWA plans to conduct a thorough assessment of past editions and a series of stakeholder engagements to learn what has worked well and where there are opportunities for enhancement, solicit feedback and insights to shape the future direction of WAMECA.

This reflective process is crucial to maintaining the high standards WAMECA has become known for, ensuring that it returns with renewed innovation and continues to serve as a beacon of media and journalism excellence in the region.

MFWA’s commitment to the WAMECA remains steadfast, and the organisation expresses its deepest appreciation to all sponsors, supporters, participants, and stakeholders for their understanding and continued support.

The organisation looks forward to returning with a revitalized WAMECA 2025 event that not only meets but exceeds the expectations of its vibrant community.

For more information, please contact: Abigail Larbi (abigail[@]mfwa.org; +233244867047) or Kwaku Krobea Asante (kwaku[@]mfwa.org; +233249484528).

First Quarter 2024: Senegal’s political troubles, Nigeria’s Cybercrime Law trigger massive repression

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First Quarter 2024: Senegal’s political troubles, Nigeria’s Cybercrime Law trigger massive repression

In many West African countries, the fight for press freedom and freedom of expression still faces significant obstacles. Governments and powerful individuals use a variety of measures to control the narrative and crush dissent.

A total of thirty-nine (39) incidents of freedom of expression violations were recorded, with Nigeria recording thirteen (13) violations, the highest number of violations during the quarter. The continued freedom of expression repression in Nigeria is particularly concerning, given that President Tinubu promised in December 2023 to protect press freedom and to encourage divergent public discourse.

As usual, the country’s Cybercrime Law 2015 has been at the heart of the repression. At the instance of powerful people who are irritated at online publications about them, security agents go after journalists and citizens, accusing them of committing cybercrime over their critical publications or social media posts.

In one incident, Salihu Ayatullahi, the editor of the online news portal Informant247, and Adisa-Jaji Azeez, the managing editor, were arrested and charged with disseminating a misleading report on the rector of a public Polytechnic.

Senegal followed Nigeria with seven (7) violations, which were largely triggered by the political tensions that followed the shock postponement of the country’s presidential elections originally scheduled for February 2024. Among the worst violations recorded in the country were mobile internet restrictions and a brutal crackdown on protests that resulted in at least three deaths and several arrests.

Two junta-ruled countries, Guinea and Mali, recorded six (6) and four (4) violations respectively, while Burkina Faso and Niger, the other two military-ruled countries, witnessed a hiatus after a repressive end to 2023.

Figure 1: Number of violations and countries

While Guinea-Bissau Bissau recorded a single incident, it was particularly severe; the government outlawed all public protests and marches nationwide over purported security concerns.

At least 9 journalists were arrested in Conakry, Guinea’s capital city, during a crackdown on a protest which had been called by the Syndicat des Professionnels de la Presse de Guinée (SPPG) to demand an end to internet restriction and the jamming of several broadcast channels.

The media regulatory bodies continue to be powerful censorship tools, with the Haute autorité de la communication (HAC) of Mali, suspending French channel France 2 was from Malian television channels. The four-month suspension came after the broadcast of a report on the security situation in Mali following the departure of the French military force Barkhane.

Similarly, the Ministry of Communication in conjunction with the Conseil national de régulation de l’audiovisuel (CNRA), the Senegalese media regulator, suspended Walf TV. The suspension followed the media’s live broadcasting of violent police-protester clashes in Dakar.

In terms of distribution, twenty-three (23) of the violations were targeted at journalists and media workers, while eight (8) were targeted at citizens. Seven (7) of the violations were directed at media organisations with one (1) targeted at an activist.

Figure 2 below shows the percentage distribution of violations per type of perpetrator

This quarter’s freedom of expression monitor also features other important freedom of expression and digital rights developments in the region, including redresses for violations and recommendations to key stakeholders.

Access the full report here.

MFWA’s accountability journalism project makes shortlist for 2024 World Justice Challenge

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MFWA’s accountability journalism project makes shortlist for 2024 World Justice Challenge

The Fourth Estate, an accountability journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has been named as a finalist in a shortlist of thirty (30) impactful projects across the world for the 2024 edition of the World Justice Challenge.

An announcement of the shortlist by the World Justice Project on the 14th of May, 2024, highlighted The Fourth Estate as one of six impactful projects under the Media and Information category of the World Justice Challenge.

In all, there are five categories including the Media and Information category. These include the – Electoral Processes, Justice Institutions, Youth Engagement, and U.S. Building Trust Prize.

The Fourth Estate is the only project from Ghana, and one of five projects from four African countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe) to have made the shortlist.

A short citation accompanying the project’s shortlisting reads: “A public interest journalism project by the foundation promoting accountability and rule of law through investigative reporting, resulting in greater government accountability and enforcement of laws.”

The World Justice Challenge is a global competition and programme of supporting activities to identify, recognize and promote good practices and high-impact initiatives that protect and advance the rule of law.

The Challenge compiles an evidence base for successful rule of law approaches, raises their strategic visibility, and strengthens an emerging network of rule of law champions.

The competition invites submissions for initiatives that address critical rule of law challenges around the world in particular thematic categories. For the 2024 competition, the theme is The Rule of Law: Foundation of Democracy, focusing on effective strategies for strengthening the rule of law to reverse autocracy and rebuild trust in democratic governance.

A total of 424 applications from 109 countries were received for the 2024 competition. Making the shortlist of thirty (30) means that The Fourth Estate has earned an invitation to showcase its projects at the 2024 American Bar Association Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Following from there, five winning projects will each receive a $20,000 cash prize and opportunities to network and build their global profile throughout the year.

This is not the first time The Fourth Estate’s impactful work has attracted global level accolades. In 2023, the Executive Director of the MFWA, Mr. Sulemana Braimah, was named the recipient of the coveted Eisenhower Fellows’ Impact Award by US-based Eisenhower Fellowships (EF) in recognition of his successful establishment and operationalisation of The Fourth Estate.

Nigerian government digitalises issuance of birth certificate after MFWA Fellow’s report

Kwaku Asante
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Nigerian government digitalises issuance of birth certificate after MFWA Fellow’s report

Nigeria’s National Population Commission (NPC) has digitalized the issuance of birth certificates, ending years of manual processing. A directive to this effect came into force in February 2024. The migration to a national digital platform, among others, is to reduce the human interface and the attendant improprieties with manual processing.

At the NPC’s Abuja office, which is located at 17 Lingu Crescent, Wuse 2, a copy of a notice communicating the directive is prominently displayed on its gate with the inscription “Please, all applicant(s) for birth attestation should log in the below website for application: nationalpopulation.gov.ng,”.

This is a significant development, because the NPC’s directive was triggered by a story published from an undercover investigation undertaken at the same Abuja office, by a Fellow of a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Journalism Fellowship Programme recently hosted by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

“We realized that some of the officials of the NPC, were taking advantage of a rush for birth certificates to extort money from unsuspecting members of the public. We did a first story about it, but they denied and so we decided to go under cover,” explains Ameh Ejekwonyilo, a Fellow of the MFWA’s DPI Journalism Fellowship.

Ameh is a journalist with Premium Times, a leading investigative online news portal in Nigeria.  On February 24, 2024, the media outlet published the story titled: INVESTIGATION: NPC officials devise new extortion strategy after Premium Times report.

The story exposed extortionate conduct on the part of some officials of the NPC at the Abuja office of the Commission, who were taking advantage of a rush for new birth certificates to wring money from persons who wanted certificates.

Following the expose’, the NPC shut down the Abuja office and announced the total migration of the acquisition and processing of birth certificates onto the official federal digital platform – Nationalpopulation.gov.ng.

A DPI Fellowship story

The story is one of six that Ameh was required to publish as part of key deliverables for his participation in MFWA’s DPI Journalism Fellowship. Hosted in Accra, Ghana, from September 2023 to December 2023 (with post Fellowship activities till March 2024), the Fellowship was funded by Co-Develop, a global nonprofit fund accelerating the adoption of safe and inclusive shared digital public infrastructure at scale.

The Fellowship was purposed to inculcate a culture of critical and in-depth journalism on the adoption of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPIs) and Digital Public Goods (DPGs) as means of public service delivery by African governments.

New skills, new interest

According to Ameh, the skills he learnt at the Fellowship have since helped him develop a keen sense of news and interest in DPI/DPG related issues.

“Until I got into the DPI journalism fellowship in September last year, I did not quite appreciate the extent of the deficits in Nigeria’s digital public infrastructure. Therefore, the opportunity given to me by MFWA and Co-develop to enhance my journalistic knowledge in DPI and DPGs reporting is something I will cherish forever.”

In an appreciation note to the MFWA, Ameh added that, “In my little way, I want to pledge my commitment to promoting awareness of DPI and DPGs in Nigeria and across the West African subregion.”

Even though the MFWA already has a tradition of hosting Fellowships for journalists under its Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship programme, the DPI Journalism Fellowship was the first of its kind. A total of 20 journalists from 10 West African countries participated in the Fellowship to build knowledge, skills and expertise in reporting on issues related to DPI and DPGs. So far, more than 100 DPI/DPG -related stories have been produced and published by the Fellows.

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