Donate
Donate
Search
Home Blog Page 33

Elections 2020: MFWA Commences Campaign Language Monitoring Project

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Elections 2020: MFWA Commences Campaign Language Monitoring Project

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has, from June 1, 2020, commenced monitoring of 35 radio stations across the country under its flagship elections campaign language monitoring project. The project, themed Issues Not Insults, will name and shame persons who use abusive campaign language on radio stations that will be monitored under the project.

Referred to by many as the “naming and shaming project” it is intended to discourage the use of hate speech and other forms of abusive language in the electoral campaigning processes ahead of Ghana’s general elections scheduled for December 7, 2020.

A monitoring instrument, which was jointly developed and validated by all stakeholders (political parties, media groups, language experts, CSOs) and used for both the 2012 and 2016 elections language monitoring project, is being used for this year’s monitoring.

Campaign language monitors (one monitor per station) have been trained on the use of the monitoring instrument. Each monitor has been provided with a digital recorder to enable them record all programmes they monitor on the respective radio stations. The recordings are used to verify reports from the monitors and provide evidence to persons who deny having made abusive comments after they are named in reports.

The MFWA will be producing bi-weekly reports that will feature the names of people who use hate speech; insults; pro-violence and provocative expressions; unsubstantiated allegations; tribal slurs; and other forms of inappropriate language for purposes of campaigning. The reports will identify the political party affiliations of such individuals and also name the radio stations on which such expressions are used.

“The campaign language monitoring project, which comes with naming and shaming of perpetrators of hate and pro-violence speeches in the electoral campaign process, has proven to be an impactful intervention to get politicians to focus on issues instead of insults,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.

In the 2016 electoral campaigning, incidents of abusive campaign language reduced from 343 incidents during the first three months of the project, to 97 incidents mid-way into the project and 24 incidents in the last three months into the elections. There were significant reductions among the top five radio stations with the highest incidents of abuses – incidents on Montie FM reduced from 83 at the beginning of the project to four incidents at the end; incidents on Oman FM reduced from 54 to five; that of Happy FM reduced from 30 to two; incidents on Ash FM reduced from 24 to three; and that of Radio Gold from 21 to zero.

Apart from the campaign language monitoring project, which is being implemented with funding support from OSIWA and STAR Ghana Foundation, the MFWA is also implementing a fact-checking initiative that is aimed at helping the public to have access to factual information ahead of the elections.

In addition, as part of efforts to ensure professional, ethical reporting by the media, the organisation is monitoring ethical violations among 10 newspapers, 10 local language radio stations and five news websites.

“It is our hope that these interventions will contribute to ensuring peaceful elections and also enhance professional standards among the media in Ghana,” said Braimah.

This year, the MFWA will be implementing the campaign language monitoring project in Cote d’Ivoire and Niger ahead of the elections in those countries. The project will be implemented in partnership with the national partner organisations in the two countries.

Below is the list of radio stations in Ghana, that constitutes the initial 35 radio stations that are being monitored:  

  1. Diamond FM (Northern Region)
  2. Radio Justice (Northern Region)
  3. Eagle FM (North-East Region)
  4. Tain FM (Bono Region)
  5. Royal FM (Bono Region)
  6. Classic FM (Bono East region)
  7. Hello FM (Ashanti Region)
  8. Ash FM (Ashanti Region)
  9. Kessben FM (Ashanti Region)
  10. Angel FM (Ashanti Region)
  11. Fox FM (Ashanti Region)
  12. Obuoba FM (Eastern Region)
  13. Hot FM (Greater Accra)
  14. Adom FM (Greater Accra)
  15. Asempa FM (Greater Accra)
  16. Atinka FM (Greater Accra)
  17. Top FM (Greater Accra)
  18. Rainbow Radio (Greater Accra)
  19. Power FM (Greater Accra)
  20. Oman FM (Greater Accra)
  21. Class FM (Greater Accra)
  22. Peace FM (Greater Accra)
  23. Happy FM (Greater Accra)
  24. Okay FM (Greater Accra)
  25. Accra FM (Greater Accra)
  26. Ahutor FM (Greater Accra)
  27. Radio Progress (Upper West)
  28. A1 Radio (Upper East)
  29. North Star FM (Northern Region)
  30. Pad FM (Savannah Region)
  31. Space FM (Bono Region)
  32. Beyond FM (Oti Region)
  33. Pink FM (Central Region)
  34. Skyy Power FM (Western Region)
  35. Jubilee Radio (Volta Region)

Journalist Arrested and Detained over Facebook Post Released

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Journalist Arrested and Detained over Facebook Post Released

Nigeria’s State Security Services (SSS) in Akwa Ibom State has released Kufre Carter, after initially disregarding a court order to free the journalist on bail.

Carter, who works with XL 106.9 FM, in the state capital, Uyo, was released on bail on May 27, 2020, exactly a month after he was arrested for criticizing the state’s Commissioner for Health over his handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

He was arrested on April 27, 2020. This followed the leaking into the media including social media of the journalist’s critical comments about the state Health Commissioner’s handling the COVID-19 pandemic. He was charged with defamation and conspiracy.

On April 29, 2020, the SSS arraigned him before a Magistrate’s Court in Uyo on a defamation charge.

The judge, Winifred Umohandi, set a bail condition of N3 million plus a letter from his village chief attesting to his identity. Unable to meet the bail conditions, Carter continued to be detained by the SSS until his lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, secured a High Court decision to reduce the bail condition from N3 million to N200,000 plus a surety in the person of a prominent indigene or a businessman within the jurisdiction of the court.

However, after Carter had met the revised bail conditions, with the High Court issuing an order on May 22, 2020 for him to be released, the SSS illegally detained him five more days, in total disregard of the order from the court, drawing condemnation from human rights and press freedom organisations in Nigeria and abroad.

While we welcome Carter’s eventual release, we maintain that his arrest for criticising a public officer’s performance is a mark of intolerance and abuse of power. We condemn the SSS for continuing to detain the journalist for additional five days after the High Court had ordered his release. The MFWA finds the posture of the SSS extremely worrying, as it amounts to a blatant disdain for the rule of law and due process.

We therefore urge the authorities in Akwa Ibom State to drop all charges against Carter and ensure that he is not harassed for exercising his right as a citizen and his duty as a journalist to demand accountability from public officials who are paid from the public treasury.

Guaranteeing the Safety of Journalists: West African Experts Share Perspectives   

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Guaranteeing the Safety of Journalists: West African Experts Share Perspectives   

In times of crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the media, and in effect journalists, are a lifeline for citizens. They serve as critical avenues and channels for the provision of needed public health education and information that help people to stay healthy and safe. At the same time, they help hold governments accountable on how they respond to the crises and how they utilise resources meant for tackling the crisis.

Despite their crucial role, journalists have often been the subjects of threats, attacks, arbitrary arrests and detention in some cases even murder. The COVID-19 pandemic has further worsened the plight of journalists. Besides dealing with the trauma of putting themselves at risk of contracting the virus, acts of COVID-19 related violence against journalists across West Africa have been on the rise.

In Nigeria alone, more than 20 journalists have been victims of COVID-19 related abuses in the last 10 weeks. Similar forms of violations have been recorded in nearly all countries in the region albeit at a lesser scale to that of Nigeria.   

To help deal with the serious implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the media environment in West Africa, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has commenced a series of webinars to seek expert views and proposed solutions to the challenges.

The first in the series of webinars was held on Thursday May 21, 2020, under the topic: “Safety of journalists and COVID-19 in Anglophone West Africa.”

The Speakers at the webinar were Francis Sowa, Chairman of the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG), Sierra Leone; Lanre Arogundale, Executive Director of International Press Centre (IPC), Nigeria; and George Sarpong, Executive Secretary of the National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana. The discussion was moderated by Executive Director of the MFWA, Sulemana Braimah and featured journalists, media academics, activists and union leaders as participants.  

Speaking about the situation in Sierra Leone, Francis Sowa explained that a state of emergency in the country meant to stop the spread of the virus was curtailing freedoms of citizens including journalists who were unable to move freely to gather information He highlighted the launch of a corona response committee by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) as one measures that was helping to mitigate the impact of the situation on journalists.

Touching on the relationship between media and security agencies in the context of COVID-19, Sowa said the rapport with the security agencies only existed at the higher level that is at the high command of the security agencies.

“In case of Ghana what we can say for sure is that we have largely experienced a free environment for the practice of journalism,” said George Sarpong of Ghana’s NMC. He however acknowledged a few incidents of attacks on journalists in some parts of the country.

Sarpong added that in an attempt to curb fake news during the pandemic, the security agencies in Ghana had wanted to “rely on a provision in the Electronic Communications Act, to, as it were, seek to arrest and prosecute people who engage in the spread of false information.” He emphasised that in a public health crisis, there is a tendency to overlook human rights in the protection of public health but this should not be comprised on.

On Nigeria, Lanre Arogundale of the IPC, said the press freedom space in the country was already shrinking before the outbreak of the pandemic. He said it appeared security forces took advantage of the lockdown imposed on some cities in the country to abuse journalists.

He noted that violations against journalists came from many directions including  terrorists, officers of security agencies, State Governors, among others.

Arogundade attributes several of the incidents of abuse to, among others, state security authorities acting on the orders of political players. “It’s this political attitude that has informed the conducts of the security agents when they are relating with journalists. That explains why despite the fact that journalists have been recognised as frontline workers they were still being prevented from moving during the curfew just a couple of days ago,” he said.

The big question was what can be done to halt the abuses against journalists in the region? The panel of experts shared the following recommendations:

  • Collaboration: There should be strong collaboration among media support organisations, state agencies and other actors to collectively tackle abuses against journalists. Such collaboration must involve regional and sub-regional bodies such as the AU and ECOWAS. There must be a collective position and voice speaking against abuses against journalists at all times.
  • Analysis and Frameworks: There is a need for a regional analysis of the impact of the pandemic on journalists safety and the overall media environment and coming up with a regional strategic framework for responding to the impact.
  • Strengthening relations between media and security agencies: Efforts must be made to strengthen relations between journalists and security forces in the respective countries to stem the tide of rampant attacks on journalists by security personnel. Such an effort needs to include capacity building for both journalists and security officials in their respective roles to contain the pandemic. 
  • Facilitative regulatory Approach: Media regulatory bodies need to move towards a more facilitative and conciliatory approaches to media regulation, that enables smooth collaboration with the media industry to ensure free, open and sustained democratic media.
  • Capacity building: There should be rigorous capacity building for journalists on how to professionally cover the pandemic while staying safe. Such capacity building should include dealing with fake news and misinformation.
  • Support for media institutions: Governments and other actors should offer safety support to media organisations.

Watch the full webinar below.

 

RTI Road Map Implementation Crucial in COVID-19 Era

Kwaku Asante
-
0
RTI Road Map Implementation Crucial in COVID-19 Era

The Coalition on the Right to Information, Ghana, is asking government to implement the RTI road map as it has become more important during this era of COVID-19.

This was contained in a press release by the Coalition to mark one year since Ghana’s President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo assented to the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989).

“The Coalition wishes to emphasize that access to timely and adequate information and the need for implementing the RTI roadmap has become more important than ever in these times of COVID-19,” the statement said.

The Coalition says major indicators needed to be in place to ensure the full implementation of the law is still lacking. It is therefore urging government not to neglect its obligations under the RTI Act especially in this pandemic.

Read the full statement here

 

 

Benin: Jail Sentence for Journalist Reduced After Petition

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Benin: Jail Sentence for Journalist Reduced After Petition

Beninois journalist, Ignace Sossou, who has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for reproducing the words of the country’s prosecutor has had his time reduced to 12 months, with half of the term suspended.

The verdict of the Court of Appeal in Cotonou on May 19, 2020, means the journalist, who has already served five months, will have to spend one more month in detention before gaining his freedom on June 24.

Sossou, who works with the online media, Benin Web TV, was sentenced on December 24, 2019 after he posted on Twitter and Facebook part of a speech made by the country’s public prosecutor, Mario Metonou. The complainant accused the journalist of taking his words out of context.

Since Sossou’s imprisonment, several freedom of expression and media rights groups have made unsuccessful appeals to the Beninois government to intervene to get the journalist released. 

In February, Sossou’s lawyers filed a complaint about his ongoing detention with the United Nations’ working group on arbitrary detention, according to a report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. The lawyers also appealed the conviction in the local court. 

On April 28, the day for one of the appeal hearings, the MFWA and seven other press freedom organisations issued a statement calling on the authorities in Benin to release him, especially in view of the risk of being infected with COVID-19 while in prison. A subsequent hearing on May 5, was also adjourned to May 19 when the ruling was made.

On May 3, the MFWA and its national partners sent a petition to the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Access to Information of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), Lawrence Mute urging him to intervene in the matter to ensure the release of the journalist.

Sossou’s lawyers, Robert Dossou and Brice Hossou, said they were disappointed with the ruling and insisted on the outright release of the journalist.

The MFWA is equally disappointed with the ruling as it appears the authorities are bent on making the journalist serve the jail term for what does not constitute a crime. We had expected that the court of appeal would have acknowledged the wrongful conviction and acquitted the journalist. Having commuted his sentence to 12 months with 6 months suspended sends a chilling message to journalist in Benin that they could potentially be jailed for merely reproducing the words of others, particularly, people in power. The ruling is a bad precedent for future press-related ‘offences’ in the country and a stain on Benin’s freedom of expression landscape.

Journalist Sentenced, Another Detained as Repression over COVID-19 Reporting Rages on

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Journalist Sentenced, Another Detained as Repression over COVID-19 Reporting Rages on

In a rather bizarre incident, a Magistrate Court in Utako, Abuja, on April 28, 2020, sentenced Emma Bricks Oko, publisher of the online magazine brickswrite.com.ng, to three hours’ Community Service and N5000 (about US12) fine for filming police brutality.

Oko was arrested by members of a joint police and civil defense group who spotted him filming their violent enforcement of the COVID-19 lockdown against commercial motor cycle riders in Abuja.

The joint police and civil defence group apprehended Oko and took him to the police station before arraigning him before the court on charges of obstructing the work of the task force.

The arrest and conviction of Oko came a day after operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) arrested Kufre Carter, a journalist. Carter, who works with the local radio station XL 106.9 FM, in Akwa Ibom State was arrested on April 27. This followed the leaking into the media including social media of the journalist’s critical comments about the state Health Commissioner’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He was charged with defamation and conspiracy.

The journalist was detained for two days at the SSS station in the state capital, Uyo, before being arraigned in Court on defamation charges. After the journalist pleaded not guilty, the judge, Winifred Umohandi, set a bail condition of N3 million plus a letter from his village chief attesting to his identity.

Unable to meet the bail conditions, Carter is still being detained by the SSS. His lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, has complained that officials of the security agency have denied access to the journalist, adding that on May 7, his mother and sister were turned away.

Carter and Bricks’s ordeals follow a growing trend of violations against journalists covering the COVID-19 in West Africa with media professionals in Nigeria bearing the brunt.

On April 2, twelve journalists who were using the internet at the Adamawa State secretariat of the Nigerian Union of Journalists to file their reports as the lockdown had forced all commercial cybercafés to close, were arrested by police officers.  The police accused the journalists of breaking the COVID-19 lockdown.

A week before that, on March 26, Vincent Ake, the General Manager of a public newspapers corporation, was sacked on March 26, after one of the papers under his supervision reported the first case of corona virus infection in Ebonyi State.

On March 28, a security officer manhandled Angela Nkwo-Akpolu of the Leadership newspaper in Imo State and seized her iPad as she was covering an exercise to enforce corona virus control measures. Two other journalists on COVID-19 reporting duty, Michael Ikeogwu and Mathew Omonigo were also assaulted on April 1 by some members of an environment task force in Delta State.

Given the crucial role the media is playing in informing, sensitizing and educating the populace in the ongoing fight against the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is regrettable that state actors, who should otherwise be allies and protectors of the media, have turned against journalists. The MFWA therefore calls on the authorities in Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria to release Kufre Carter and to take steps to end the serial repression of journalists. We further urge the authorities to provide effective protection for journalists covering the pandemic and to punish perpetrators of assault and arbitrary arrests of journalists reporting on the corona virus outbreak in Nigeria.

Call for Quotations – Short- Term Consultancy

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Call for Quotations – Short- Term Consultancy

Development of Right to Information (RTI) Guide Book / RTI Toolkit

Project Background:

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is implementing a project aimed at enhancing citizens’ access to information and their participation in local governance in selected districts in Ghana. The project seeks to increase local authorities’ responsiveness to local development concerns/challenges of their constituents.

A major challenge to good governance in Ghana has been the low level of citizens’ access to information and participation in governance processes, particularly at the local level. Information disclosure by local government authorities and access to information by citizens and media practitioners continue to remain low. The consequences have been less public demand for accountability, limited transparency in the utilisation of public resources, and abuse of public resources.

As part of efforts to mitigate the challenges, the government of Ghana passed the Right to Information (RTI) bill into law in March 2019 and the RTI Act came into effect in January 2020. As part of the strategies to effectively implement the RTI Act, the Ministry Information developed a roadmap to commence implementation and to ensure the process is effective. One of the key strategies in the roadmap is the sensitization of the public to understand the Act and how it works.

In an effort to contribute to public access to information and sensitization on the RTI Act, the MFWA seeks to develop a Right to Information (RTI) Guide Book as a toolkit to improving journalists and citizens’ access to information.  The RTI Guide book is expected to cover all key aspects in the Act based on these three (3) sections: How journalists/media practitioners can use the Act, how citizens can use the Act and how information holders can use the Act to disseminate information. The guide book/tool kit must outline potential problems that may arise while seeking information under the Act and provide useful tips for journalists and citizens to mitigate the challenges. The guide book must also give practical examples on how investigative journalists and citizens can access information using the RTI law. It should further be explained in simple and easy to understand language for journalists, citizens and information holders.

The MFWA hereby invites interested and competent consultants to submit applications for the functions specified in the scope of work below:

Purpose of the Call

The MFWA is seeking an experienced individual with the ability to perform the consultancy task stated above for a short-term period.

Objective

  • The call is aimed at developing RTI guide book as a toolkit for journalists, citizens and information holders to increase access to information and subsequently improving citizens participation in governance in Ghana.

Scope of Work

The work will comprehensively analyse Ghana’s RTI Act and other relevant documents on access to information to develop a guide book for journalists and citizens to use to access information.

The key deliverables are as follows and each section should open with key deliverables/outcomes and include at least, one case study/example, and end with exercises, and recommendations for further reading

  • Review Ghana’s RTI Act and other relevant documents on RTI and develop an RTI Guide book/toolkit for journalists, citizens and information holders (describe why information disclosure/the Act is important within the governance and accountability framework, what the RTI can do for journalists/information holders and the public/citizens; provide case studies, emerging practices in the area of RTI) as the introduction
  • The RTI Guide book/toolkit shall highlight key principles, privileges/rights processes, practical steps in using the RTI Act, invoking/redeeming rights, seeking redress/challenging rejections and other relevant information in the Act (such as exemptions, responsibility of public institutions, persons to deal with application, rights of journalists and citizens etc.) needed in accessing information under the RTI law of Ghana.
  • Section 1: How can journalists use the law to access information (Give practical examples, where to go/who to ask for what information, sample RTI request letters for journalists, court cases on RTI issues between journalists and the state/information holders, opportunities available for journalists, tips on how journalists can use the law)
  • Section 2: How can citizens use the law to access information (give practical examples of issues citizens can request for information on, from who and how; sample request letters, case examples of how citizens have been able to secure downward accountability; how uneducated citizens and other marginalized groups can use the law to request for information)
  • Section 3: How can information holders use the law to promote access to information. (opportunities for information holders to practice proactive disclosures, ensure stakeholder inclusiveness and policy by-in, sample referral letters, roles and responsibilities of information holders)
  • The RTI Book must also analyse best practices of RTI implementation in other countries that can be applied in the Ghanaian context to improve accountability and transparency in access to information

The consultant will work under the supervision of the Media Foundation for West Africa who have the responsibility to ensure the RTI Guide Book/toolkit meets the intended project goals and objectives.

Key Requirement from Applicants

  1. Applicant must be a legal practitioner, Policy Analyst or a researcher with an experience in the law field. Having a media background is an added advantage
  2. The consultant must have similar work experiences in the last 5 years
  3. The consultant must demonstrate the ability to comprehensively analyse a legislative document and critically make recommendations
  4. The consultant must demonstrate excellent knowledge of international development and National political structures and principles
  5. Applicant must have a considerable amount of knowledge of Ghana Local Government systems and citizens access to information in the past decade

Submission Requirement

  1. A detailed CV outlining your expertise in the field of interest and your ability to execute the work
  2. At least a sample of similar work that has been executed in the past years
  3. Cover letter addressed to the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa
  4. Any other document that further demonstrates the candidate is qualified for the work is an added advantage.

Time Frame:

Key Deliverables Due Date Payment Plan
Signing of Terms of Reference (TOR) June 20, 2020 40% of consultancy fees paid
Submission of First draft of RTI Guide Book/toolkit August 20, 2020  
MFWA to review the RTI toolkit and feedback August 20 – August 25, 2020  
Review of RTI Guide book based on Feedback from the MFWA August 25 – September 07, 2020  
Submission of Final Copy of the RTI Guide Book to the MFWA September 07, 2020 Final payment of the consultancy fees after approval of final work

 

Method of Submission of Application and deadline

Applications must be submitted to the MFWA via the official email [email protected] and copy [email protected]  Any other mode of submission will not be recognized as a working document.

Applications should reach the MFWA on or before June 10, 2020. The application letter must be addressed to the Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa.

 

 

MFWA, National Partners Petition ACHPR Special Rapporteur to Secure the Release of Beninois Journalist

Kwaku Asante
-
0
MFWA, National Partners Petition ACHPR Special Rapporteur to Secure the Release of Beninois Journalist

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and its 15 National Partner organisations in West Africa have petitioned the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Access to Information of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR), Lawrence Mute, on the imprisonment of Beninois journalist, Ignace Sossou.

Sossou, who works with the online media, Benin Web TV, was sentenced on December 24, 2019 to 18 months in prison on a charge of “harassment by means of electronic communication” and fined CFA Francs 200,000 (about US$ 350) after he posted on Twitter and Facebook, part of a speech made by the country’s public prosecutor, who complained that his words had been taken out of context.

The journalists, has so far served four months of the 18-months sentence and is currently appealing the sentence. On May 3, the MFWA and its national partners sent a petition to Commissioner Mute urging him to intervene in the matter to ensure the release of the journalist.

Commissioner Mute has since acknowledged receipt of the petition.

Kindly click here to read the full petition.

World Press Freedom Day: MFWA Demands Justice for Journalists Assaulted in Connection with COVID-19

Kwaku Asante
-
0
World Press Freedom Day: MFWA Demands Justice for Journalists Assaulted in Connection with COVID-19

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has called for investigations into acts of brutalities against journalists covering the COVID-19 and other violations against media professionals in relation to their publications on the pandemic in West Africa to ensure that justice is served.

As part of activities to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 4, 2020, the MFWA petitioned the Chief of Defence Staff in Ghana and the political authorities in Nigeria to investigate attacks on journalists covering the pandemic in the two countries and punish the culprits.

The petition to the Chief of Defence Staff of Ghana, Lieutenant General Obed Boamah Akwa was in respect of two separate incidents of brutalities against Yussif Abdul Ganiyu, General Manager of Zuria FM based in Kumasi, Ghana’s second largest city and Samuel Adobah a reporter for TV Africa in Accra by soldiers enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown.

Ganiyu was covering a clean-up exercise on April 2, when the commander of a military patrol team bundled him into their vehicle with registration number 49 GA 68, and assaulted him. The officer also seized Ganiyu’s phone.

In the case of Adobah, he was covering a fire outbreak at a suburb of Accra when a soldier who was part of a COVID-19 enforcement team attacked him. The officer slapped Adobah from behind and pounded him on the ground, while the crowd shouted, “he is a journalist.” the soldier also destroyed the journalist’s phone by stomping on it.

The MFWA urged Lt General Akwa to ensure the violations are investigated and the officers involved sanctioned to serve as a deterrent to others.

The Foundation also on May 3 petitioned the Governor of Delta State in Nigeria Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa, to bring to book members of the state’s environmental task force who assaulted two journalists, Michael Ikeogwu, the Delta State Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and Mathew Omonigho, the Daily Post’s correspondent in the State.

The two journalists had gone to the Uvwie Local Government Area on April 1, to monitor and report on the state of compliance with the lockdown order issued by the government to curtail the spread  of the coronavirus when they noticed some locals were engaged in a clean-up exercise under the supervision of some members of the environment taskforce.

Ikeogwu said when he approached the leader of the environment task force and asked him why they were forcing residents to carry out the sanitation exercise despite the government’s lock down order, the official, identified as Kingsley Iweka, took offense and ordered his subordinates to attack him and Omonigho.

In another development, the MFWA also petitioned the Management of Le Soleil newspaper in Senegal to reinstate its employee, Fatou Ly Sall, who was sacked after she allegedly refused to seek medical attention for a suspected coronavirus infection at a designated medical centre by the government. Sall said although she had arrived at the office showing symptoms of the infection, she had actually seen her personal doctor and done tests that came out negative, debunking claims that she disobeyed management’s advice to seek medical attention.

We therefore appealed to management to cooperate with the dialogue being facilitated by MFWA’s national partner organisation in Senegal, SYNPICS to resolve the matter.

 

 

Police Abuse Journalists for Covering Arrest of Opposition Presidential Candidate

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Police Abuse Journalists for Covering Arrest of Opposition Presidential Candidate

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) condemns the use of tear gas by Togolese security officers to disperse a group of journalists who were covering the arrest of Togolese politician, Agbeyome Kodjo, on April 21, 2020 in Nukafu, a district in Lomé.

The Foundation also deplores the arrest and subsequent detention of journalist Aristo Tesko, a reporter with Togo Actualités.

Kodjo, Togo’s main opposition leader, was being arrested for declaring himself president despite losing the February 22 elections.

“Gentlemen, you are not invited to the party this morning. Look for another place and clear off the scene,” a  police officer warned the reporters, shortly before another  attacked them with tear gas.

Police fired tear gas despite the media professionals visibly displaying their press badges, vests and working tools.

Tesko and another freelance journalist, Fare-Kpadja Sherifa, who left the scene dragging along their motorbikes were stopped by a furious police officer who felt they were delaying in leaving the scene.

Sherifa was spared for being a woman while Tesko was arrested, forced into a police vehicle and taken to Service central de recherches et d’investigations criminelles (Central Service of Research and Criminal Investigation) headquarters and detained overnight.

Although the MFWA welcomes the release of Tesko, he should not have been arrested and detained in the first place. We, therefore, call on the authorities to investigate the incident and punish the perpetrators of the violation. The tear gas attack on the reporters was also unwarranted as the reporters were doing their legitimate duties. The Togolese authorities must also investigate this incident and take measures to forestall its recurrence in the future.

 

 

MFWA, Seven Others Demand the Release of Jailed Beninois Journalist

Kwaku Asante
-
0
MFWA, Seven Others Demand the Release of Jailed Beninois Journalist

Today, investigative journalist, Ignace Sossou, will appear in court to appeal the 18-month jail sentence he is serving for simply repeating the words of  Benin’s Public Prosecutor on social media in December, 2019.

In solidarity with the jailed journalist, the MFWA and seven other press freedom organisations have called on authorities in Benin to release him, especially in view of the risk of being infected with COVID-19 while in prison.

“We at the Media Foundation for West Africa have always maintained that, based on the facts of the matter, Ignace Sossu’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment is unjust. The outbreak of COVID-19 puts the journalist at further risk, given that prison conditions generally do not allow effective observance of WHO’s anti-coronavirus protocols. The global call for solidarity and compassion therefore presents an opportunity for the Beninois authorities to make amends by releasing the journalist from prison as a matter of urgency and moral responsibility,” said Vivian Affoah, MFWA’s Programme Manager for Freedom of Expression.

Sossou, who works with the privately-owned news website, Benin Web TV, was arrested by officers from the Central Office for the Repression of Cybercrime on December 20, 2019 upon complaint by Benin’s Public Prosecutor, Mario Mètonou, that the journalist had taken his words out of context.

“The internet shutdown on (legislative) polling day on April 28 (2019) is an admission of weakness on the part of those in power,” Sossou quoted the Prosecutor to have said at a Forum in Cotonou on December 18, 2019.

On December 24, 2019, a court in Cotonou sentenced him to 18 months in prison and a fine of CFA Francs 200,000 (USD 400) on a charge of “harassment by means of electronic communication.”

In February this year, Sossou’s lawyers filed a complaint about his ongoing detention with the United Nations’ working group on arbitrary detention. 

Earlier this month, over 80 organisations including the MFWA  wrote to 10 African heads of state, including Benin’s president, Patrice Talon, requesting the release of all journalists in detention in relation to their work in order to reduce the risks of exposure to COVID-19 infection.

As Sossou appears in court today, the MFWA and its partners reiterate our appeal to the authorities in Benin to ensure that he is released in the spirit of the global call for compassion during this critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Signed by:

  • African Editors Forum (TAEF)
  • Cellule Norbert Zongo pour le journalisme d’investigation en Afrique de l’Ouest/Norbert Zongo Cell for Investigative Journalism in West Africa (CENOZO)
  • CIVICUS
  • Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
  • International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)
  • Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
  • Paradigm Initiative (PIN)
  • Reporters sans frontières (RSF)

Beneficiary of MFWA’s Media Sustainability Support Ranks Top Online Media in Benin

Kwaku Asante
-
0
Beneficiary of MFWA’s Media Sustainability Support Ranks Top Online Media in Benin

Banouto Media, an online platform for news and investigative reporting in Benin, has been adjudged the number one most visited online information site in Benin by New York-based internet giant, SimilarWeb.

SimilarWeb, is a website and mobile application analysis company which updates on monthly basis its data on 80 million websites across 60 countries globally. The websites are ranked using indicators such as number of page visitors, audience and posts effectiveness/engagement. The ranking is conducted both at the country and global level.

For March 2020, Banouto Media, a beneficiary of a Media Sustainability Support from the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) was ranked the most visited online platform in Benin under the News and Media Category with more than 1.5 million visitors. The media organisation which started three years ago featured for the first time on SimilarWeb ranking in 2018. Prior to the MFWA’s intervention, Banouto Media had an average of 450,000 page visitors per month.

Early this year, the MFWA under its Sustainability Support to media organisations who demonstrate editorial independence, commitment to standards and potential for growth, supported Banouto Media to adopt tools and resources towards improving its online presence and online revenue generation. The MFWA engaged the services of a Digital Media Consultant who assessed Banouto’s online platforms – website and social media; followed by an in-situ training where the Consultant worked with Banouto Media for two weeks on improving brand identity; creating digital videos; setting up a digital savvy newsroom and using social media to effectively engage its audience.

Following the support, Banouto Media adopted digital tools and developed marketing strategies to improve its online presence and revenue generation. It also adopted a social media strategy to improve its audience engagement, introduced a video page on its website as well as a working schedule for the editorial team that takes into account peak times on the Internet so that new content is always available.

In a recent email to the MFWA, the General Manager of Banouto, Leonce Gamaii, expressed gratitude to the MFWA for the sustainability support extended to the media organisation which has contributed to them being adjudged the number one most visited online information site in Benin for the month of March. “…I am happy to inform you that Banouto has been ranked top news and media website in Benin by SimilarWeb…once again, big thank you to the Media Foundation for West Africa for the media sustainability support”.

In a follow-up phone call, Leonce Gamaii said “the new web writing techniques learnt during the in-situ training with the Consultant have improved the way we write our headlines; and the better the headline, the easier it is for our reports to appear on google search. Since then we have seen the number of visitors to our website skyrocket”.

As a media development organisation, the MFWA continues to support media institutions in the region with needed skills to improve their sustainability and professionalism.  “At the MFWA, we know that media sustainability is a major challenge in the region; thus, it is always gratifying to see our contributions make such great impact in the media industry’’ said Adizatu Moro Maiga, Programme Officer, Media and Good Governance Programme, MFWA.

The MFWA’s Media Sustainability Support forms part of activities under its project “Promoting Free, Quality and Independent Media in West Africa Through Capacity Building and Knowledge Sharing” which is being implemented in Ghana, Benin, Senegal, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire with funding support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

The MFWA has in the past extended the support to Ghana-based Citi FM/Citi TV; and Sierra-Leone-based AYV Media.

 

 

1...323334...131Page 33 of 131

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Latest insightful articles delivered straight to your inbox

The Media Foundation for West Africa works to promote freedom of expression, press freedom, access to information, internet freedom and media development throughout the 16 countries in the West Africa region–that is the 15 member states of ECOWAS and Mauritania.

Quick Links

Contact Us

Address

Aar-Bakor Street, Ogbojo, Accra, Ghana, West Africa

Telephone

+233 302 555327 | +233 302 955213

Email

info [@] mfwa.org

© 2025 | The Media Foundation for West Africa