The police stormed a radio station in Ada in the Greater Accra region of Ghana on August 2, 2018 in search of a radio presenter who had made accountability demands of the chiefs of the traditional area.
The presenter, Joseph Korletey Korley, popularly known as DJ Koxterio, raised questions about the lack of accountability from the chiefs regarding proceeds from fundraising activities during the annual traditional festival dubbed: Asafotufiami.
“I had conversation with a friend who tells me he would not contribute any funds to support the Asafotufiami festival since monies meant for the celebration always end up in the pockets of two or three individuals,” the presenter reportedly said.
Following this remark, three riffle-wielding men in uniform and two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police burst into the station to arrest the presenter. The deputy station coordinator, Noah Dameh, however reportedly intervened to stop the officers from taking Korley away, promising to personally ensure he reports to the station later.
No charges were brought against the radio presenter when he later reported to the police in the company of Mr. Dameh.
In a separate incident involving the security services, a team of police and military officers wielding canes stormed the venue of a press conference called by a youth group, sending the fear-stricken gathering, including journalists, fleeing in different directions. The youth in the Upper East regional capital, Bolgatanga, had called the press to indicate their support for the removal of the Regional Minister, Rockson Bukari, in a recent ministerial reshuffle.
Whilst some bolted into a nearby yard of the Barclays Bank and joined an ATM queue (without any ATM cards on them), others took shelter inside nearby shops and pretended to be shopping. Fortunately no injuries were recorded.
Information indicated the security agencies took that measure to avert the group’s possible clash with another group (loyal to the reshuffled minister) that was massing up nearby.
The MFWA acknowledges the need to avert a violent clash between the two youth groups in Bolgatanga. We, however, condemn the security forces’ use of brazen and unwarranted force to disperse the assembly which included journalists who had nothing to do with the conflict.
We also condemn the invasion of Radio Ada by security forces and the attempted arrest of the radio presenter.
The above incidents both pose potential threats to Freedom of Expression and press freedom.
The Foundation further calls on the security leadership, especially the police, to abide by their recently stated commitment to sustaining dialogue and cooperation and promote the safety of journalists’ situation in the country.
The continuous lack of redress for victims of freedom of expression (FOE) violations and the lack of accountability for abuses have encouraged the persistence of violations in West Africa.
From the months of April to June 2018 alone, the Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) freedom of expression monitoring recorded 40 violations across 13 countries. Among these violations is the killing of five people and security agents’ brutalities against demonstrators and journalists.
Gendarmes called to control students demonstration at the Gaston Berger University in Senegal, swooped on the students with live ammunitions, killing Mouhamadou Fallou Sene, a 25-year old student, and leaving many others injured. Yet no member of the gendarmes has been penalised or held accountable for the brutality.
Similarly, the police in The Gambia killed two people in a crackdown on the residents of a village who were protesting against the destruction of their environment by a sand wining firm.
The fourth victim, Abdourahim, died after sustaining serious injuries with 25 others in a police clampdown during a match to demand electoral reforms in Lome, Togo.
Also, in the wee hours of April 16, 2018, Liberian journalist, Tyron A. Brown, was killed on his way to work. The killers left his belongings which included cellphone, modem and money untouched, discounting the possibility of the attack being a robbery.
In all the above incidents, there has been no adequate redress, thus deepening the culture of impunity. The lack of accountability and the apparent nonchalance on the part of authorities in seeking justice for the victims and their families continues to bolster the perpetrators.
The MFWA urges state authorities, especially in countries where there have been no substantial redress for violations particularly the killings and physical attacks, to institute effective investigations to ensure the perpetrators of the various abuses are held accountable. This will help fight the impunity and result in a reduction of FOE violations in West Africa.
It was a dismal 30 days for freedom of expression in West Africa with ten media organisations shut down, nine of them in Niger, where 18 demonstrators were jailed in the month of July 2018.
Over a period of two weeks beginning July 13, Niger’s revenue authority, Direction Générale des Impôts, closed down nine media outlets for non-payment of accumulated taxes.
In neighbouring Nigeria, the federal broadcast regulator, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), closed down the Broadcasting Service of Ekiti State (BSES), a public radio and television service on July 14.
The action came hours after the outgoing State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, prematurely and erroneously declared on the BSES network that his deputy and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Kolapo Olusola Eleka, had won the election for governor of Ekiti.
The NBC said, by allowing the election to be called on their network, BSES had violated Section 5.2.15 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code, which states that, “A broadcaster shall broadcast election results or declaration of the winner only as announced by the authorized electoral officer for the election.”
The NBC did not indicate how long the network will be closed. While the network was indeed at fault, the NBC’s reaction was also excessive and inconsistent with the graduated sanctions prescribed under the code which includes written warning and reduction in daily broadcast hours, with suspension as last resort for repeated infractions.
Back in Niger, a high court in Niamey on July 24, 2018 handed a one-year sentence each to 18 persons for taking part in a “forbidden demonstration.” Half of the sentences were suspended, meaning the convicted persons are serving six months in prison.
In the same ruling, four civil society leaders Ali Idrissa, Moussa Tchangari, Nouhou Arzika and Abdourahmane Lirwana were handed 3 months suspended sentences for leading the said demonstrations. The fourth person, Lirwana, will however actually serve one year in prison, having been convicted a day earlier to two years’ imprisonment (one year suspended) on contempt charges during the trial.
There was a similar repression of freedom of assembly rights in Guinea where the police violently attacked demonstrators in Conakry and arrested ten people, including civil society leaders, for holding an “unauthorized assembly” on July 23 to demand a review of recent fuel price increases.
The metropolitan authorities in the capital, Conakry, had banned the protest, citing the need for “social tranquility” and “preparations for the pilgrimage” to Mecca. However, the protest organisers rejected the reason as frivolous and went ahead with the demonstration. The arrested persons were released after a few hours.
In Nigeria, disgruntled thugs suspected to be members of the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) party on July 16 attacked journalists covering a press conference called by some members of the Working Committee of the party in Osun State.
The International Press Centre (IPC), MFWA’s partner organisation in Nigeria, reported that “The secretary of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Osun State Council, Mr. Bamigbola Boladale, was not spared in the ugly incident as he was terribly beaten by the rampaging thugs, who also tore his clothes to shreds.”
On July 21, bodyguards of Nigerian musician, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, assaulted Adekanmbi Damilola, CEO of the online entertainment channel NoStory TV during a concert in Ibadan.
“I was beaten and some of my equipments got damaged along the line just because I wanted to interview Davido. I was given a tag that gives me room for entrance. This bouncer beat me up and I was on the floor for 30 mins plus, in between life and death before I was rushed to the hospital” the journalist later posted on NoStory’s Instagram account.
Reynold Dadzie (Photo: starrfmonline.com)
In Ghana, the cameraman of Accra-based GHOne TV, Reynold Dadzie, was beaten and left unconscious by some youth of Asawase, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region. The journalist was filming a violent demonstration by the youth on July 19, when he was brutalised by a section of the mob. The victim was left with a swollen left eye and a damaged camera.
Encouraging developments
A court in Ghana gave a boost to the fight against impunity by upholding a suit filed by Ohemaa Sakyiwaa, a journalist who was assaulted by a member of Ghana’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The abuser, Hajia Fati, had put in an application asking the court to strike out the substantive suit against her on technicalities. However, the Human Rights Court in Accra, on July 30, threw out the application and awarded costs in favour of the journalist.
Another piece of good news came from Liberia where the lower chamber of Parliament unanimously approved a Bill to decriminalise libel. The Bill now awaits endorsement by the Senate and eventual assent by the Head of State to effectively repeal the anti-free speech sections of the country’s criminal code.
On July 11, the MFWA and other media stakeholders held a Forum on Media-Police Relations with the Ghana Police Service as part of efforts to improve the safety of journalists’ situation in Ghana. The forum produced a number of positive outcomes, including an announcement by the IGP that media relations would be included in the curriculum of police training institutions at all levels and also a commitment to ensure that cases of abuse of journalists are thoroughly investigated and the culprits brought to book. Two days after the forum, the police CID headquarters took over investigations into the assault of a journalist, Latif Idris, by some police personnel.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has failed to provide a witness in court in the case involving Jones Abiri, a journalist who has been detained without charge for two years, drawing angry criticism from the media fraternity that the secret service is deliberately stalling proceedings.
Abiri’s case was finally opened on August 2, 2018, after human rights lawyer and activist, Femi Falana, filed a suit against the DSS for the two-year arbitrary detention of the journalist who has not been formally charged. Falana is demanding a 200 million Naira compensation for Abiri, who has been denied access to his family, friends and medical doctors during his detention.
Jones Abiri at the court
The DSS’s failure to produce a witness against Abiri compelled the judge to remand the journalist in prison custody while the case was adjourned to August 16.
The attitude of the DSS has angered many followers of Abiri’s case, especially the media and press freedom organisations.
“It was very irresponsible for the DSS to have failed to produce its witness after having illegally detained Abiri for two years and therefore effectively stalling his trial,” the Director of International Press Centre (IPC), Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said in a statement released in Lagos.
“The attitude of the DSS showed that it did not have any case against Abiri and he should therefore be set free immediately and unconditionally,” continued the statement by the IPC, which is the MFWA’s partner organization in Nigeria.
The MFWA also condemns the posture of the DSS in the case and calls on the court to demonstrate independence and partiality by refusing to condone what appears to be a ploy by the secret service to stall the case.
State revenue authorities in Niger have closed down several private radio and television stations in Niger for non-payment of taxes.
Since July 13, 2018, the revenue authority, Direction Générale des Impôts, has closed down nine media outlets. Télévision Saraounia, Radio-Television Ténéré, Canal 3 Niger (TV), Groupe Bonférey (Radio and TV), Niger 24 (TV), Tambara (Radio and Television) and Dounia (TV) were closed down after a tax evaluation exercise established their indebtedness of several millions of CFA Francs. The weekly Le Courrier has also been closed down. The offices of the affected media outlets have been sealed with the inscription “closed for non-payment of taxes.”
The revenue service gave notice of the tax debt recovery exercise at the beginning of the year. The move prompted the private broadcasting stations to stage a day of protest in February, but the protests did nothing to discourage the authorities as they began the debt recovery exercise in July.
According to the MFWA’s correspondent in Niger, Bonferey, Saraounia, Dounia and Tambara have resumed broadcasting after reaching agreements with the revenue authority on a repayment plan.
Dounia Television, for instance, owes CFA Francs 118 million (about US$ 210,000), an amount the Management of the station has committed to pay in monthly installment of 1 million (about US$ 1,800 US$). At this pace, it will take about ten years to repay the debt.
Meanwhile, Le Courrier has alleged that the revenue service has rejected a similar payment plan it had proposed adding that “this tax recovery exercise involves the abuse of a state institution to settle scores against media outfits tagged as ‘enemies.’ ”
The closures have thrown the media industry into great apprehension. This has made the umbrella body of all media organisations in Niger, Maison de la Presse (MP), to call for an end to the clampdown. In a communiqué issued on July 19, the MP cautioned the authorities against “an alarming operation which undermines press freedom in Niger.”
MFWA’s national partner organisation, Observatoire Nigérien Indépendant pour la Déontologie et l’Ethique dans les medias (ONIMED), a media self-regulatory body, has called for dialogue to resolve the worrying development.
The state has not disbursed its media support fund for the past three years, as the country is facing economic distress. The difficult economic environment has also affected the media as advertising revenues have tumbled.
The MFWA is concerned about the closure of media houses in Niger and joins ONIMED to call for dialogue and a deep reflection on a sustainable fiscal arrangement for the media to ensure their independence and sustainability.
We are excited to open registration for the upcoming Forum on Internet Freedom in Africa 2018 (FIFAfrica18) set to take place on 26-28 September, 2018 in Accra, Ghana.
The Forum is a landmark event that convenes various stakeholders from the internet governance and online rights arenas in Africa and beyond to deliberate on gaps, concerns and opportunities for advancing privacy, access to information, free expression, non-discrimination and the free flow of information online on the continent.
Indeed, spreading the physical footprint of FIFAfrica across different regions of the continent ensures that the Forum lives up to its goal of unpacking internet freedom challenges and opportunities in sub-regions of Africa. This will lead to developing responses that are collaborative, and informed by insights from the experience of other sub-regions of the continent.
Hosting the Forum in West Africa for the first time will not only open up the space to more West African civil society, private sector and public sector actors to contribute their experiences to the regional discussion, but will also give life to the Forum’s commitment of ensuring broader regional representation and deepening conversations across the continent.
Register here – You can also make suggestions for session topics, panels, skills clinics, presentations or any additional activities that you would like to see happen prior or alongside the Forum.
Our vision is to have a Forum with representation from as many countries in Africa as possible. There is limited funding to support participation at FIFAfrica18. Please note that preference will be given to applicants who can partially support their attendance.
Ohemaa Sakyiwaa, the journalist who was assaulted by a member of Ghana’s ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), has won the first leg of her legal battle to seek justice against her assailant, following a ruling on July 30, 2018 by a Human Rights Court in Accra to uphold her suit.
The assailant, Hajia Fati, had put in an application praying the court to dismiss the journalist’s suit against her over technicalities.
Lawyer for Hajia Fati, Captain Nkrabea Effah-Dateh, had asked for the suit against her client to be struck out, arguing that the Plaintiff’s middle name had been wrongly spelt and that she provided her office rather than residential address.
However, the lawyer’s submission did not convince the judge who struck out that the application and consequently awarded cost of GHC 600 (about US$130 ) in favour of Sakyiwaa, who works for Adom FM in Accra.
The reporter filed the suit alleging violations of her fundamental human rights including her right to do her work as a journalist. The suit followed a violent attack on her by Hajia Fati at the NPP Headquarters in Accra where the reporter was covering an event. The journalist’s mobile phone was also destroyed by the assailant.
Following the assault, which came on the heels of similar attacks on journalists at the same premises, the MFWA declared the NPP headquarters as “unsafe for journalists.”
The MFWA welcomes the judgment by the Human Rights Court as it paves the way for the substantive case against Hajia Fati who is also being prosecuted by the state on charges of assault and damage to property at an Accra Magistrate Court in connection with the same incident.
We commend the management of the Multimedia Group, operators of Adom FM, for standing up for their assaulted reporter.
A high court in Niamey has handed one-year sentence each to 18 persons for taking part in a “forbidden demonstration.”
The court ruling of July 24, 2018 said half of the sentences was suspended, meaning the convicted persons will serve six months in prison.
Four civil society leaders Ali Idrissa, Moussa Tchangari, Nouhou Arzika and Abdourahmane Lirwana were also handed 3 months suspended sentences for leading the “unauthorised demonstrations.”
The MFWA’s correspondent reports that despite the sentences being suspended, one of the four activists, Abourahamane Lirwana, would remain in detention, having been convicted a day earlier to two years in prison, of which one year is suspended, for “contempt of court” during the trial.
The trial of the convicted persons followed their arrest on March 25, 2018 together with two others who were discharged for lack of evidence. They were accused of “organising and participating in a forbidden march” and “complicity to cause damage to public and private property.”
The MFWA strongly condemns the three-month pre-trial detention of these individuals and their prosecution as criminals for exercising their right to express dissent through demonstrations.
While we appreciate the emergency situation in the country arising from the Boko Haram insurgency, we are equally concerned that the authorities are exploiting the situation to silence criticism and permanently ban marches and processions, especially those protesting against government policies and actions.
The Board of Directors of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has appointed Ms. Hilda Regina Melício Teófilo as a member of the Foundation’s Board. Ms. Teófilo who is from Cape Verde has an extensive background in new and traditional media as well as telecommunications.
She has over the years worked with Portugese telecommunications giant PT Comunicações and managed a number of major communications websites. She currently is the General Manager for PT Comunicações web portal SAPO.CV. She had also previously worked with Portugal-based radio station RDP África where she produced and hosted radio shows for all Portuguese speaking countries in Africa.
Ms. Teófilo is a trained journalist and holds degrees in Communications Sciences, Foreign Affairs and International Relations from the University of Lisbon, Portugal. She is replacing Ms. Filoména Maria Tavares Silva who served on the MFWA’s board with distinction for a number of years.
Management of the organisation has also appointed six new programme staff to support the organisation’s growing programmes in a number of countries in West Africa.
Mr. Ouedraogo Inoussa has been appointed as a programme officer to support the organisation’s media and governance project in Burkina Faso. Mr Inoussa is a Burkinabe national and holds a Master of Arts Degree in Communication and Journalism and a Certicificate in NGO management from the University of Ouagadougou. He previously worked as a media consultant for several organisations in Burkina Faso. He will be working from MFWA’s partner organisation in Burkina Faso, the Centre National de Presse Norbert Zongo (CNPZ).
Ms. Sophie Ndeba Sene has also been appointed as a programme officer to support the implementation of MFWA’s media and governance project in Senegal. Ms. Sene, a Senegalese national, holds a Master of Arts Degree in Information and Communication from l’Institut Superieur des Sciences de l’information et de la Communication (ISSIC) in Senegal and has experience in implementing media development interventions. She will be working from the offices of the MFWA’s partner organisation in Senegeal, La Convention des Jeunes Reporters du Sénégal– CJRS.
In Benin where the MFWA is supporting the institutional strengthening of its national partner organisation, l’Observatoire de la Déontologie et de l’Ethique dans les Médias (ODEM), the organisation has appointed Mr. Cédric Laurel Sokpe Tchibozo as a programme officer. He would be supporting the on-going institutional development efforts at ODEM and the MFWA’s freedom of expression work in Benin.
In Niger, where the organisation is supporting the institutional strengthening of its national partner organisation, Observatoire Nigérien Indépendant des Médias pour l’Ethique et la Déontologie (ONIMED), the MFWA has appointed Mr Tahirou Oumarou Mohamed as a programme officer.
He will be supporting the on-going institutional development efforts at ONIMED as well as MFWA’s freedom of expression advocacy work in Niger. Mr Tahirou Oumarou Mohamed holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and a Masters in Accounting and Taxation.
At the head office in Accra, Ghana, Ms. Caroline Anipah has been appointed to support the organisation’s ongoing regional (West Africa-wide) comprehensive research on the state of the media. This research work, which is being led by a team of academics, will look at the challenges and opportunities for media development in West Africa. Ms Anipah has an MPhil in Communications Studies from the University of Ghana and has engaged in various research activities over the years.
Mr. Kwaku Krobea Asante has also been appointed as a member of the organisation’s communications team. Mr Asante holds a Master of Arts Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Ghana.
“We are delighted to have such a dynamic and experienced person as Ms. Teofilo join our Board of distinguished men and women. We are equally excited to welcome our new colleagues to our growing team of young, professional and dynamic staff to contribute to the successful delivery of our ever growing programmes and projects in West Africa,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA.
The cameraman of Accra-based GHOne TV, who was beaten and left unconscious by some youth of Asawase a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana, has been discharged from hospital after two days of admission.
Reynold Dadzie was filming a violent demonstration by the youth of the Kumasi suburb on July 19, 2018 when he was pounced upon and brutalised by a section of the mob. The victim was left with a swollen left eye and a damaged camera.
Caesar Anadem, Regional Manager of EIB Network, operators of GhOne TV, confirmed to MFWA that Dadzie was rushed unconscious to a nearby clinic for first aid before being referred to another hospital where he was admitted for two days. Anadem added that though his colleague is out of immediate danger, he is not fully recovered.
“His left eye is still visibly swollen; he breathes with difficulty and coughs severely, Anadem said.
The regional manager revealed that the camera Dadzie was using was destroyed beyond repairs, adding that the mob targeted the camera because they wanted to prevent the airing of their acts of violence which they suspected to have been filmed.
The demonstrators were protesting against the fatal shooting by the police of seven young men from Asawase, a Zongo community (settler community of people of predominantly northern extraction) suspected to be armed robbers.
Meanwhile, the Council of Zongo Chiefs, on July 23, issued a statement apologising to the assaulted journalist, all Ghanaian journalists and media houses who might have been affected by the violence.
The MFWA condemns the attack on the cameraman and the destruction of his equipment. We reiterate our call on the police to investigate the assault and bring the perpetrators to book.
On the July 11, 2018, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), in collaboration with other media stakeholders, held a Forum with the Police Service on strengthening media-police relations for safety of journalists in Ghana.
The Forum, which was held at the police Headquarters in Accra, provided a platform for frank discussions on the recent challenges in police-media relations in Ghana as well as ways in which the police can help to improve the safety of journalists’ situation in Ghana. The forum brought together the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the directors-general of the various units at the police headquarters and other commanders. The media stakeholders at the forum included the executive heads of the National Media Commission (NMC), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters’ Association (GIBA), the Editor’s Forum, the Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) and media professionals from various media organisations. Also present was a representative from the country office of UNESCO.
The following were the major outcomes from the forum:
Announcement by IGP of the inclusion of media relations training in the curriculum of police training institutions at all levels.
Unveiling of police-media relations policy by Ghana Police Service.
Referral of investigations on assaulted journalist (Latif Idris) to police CID headquarters two days after the forum.
Agreement to set up joint police-media experts committee for the development of comprehensive framework to guide police-media relations in the country.
Following these significant outcomes from the forum, the MFWA has committed itself to providing additional resources to facilitate the work of the joint police–media experts committee for the drafting of the comprehensive police–media relations framework. The Foundation will also organise similar forums in the regions in the coming months.
The ongoing initiative in Ghana forms part of the MFWA’s current efforts to strengthen police-media relations for safety of journalists across West Africa. Similar interventions have been initiated in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Mali, with follow-up activities being planned. These initiatives are also in line with processes at the UN level to strengthen preventive mechanisms on safety of journalists.
Prosecutors in Niger have demanded three years imprisonment for several influential civil society leaders who have been languishing in prison since March, 2018 for leading a wave of popular protests against the country’s 2018 finance law.
Numbering 24, the activists, including Ali Idrissa, head of the Réseau des organisations pour la transparence et l’analyse budgétaire (ROTAB), Moussa Tchangari, the secretary general of Alternative espaces citoyens (AEC), and Nouhou Arzika, the president of the Mouvement pour la promotion de la citoyenneté responsable (MPCR) were charged before court on July 10, 2018.
According to the MFWA’s correspondent in Niger, they are accused of defying the ban on demonstrations and destroying public property.
Niger has since October 2017 been shaken by demonstrations calling for the review of the Finance law for 2018 which critics describe as too austere and anti-social. One of the major criticisms against the law is that it grants excessive tax concessions to telecommunications companies at the expense of citizens.
Several freedom of expression organisations, including the MFWA condemned the arrests of the activists last March as a violation of freedom of expression and demanded their release.
Lawyers for the accused said their clients have committed no crime and pleaded for their release, while the state prosecutor has requested for three years’ prison sentences against the civil society leaders. Judgment is expected to be delivered on July 24, 2018.
“The offenses for which our clients are prosecuted are not constituted in law, we believe that they will soon recover their freedom,” said Ali Kadri, a lawyer of the defense.
The MFWA calls on the country’s authorities to unconditionally release the activists and uphold the right to peaceful assembly and demonstration as guaranteed under Niger’s constitution.
