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West Africa Press Freedom Organisations Gather in Accra

Vivian Affoah
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West Africa Press Freedom Organisations Gather in Accra

The leading Press freedom and media development organisations from 15 West African countries have gathered in Accra for a three-day conference and strategy meeting hosted by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The meeting commenced with a conference on media and participatory governance on March 15, 2016. The conference was opened by Ghana’s Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, with Mr. Cheriff Moumina Sy, a respected journalist and President of Burkina Faso’s erstwhile Transitional Parliament as the keynote speaker.

The conference also featured speeches by representatives from UNESCO, the ECOWAS Commission, the Embassy of the United States of America in Accra and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA).

Participants at the conference deliberated on challenges to press freedom and professional journalism in West Africa; and ways in which the media can contribute to good governance and development in the region.

The second day of the meeting is dedicated to capacity building for the press freedom organisations with whom the MFWA work on freedom of expression and media development advocacy across West Africa. The training is focused on safety of journalists, digital rights and Access to Information (ATI) advocacy strategies.

The last day of the meeting will focus on strategising for effective national and regional advocacy for passage and implementation of RTI legislation; improving media professionalism, press freedom and free expression online and offline in the West Africa region.

The conference and strategy meeting was organised with funding support from OSIWA, Fesmedia Africa, the Embassy of the United States in Ghana and Global Partners Digital.

UN Human Rights Committee Questions Ghana on Privacy, RTI, Press Freedom Violations

Vivian Affoah
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UN Human Rights Committee Questions Ghana on Privacy, RTI, Press Freedom Violations

The government of Ghana has been asked by the UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), to provide information on key human rights concerns in the country. Notable among the list of issues the Ghanaian government is expected to respond to are, concerns about  privacy breaches, the status of the Right to Information (RTI) legislation and matters relating to press freedom violations.

The UNHRC is a body of experts mandated to oversee compliance with provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) among states parties.  Ghana signed and ratified the ICCPR in 2000 and thus, committed to adhere to the provisions of the Covenant.

The UNHRC published its list of issues on Ghana on December 4, 2015, titled: “List of issues in relation to Ghana’s initial report” after Ghana had submitted its first country report to the Committee in 2014. The UNHRC report requests Ghana to respond to or provide information on a total of 26 human rights concerns, which relate to Ghana’s obligations under the ICCPR.

On Ghana’s obligations under Right to Privacy and Family Life, which is provided for under Article 17 of the ICCPR,   the UNHRC has asked Ghana to “provide information about the legal safeguards in place against arbitrary interference with the privacy, home and correspondence of individuals, and their observance in practice.” Still under the issue of privacy, the Committee has asked Ghana to “respond to reports of increased use of practice of secret tape recordings of prominent Ghanaian politicians.”

The concerns raised by the UNHRC comes at a time when the Ghanaian government is seeking to pass a new law (Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Bill) that will grant authorities more powers and latitude for mass surveillance and interception of private communications.

The Bill, which is currently before parliament, has been widely criticised by civil society groups, journalists, respected lawyers and former government officials.

For example, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Martin Amidu, has, in a 12-page memorandum to Parliament, argued that sections of the pending Bill do not comply with certain provisions of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution that relate to privacy rights.

“The examination and analysis of the memorandum to or accompanying the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill, 2015 shows that it did not comply with Article 106 (2) of the Constitution to warrant its introduction in Parliament,” Mr. Amidu who is also a former Minister of Interior, argued in his memorandum to parliament.

“The examination and analysis of selected provisions of the Bill have also demonstrated that some of them suffer from unconstitutionality, inconsistency with existing law, or the need to be harmonized with the existing law to achieve the objects of Article 106(2) of the Constitution in addressing defects in the existing law and providing remedies to those defects in the Bill,” said the respected former Attorney General.

Under freedom of opinion and expression, the Human Rights Committee has asked Ghana to “respond to reports that journalists are subjected to physical attacks and threats by security forces and individuals, as well as arrests and detention, and report on measures taken to protect journalists and bring perpetrators of such acts to justice.”

The report also seeks answers from the Ghanaian government on right to information. It urges the government to “provide information on the status of the Right to Information Bill and its compliance with the Covenant.”

Civil society groups in Ghana have been advocating for passage of RTI legislation for the last 13 years. So far in West Africa, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso have all passed RTI laws making it possible for citizens in those countries to legally seek information from public entities.

“It is our hope that the government of Ghana will reflect on the issues raised by the UN Committee and allow for broader consultation on the Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunication Messages Bill before it considers pushing it for passage by parliament,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.

MFWA to Host President of Burkina Faso’s Transitional Parliament

Vivian Affoah
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MFWA to Host President of Burkina Faso’s Transitional Parliament

On March 15, 2016 the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) will host Hon. Cheriff Moumina Sy, President of the Transitional Parliament (TP) that helped return Burkina Faso to democratic governance after the civic revolution in October 2014 that ousted President Blaise Compaoré.

Hon. Sy will be the keynote Speaker at the maiden West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance being organised by the MFWA. The Conference, which will be held in Accra on March 15, 2016 will bring together representatives of the leading press freedom and media development organisations from all ECOWAS member states and Mauritania.

The conference is under the theme: Promoting Professional Journalism for Good Governance in West Africa. Participants will deliberate on and identify key challenges in the areas of free expression, media development and access to information; and develop strategies in tackling these challenges to promote good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa.

Hon. Sy is credited for his astute leadership of the TP of Burkina Faso during a very challenging moment in the political history of Burkina Faso. Under his leadership, the TP facilitated key legislative processes and mechanisms that led to a successful return to democratic rule in late 2015.

He took several bold decisions to keep the transitional arrangements on course. This included his decision to declare himself interim President of the country when dissident soldiers of the powerful residential guard loyal to ousted President Compaoré staged a short-lived coup overthrowing the officially installed transitional President, Michel Kafando and his Prime Minister, Isaac Zida.

Prior to assuming the high and influential office of President of the TP in 2014 Hon. Sy had been a crusading journalist, press freedom champion and a passionate advocate for free expression rights in Africa. He held key positions in the media and press freedom community in Africa. Hon. Sy is the immediate past President of the African Editors Forum. He also founded and edited the Bendre newspaper in Burkina Faso.

During the relatively short period of his leadership the TP decriminalised media offences and passed a Right to Information Law.

“We are extremely honoured to host such a disguised person who has successfully championed both media and democratic development at national, regional and continental levels at a conference that is focusing on media and good governance in the West Africa region,” said Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the MFWA.

The Conference is organised with funding support from OSIWA, fesmedia Africa, the Embassy of the United States of America in Ghana and Global Partners Digital.

 

For more information about the Conference contact Programme Officer Rikke Sig Hansen on +233 545 705 454 or on email: [email protected].  

Burkina Faso: Regulatory Body Suspends Magazine Despite Military Discharge

Vivian Affoah
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Burkina Faso: Regulatory Body Suspends Magazine Despite Military Discharge

The media regulatory body in Burkina Faso, Conseil Supérieur de la Communication (CSC) has suspended the investigative magazine L’Evènement for a month without a hearing.

The sanction followed a report in the February 10, 2016 edition of the magazine which the CSC says amounts to “revealing military secrets.” The publication was about an attack by members of the former Regiment de Sécurité Présidentiel (RSP) on an arms depot in the district of Yimdi. It also featured a map of similar depots that have been abandoned.

Following the report, a military tribunal in Ouagadougou summoned the magazine’s director of publication Germain Nama Bitiou and editor Newton Hamed Barry on February 18. They were discharged after a brief hearing.  A day after appearing before the tribunal however, the CSC issued a release suspending L’Evènement for a month.

The Management of the journal has criticised the decision of the CSC as arbitrary. “Instead of brandishing the baton, you must promote democratic debate,” it said. “The CSC must present to the press a list of all that is considered as military secrets in our country. Finally, the difference between a secret and a taboo must be clearly spelt out, for a secret is not necessarily a taboo.  Is everything about the army a taboo?” it wondered.

The MFWA is equally dismayed at the regulator’s decision, because the military, whose secret the magazine allegedly revealed, offered the editors the opportunity to explain the issue and discharged the two gentlemen without even a reprimand. As a media regulatory body tasked with resolving media-related issues, the CSC should have rather intervened as mediators between the magazine and the military authorities when the issue arose.  We urge the CSC to lift the suspension. We also commend the military for using dialogue in resolving the issue with L’Evènement.

Senegal: Activist Arrested for Comments on TV Programme

Vivian Affoah
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The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Senegal on February 26, 2016, summoned Senegalese activist, Mamadou Mouth Bane, for comments deemed “seditious” during a TV programme.

The programme, which was aired on the eve of February 26 on Walf TV, discussed the upcoming referendum to reduce the presidential term of office from seven years to five years, a highly debated topic in Senegal. Bane was the only panelist out of four to be summoned by the CID.

According to the MFWA correspondent in Senegal, the Coordinator of the “Jubanti Senegal” (Reform Senegal) movement, Bane  was first summoned  on February 26 but he did not show up at the premises of the DIC as he was allegedly preparing for a protest march. The said protest was to urge people to vote against the reduction of presidential term of office in a Referendum to be held on March 20, 2016.

On the day of summon (February 26), some officials of the CID stormed the premises of Walfadjri Group to demand recordings of the said programme.

Having failed to secure the recording from the media house, the police turned to the regulatory body for audiovisuals, Conseil National de Régulation de l’Audiovisuel (CNRA) for that piece of evidence. The CNRA also declined the request, reaffirming that its mandate is to keep and protect recordings of all audiovisual programmes and not to use them as a tool to repress free speech.

Bane responded to the CID summon on February 29 for interrogation. The CID however arrested him and sent him to the Brigade des Affaires Générales (BAG), an internal security agency located at a high court in Dakar, where he was detained for more than 12 hours and released later in the evening.

The harassment of Bane for expressing his views on the referendum is a violation of his right to free expression and it is therefore unacceptable. The MFWA commends the CNRA for refusing to release the recordings requested by the police. The duty of the police is to protect and defend the rights of citizens. We therefore find it worrying that officials of the CID as enforcement agents rather suppress free speech in Senegal.

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West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance to be Held in Accra

Vivian Affoah
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West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance to be Held in Accra

Leading free expression and media development organisations from all 16 countries in West Africa will meet in Accra, Ghana, for the West Africa Conference on Media and Participatory Governance.

The Conference which is under the theme: Promoting Professional Journalism for Good Governance in West Africa will take place on March 15-17, 2016 at the Mensvic Grand Hotel in Accra, Ghana.

Participants will deliberate on and identify key challenges in the areas of freedom of expression and the role of the media in promoting good governance, regional integration and peace in West Africa.

 

Hon. Chérif Sy, President of the Transitional Parliament of Burkina Faso
Hon. Chérif Sy, President of the Transitional Parliament of Burkina Faso

The keynote address will be delivered by the President of the Transitional Parliament of Burkina Faso, Hon. Moumina Cheriff Sy. The conference will also feature panel discussions with national, regional and international experts in the areas of access to information offline and online, and safety of journalists.

Also present at the Conference will be representatives from the ECOWAS Commission, UN agencies and donors, and civil society groups.

 

For further information contact Programme Officer, Rikke Sig Hansen on +233 545 705 454/ info (@) mfwa.org

Photo credit: afrique360.com

MFWA, 36 Others Petition African Commission for Release of Detained Gambian Journalist

Vivian Affoah
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MFWA, 36 Others Petition African Commission for Release of Detained Gambian Journalist

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and 36 other freedom of expression organisations in Africa and across the globe have petitioned the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights to prevail on Gambian President Yahyah Jammeh to release a journalist who has been in detention for seven months.

Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay, Manager of Taranga FM in Banjul, was first arrested on July 2, 2015, briefly released and re-arrested. After a two-week detention in which Ceesay was held incommunicado with no access to a lawyer or his family, he was brought before a Magistrates Court on August 4, 2015 and charged with a single count of sedition. The prosecution accused him of distributing photos of Gambian President Yahya Jammeh with a gun pointed at him.

 On 18 November, while the case was still ongoing at the Magistrates Court, the state pressed a fresh seven-count charge against the journalist. These charges were a mere duplication of the first charge at the Magistrates court, except for that of “publication of false news.” The initial single count charge was later dropped.

According to MFWA’s sources, Ceesay has suffered from torture and maltreatment and is in deteriorating health. Despite his ill-health and eligibility for bail under Gambian law, and the landmark ruling of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the High Court Judge has denied Ceesay clemency three times.

The MFWA together with the 36 African and global freedom of expression organisations, on March 2, 2016, urged the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to prevail on The Gambia to release Ceesay.

“By this letter, we implore you to apply pressure on President Yahya Jammeh to ensure the release of journalist Alhagie Abdoulie Ceesay in consideration of his long period of detention and failing health, and to end the persistent crackdown on free expression,” the petitioners said. “In the words of Abdoulie’s brother, “It’s about time the world start acting or else we fear for the future of the family and the country’s most reputable media house Taranga FM.”

A copy of the petition was also sent to the U.N Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, David Kaye.

A copy of the Petition to African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is available here.  

Ghana Elections: 70 Radio Stations to be Monitored for Hate Speech

Vivian Affoah
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Ghana Elections: 70 Radio Stations to be Monitored for Hate Speech

As Ghana’s 2016 elections draw closer and campaigning intensifies, political tensions are fast building up. Insults and hate speech have become common in political debates and discussions in the media and other public platforms. Consequently, the use of indecent language and incidents of retaliatory provocative expressions by political party representatives are likely to be on the increase either online or offline. This has the potential of inciting citizens leading to possible violence if unchecked.

The Media foundation for West Africa therefore seeks to contribute to peaceful elections in Ghana in 2016 by building on the successes of its Language monitoring project in Ghana in 2012. The Language Monitoring project was widely commended as having contributed significantly to sanitising the airwaves in the lead up to the 2012 elections.

In 2016, the MFWA seeks to implement a special elections campaign dubbed “Issues Not Insults” under its project “Promoting Decent Language and Issues-based Campaigning for Peaceful Elections in Ghana in 2016”. The main focus of the project is to monitor, report, name and shame users of hate speech and indecent expressions on seventy (70) of the most influential radio stations across the country. The monitoring will be done over a nine-month period with reports being issued every two weeks. Other components of the project are public education on avoidance of hate speech and indecent campaign language, and advocating for professional media conduct that fosters issues-based discussions.

The project was officially launched at the International Press Centre to inform stakeholders, targets, and the Ghanaian public about the language monitoring exercise. It is expected to make the Ghanaian public aware so they are guided and measured in their language use on the airwaves before, during and after the elections.

Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng, Chair of the NMC, officially launched the programme

Present were both the Chair of the National Media Commission, Mr. Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng and President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Dr. Affail Monney. Both expressed strong support for the project and commended MFWA for the exercise.

Representatives from other civil society organizations, stakeholders and the media were also present.

For more information, please contact the Programme Manager responsible for this project on: 0244867047/ info (@) mfwa.org 

Benin: Minister Refuses Interview, Orders Police to Drive out Journalists

Vivian Affoah
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Benin: Minister Refuses Interview, Orders Police to Drive out Journalists

Benin’s Foreign Affairs Minister Saliou Akadiri on February 16, 2016, ordered the police to chase out a two-man crew from the privately-owned Canal 3 Television.

Idrissou Boukari, reporter and Clarisse Dassi, camera woman had gone to the premises of the ministry to cover a workers’ strike. The strike involved members of the Syndicat national des diplomates interprètes-traducteurs et personnels administratif et technique du ministère des affaires étrangères (SYNDIPAT-MAE), a local staff union.

According to the MFWA’s correspondent in Benin, Canal 3 reported the incident with footage from the scene. The footage showed Saliou Akadiri refusing to answer questions from the journalists concerning the strike and ordering a police officer to chase out the crew.

The footage also showed a police officer wagging his index finger at the journalists and threatening them as they tried to interview the minister.

MFWA is shocked at the behavior of the minister. As a senior public servant, he has a duty to explain issues about the strike to the Beninois public. It is bad enough that he spurned the opportunity the TV crew offered him to do so; and it is a shame that he decided to humiliate the journalists who were simply carrying out their duty to the Beninois public. We call on President Yayi Boni to call his foreign affairs minister to order.

Ghana: Community Concern Amplified on World Radio Day

Vivian Affoah
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Ghana: Community Concern Amplified on World Radio Day

In Ghana, radio remains the most effective citizen’s engagement platform for information disclosure and citizen’s participation in governance processes. Under our intervention on “Promoting Citizens’ participation in local governance through radio and other dialogue platforms” the MFWA has brought local authorities closer to citizens for improved engagement and information sharing contributing to improved service delivery and local development.

On this year’s World Radio Day, the MFWA and local-based radio station, Might FM, facilitated an interactive session between residents and authorities of the Savelugu-Nanton Municipal Assembly in the Northern region of Ghana to discuss pressing community development issues.

The infographic below captures the essence of the engagement:

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Ghana: MFWA Condemns Assault on Radio Presenter by Member of Parliament

Vivian Affoah
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Ghana: MFWA Condemns Assault on Radio Presenter by Member of Parliament

The Media Foundation for West Africa, (MFWA) has learnt with concern the threats issued against Ato Kwamena Dadzie, a journalist with privately-owned Joy FM, by the Member of Parliament for the Assin North Constituency of the Central Region of Ghana, Kennedy Agyapong.

On February 16, 2016, Agyapong reportedly accosted Dadzie in front of the Joy FM station and threatened to “deal with” him for comments the journalist had made about him.

“This morning he menacingly accosted me in front of Joy FM and threatened to slap, beat and “deal” with me if I don’t watch the things I write about him,” the journalist wrote on his Facebook timeline. “He violently shouted all manner of threats and expletives at me as he was restrained and led away by onlookers.”

If the above narrative and other corroborative reports in the media are anything to go by, then Kennedy Agyapong has exposed his utter disregard for the right to freedom of expression.

Resorting to physical confrontation and threatening a journalist is an unacceptable conduct, especially by a lawmaker who should rather appreciate the need to respect journalists and uphold the law.

The MFWA therefore fully approves Dadzie’s decision to file a police complaint against the MP whose conduct in this matter is unworthy of a Member of Parliament.

While we call on the Ghana Police Service to act on the journalist’s complaint with the seriousness it deserves, we also urge the leadership of the Parliament of Ghana to call Kennedy Agyapong to order.

Cote d’Ivoire: Media Regulatory Body Suspends Magazine, Journalist

Vivian Affoah
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Cote d’Ivoire: Media Regulatory Body Suspends Magazine, Journalist

The Ivoirian media regulatory body, Conseil National de la Presse (CNP) has suspended privately-owned weekly Déclic Magazine and its reporter, Martial Alaté, following a publication about a minister that the regulator deemed unprofessional.

The newspaper alleged that a state minister, Kobéna Adjoumani Kouassi, and an Ivoirian singer, Sévérine Adjoumani, were allegedly in a romantic relationship.

A statement issued by the president of CNP, on February 11, 2016, said the weekly has been suspended for two publications while the journalist has also been suspended for a month.

“The information reported in the article has not been established hence it is a distortion of information and an invasion of the duo’s privacy,” the CNP communiqué said.

The MFWA is concerned about the spate of suspension of journalists and newspapers in Cote d’Ivoire and calls on journalists to be more professional in carrying out their journalistic duties. We also urge the CNP to work with the media to find lasting solution to the problem of unprofessional reportage.

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