People read a newspaper at a Lagos newsstand on January 14, 2012. (PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP/Getty Images)
Alongside greater human development and with major inroads into technological innovation, Africa’s economic boom has also helped to usher in a more vibrant and pluralistic media culture across the continent, with a plethora of both online and print news sources multiplying beyond the traditional major media centers of Lagos and Nairobi. However, the progressive trajectory of that development has regularly come up against states that continue to operate in less-than-democratic ways.
Witness Tuesday’s news that prosecutors in Nigeria — Africa’s most populous country, and one known for its relatively free press — are filing criminal charges against two journalists for publishing a presidential directive. The charges immediately provoked outrage, with a prominent Nigerian media rights NGO calling them a ”sheer abuse of power.” Police had detained the journalists on April 8th — a week after their newspaper had reported on President Goodluck Jonathan orders to “frustrate” the opposition by any means necessary — in an unusual crackdown on the media. Jonathan’s government doesn’t appear to be taking the matter lightly, calling the publication of the directive a “grievous act that should not be ignored.” While this incident is the most high-profile example of the Jonathan government’s targeting of journalists, it’s certainly not the only one. In December, security forces detained two journalists after their Hausa-language newspaper reported on alleged abuses committed by Nigeria’s military in its fight against the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram. The two writers were reportedly held without charge and without access to lawyers. Jonathan’s handling of the threat posed by the extremist has been dismal enough without an added censorship debacle — a fact the newly powerful opposition coalition is certain to seize on heading into elections in 2015.
The recent spate of bad news doesn’t end there, sadly. Here’s a look at recent and ugly examples of the continent’s all-too-common press vs. state conflicts.
Ivory Coast
A prolonged spat between the country’s national press council and opposition newspapers allied with former Ivorian ruler Laurent Gbagbo in 2012 dispelled any hopes that a new era of press freedom would be ushered in with President Alassane Outtara’s ascension to power. The climate of intimidation described by newspaper editors was evident after an attack on the headquarters of a Gbagbo-allied media house by machete-wielding men in August. In response, six opposition newspapers observed a three-day moratorium on publication to protest the incident. On September 14th, the press council suspended the newspapers for publishing a photograph deemed “contrary to national reconciliation.” The move provoked swift condemnation from rights groups as well as rebukes from the United Nations and the United States. With the news on April 10th that Outtara had been given the authority to rule by decree on social and economic issues, it’s clear that a major departure from the Gbagbo era is not in the works anytime soon.
Mali
In an indication of the disastrous impact of Mali’s recent turmoil on its media freedoms, the country’s ranking in Reporters Without Borders’ annual World Press Freedom Index registered the biggest fall of any country, descending 77 spots to 99th. A nationwide media strike in March, in response to the arrest of newspaper editor Boukary Daou, revealed the widespread frustration with the government in Bamako and served as a valuable reminder that though much of the attention surrounding media freedoms has been focused on the Islamist-dominated north, the government of President Dioncounda Traore leaves much to be desired where press freedom is concerned. “Mali is in a state of emergency. We all need to remember this. We are in a state of war, and we cannot allow this kind of thing,” Traore had said at the time of Daou’s arrest. Though Daou was released in early April, the underlying political dynamics responsible for sparking his detention remain in play and Traore’s all-too-familiar justification for the arrest of journalists is not an encouraging sign of what lies ahead after the French-led intervention mission comes to an expected close in July.
Ethiopia
When the 21-year rule of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came to an end in August 2012 after the strongman succumbed to a still-unnamed illness, there was hope that Ethiopia’s media environment would loosen slightly. The continued imprisonment of the prominent writer Eskinder Nega and five other journalists says otherwise, however. And the country’s widely criticized anti-terror laws have been used to justify a crackdown on journalists and media outlets, including the country’s largest weekly newspaper Feteh which was shuttered after it attempted to distribute issues covering Meles’ health struggles in July 2012 — and remains shuttered as of this writing. Feteh columnist Reeyot Alemu was also sentenced to 14 years in prison this past January after being charged with supporting banned opposition groups, another product of the country’s anti-terrorism legislation.
Sudan
In an about-face that should have surprised few, the Sudanese government used the week after President Omar al-Bashir made a speech about his commitment to expanding freedoms and encouraging political dialogue to launch a censorship campaign. While much was made of the release of political prisoners in the wake of his speech, the simultaneous media crackdown reveals the artifice of the move. The state National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has resumed its old tactic of pre-publication censorship. After publicly protesting the censorship campaign, the editor-in-chief of an independent newspaper was suspended from his position by the NISS on April 3rd, the same day that an Al Jazeera bureau chief was called in for questioning. Even the pro-government daily newspaper Al Ahram al Youm had its April 9th edition confiscated without explanation. While press censorship is not unusual in Sudan, the pace and intensity of this most recent media crackdown raises questions about the government’s strategic objectives. With the recent surge in violence in the Darfur region - writing about which is considered a serious “redline” in press coverage — the NISS’s newly aggressive tactics are doubly troubling.
Uganda
While Uganda generated a lot of international attention in February after deporting a British theater producer responsible for staging a play about homosexuality, the government of longtime ruler Yoweri Museveni has also been quietly implementing more insidious measures to circumvent free expression in the country, most notably the passage of the Uganda Communications Act in September. Though the ostensible aim of the legislation was to merge the country’s Broadcasting Council and the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) into one regulatory body, the measure also imposed new regulations requiring broadcasters to respect “public morality” and empowered the Information Ministry to modify broadcast licenses as it sees fit. This, along with numerous attacks on journalists by state security services — which a police spokesman blamed on the journalists themselves — points to the government’s continued hostility towards press freedom. With its crucial role in regional peacekeeping missions such as AMISOM, Uganda has positioned itself as an indispensable partner for its Western allies. So while occasional condemnation gets directed its way, as in the case of David Kato’s shocking murder, it is unlikely that international pressure will produce genuine reform on the part of Museveni in the near or medium term.
Kenya
In an unusual twist on the typical censorship narrative, Kenyan media outlets actually self-censored their coverage of the country’s presidential election, part of a gentleman’s agreement to balance the public’s right to know with concerns over the incitement of violence amid fears of a repeat of the 2007 elections which saw over 1,000 people killed and as many as 600,000 displaced. The country’s media outlets avoided airing political statements live and kept their broadcasts dull and dispassionate. While it is understandable from a practical viewpoint, the move raises questions about the line between comprehensive, informative press coverage and “incitement.” That violence remained at a minimum in the aftermath of the election may actually reinforce the idea of media censorship as an effective means of maintaining security — a worrisome conclusion.
Somalia
Despite having a truly abysmal record where journalists are concerned, Somalia still managed to shock observers when it jailed the writer Abdiaziz Abdinur Ibrahim in January for interviewing a woman who alleged she was raped by government security forces. The alleged rape victim, Lul Ali Osman Barake, was also arrested, resulting in widespread coverage of the case. While both Barake and Ibrahim were freed in March, the charges leveled against them, including insulting a government body and obtaining false evidence, reveal the ease with which the Somali government can silence critics in the media. The case also provided a rude reminder of the abuses that are still rife under the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who has been hailed as a success story in the country since his election last September.
With major elections on the horizon in Mali and Zimbabwe, the stage is set for political transformations in two countries with dismal records on press freedoms — though the recurring hope that regime changes could provide an opening for the exercise of liberties has been shown to be overly optimistic in many past cases. The continued instability in Mali which contributes to the precariousness of its political infrastructure does not offer a conducive environment for free and fair elections and, with French troops scheduled to depart the country shortly thereafter, will not bode well for a return to a properly functioning democracy. Zimbabwe faces similarly bleak prospects as President Robert Mugabe doubles down on his authoritarian impulses ahead of the July ballot by cracking down on dissenters and shoring up his ZANU-PF party’s control over state institutions.
Though the marked transition to participatory democracy has been evident across Africa, the provisions of democratic society, including the protection of freedom of expression, remain elusive. It is this strange case of the existence of structured political processes with progress on the civil-society side slow (or hindered by governments that are democratic in a mechanical sense and autocratic in practice) that will continue to pose a challenge for press freedoms and other hallmark expressions of robust democracy across the continent.
