Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the arbitrary closure of Spoon Network, Liberia’s biggest independent privately-owned radio and TV broadcaster, just months ahead of presidential and general elections. The authorities must reopen the premises of the network’s TV channel and three radio stations so that they can resume broadcasting, RSF says.

The journalists at Spoon FM/Live TV, Fabric FM/Live TV, Super FM/Live TV and Super TV have been denied access to their offices for the past three weeks, ever since dozens of court officers arrived at the Spoon Network compound on 14 July, while Spoon FM/Live TV was broadcasting live, and said they had to stop working under an order issued by the Montserrado County civil law court closing Stanton Witherspoon’s Spoon Communication Network.

The order depriving the journalists of their jobs and media had been issued in response to a defamation suit by Wilmot Smith, the former acting director-general of the Liberia Institute for Statistics and Geo-Information Service (LISGIS), in connection with their coverage of the accusations of corruption that the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission (LACC) had brought against Smith and other senior government officials in June 2022. A few months after these accusations, President George Weah dismissed Smith for “administrative reasons.”

When the order was being carried out on 14 July, some of the journalists and members of the management allegedly insulted and attacked the court officers and judge in charge of the operation. The judge issued a summons to the Spoon Network management and 19 members of its staff on the evening of 17 July and, the next day, the Montserrado County civil law court imposed fines on them ranging from 300 to 1,000 dollars for contempt of court. The court is now due to set a date to begin hearing the various parties.

“The severity of the sanctions imposed on Spoon Network and its employees is astonishing. The fines imposed on its personnel are the equivalent of around three months’ salary. And issuing an order closing its premises without saying when they would be allowed to reopen is completely arbitrary. Spoon Network’s journalists just did their job when they covered the LACC’s accusations. We condemn the disproportionate and abrupt nature of these decisions putting journalists in danger and depriving the public of news sources, and we call on the authorities to reopen Spoon Network’s premises. This independent media network’s closure is a worrying signal in the run-up to October’s presidential and general elections.”

Sadibou Marong, Director of RSF’s sub-Saharan Africa desk

With four sizable outlets, Spoon Network is Liberia’s biggest independent media network. In late June, the CDC-Council of Patriots – a group that supports the ruling Coalition of Democratic Change (CDC) – called on the government to shut it down immediately for “airing misinformation.” They subsequently threatened to shut it down themselves if the government did not.

Liberia’s courts have repeatedly supported the CDC’s attempts to silence persons and entities regarded as overly critical of its policies. Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, a respected, award-winning investigative reporter, was sentenced to a month in prison in July 2022. In 2019, a court in the capital, Monrovia, closed the Roots FM radio station after the Liberia Telecommunications Authority said it was broadcasting illegally. It had submitted a licence renewal request but the regulator rejected it.

The post Liberia’s biggest independent media network forcibly closed appeared first on IFEX.

Liberian authorities should ensure that journalists are able to cover court cases without fear that they will be forced to expose their sources, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.In a summons dated May 31, which CPJ reviewed, Judge Blamo Dixon of Criminal Court C in the Liberian capital Monrovia ordered the management and entire staff of the privately owned daily newspaper FrontPageAfrica to appear on Tuesday, June 13, to defend a report about alleged bribery in the country’s judicial system.

The court summons is related to a May 19 report that quoted anonymous sources who alleged that US$500,000 was “splashed around judicial circles to influence the jury” that unanimously acquitted four men charged with trafficking US$100 million of cocaine, according to FrontPageAfrica Managing Editor Rodney Sieh and News Editor Lennart Dodoo, who both communicated with CPJ via messaging app. Sieh said his publication stood by the story.

The summons said FrontPageAfrica’s management and “all persons acting under the scope and authority” of the newspaper must appear before the court that acquitted the four men, explain why they should not be held in criminal contempt, and provide evidence of the bribery.

The penalty for contempt of court is at the judge’s discretion but can include imprisonment or a fine based on the court type, according to Sieh, a revised schedule of court costs, fees, and fines, and Ambrose Nmah, a spokesperson for Liberia’s judiciary, who spoke to CPJ by phone. Circuit courts, which is the court that summoned the outlet’s management and staff, can issue up to a $300 fine.

In court papers filed on Monday and reviewed by CPJ, FrontPageAfrica said it had not intended to “blame, embarrass or denigrate” the trial court or Liberia’s judiciary, and would not “publish any story for the purpose of ridiculing, bringing into disrepute or undermining the dignity of this Honorable Court and the Judiciary at large.”

“Liberian authorities should respect journalists’ sacrosanct duty to protect their sources and withdraw a summons recently issued to FrontPageAfrica employees over the outlet’s coverage,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in New York. “The acquittal of four alleged international drug traffickers is a matter of public interest, and the journalists who have reported critically about the court and have since apologized if they inadvertently caused offense must not become scapegoats.”

In the drug case, the court also ruled that US$200,000 that the Liberian government seized from the four men must be returned, and hours after the verdict, the four men fled the country and have “not been seen or heard from since,” according to FrontPageAfrica.

The drug case was widely believed to be a “slam dunk case” as the bust was made in the presence of both U.S. and Liberian drug enforcement authorities, and video evidence was published by the outlet, other international news outlets, and on social media platforms.

Justice Minister Frank Musah Dean attempted to rearrest the suspects and launch an appeal, which the Supreme Court rejected, that report said.

In those court papers, FrontPageAfrica’s lawyers said that as Dean and many other Liberians were denouncing the court verdict, the newspaper’s reporters were informed of the bribes “by credible and unimpeachable sources.”

FrontPageAfrica “with all sincerity” did not think or believe its May 19 report would be construed as contemptuous, but sincerely apologized “to the extent that the publication is construed or may be construed as being contemptuous to the presiding judge, the trial court and the Liberian judiciary as a whole,” the document said.

Nmah said that the court summons was in line with Liberian laws and that FrontPageAfrica would not be held liable if they proved the facts of their reporting in court.

The post Liberian publication summoned to defend report on alleged court corruption appeared first on IFEX.

The call for application for the second edition of the Next Generation Investigative Journalism (NGIJ) Fellowship programme received nearly 200 entries from three countries.

The second edition of the NGIJ Fellowship programme requested applications from Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, an expansion from the first edition, which admitted applicants only from Ghana.

The applicants for this year’s programme included early-career journalists, young communication professionals and budding forensic scientists. After a thorough selection process, 13 applicants have been admitted to the programme.

Here are their brief profiles:

Diana Amoako Boakyewaa, Ghana

Diana is a young journalist who hopes her stories will bridge the gap in quality education between the rich and the less privileged, especially young girls living in rural communities.

Prior to joining the Fellowship, she interned at Metropolitan TV (Metro TV) in Accra and with the Director of Research, Innovation and Development at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, where she earned her degree. Diana is also a communication research assistant working with a communication political analysis outfit.

She has a great interest in making a positive impact in society through journalism, and has, thus, been working towards achieving it.

Philip Teye Agbove, Ghana

Philip works with the state-owned news agency, Ghana News Agency, and is also a correspondent for UK-based SheHub.tv.

An indigene from the coastal area in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, Philip has dedicated a part of his young journalism career to highlighting the dangers of human trafficking on the Volta Lake of Ghana. He hopes his journalism brings an end to the menace.

Philip anticipates that through investigative journalism he will find solutions to complex issues and solve the recurring problems in society. Ultimately, he aims to project the developmental interest of indigenous societies.

Forgbe Emma Kloh, Liberia

Forgbe traces her interest in investigative journalism to the beginning of her journalism career. That interest has kept her in contact with many greats in the field, including Liberia’s Rodney Sieh.

She works for the University of Liberia Radio (Lux FM 106.5) where she has been putting into practice some of the investigative journalism lessons she’s learnt from mentorship programmes. She had previously worked with Prime Communications Incorporated (Prime FM 105.5) in Liberia.

Forgbe wants to be recognized as an inspiration to many young journalists and hopes her work will, in the future, be celebrated among the most experienced and outstanding journalists in Africa.

Salifu Abdul-Gafaru Ayamdoo, Ghana

Salifu has partly fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a journalist by working in Dreamz FM in Bolgatanga, the capital of the Upper East region of Ghana, where he has served as a show host and reporter. But his stint at the radio station over the last few years has made him realise how powerful journalism and the media is in shaping society.

Salifu has, thus, set a goal that his journalistic works should contribute to creating a society which is just and provides equal opportunities to everyone. He derives his inspiration from amplifying the voice of the vulnerable being heard and keeping duty bearers on their toes.

Marian Amaria Bangura, Sierra Leone

Marian’s journalism career started by reporting, producing and presenting news on campus-based Radio Mount Aureole of the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, where she earned her degree in Mass Communication.

While she has been reporting on diverse issues in her country, Marian’s main desire has been to ensure transparency and equality. This has made her develop interest in accountability journalism with a focus on human rights and anti-corruption.

Marian works for the Radio, TV and Newspaper outlets of the Africa Young Voices (AYV) Media Empire in Sierra Leone.

It’s her love and passion for telling stories that drives her on, and she hopes to grow to become a colossus who will inspire other young journalists.

Victoria Enyonam Adonu, Ghana

Victoria is motivated by the works of some of the great journalists who have had results and transformed the lives of many people. That is also her inspiration – to be among Africa’s biggest investigative journalists whose works will engineer social change.

Currently a writer and editor with a publishing firm in Ghana, Victoria has a degree in Communication Studies from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana where she majored in Journalism. She has previously interned at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Ghana News Agency and ATL FM.

Victoria is impressed with good writing, especially great storytelling skills. She’s hoping to hone hers to be among the best.

Norah Aluayo Kwami, Ghana

For Norah, the Next Generation Investigative Journalism Fellowship has set her miles ahead to achieving her career goal of becoming an investigative journalist. Having graduated from the Ghana Institute of Journalism and majored in Journalism, she greatly fancied investigative reporting.

Nora is motivated by the kind of journalism that is driven by solution, change and impact. She loves reading, researching and fact-finding.

It is her hope that she will be counted among the celebrated female investigative journalists in Africa in the future.

Victor Jones, Sierra Leone

Victor has two great passions – love for humanity and fighting against corruption. He has thus, used his journalism career to pursue both passions since 2012.

Jones is a Sierra Leonean broadcaster who works with the state-run Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). He has produced several video documentaries that have directly impacted Sierra Leoneans’ lives at home and abroad. The peak of it was in 2017 when he worked as a correspondent for the BBC where he produced on-site reportage of the mudslide incident at Mortomeh in rural Freetown.

Jones previously worked for Radio Maria Sierra Leone, campus-based Radio Mount Aureole and Freetown Television Network (FTN).

He hopes to put Sierra Leonean journalism on the global map.

Sedem Kwasigah, Ghana

Sedem is a forensic scientist with the goal to transform Ghanaian society. He envisages achieving this goal through the media, journalism and technology.

Already a member of a media team of a prominent religious organization in Ghana where he practices photojournalism, Sedem who’s also an open-source investigator, wants his work to contribute to ensuring a safe society and justice for all.

He has previously worked with a number of security services in Ghana. He was also a teaching assistant and a forensic photography researcher.

Thelma Dede Amedeku, Ghana

Thelma aspires to have her name among the few notable female investigative journalists in Ghana. A graduate of the Ghana Institute of Journalism, Thelma is a content writer for a digital agency in Ghana.

She previously interned at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the National Media Commission (NMC), Ghana’s media regulator, where she also worked as an administrative assistant.

Thelma is buoyed by the fact that she’s able to provide critical information to the masses through her journalism as she reckons information is power. She hopes her works make a great impact on many people.

Edmund Agyemang Boateng, Ghana

Edmund is driven by the desire to create a society that will ensure the unborn generations have equal opportunities to thrive. It is that desire that has given him an immense interest in impactful journalism.

Before joining the fellowship, Edmund worked as a reporter for Pulse Ghana but his writings are published across many prominent platforms in Ghana.

An avid reader, Edmund wants to use his voice to fight for the rights of vulnerable and marginalized groups.

Linda Essilfie-Nyame, Ghana

Linda graduated from the University of Ghana with a degree in Political Science and English. But her passion has been to tell stories that bring change to society, hence she volunteered for the University of Ghana’s Radio Universe, 105.7 FM where she served in various capacities, including as a producer, reporter and news anchor for two years.

Linda’s broadcasting reporting stint has taught her the potential of journalism in making an impact. She has since aimed at telling stories that will bring change to people and improve their standard of living.

Shadrack Odame, Ghana

Shadrack is a media researcher and communication professional. He holds a master’s degree from the Ghana Institute of Journalism where he also served as an assistant lecturer. He has previously worked as a reporter for Metropolitan TV and OXZY FM.

His interest and experience in journalism and media research have emphasized to him the importance of investigative journalism. He strives to ensure accountability among the public office holders through his reports as he believes the political office is an opportunity to serve and not be served.

It will give Shadrack great joy if his stories cause positive change in society and is referenced in social discussions.

The post 13 promising young journalists make it to MFWA Felllowship programme appeared first on IFEX.

A Liberian journalist, Rita Jlogbe Doue, had been worried about complaints from the country’s disability community that they were not receiving financial assistance from the National Commission on Disabilities (NCD), although funds were allocated in the national budget to cushion them annually.

At a time the Liberian economy is bearing the brunt of COVID-19, with even the physically abled struggling to cope, she was concerned that the country’s estimated 800,000 disabled people could be pushed further down the poverty line.

The Monrovia-based VOA/Front Page Africa correspondent got nosy.

Rita turned to the country’s 12-year-old Freedom of Information (FOI) law to seek answers.

“I wanted to find out whether it is true that the disabled community is not being supported and what had been stalling government support for the disabled community,” she said.

Her request included the total money disbursed to the Commission through the national budget for the fiscal periods of 2018-2019, 2019-2020; and 2020-2021 and expenditure reports, to include monies spent on operation and welfare.

To her shock, Rita said the head of the institution mandated to ensure the general welfare and education of persons with disabilities told her bluntly the data she requested did not exist.

“She replied that she doesn’t have records or documents to provide information because the information I requested was from 2018 to 2021. She didn’t come to meet anything, so she can’t give me anything in that regard,” Rita said, frowning and shaking her head.

The NCD Executive Director, Daintowon Domah Pay-Bayee, was appointed in June 2021 and the request was made in October 2021.

A similar request to the country’s Ministry of Finance only yielded the budgetary allocation and not the disbursements within the period.

Wrecked by two civil wars that got thousands of people physically and mentally disabled, the country’s Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) estimate that 99% of persons with disabilities live in extreme poverty, mainly due to exclusion from education, skills training, work and income generation opportunities.

Rita is not alone in being denied information by Liberia’s state institutions. Five out of 15 journalists, including Joseph Tumbey, a correspondent of M News Africa, who attended the launch of a manual on access to information and a one-day workshop for investigative and anti-corruption reporters on July 29, 2022, shared similar stories.

Curious about the numerous complaints from Liberians about the shortage of electricity meters, Joseph wrote to the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) in February 2022, seeking information on how many meters and transformers it had procured from 2018 to 2022.

He said the feedback he received was both irritating and amusing.

“I received feedback that the Chief Executive Officer of the LEC had travelled out of the country. I was asked not to call or email. After a month, I made a follow-up, no result,” he told the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The Liberian FOI law allows state entities 30 days to respond to request and another 30 days extension if they are unable to produce the information within the first 30 days.

He followed up again on the 60th day and then in the fourth month of the request.

Silence was all he had from the institution. He opted to publish the story.

Meanwhile, the Liberia Electricity Corporation says it loses about $35 million annually and needed to recover every cent from consumers to keep the power lines running.

The company’s critics say customers who applied for meters five to seven years ago and those who requested the replacement of damaged meters are still waiting – a situation that increased the theft of electricity.

Participants at the workshop say the bottom line was that the country’s poor record keeping is haunting the implementation of the FOI law.

“Most of our institutions here don’t have database[s] where they store information. Information is stored on [a] flying sheet [manually]. Even at the various hospitals, for instance, records of patients should be on [an] electronic database. If you go back to the same place in six months, you won’t find the record.”

“It sometimes makes our work very difficult, “Rita lamented.

Joseph agreed.

“It is important to improve our digital storage system. In some cases, it is not like they don’t want to give you the information. The manual storage system or the ancient way of saving [information] isn’t helping us. They’re not able to retrieve the information the citizens are asking for,” he told the MFWA.

But that is not all of their problem with the implementation of the law.

The Liberian journalists said that when the law was passed, they expected their chief arbiter for right to information, the Independent Information Commission, to bring their errant state institutions, refusing to release information, to order.

That optimism waned as fast as it started.

The journalists alleged that the organization’s head, Mark Bedor-Wla Freeman, who is also West Africa’s first Information Commissioner, persistently complains about lack of funds.

A publication of the Front Page, a Liberian news portal, confirmed this.

“The IIC, the government agency charged with implementing the Freedom of Information Law enacted September 16, 2010, was evicted from its Sinkor office for failing to pay rent for two years. The agency is now housed in a basement office in the Old Maternity Centre on Capital Bye-pass. The new office lacks electricity,” the report said.

Other journalists who spoke at the workshop said that out of these frustrations, they decided not to use the law as it amounted to a waste of time and resources.

“We are not getting the information we request at most institutions or public agencies and the IIC is not helpful either,” a participant said.

However, when he launched the manual on access to information, the Deputy Minister of Information, Daniel Gayou, rallied Liberian journalists to use the law to cure speculative reportage in the media, as well as public protests.

He said Liberian journalists and the public, in general, were not using the FOI law because it appeared they did not know their rights and remedies under the law.

He, therefore, commended the Media Foundation for West Africa and its partners for the summarized version of the country’s FOI law.

A Programme Officer of the MFWA, Adizatu Moro Maiga, was optimistic that the manual would become one of the important tools for investigative and anti-corruption reporting in Liberia.

The workshop was facilitated by Liberian lawyer, Alphonsus Zeon, and Seth J. Bokpe, a Senior Reporter with The Fourth Estate, the public interest and accountability project of the Media Foundation for West Africa.

The event forms part of the MFWA’s project on “Enhancing Press Freedom, Women’s Digital Rights and Accountable Governance in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone” which is being supported by the Dutch Foreign Ministry through the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ghana.

The post Liberia’s freedom of information law: More bark than bite appeared first on IFEX.

Liberian authorities should investigate and hold to account the two police officers responsible for threatening journalists Emmanuel Kollie and Amos P. Korzawu and assaulting Kollie, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.

On the evening of June 29, two police officers in Foya district, in northern Lofa county, threatened to shoot Kollie, a reporter with state-owned Liberia Broadcasting System, and Korzawu, a reporter and video editor for the privately owned Fortune TV Liberia online broadcaster and news website, according to the journalists, who spoke to CPJ by phone, and a statement by the local Press Union of Liberia.

Police stopped the journalists, who were reporting on the results of June 28 senatorial elections, while Kollie and Korzawu were on their way to cover a confrontation between supporters of the rival Unity Party and Coalition for Democratic Change political parties, they said.

The officers demanded to know where the journalists were going, and then pulled out their guns and threatened to shoot them if they did not return to their hotel, Kollie and Korzawu told CPJ. One officer then slapped Kollie in the face so hard that the journalist lost his balance, and punched him twice in the neck, according to those sources.

“Authorities in Liberia must investigate police officers’ threatening of journalists Emmanuel Kollie and Amas P. Korzawu and their assault of Kollie, identify those responsible, and hold them accountable,” said Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa program coordinator, in Durban, South Africa. “Liberian security forces are too often involved in attacks on members of the press, and the lack of accountability is alarming.”

The journalists returned to their hotel after the incident, saying they feared for their lives. Kollie and Korzawu told CPJ they decided not to file a police complaint because they did not know the officers’ names, as they were wearing jackets that covered their name tags.

Kollie told CPJ on July 6 that he was taking pain medication for his neck.

CPJ’s call and text messes to Liberia police spokesperson Moses Carter went unanswered.

The post Journalists held at gunpoint in Liberia appeared first on IFEX.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a wave of abuses against journalists in Liberia since late June in which an investigative reporter has received a one-month jail sentence and three journalists were attacked – either by police or a politician – in the space of two days. The authorities must protect journalists, especially in a pre-election year, RSF says.

The latest victim is investigative reporter Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo, who was sentenced to a month in prison on 5 July by a court in Paynesville, an eastern suburb of the capital, Monrovia, on a charge of “disorderly conduct” in an incident involving a politician, Marvin Cole.

“The charges are meant to silence me from the critical work I have done as a journalist,” Mbayo said.

“Whether physical attacks, arbitrary arrests or convictions based on spurious pretexts, violations against journalists have been on the rise of late in Liberia,” said Sadibou Marong, the head of RSF’s West Africa bureau. “Bettie K. Johnson Mbayo’s conviction is disproportionate and must be overturned on appeal. It sends a disastrous signal in a country where press freedom has already been undermined in recent weeks. The authorities must do everything to put a stop to attacks, threats and intimidation against journalists as Liberia advances towards decisive elections next year.”

Intimidation attempt

A well-known, award-winning investigative journalist whose reporting has exposed major scandals involving leading security entities, Mbayo told RSF she regarded the case as “scare tactics by the ruling establishment with the hope that I would remain silent.” She added that, when the sentence was read out, Cole said he hoped she would spend a long time in prison “so that I wouldn’t have the time to report on lawmakers or his party anymore.”

The case dates back to 15 January, when Mbayo and her husband parked their car in front of Cole’s home while visiting a friend and ended up being physically attacked by Cole and his employees, who wanted them to move their car.

Mbayo was kicked in the left leg and she sustained several contusions. Cole, who is a parliamentary representative, nonetheless sued Mbayo and her husband with the result that both received jail sentences at the end of the trial held on 5 July. They remain free pending the outcome of their appeal to Liberia’s supreme court.

Threats to journalists’ safety

Meanwhile, physical attacks against journalists, especially those covering politics, have highlighted the dangers to their safety in Liberia.

Emmanuel Kollie, a reporter and presenter for the state-owned Liberian Broadcasting System (LBS), and Amos Korzawu, a reporter for the Fortune TV Liberia news website, were threatened and physically attacked by security personnel when they went to cover an election-related clash on 29 June, a day after the election of the governor of northwestern Liberia’s Lofa County.

“We were assaulted, intimidated and flogged by state security actors in Lofa County,” Kollie told RSF. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t identify the officers involved because they were well geared with helmets.”

Kollie and his colleague reported this attack to the police, who have so far taken no action.

R. Joyclyn Wea, a reporter for the New Republic newspaper, was attacked by presidential protocol chief Cleopatra Cummings on 28 June for taking her photo in a Monrovia court where she was charged with aggression. Accompanied by her daughter, Cummings stormed into a room reserved for journalists and, threatening and insulting Wea, insisted that she delete the photo.

Liberia is ranked 75th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

The post Liberian journalists physically attacked and legally challenged appeared first on IFEX.

Eight media houses in four countries have been attacked, one of them completely burnt down, in a storm that has seen at least 13 journalists and media workers assaulted and several equipment destroyed in the first five months of 2022. 

Three of the attacks occurred in the first two weeks of January, marking a rather turbulent start to the year. The attacks occurred in Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Liberia and Nigeria.

The attacks were torched off on January 3, when a group of political thugs stormed the offices of Thunder Blowers news website based in Gusau, Zamfara State in Nigeria, and caused mayhem. The invaders assaulted Mansur Rabiu, an editor of the online newspaper. They took their frustration out on Rabiu after they asked about Abdul Balarabe, the newspaper’s Hausa-language editor and were told that he was out of the office. The attackers beat Rabiu with sticks until he ran into an adjoining office room and locked himself in. The attackers carried away a number of computers, an internet server and mobile phones. A member of the gang later called the media house to reveal that the attack was in retaliation for a critical interview story the online newspaper published about the Zamfara State Government.

A week later, on January 10, four officers of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) stormed the head office of the Peoples Gazette in Abuja. They threatened the security men at the gate and forced their way into the news outlet’s offices to demand the sources of a confidential memo which was the basis of a report published by the online newspaper. The NIA officers requested to see the Managing Editor, Samuel Ogundipe, as well as Hillary Essien, the alleged writer of the stories published in December 2021. The staff of the media house cringed in fear at the violent intrusion, but no one was hurt.

The thuggery against media houses continued with an attack on Radio Ada (93.3 FM) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana on January 13. About a dozen thugs stormed the station demanding to see the Manager. When told that the Manager was not present, the hoodlums broke the door to the studio, ordered the presenter, Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, to stop broadcasting, and proceeded to disconnect cables, smash computers and destroy the console and microphones.

After upsetting the studio, the thugs assaulted Adjaotor and later, two other journalists. They warned the station to stop its feature programme dedicated to the salt mining industry, the mainstay of the local economy. There had been protests by the youth in the town since a large swathe of the salt-rich Songhor lagoon in the area was awarded to a firm to mine salt.

On February 7, 2022, at about 10 am, a group of men in military uniform stormed Radio Capital FM based in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, assaulted at least seven staff and reduced the facility to a shambles. One of the victims, journalist Maimuna Bari, was taken to Portugal for treatment having suffered severe injuries from a steep fall. The hooded attackers destroyed every piece of equipment in the studio, furniture, consoles, computers, mixers, and transmitters.

The attack came a day after the station did a thorough, unflattering discussion of an abortive military coup. It was the second such attack on the station in less than two years. Radio Capital has a reputation for being critical of the current government, with many state officials and public institutions hounding it with various law suits. It has still been unable to recover from the devastation to resume broadcasting.

On March 5, some unknown individuals in Foya, Liberia sneaked into the premises of Radio Tamba-tiakor at night to cause mischief. The attackers curiously set fire to a motorbike which the station used for its dispatch services and errands, without touching any other property. The incident is believed to have been aimed at intimidating the radio station.

On April 10, three armed men, suspected to be robbers, stormed the premises of a private radio station, Fresh 105.9 FM, located in Ibadan, Oyo State. The robbers arrived at the station in motorbikes at about 6.20 am and ransacked all the departments and offices at the station, disrupting the station’s broadcast for some 20 minutes. They carried away equipment belonging to the station and personal belongings of the staff including recorders, smartphones, and laptops, but did not harm anyone.

There was yet another arson attack on a radio station in Liberia on April 23, which resulted in the destruction of the facilities of the community radio station. The building housing Radio Kintoma, based in Voinjama, Lofa County, went up in flames at about 4 am. The station was yet to begin the day’s transmission and no staff of the broadcaster had reported to work. The station manager, Tokpa Tarnue, told the MFWA that the management had received reports that the traditional authorities in the community were upset with the station’s crusade against female circumcision, a common cultural practice in the area. The police are investigating the attack.

In the evening of May 16, some gangsters burst into the studios of Benya FM, assaulted a programme host and producer before destroying the equipment of the station located at Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana. The three burly men on motor bicycles kicked, slapped and pummeled their victims and destroyed computers, mixers and microphones. The thugs believed to be political party militants accused the station of exaggerating problems associated with the distribution of government-subsidised pre-mix fuel meant for fisherfolk in the area.

Whether it is about female genital mutilation in Lofa, Liberia, the state of the salt mining and fishing industries in Ada in Ghana or the abortive military coup in Guinea-Bissau, the media has a crucial role and duty to highlight these important public interest issues.

Whether it is about female genital mutilation in Lofa, Liberia, the state of the salt mining and fishing industries in Ada in Ghana or the abortive military coup in Guinea-Bissau, the media has a crucial role and duty to highlight these important public interest issues. Indeed, any media organisation truly committed to its audience will be expected to focus on such major developments that directly affect the lives of citizens. It is a legitimate discharge of the media’s public education functions and fulfilment of the public’s right to information about critical issues of local or national concern. This is the essence of the media’s role as a platform for engagement and an enabler of the right to information.

Regrettably, this crucial function of the media has become a source of frustration for some groups and individuals with vested interests. It is dreadful enough when thugs assault reporters on the field. But it gets really forbidding when they follow journalists to their workplace, attack the very building housing media organisations they work for and destroy equipment.

It is a crude attempt to silence critical journalists and the media outlets they work for. And the motives for the attacks on media houses, especially radio stations, are often achieved even if momentarily, as transmission is often disrupted, sometimes for weeks. At the time of writing this piece, Capital FM (Guinea-Bissau) remained closed, while Radio Kintoma (Liberia) began full transmission from a temporary single-room office on May 14, after a three-week break.

Unfortunately, while the affected media houses continue to reel from the siege, the perpetrators have not been bothered, except for the thugs who attacked Benya FM in Ghana who were arraigned before the court on Friday, May 23. “We are investigating” has become the refrain of the police, followed almost always with no leads, no arrests, no updates; case closed!

It is a pattern of police failure and impotence that continues to fuel further attacks. But is a pattern that must be broken. The media organisations involved and the entire media fraternity in the affected countries must continue to follow up on the cases with the police, demand updates, and run count-down and anniversary campaigns to keep perpetual pressure on the authorities to find the perpetrators.

The Media Foundation for West Africa expresses its solidarity with the attacked media houses and their staff. We salute their fortitude in the face of persecution and call on all stakeholders to lend a hand in pushing back against the marauding thugs and arsonists who are bent on attacking critical journalists and media organisations into silence.

The post West Africa: Disruption of media through physical attacks appeared first on IFEX.

Police in Monrovia have arrested and detained a reporter of Ok FM Liberia in a protest at the home of a member of the Liberian House of Representatives.

Nyantee Togba had gone to cover a demonstration at the home of Representative Hanson Kiazolu of Montserrado District #17 after the protesters blocked the main entrance to his house in Brewerville Township, outside Monrovia.

The protesters reportedly demanded that the lawmaker return or explain the (thirty) $USD 30, 000 he received in budgetary allotment for ‘constituency engagement.’

No reason has been given by the Liberian National Police for the arrest but pictures posted on Facebook showed the reporter sitting on the ground with some protesters who were also arrested and handcuffed.

He was later released by midday on Friday, July 30, 2021, and told the Center for Media Studies and Peace Building, “it was an order that was given to the police by the lawmaker when the police came, people from his fence were pointing fingers at me that I was a part of the situation.” He added, “my phone was seized by the mob acting on instructions of Rep. Kiazolu and the protesters and I [were] later taken away by officers of the Liberia National Police invited by the lawmaker -my phone is yet to be given to me.”

The Management of Ok FM released a statement to condemn the arrest and said its reporter was “attacked while providing coverage for a protest before the home of Representative Hanson Kiazolu for OK FM’s Live Facebook Page.”

“Reporter Nyantee was attacked on live video while pleads to identify himself as a journalist were rejected,” the statement said, blaming Representative Kiazolu as ordering the arrest.

The Press Union of Liberia had earlier condemned the arrest and asked for the immediate release of the reporter with no precondition.

According to PUL Vice President Daniel Nyakonah, the arrest was “shameful and discourteous to the work of journalists in Liberia.”

The post Liberian MP orders police to arrest journalist appeared first on IFEX.

The Government of Liberia has taken into custody key opposition politician Mo Ali over a Facebook post which it alleges threatens national security.

Mo Ali, who is Secretary-General of the former ruling Unity Party, was arrested, charged, and sent to jail on Thursday afternoon March 25, 2021, after he appeared for questioning at the police headquarters for a second time.

He faces charges of “arson, criminal mischief, and attempted murder”, due to two Facebook posts which the government said are evidence of his involvement in the recent attacks on the National Elections Commission and the residence of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe.

The Unity Party has released a statement in Monrovia denouncing the charges against its national secretary-general.

“We maintain that this is an effort by the Government to hold Mr. Ali as a political prisoner”.

The party said it will “resist” the charges, “using legal and political means”, adding “We do not believe that his Facebook posts, only, are sufficient evidence to charge Mr. Mo Ali for the above-mentioned crimes”.

On March 1, 2021, Ali posted on Facebook: “Dear National Elections Commission, we understand the ploy. But try it and you will see what is gonna be the result.”

Police spokesman Moses Carter later alleged that following Mr. Ali’s post, there have been incidents of petrol bombs thrown at the residence of Associate Justice Joseph Nagbe and the headquarters of the National Elections Commission for which he was invited to clarify the “motive and intent” of his post.

He later on Wednesday, March 24, 2021, clarified: “my post was simply alluding to the fact that we will ensure the NEC (National Elections Commission) will face the full legal consequences should they implement a strategy intended to deny the certification of Senator-elect Brownie J. Samukai, thereby denying the people of Lofa County their choice of Senator.”

He also accused Joseph Nagbe, Associate justice of the Supreme Court, of being a tribalist.

Tension has been building up around the Liberia National Police Headquarters in Monrovia as a handful of youthful partisans and supporters demand Ali’s unconditional release from prison.

The Police have issued no official statement on the arrest and imprisonment of the Unity Party Secretary-General.

The post Opposition politician facing serious charges for Facebook posts appeared first on IFEX.

The Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding (CEMESP) says the action of the Government of Liberia, banning the relay of the “Costa Show” on D-15 radio, violates Liberia’s constitution and contradicts the country’s expressed commitment to the intent of the Declaration of Table Mountain to promote a strong, free and independent press to watch over public institutions.

Liberia was amongst the first group of countries that signed the Declaration of Table Mountain, a continental press freedom agreement that calls on governments to play a germane role in preventing the press from being hindered and punished through ‘insult laws’ and criminal defamation.

The Government of Liberia on Sunday, January 17, 2021, warned D-15FM, a privately owned commercial station not to relay the “Costa Show”, arguing the host and political commentator, Mr. Henry P. Costa, is a “fugitive” from justice, and  hence “cannot host radio programs from the United States meant to communicate to the Liberian audience.”

Without attempting to divert from its core focus of the current freedom of expression violation and get into the travel document controversy involving Mr. Costa, CEMESP states that Article 13(b) provides that “Every Liberian Citizen shall have the right to leave and to enter Liberia at any time.” And that in the case of a crime, Liberia should exercise its extradition treaty agreement with the United States to have Mr. Costa answer to any charges.

More importantly, the government ban on Mr. Costa from broadcasting violates Article 20 of the Constitution of Liberia that guarantees that “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, the security of the person, property, privilege or any other right except as the outcome of a hearing judgment consistent with the provisions laid down in this Constitution and in accordance with due process of law…”

Mr. Costa has never been convicted of any crime in any court and therefore he cannot be deprived of his right to freedom of expression guaranteed in Article 15 of the Constitution, which stipulates that, “Every person shall have the right to freedom of expression, being fully responsible for the abuse thereof” and that “This right shall not be curtailed, restricted or enjoined by government save during an emergency declared in accordance with this Constitution,”

If the Government proceeds to maintain its ban on Mr. Costa, stopping him from broadcasting and or revoke D-15’s broadcast license for pursuing its partnership with Mr. Costa to relay his show, the government would be denying Mr. Costa and several other Liberians the “equal opportunity for work and employment”. This would be a further violation of Article 18 of Liberia’s 1986 constitution.

This ban comes fifteen months after Roots FM, Mr. Costa’s radio station, was shut down and the equipment seized by state security for not having a license to operate.

This will become the third visible action by this administration to silence Mr. Henry Costa who many consider a critical voice – firstly with Voice FM (Mr. Costa’s former FM operation) being denied a licence; secondly with Roots FM being shut down and vandalized; and lastly, an apparent attempt to stifle a registered owned and licenced station to relay The Costa Show.

CEMESP, therefore, draws the attention of the Government of Liberia to the disadvantage there is for governance as they try to stifle the press, and shut down critical voices.

The government cannot proceed with these old regime tactics after celebrations of the enactment of the Kamara Abdullai Kamara (KAK) press freedom law that abolishes libel and promoting a free press and a society of divergent views.

Roots FM (The Costa Show) and Punch FM are the two radio stations that have been shut down with no plan by the government to issue them license.

This is evident that it is not within the government’s interest to have them broadcast, rather an attempt to keep alternative voices at bay.

The Government of Liberia should do the right thing by revoking all threats and allow the D-15- Costa Show partnership to proceed.

Signed:

Malcolm W. Joseph
Executive Director / CEMESP

The post Liberian government’s ban on airing of talk show violates Constitution appeared first on IFEX.