Press liberalization in Niger

Africaphiles are often reading disturbing stories about attacks on press freedom on the continent. Even South Africa, arguably the freest state in Africa, recently rammed through a law that was widely denounced as a serious assault on the country's thriving independent media.

So I was pleased to read the following headline in a Zambian newspaper: President of Niger to be first to sign document abolishing barbaric media laws in Africa.

Niger's president Mahamadou Issoufou approved a bill that revoked the country's criminal defamation and insult laws. Such a repeal is one of the major appeals of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, which cites the laws as one of the severe threats to media freedom in Africa. By contrast, defamation is a civil offense in most western countries (which means the punishment is monetary, not prison). Criminal defamation laws are a popular tool used by autocratic regimes to silence dissent, by making criticism an imprisonable offense.

Kudos to Pres. Issoufou for the move. Many long-time opposition leaders turn autocratic as soon as they gain power. Senegal's Abdoulaye wade and former Cote d'Ivoire strongman Laurent Gbagbo are just two. So it's gratifying to see Niger's leader bucking the trend.

Libel suits a threat to independent journalism in Liberia?

A Voice of America article reports on a huge rise in the number of libel suits in Liberia. Leading journalists fear that this phenomenon is merely an attempt to muzzle independent reporting.

RFI censored in DRC

RNW's Media Network blog reports that the Democratic Republic of the Congo has suspended FM transmissions of Radio France Internationale in the country. The Congolese regime has been a frequent critic of RFI's reporting. Media Network adds that RFI can still be heard in the DRC via shortwave.

Press freedom in 2008

Congrats to Ghana, Mali and Mauritius for having the freest presses in Africa. It's no coincidence they are three of the most stable, democratic countries on the continent. Comoros, Sierra Leone, Angola and Liberia improved their press freedom rating, according to the NGO Freedom House. Though notably South Africa, Botswana and Senegal were among the countries who saw press freedom diminished in 2008. The NGO said Eritrea has the least press freedom in Africa with Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea not far behind.

The four Scandanavian countries plus Iceland and Belgium had the world's freest media environments.

Guinea-Bissau president, army chief assassinated; private broadcasters silenced

The Guinea-Bissau army has claimed it's not seeking power following the assassination of the country's president Joao Bernardo Vieira by members of the military. Earlier the same day, the army chief of staff, a rival of the president, was also slain. Observers believe Vieira's murder was in retaliation for the earlier killing.

The West African regional group ECOWAS is holding an emergency summit on the Guinea-Bissau crisis. African and Portugese diplomats flew into Bissau today to try to head off a possible military coup.

"The African Union appeals urgently to the political parties and actors of this country to exercise restraint and refrain from plunging the country once again into a spiral of power struggle," said a statement from the continental body.

Guinea-Bissau has been virtually taken over by cocaine traffickers, who use the country as a transit point between South America and Europe. It has been described as Africa's first narco-state and regional observers fear that cartels will overwhelm other West African countries with weak state institutions. In neighboring Guinea, the son of the country's late dictator (a long-time ally of Vieira) as well as several senior police officials were recently arrested on drugs trafficking charges.

I've seen nothing yet to suggest that the drugs barons were implicated in either assassination but the resulting power vacuum is sure to embolden them ever further.

The constitution, if respected, stipulates that the parliamentary speaker becomes acting president and must organize elections within 60 days.

Update: The army chief was killed by a remote-controlled bomb. Analysts have noted that this means of assassination is almost unheard of in Africa but very common in Latin America, which leads one to suspect the cocaine cartels.

Further update: Radio Netherlands Worldwide's Media Network is reporting that the all of Guinea-Bissau's privately-owned radio stations have been ordered to cease broadcasting. RNW quoted Media Foundation for West Africa's correspondent in the country as saying that the radio stations were ordered to cease broadcasting because they could spread false information about the mutiny. However, Samuel Fernandes, the army spokesman told the BBC that the closure was to ensure the security and safety of the journalists.

Malagasy TV station arbitrarily censored

In Madagascar, the private television station Viva TV has been shut down after broadcasting an interview with the country's former strongman Didier Ratsiraka. The interview was unilaterally deemed by the minister of communications to be 'likely to disrupt security and public order.' Several other television outlets broadcast the same interview the preceding week, but Viva TV was the only one punished by the government.

Viva's owner is also the mayor of the capital Antananarivo and an outspoken opponent of the current government.

Kenyan president vetoes anti-media bill

You don't see presidents in Africa vetoing bills that often. Usually, heads of state arrange it so they have supplicant majorities in the national legislatures to do their bidding. So kudos to Kenyan president Mwai Kibaki for vetoing a controversial media bill that most analysts considered to be draconian.

Kibaki came under heavy criticism last year when the government launched an armed raid on an independent media organization, notes VOA.

It added that previously, his wife Lucy Kibaki stormed into a newspaper office and harassed journalists on the eve of the World Press Freedom Day.

Proponents of the bill argued that the Kenyan media are abusing its newfound freedom, but opponents contended that the media needed to be free to sort these things out themselves.

Update: In a rather surprising move, at least from the outside, Kibaki's re-election bid has been endorsed by his predecessor Daniel arap Moi. One wonders if this poisoned chalice isn't a cloak-and-dagger attempt to undermine Kibaki's campaign.