Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)

Articles by Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)

A policeman tries to stop people advancing toward an armoured personnel tank during the final day of election campaigning, Accra, Ghana, 5 December 2020, PIUS UTOMI EKPEI/AFP via Getty Images

Guns pointed at journalists recording abuses

Journalists in West Africa are coming under increasing attack for recording and documenting the abusive behaviour of police and political party supporters.

A man passes by the remains of two burned cars reportedly belonging to Radio Futures Media (RFM), after protesters targeted stations believed to be close to the government, Dakar, Senegal, 5 March 2021, JOHN WESSELS/AFP via Getty Images

Media under intense attack during protests in Senegal

Protestors killed, the internet disrupted, two private television stations shut down and several media houses were attacked during Senegalese protests.

The High Court, in Accra, Ghana, 20 March 2006, MyLoupe/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The MFWA challenges Ghana’s RTI law in test case

The Media Foundation for West Africa is suing Ghana’s National Communications Authority for charging a prohibitive fee to process an information request.

Lekki tollgate in Lagos, Nigeria, 13 February 2021. Police officers arrest a protester during a demonstration against police brutality and calling for justice for those killed at the #EndSARS protests in October 2020, Olukayode Jaiyeola/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Justice demanded for death of 20-year-old Pelumi Onifade

Four months on, Nigerian authorities have yet to account for the death of 20 year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade, who was attacked and carried away by security forces while covering an #EndSARS protest.

A man listens to the radio, in Lomé, Togo, 6 October 2016, Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Media freedoms further restricted in Togo

Togolese journalists Charles Kponwadan, Anani Vidzraku and Romuald Lansou were arrested for interviewing a prominent government critic without authorization.

Men gathered at a newspaper stand to read the news, in Lomé, Togo, 4 June 2007, EMILE KOUTON/AFP via Getty Images

Publication stands by story that Togolese regulator claims is false

The bi-weekly “L’Alternative” has been suspended for 4 months by Togo’s media regulator for what it terms the “publication of false information”.

A group of Guinea-Bissau citizens show their support for President Umaro Cissoco Embaló, at the start of his official visit to Lisbon, Portugal, during the Covid-19 pandemic, 8 October 2020, Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

Guinea-Bissau ramps up repression

Authorities in Guinea-Bissau must probe an attack by security forces on journalist Souleymane Seidy and civil society activist Franique Da Silva, as police censor criticism of school closures.

People wearing face masks are seen at a street market during the Covid-19 pandemic, Nouakchott, Mauritania, 30 December 2020, Cheyakhe Ali/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Online critics under constant threat in Mauritania

Online rights are under threat in Mauritiania as authorities detain freelance jouranalist Mohamed Salem Kerkoub and threaten bloggers Mohamed Haibeitna Delchoul and Bilal Abdarrahmane for assisting him.