Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)

The region’s free expression news round-up includes lethal protests in Togo and Kenya, calls for release of an RFI correspondent in Cameroon, a creative campaign that is holding Nigeria’s presidency accountable for freedom of information, and more.

Police in Togo cracked down on protestors demanding term limits on the presidency and an end to the “Gnassingbé dynasty.” Officials say 2 protestors were killed, while the opposition reported 7 deaths.

Journalist Ouleye Mané was detained, along with three others, after sharing a photoshopped image that showed a naked body resting on Senegalese President Macky Sall’s chest.

An Accra High Court has ordered the publishers of the Daily Post newspaper and its editor, Michael Dokosi, to pay an amount of GHC 800,000 (US$180,000) to a former Minister of State.

Suna Venter’s broken heart, silencing Sudan’s FIFA suspension, the unsolved case of Burundi’s Jean Bigirimana, policing police in Zimbabwe and more from Somalia, Senegal, Nigeria and South Sudan.

If adopted, a new law will allow the Somali government to establish a statutory media regulatory body – the Somali Media Commission – by nominating, approving and appointing its 9 members, and compromising its independence.

Of particular concern to the media community is article 192 of Senegal’s new press code, which states that a district chief executive and other authorities can suspend a media house if a publication is deemed to be a “threat to the national security.”

On the one-year anniversary of the death of popular Cambodian activist Kem Ley, civil society organisations from around the world reiterated their call for an independent inquiry.