Africa
2011
A Somali journalist still gets taunting threats in exile
It was February 2008 when Bahjo Mohamud Abdi received her first anonymous phone call. It was a man’s voice asking her to confirm who she was. Abdi was a presenter and correspondent for the state radio in Somalia’s semi-autonomous region of Puntland. Abdi confirmed her identity and thought no more about it. But then she…
Jammeh to news media: I set limits on press freedom
Last week, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh participated in a rare meeting with select members of the West African nation’s press corps. Jammeh spoke in favor of access to public information. He announced that he would allow The Standard newspaper to resume publication, five months after the National Intelligence Agency forced its editor, Sheriff Bojang, to…
In Ivory Coast, journalists pick sides or flee
Reporting on the power struggle in Ivory Coast is increasingly perilous, with journalists facing a climate of threats, intimidation, and attacks that has forced many to choose between adopting partisan coverage or fleeing to safety. “Here, we are in a situation where if you are not with one camp, then you are against them. You…
Killer of DRC technician said to wear police uniform
Hardy Kazadi Ilunga was just 21. A technician with the private station Radio-Télévision Mosaïque in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Likasi, he was murdered late Saturday by a gunman apparently wearing a police uniform, according to the Congolese press freedom group OLPA and local journalists.
Fearing Egypt-style revolt, Cameroon bars Twitter service
“For security reasons, the government of Cameroon requests the suspension of the Twitter sms integration on the network,” announced a March 8 tweet by Bouba Kaélé, marketing manager of the Cameroon unit of South Africa-based telecommunications provider MTN. The announcement has since disappeared from Kaélé’s Twitter feed, but was memorialized by a handful of Twitter…
For Zimbabwean journalist Saize, the absurd is routine
For 37-year-old Zimbabwean freelance journalist Sydney Saize, left, enduring arrest and assault has become absurdly routine–and the circumstances routinely absurd. Take his most recent detention, in February. Saize was reporting on a mundane criminal case in Mutare, capital of the diamond-rich Manicaland province, when the story suddenly turned dramatic.
Bob Stan, Liberia press pioneer, captivates at 80
Veteran journalist Stanton B. Peabody, a pioneer of press freedom in Liberia, turned 80 last month. Peabody, known to family and friends as “Bob Stan,” is a captivating figure full of wisdom and humor. We talked recently about his journalism career, one that has tracked the blossoming of the press in Liberia.
Zimbabwe charges 45 with treason for viewing Egypt footage
The right to receive and impart information is a fundamental human right enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but in Zimbabwe, watching news of North African and Middle East protests apparently amounts to treason.
Out of Africa: Lucie Umukundwa five years later
Five years after helping her leave her region due to threats, CPJ catches up with Rwandan journalist Lucie Umukundwa to learn more about her struggles to resettle in another continent, regain a foothold in journalism and continue to make an impact in Africa.