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AFEX calls on African Governments to ensure Effective implementation of ATI Laws

Frederick
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AFEX calls on African Governments to ensure Effective implementation of ATI Laws

On the occasion of the 2021 International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI), the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) commends countries on the continent that have passed Access to Information (ATI) Laws while urging those that have not to do so as a matter of urgency.

AFEX also encourages the countries that have adopted ATI laws to ensure that the laws do not become passive laws by effectively implementing them and empowering their citizenry with factual and credible public information.

The critical role access to information plays in everyday life was clearly typified during the initial stages and the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak. People needed information about the virus, how it spreads, how it can be contained/managed, how to protect themselves from contracting the virus, movement restrictions, and the other interventions their governments were putting in place to ensure their safety.

Typically, the media served as the platform for reaching the masses with information about the virus and interventions undertaken by governments. Paradoxically, when the media made requests for certain pieces of information, they were denied – both in countries that had passed ATI laws and those that had not. In fact, in some instances, journalists and media outlets were abused for requesting certain pieces of information about COVID-19 and generally, for playing their roles as watchdogs of society.

The AFEX Network, for, instance,  documented over 170 incidents of freedom of expression violations, including several cases of unlawful denial or restriction to access to information at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when movement restrictions were imposed in 2020.

Unfortunately, some COVID-19 emergency response instruments that were passed to contain the virus imposed additional restrictions on journalists’ access to certain pieces of information. Access to COVID-19 expenditures in particular has proven difficult in many African countries.

In Uganda, for example, a journalist working with Uganda’s New Vision group, Tom Gwebayanga, was assaulted by security forces and charged with spreading harmful propaganda following a story he published on alleged misuse of COVID-19 funds.

Despite the lessons COVID-19 has taught about the crucial role access to information plays in day-to-day decision making, as of today (September 28, 2021), out of the 54 countries on the continent, only 24 have adopted ATI laws. Specifically, in Sub-Saharan Africa, 21 countries have enacted legal texts to give access to public information to their citizens. Ghana (2019) and The Gambia (2021) are the latest to join the countries that have adopted access to information laws.

Unfortunately, even with the 24 countries that have adopted ATI laws, little progress has been made for the effective implementation of the frameworks.

Denial of access to information or access to partial information instigate speculations that lead to rumour mongering and mis/disinformation. Therefore, as part of efforts to “building back better”– as the 2021 IDUAI theme says (after the ravaging effects of the COVID-19 pandemic), AFEX is calling on African governments to put in place structures and measures that will ensure the free flow of information without hindrance. ATI laws that are not effectively implemented only serve to tick boxes and disempower the citizenry.

AFEX is also calling on the remaining 30 countries that have not passed ATI laws to do so as a matter of urgency so their citizenry can assert their fundamental right to information.

JED demands official apology from police chief after a brutal attack on journalist during an opposition demonstration

Vivian
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JED demands official apology from police chief after a brutal attack on journalist during an opposition demonstration

Journalist en Danger (JED) strongly condemns the assault perpetrated by security forces on the correspondent of the Radio France Internationale in Kinshasa, capital of DR Congo. JED demands an explanation from the Provincial Commissioner of the Congolese National Police in Kinshasa on this intolerable act.

Patient Ligodi, journalist-correspondent of Radio France Internationale in Kinshasa and director of the online media, actualité.cd, was brutalized and violently assaulted, on September 15, 2021, by elements of the police. The journalist’s clothes were torn by the security forces as a result of the brutalities, and he was embarked by force in a police vehicle.

Ligodi was covering a banned demonstration of the opposition that was banned by the governor of Kinshasa. The demonstration was organized in Kinshasa and in the provinces by leaders of an opposition platform LAMUKA to oppose a probable power shift of Felix Tshisekedi and the politicization of the CENI (Independent National Electoral Commission).

Journalist in Danger (JED) strongly denounces the police brutalities and urges the government and police authorities to sanction the perpetrators of this act of violence against the journalist.

For JED, nothing justifies the use of violence against this RFI correspondent who did not commit any offense in covering this demonstration and the actions of the security forces had nothing to do with the journalist’s work.

South Sudan: AMDISS Concerned About Closure of Radio Jonglei

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South Sudan: AMDISS Concerned About Closure of Radio Jonglei

Juba- September 6th 2021: The Association for Media Development In South Sudan (AMDISS) is concerned about the continued closure of Radio Jonglei, one of the community radios based in Bor, Jonglei State- South Sudan.

On August 27th, 2021, the state National Security personnel closed down Radio Jonglei and arrested three of its staff, including the Station Manager. Although the three staff were later released on the same day, there was no clear reason for the incident.

AMDISS is concerned about the continued closure of the radio because many South Sudanese and other non-national residents in Jonglei benefit from the radio in terms of accessing basic information. By shutting down the radio, means denying people of their basic human rights, including access to vital information and freedom of expression which are guaranteed and enshrined in the National Transitional Constitution of South Sudan 2011.

Over the past few days, AMDISS has been meeting the relevant authorities and discussed the matter in advocacy to reopen Radio Jonglei so as to continue disseminating vital messages to the people about the ongoing peace process in the country. Despite the assurances rendered to us by the relevant authorities, the radio remained closed.

AMDISS calls for re-opening of Radio Jonglei to allow people to access the necessary information.

We also call for a dialogue to find an amicable solution if there is any case that is holding the radio from being re-opened.

AMDISS is a member-based organization of the local media in South Sudan, formed in 2003 and registered in 2009 to work towards creating an enabling environment for media development in South Sudan through advocacy at various levels of government, through dialogue with government ministries and departments including security agencies and providing media training to enhance the quality of reporting and professionalism in the media industry.

Ghana: MFWA Welcomes High Court Ruling on Personal Data Collection by Government

Vivian
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Ghana: MFWA Welcomes High Court Ruling on Personal Data Collection by Government

A High Court in Ghana has ordered the state agency, National Communications Authority (NCA), to stop collecting personal information from mobile phone subscribers. The court also ordered the government to delete data already collected within fourteen days of the court judgement.

The judgment followed a legal action by a private legal practitioner, Francis Kwarteng Arthur, who affirmed that the collection of mobile phone subscriber data by the government breached the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).

Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, signed Executive Instrument (EI) 63 which is the Establishment Emergency Communications System Instrument, 2020.

The Executive Instrument, which was signed by the President on 23rd March 2020, referred to the powers bestowed on the President under Section 100 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), which states that “The President may by executive instrument make written requests and issue orders to operators or providers of electronic communications networks or services requiring them to intercept communications, provide any user information or otherwise in aid of law enforcement or national security.”

The Executive Instrument indicated that “Ghana is committed to dealing with emergency situations especially public health emergencies.” Hence, there was an “urgent need to establish an emergency system to trace all contacts of persons suspected of or actually affected by a public health emergency and identify the places visited by the persons suspected of or actually affected by a public health emergency.”

The Executive Instrument, therefore, ordered network operators to put their network at the disposal of the state for mass dissemination of information to the public. It also ordered network operators to cooperate with the National Communications Authority Common Platform to provide information to state agencies in the case of an emergency including a public health emergency.

This order tasked the network operators to provide the following information to the National Communications Authority Common Platform, all caller and called numbers, merchant codes (for mobile money), mobile station international subscriber directory number codes and international mobile equipment identity codes and site location etc.

The Executive Instrument also made provision for an institution designated by the Minister of Communication and Digitization to establish a Central Subscriber Identity Module Register.

Raising privacy concerns, Francis Kwarteng Arthur sued the National Communications Authority, two telecommunications companies; MTN Ghana and Vodafone Ghana and the institution in charge of the Central Subscriber Identity Module Register, Kelni GVG in April 2020.

The private legal practitioner went to court to seek an order to quash the President’s Executive Instrument because the order “violated, are violating or are likely to violate” his “fundamental rights and freedoms.” He also appealed to the Court to place a perpetual injunction to restrain the government, Kelni GVG and the NCA “from using the Executive Instrument to procure the applicants’ personal information from” Vodafone Ghana, his network provider.

The Attorney General, however, said that the Executive Instrument was to help the government conduct contact tracing as part of efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The High Court presided over by Justice Rebecca Sittie, however, acknowledged that the Executive Instrument 63 violates people’s right to privacy.

The court ordered the NCA, Vodafone and Kelni GVG to each pay damages of GH¢20,000 to Arthur.

Under the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Registration Regulations (L.I. 2006), before any individual can use a SIM card in Ghana, they must register the SIM cards with a network provider by providing their name, addresses and proof of identification.

Further, under the Section 8.2 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), network operators or service providers may be authorised by the NCA to disclose lists of its subscribers, including directory access databases, for the publication of directories or for other purposes that the Authority may specify.

That is to say that if the government indeed wanted the contacts of people to do tracing, as the Attorney General indicated in his submission, the NCA could simply have used Section 8.2 of Act 775 to get the SIM registration details of subscribers from network operators or service providers. It is therefore curious as to why and to what practical end the government will request the network operators and service providers to gather additional data of ALL users of telecommunications services such as merchant codes (for mobile money), mobile station international subscriber directory number codes and international mobile equipment identity codes and site location, etc. In fact, the Section 100 of Act 775 that the government rode on to introduce EI 63 allows the President to order for the interception of communication or provision of a user information not information of ALL users.

It does appear that the government saw the COVID-19 emergency as an opportunity to arrogate more powers to collect user data and also give more authority to Kelni GVG to establish a common platform by connecting real-time to the entire switch of the physical network nodes of MTN Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, AirtelTigo Ghana. Many Ghanaians had expressed concern that this was in breach of Article 12 of the 1992 Constitution which protects the privacy of all persons. It is also in breach of Section 73 of the Electronic Communications Act 2008 (Act 775) which mandates telecommunications companies to ensure that correspondence of their users is not intercepted or interfered with.

The MFWA, therefore, welcomes the Court ruling as a step in the direction of protecting individual rights to privacy in the digital space. We urge the government of Ghana and its ministries and agencies, and all other parties to comply with the court ruling. The MFWA further calls on citizens and civil society across West Africa to remain vigilant over the numerous restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 emergency in order to ensure that they are scaled back or scrapped as and when appropriate.

Ghana: RTI Commission Quashes Exorbitant Fees by State Agency

Vivian
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Ghana: RTI Commission Quashes Exorbitant Fees by State Agency

Ghana’s Right to Information (RTI) Commission has delivered what many consider as a milestone decision that signals the Commission’s commitment to ensure an effective implementation of the country’s new RTI law (RTI Act, 2019, Act 989).

In its first decision since its establishment, the Commission has ordered the country’s Minerals Commission to grant access to information requested by a journalist, Mr Evans Aziamor-Mensah.

Mr Aziamor-Mensah, a repoter with The Fourth Estate, an investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa, had petitioned the country’s Information Commission to complain about the Minerals Commission, Ghana’s mining regulator’s, demand for $1,000 before it would release some requested information.

But in a ruling, delivered on Monday, July 19, 2021, the Right to Information Commission has quashed the Minerals Commission’s demand and has ordered that The Fourth Estate pays Gh1.90 pesewas ($0.33).

The decision by the RTI Commission is the first the body is making since it was established in October 2020, a year after the RTI law was passed in Ghana. The RTI Commission is clothed with powers, including resolving complaints through negotiation, conciliation, mediation or arbitration. It also has the power to make any determination as it considers just and equitable including issuing recommendations or penalties in matters before it.

Mr Evans Aziamor-Mensah had requested from the Mineral Commission information on companies licensed to undertake mining in Ghana between January 2013 and May 2021, and companies whose licenses have been revoked or suspended within the same period. The journalist had requested the information under the RTI law of Ghana which indicates that public institutions must only charge applicants the cost incurred in reproducing the information requested. He had requested the pieces of information are provided to him in PDF format and sent to them via email or he be invited to pick a hard copy.

However, in a response to Mr Aziamor-Mensah contained in a letter signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Martin K. Ayisi, the organisation requested an equivalence of $1,000 citing an establishing Act of the Commission.

“Kindly be informed that in accordance with section 75 of Act 989, Section 103 of the Minerals and Mining Act, 2006 (Act 703), as well as Regulation 4 of the Minerals and Mining (Licensing) Regulations,2012 (LI 2176), the application fee payable is the Ghana Cedi equivalent of five hundred US Dollars (US $500) per request. Thus, the applicable fee payable for the above information is the Ghana Cedi equivalent of one thousand US Dollars (US$1000).”

The Fourth Estate, on June 17, petitioned the RTI Commission for a review, stating that they are dissatisfied with the decision of the Minerals Commission which attempts to charge for the preparation of the information contrary to sections 75, 80 and 85 of the RTI law. It was the first-ever petition the RTI Commission was being presented with since its establishment.

On July 19, 2021, the RTI Commission submitted a 13-page determination on the matter to The Fourth Estate and the Minerals Commission. The RTI Commission’s decision scrapped the Mineral Commission’s demand for the equivalence of $1,000 and established a charge that commensurates the cost of reproducing the information in accordance with the RTI law.

“The Commission hereby sets aside the decision of the Respondent [Mineral Commission] dated June 7, 2021, demanding payment of Ghana cedi equivalent of USD 1,000 by the Applicant [Evan Aziamor-Mensah of The Fourth Estate] for the information he requested,” the RTI Commission stated in its determination.

“The Commission directs the Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Commission, Mr Martin K. Ayisi, to ensure the application of a charge or fee of either 1.80 Pesewas multiplied by the number of pages of information to be printed or 1.90 Pesewas, if the information in its entirety is to be emailed to the Applicant in PDF format.”

“We welcome the decision by the RTI Commission and commend the Commission for a progressive decision based on a true and proper understanding and interpretation of the law,” Sulemana Braimah, the Executive Director of the MFWA, said.

“This decision is significant for many reasons given that this is the first decision of the Commission. We had gone to court on a similar matter on fees and charges with the National Communication Authority at a time when the Commission was not yet functional. This decision sets a great precedent for the implementation of the RTI law. It affirms the fact that public institutions cannot hide behind fees and charges to deny journalists and citizens access to information, which will be defeating the ultimate aim of the law. We hope that this decision will spur everyone on to use the law as an instrument to assert their right of access to information, and to help promote transparency and accountability in the public.”

The RTI Commission has ordered the Minerals Commission to provide The Fourth Estate with the information requested within 14 days from the date of the determination.

AFEX, FXI Express Regret Over Loss of Life, Property and Community Media during Recent Riots in South Africa

Vivian
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AFEX, FXI Express Regret Over Loss of Life, Property and Community Media during Recent Riots in South Africa

The African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX) and its member in South Africa, the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) today expressed its deepest concerns as the riot death toll exceeded 200 deaths in two of the 9 provinces in South Africa, following the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma, including looting and destruction of public and private property.

According to the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) a number of community radio stations in the two affected provinces were negatively impacted, including Alex FM, Westside FM, Mamelodi FM as well as Intokozo FM.

It will be recalled that Jacob Zuma had appeared before the court several times since his reign ended in 2018, to account for public funds embezzlement and mismanagement while steering the affairs of the state at the helm of the South Africa nation.

In the line of the prosecution, the court found him guilty of defying a court order to appear at an inquiry into corruption allegations when he was in power.  Failure of compliance, the Constitutional Court slapped him with 15 months into jail for contempt of court.

According to media reportage, the condemnation of Zuma triggered riots from the former president’s home base of KwaZulu-Natal province and spread across the country.

As a result of the violent protests, business and transport networks have been disrupted by the protesters, including thugs, ill-intentioned people who took advantage of the situation to break commerce, shopping malls. Massive looting was reported by the media and by individuals on social media platforms.

The security forces have also responded to the protests, by arresting more than 200 people, dispersed hundred of several others, while more than 40 people were reported killed and scores others injured.

As looting and anarchy continue, people in some communities organized themselves in assuring security and defending commercial centers and shopping malls to prevent looting.

From the perspectives of some sociopolitical analysts, the spate of violent protest, including looting and anarchy is unprecedented since the end of the white minority reign in South Africa, under the apartheid segregationist regime.

It is also believed that the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions, including the recent lockdowns measures decreed in the country compounded with losses as business activities have cut down due to the pandemic had frustrated many people.

The sentencing of Jacob Zuma, therefore, opened floodgates of frustrations that were incubating among several underprivileged communities. However, this must not serve as a pretext for violent protests, vandalism, and anarchy ever recorded in the country. Some people are of the view that the country was sitting on a socio-political time-bomb, due to economic hardship, widespread corruption, and criminalities.

”The rioting and looting are a prime way for many criminal elements to take advantage of the situation under the banner of Free Zuma whether they believe in it or not,” has told, Mervyn Abrahams, program coordinator for the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice Dignity to Bloomberg.

Addresses to the nation of President Cyril Ramaphosa have not dissuaded rioting and looting, while security forces are struggling to contain the vandalism, chaos, with several people killed.

AFEX and FXI are appalled by the violent protest, looting, and vandalism. ”This undermines the rights of peaceful demonstration and sets a bad precedent that could serve as a basis for detractors of freedom of peaceful demonstration. Such a situation has the potential to downgrade the right of freedom to protests as part of fundamental civil and political rights, including the right to freedom of expression. We call on the authorities to play their roles in a responsible manner,” said Mr Samkelo Mokhine, Executive Director of Freedom of Expression Institute.

Therefore, AFEX and FXI condemn in the strongest terms any violent protests, including vandalism and looting of private and public property.

We demand political leaders, and the organisers of protests to educate their sympathizers on the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful demonstration, respect of other people’s rights, and protection of property, including the media.

The demand for accountability from public officer holders, including past presidents and high-profile public servants, forms part of the key requirements for the consolidation of any democratic regime, and rule of laws.

We also call on the authorities and security agents to exercise responsibly, their execution of public order and crowd control and bring before the rigor of the law those found perpetrators of looting, vandalism, and anarchy.

Zambia: New Cyber Law Impedes Civil Liberties

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Zambia: New Cyber Law Impedes Civil Liberties

Zambia is increasingly repressing the exercise of civic rights, a trend that is growing as the country heads to general elections in August 2021. Human rights defenders are equally worried that state agencies could apply the recently enacted Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act 2021 to further undermine the digital civic space.

President Edgar Lungu, who has been in power since 2015, is standing for re-election in the August 12 elections. In the last five years of his reign, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have come under increasing attack, with opposition leaders and activists jailed, and independent media outlets shut down, according to an Amnesty International Report.

The government denies these accusations, claiming the country has a vibrant civil society, a thriving independent media, and an impartial judiciary that protects civil liberties. However, independent analysts dismiss the government’s claims, pointing out that there has been “a creation of a fear society through the demonising of civil society and political opposition, the punishing of dissent, and weaponising the law and applying it selectively against anyone critical of the state.”

The repression in the southern African country has been witnessed both offline and online. Freedom House ranked the country’s state of internet freedom in 2020 as “partly free”, citing network restrictions, arrest of pro-government commentators and online users. And with the recent enactment of the cyber crimes law, worries are growing that the government could employ it as yet another weapon to silence dissenters and critics. Crucially, the new law falls short on protecting individual rights to privacy, anonymity, and freedom of expression online.

Notably, the law was passed amidst criticism that it was primarily aimed at policing cyber space and gagging freedom of expression and speech of government critics and opponents ahead of the August 12, 2021 general election. The government passed the law after rejecting concerns raised by civil society about its regressive provisions.

According to the Bloggers of Zambia, during 2020 seven people were arrested under the Criminal Procedure Code for purportedly defaming the president through posts on social media. Meanwhile, a 2020 report by Citizen Lab, a global digital rights watchdog, identified Zambia as a possible customer of cyber espionage software. This was the second time that Zambia, alongside other African governments, was featured in the report that unmasks clients of surveillance software. The country has also embarked on a Safe City Project that is mounting 24-hour surveillance cameras in public places and on the main road networks, despite its lack of an operational data protection law and regulations to govern the use of such video surveillance.

According to CIPESA’s analysis of the law, while cyber security is critical in the highly evolving technological era, it is important that a rights-based approach is employed in the development of policies and laws to ensure that the adopted laws and policies do not wantonly limit individual rights and freedoms. The Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act, 2021 in its current state offers some solutions to emerging challenges in the digital space but has wide negative impacts on the protection, promotion and enjoyment of digital rights and freedoms.

Under international human rights law, the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and information may only be restricted if prescribed by law, in pursuit of a legitimate aim, and if the restrictions are necessary and proportionate in pursuance of a legitimate aim. Many provisions in the Zambian law are vague and overly broad, and in contravention of the principle of legality. The law extends the powers of state authorities to restrict and punish online expression, and gives law enforcement agents leverage to conduct unsupervised surveillance without judicial oversight.

Indeed, the CIPESA analysis shows that Zambia’ cyber law falls short of the established regional and international human rights standards on the right to privacy as laid down in the African Union Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.

Accordingly, the Zambian parliament should consider repealing or amending the regressive provisions to ensure the protection of digital rights and freedoms. Short of this, the new law could only serve the purpose of handing enemies of democracy yet another weapon for silencing the legitimate expression of critics, political opponents, and ordinary citizens.

See here CIPESA’s full review of the ramifications of Zambia’s Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act 2021.

AFEX Members, Other Press Freedom Groups Urge King of Eswatini to Guarantee Freedom of Expression

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AFEX Members, Other Press Freedom Groups Urge King of Eswatini to Guarantee Freedom of Expression
On 6 July 2021, the MISA Regional Governing Council chairperson, Golden Maunganidze wrote to His Royal Highness, King Mswati III to express MISA’s concerns regarding the state of press freedom in Eswatini.

On 6 July 2021, the MISA Regional Governing Council chairperson, Golden Maunganidze wrote to His Royal Highness, King Mswati III to express MISA’s concerns regarding the state of press freedom in Eswatini. Below is the letter;

6 July 2021

His Majesty
King Mswati III
c/o High Commission of The Kingdom of eSwatini
715 Government Avenue
Arcadia 0083
Pretoria
South Africa

His Majesty,

Re: Concerns on freedom of expression violations in Eswatini

We, the undersigned press freedom and freedom of expression organisations, hereby write this letter to you to express our profound concerns with the increasing cases of media freedom violations in Eswatini.

We are deeply worried by the turn of events in Eswatini and call upon the authorities to do everything possible to ensure that media workers are protected and are not subject to wanton attacks by security forces.

In that respect, and by virtue of this letter, we appeal to Your Majesty to halt these media violations in Eswatini. In the past week alone, two reporters were shot at by the police in Eswatini, with one of them sustaining serious injuries. This is grossly unacceptable and goes against the values that the Kingdom claims to uphold.

In the same vein, the government has responded by shutting down the internet, a development that poses a serious attack on freedom of expression and digital rights in your country.

While we appreciate the difficult situation, the Eswatini government is having to contend with regarding the protests, clamping down on media freedom and freedom of expression cannot be the solution to calming the current political turbulence in your country.

In times of crises, authorities should treat the media as allies in conveying accurate and verifiable information on the unfolding events, rather than clamping down on the press. This only serves to heighten tensions.

We are gravely concerned with the excessively inhumane and largely unreasonable responses by Eswatini security forces in dealing with media workers. The safety and security of journalists is of paramount importance to Eswatini, and it is imperative for your government to ensure that media workers are protected at all times.

As you are aware, Section 24 of the Eswatini Constitution promotes freedom of expression, but this right remains elusive for media workers in your country.

By virtue of this letter, we hereby remind His Majesty to be cognisant of the revised principles of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, which expressly calls on African governments to promote freedom of expression and of the media in their respective countries.

We urge the Eswatini authorities to demonstrate their commitment and adherence to constitutionally guaranteed rights by allowing the media to operate freely without any harassment, assaults, threats or reprisals for doing their work.

Research has shown that media freedom is on the decline in Eswatini. We, therefore, call upon the authorities to arrest this decline and bring to an end the increasing cases of media freedom violations in your country.

Your Majesty, we, therefore, call on you to:

  • Guarantee and ensure the safety and security of journalists and media workers in your country.
  • Ensure that the internet is not shut down or filtered.
  • Comply with the provisions of the Eswatini Constitution, particularly Section 24 which provides for freedom of expression.
  • Adhere to the revised principles of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights (ACHPR) Declaration on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information.

We thank you in advance for taking our concerns into serious consideration.

Yours Sincerely,

Golden Maunganidze
MISA Regional Governing Council Chairperson

Endorsed by:
Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC)
Association pour le Développement Intégré et la Solidarité Interactive (ADISI-Cameroun)
Bloggers of Zambia
Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP)
CIPESA
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Freedom of Expression Institute
Gambia Press Union (GPU)
Institute for Media and Society (IMS)
International Press Center (IPC)
International Press Institute (IPI)
Journaliste en Danger (JED)
Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ)
Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
Media Rights Agenda (MRA)
Namibia Media Trust
PANOS Institute Southern Africa (PSAf)
South African National Editors Forum (SANEF)
African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX)
IFEX

Uganda Abandons Social Media Tax But Slaps New Levy on Internet Data

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Uganda Abandons Social Media Tax But Slaps New Levy on Internet Data

By Daniel Mwesigwa |

Uganda has ditched the Over-The-Top (OTT) tax that it introduced three years ago on the use of social media services after the tax failed to raise revenues and constrained internet usage. But appearing to not have learnt any lessons, the country has instead introduced a 12% tax on internet data.

Introduced on July 1, 2018, the infamous OTT tax, widely known as ‘social media tax’, required Ugandans to pay a daily levy of Uganda Shillings (UGX) 200 (USD 0.05) in order to access over 50 platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. President Yoweri Museveni directed the introduction of the social media tax as a ‘sin tax’ to punish social media users in Uganda for the consequences of their “opinions, prejudices [and] insults” and as a means to raise government revenues.

From inception, sections of civil society and the public saw the tax as an attempt to stifle free speech and access to information – and they warned that the tax would have disastrous effects on the country’s fledgling digital economy and digital civic space. These fears were not unfounded, as Uganda is a notable digital rights predator that has ordered social media blockages and internet shutdowns, besides harassing some social media users that are critical of the government.

Predictions that the social media tax would harm internet use and fail to generate the envisaged revenues indeed came true. At the time the government filed proposals to introduce the OTT tax, the Ministry of Finance projected that up to UGX 486 billion (USD 131 million) could be collected annually by 2022. However, by the end of July 2018, the projections had been revised downwardsto UGX 284 billion (USD 78 million) annually. In July 2019, one year after the introduction of the tax, the revenue body reported that it had experienced an annual shortfall of 83%, having collected only UGX 49.5 billion (USD 13.5 million). In the second year, the social media tax fetched a paltry USD 16.3 million.

Now, beginning July 1, 2021, the government has replaced the OTT tax with a direct 12% levy on the net price of internet data, after which a value added tax (VAT) of 18% will apply.

According to a social media notice by Roke Telkom, an internet service provider, the charges for a basic 60GB monthly bundle will increase by an extra USD 1.5 per month with the new levy compared to what the same bundle cost when the OTT tax was being levied. In other words, this will cost an additional USD 18 per year compared to what the same bundle cost when the OTT tax was being levied.

Within the first year of the social media tax, Uganda lost five million internet subscriptions due to the negative effects of the tax. Although the tax was envisioned as small and manageable, it did not meet the fairness and proportionality requirements: for a country whose average phone subscriber spends just UGX 10,500 (about USD 2.8) per month on all their voice calls, data, SMS, and access taxes, according to Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) figures, a monthly social media tax of USD 1.5 alone consumes up to 54% of their telecommunication services spend.

Moreover, in 2018, the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI) showed that the social media tax was likely going to push basic connectivity out of reach for many including the underemployed and unemployed youth who make up over 78% of the population. Additionally, A4AI explained that this tax would increase the lowest income group’s access to the internet by 10%, resulting in just 1GB of data costing them nearly 40% of their average monthly income.

In the 2020 Affordability Report, Uganda’s data costs are higher than the African average, with 1 GB of data costing up to 8.07% of an average Ugandan’s monthly income compared to Sub-Saharan Africa’s average of 3.1%. According to a 2018 nation-wide survey by the National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U), 76.6% of respondents named high cost as the main reason why their use of the internet was limited.

Based on problematic assumptions and projections?

The tax was clearly based on wrong assumptions, and the signs were ominous from early on. In January 2019, the then Minister of ICT, Frank Tumwebaze, reportedly said his ministry could have been misguided by the finance ministry in introducing the social media tax and he promised an impact assessment to gauge potential policy re-alignments. A year later in January 2020, the then revenue body’s Commissioner General, Doris Akol, decried social media tax avoidance through the use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN). She called for the tax to be repealed and replaced with a direct levy on internet data.

Indeed, since the social media shutdown during Uganda’s 2016 general elections, the use of VPN apps has been growing. These have helped users to avoid paying the OTT tax and to sidestep further internet shutdowns, such as the recent disruption during the 2021 election and the suspension of Facebook access in Uganda, which is in the fifth month now.

According to UCC, as of December 2020, there are 21.4 million active internet subscriptions – translating into a little more than one active connection for every two Ugandans – but the number of subscribers  who paid the OTT tax at least once during that month was 13.7 million. For most months in the lifetime of the tax, the number of OTT taxpayers remained under 10 million. At the time Uganda introduced the tax, the internet penetration rate stood at 47.4% (18.5 million internet subscriptions), meaning in three years, the country has added under three million subscriptions and the penetration rate has risen marginally.

The new 12% levy comes when Uganda is in the middle of a second wave of Covid-19, which saw the government recently instituting a 42-day lockdown that prohibits all public gatherings, inter-district travel, and public transport. This has rendered digital technologies indispensable to working, learning, public participation, and livelihoods, yet Uganda’s new tax will adversely affect internet access and citizens’ access to information – perhaps more than the now repealed social media tax.

Having recently secured a USD 200 million loan from the World Bank to support “access [to] high-quality and low-cost internet, public services online, a digital economy driving growth, innovation and job creation,” Uganda’s new tax seems inconsistent to the larger national visions of digital transformation, including the National Broadband Policy (2018-2023) and the Digital Vision 2040.

But Uganda is not alone on this worrying path. Following the Covid-19 disruptions to domestic economies marked by weakening tax bases, various countries in the region have turned to, or are considering, some form of digital tax as one of the new revenue streams. For example, Zambia and Nigeria have considered plans of imposing direct taxes on OTT services but have withdrawn following backlash. Botswana has indicated it is exploring a digital tax due to a decrease in tax revenue and in 2020, Mauritius introduced a 15% VAT on digital services provided by non-resident companies.

Gambia Press Union Welcomes the Passing of Access to Information Bill 2021

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Gambia Press Union Welcomes the Passing of Access to Information Bill 2021

The Gambia Press Union and the Civil Society Coalition on Access to Information welcome the passing of the Access to Information Bill 2021 by the National Assembly on Thursday, July 1, 2021.

If the Bill is granted presidential assent, it will be the first time in the history of The Gambia for right of access to information to be legally recognized as a human right.  Globally, over 120 countries have such legislation and The Gambia has become the last country in English-speaking West Africa to have one.

The ATI Bill is a product of collaborative effort of the Gambian Civil Society which worked closely with the Government through the Ministry of Justice.  It was first tabled in 2019 by then Justice Minister Abubacarr Tambadou and has since gone through rigorous parliamentary scrutiny.

The Bill is aimed at proactive and organised dissemination of public records and information to the people.

Speaking on this milestone, the President of Gambia Press Union, Sheriff Bojang Jr., commended the National Assembly members for putting the Gambia on the true path to democracy.

“I want to commend the National Assembly members not just for passing the Bill, but also for debating on the Bill purely on its principles and benefits to society, devoid of partisan politics,” he said.

“This is an indication that all the political parties and indeed every Gambian is in support of access to information as it had been the missing piece in the Gambia’s quest to becoming a true democracy.”

With the technical and financial support of its partners, the GPU planted the seeds of civil society-led access to information campaign way back in 2016.  After a series of consultative meetings with the Government and other civil society organisations, the GPU collaborated with TANGO (The Association of NGOs) to establish the CSO Coalition on Access to Information.

The Chairman of the Coalition, John Charles Njie, said the change of Government in 2017 provided an opportunity for the media, government and civil society to work together towards a better Gambia.

“The passing of this Bill shows how mutually beneficial a collaboration between the civil society and government could become” he said.

“This is the first time that the civil society has worked with the Government on a legislation from conception to enactment, and for me that is an indication that the Government and civil society are not mutually exclusive. We are different sides of the same coin and it’s our two sides that make up a coin.

“The civil society is not here just to criticize government; we do constructive criticism where necessary, but we can also collaborate and work together in solving our problems and the success of this Access to Information Bill is a testimony to that fact.”

Mr. Njie commended the Ministries of Justice, and Information and Communication Infrastructure for leading the process on the side of the government.  The Ministry of Justice has been particularly instrumental in the process; the former Minister Tambadou played a key role and the current Minister, Dawda Jallow, took it and successfully completed the process.

From the outset, the Gambia’s Access to Information was not without international support. This came in the form of financial and technical assistance.  The main part of the funding came from the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) through a two-year project implemented by the GPU. Other partners including the United Nations Development Program, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the British Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office were also key.

Technical support came in different forms and shapes from the Media Foundation for West Africa, Centre for Law and Democracy, Centre for Non-profit Law, Fesmedia, ARTICLE 19 and Gambia Bar Association.

The next steps

Given the political will and commitment demonstrated by the President of the Republic since the inception, we are equally confident that he would assent to the Bill within the 30-day legal limit required.

The GPU, through the CSO Coalition on Access to Information, will continue to intensify its awareness campaign about the legislation to make sure Gambians understand and are able to utilize it.

The collaboration with the Government will also be strengthened so that it creates the necessary structures and systems for the effective enforcement and implementation of the Act.

The enactment of the Access to Information Bill by the National Assembly is just the beginning of another step towards an effective Right to Know regime in The Gambia. More still needs doing and the GPU is hopeful that with commitment and continuous partnership of all institutions and agencies, the Act would contribute tremendously to the democratization process of the country.

Media Rights Agenda, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Commend Gambia’s National Assembly for Passing Access to Information Bill into Law

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Media Rights Agenda, Goodluck Jonathan Foundation Commend Gambia’s National Assembly for Passing Access to Information Bill into Law

Friday, July 2, 2021:  The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) have commended The Gambia’s National Assembly for passing the country’s Access to Information Bill 2021 into Law yesterday, July 1, 2021 and called on President Adama Barrow to speedily sign the Bill into Law to consolidate the restoration of participatory democracy in the country which began with his ascension to power in 2017, following the historic elections of December 2016.

In a joint statement by Ms. Ann Iyonu, Executive Director of the GJF, and Mr. Edetaen Ojo, MRA’s Executive Director, the two organizations noted that “the signing of the Bill into Law by President Barrow will enable the Government of The Gambia to achieve a significant milestone in advancing the right of access to information for Gambians as a fundamental human right guaranteed under several international human rights instruments to which The Gambia is a party, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is the foundational human rights instrument on the African continent.”

According to them, 23 African countries presently have specific national access to information laws, with most of such laws coming from countries in West Africa while The Gambia is the only country in Anglophone West Africa that has not yet enacted or adopted a national access to information legislation.

Ms. Iyonu and Mr. Ojo noted that both the GJF and MRA have followed the progress of The Gambia’s Bill at different stages with keen interest, since its formal presentation to the National Assembly for consideration, adding that they have provided guidance and advice from time to time to their respective partners in civil society, in the media and in Government in The Gambia in an effort to enrich the content of the Bill, strengthen it and speed up the process of its consideration and passage.

In particular, they commended the Gambian Press Union (GPU) for its highly effective advocacy in support of the Bill, and the Attorney-General of the Gambia, Honourable. Dawda A. Jallow, for presenting the Bill to the National Assembly in 2019 and for moving the historic motion for the Third Reading and passage of the Bill on July 1.

Ms. Iyonu and Mr. Ojo said having regard to the fact that the Bill was presented to the National Assembly for consideration in December 2019, they are immensely pleased that in a period of less than two years since then, the Bill has already been passed and that there is a very real prospect that it will be signed into Law in the near future.

Both organizations pledged their readiness to support and assist the Government and people of The Gambia in ensuring the effective implementation of the new access to information framework after it becomes Law.

For further information, please contact:

 

Wealth Ominiabo Dickson

Communications Officer

Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, Abuja

E-mail: wealth[@]gejfoundation.org

 

Idowu Adewale

Communications Officer

Media Rights Agenda, Lagos

E-mail:  idowu[@]mediarightsagenda.org

AFEX Calls on African Governments to Ensure Safety of Journalists, Respect Digital Rights

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AFEX Calls on African Governments to Ensure Safety of Journalists, Respect Digital Rights

The Eighth General Meeting of the African Freedom of Expression Exchange (AFEX), a network of African freedom of expression and media development organisations which are members of the global press freedom advocacy network, IFEX, was held in Accra, Ghana, from 25 to 26 June 2021.

The meeting forms part of the major events of the AFEX network held annually. The 2021 General Meeting was presided over by Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Chairperson of AFEX’s Steering Committee, who is also the Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda (MRA). The meeting was attended by representatives of 11 of AFEX’s 15 member organisations from West, East, Central, and Southern Africa. AFEX members present at the meeting reviewed the activities implemented by the network from April 2019 to May 2021.

The meeting discussed the crippling impact of COVID-19 on the media industry and expressed concern about the array of COVID-related laws, regulations, protocols and practices that unduly restrict freedom of expression, access to information and digital rights in Africa.

The meeting highlighted the importance of access to the internet at affordable costs for all, as a pivotal enabler of other rights, especially during the pandemic and its aftermath.

Also, the meeting examined existing and emerging threats to freedom of expression and media freedom on the continent and discussed strategies for combating them.

The participants used the opportunity to exchange learning and experiences regarding the safety of journalists’ situation in the various countries and sub-regions of Africa. They further discussed how to address the challenges related to the right of freedom of expression and access to information arising out the fight against COVID-19 and how to confront the entrenched culture of impunity for crimes against journalists in many countries and virtually all the regions.

The representatives of the participating member organizations of AFEX resolved to increase awareness about the need for African governments to be transparent in the management of resources allocated to the fight against COVID-19; to put in place monitoring and reporting mechanisms at the national and regional levels to promote the safety of journalists and access to public information, among other issues.

 

These, among other concerns, were contained in a Resolution adopted by the members of AFEX after its meeting.  Below is the Resolution adopted at the meeting wherein the members:

  • Expressed concern about the deteriorating media freedom and freedom of expression environment in Africa, as evidenced by a surge in attacks on journalists and the violations of the rights in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Guinea, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, and Guinea Bissau, among others, and the suppression of critical civil society voices through actions ranging from killings, other physical attacks, threats, arbitrary arrests and detention, to crippling fines and suspension of operating licenses, especially for broadcast stations.

 

  • Denounced the increasing resort to cyber security and cyber crime laws, the manipulation of anti-terror laws as well as COVID-19 related regulations that unduly restrict the work of the media, the harassment and jailing of journalists and civil society activists in an effort to suppress critical voices in various countries and undermine the free flow of information.

 

  • Expressed concern about the phenomenon of African governments disrupting social media networks and platforms or the entire internet as a tool to further silence critical voices or prevent mobilisation of the public to protest against unpopular decisions or policies in Ethiopia, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Uganda, Congo-Brazzaville, Senegal, Algeria, Burundi, Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Sudan and Togo over the past two years alone.

 

  • Specifically condemned the indefinite suspension of Twitter in Nigeria and the Facebook ban in Uganda as a gross and unjustifiable violation of the rights of Nigerians and Ugandans respectively to freedom of expression and access to information.

 

  • Demanded that the governments of Nigeria and Uganda immediately and unconditionally rescind their decisions on banning access to Twitter and Facebook and any other social media platforms to media, journalists, and the general populace, and allow all persons to enjoy and exercise their constitutional rights of access to information and freedom of expression online, as enshrined in the countries’ constitutions and several other regional, continental and international treaties and protocols that Nigeria and Uganda are a signatories to.

 

  • Condemned the killing of journalists across the continent including the killing in March this year of Jamal Farah Adan, a Somali broadcast journalist; two expatriate journalists killed in Burkina Faso in May 2021 and at least five killed in Nigeria since 2020 as well as the killing of Ghanaian journalist Ahmed Hussein Suale in Ghana in 2019.

 

  • Further condemned the growing trend of forced disappearances and the incidence of “missing” journalists in Tanzania and Mozambique such as journalist Ibrahimo Abu Mbaruco who has been missing since April 7, 2020.

 

  • Condemned the deadly crackdown by security agents on protests in many parts of Africa including the violent crackdown on #EndSARS protesters in Nigeria that resulted in the killing of dozen protesters.

 

  • Further urged governments in Africa to establish coordinating multi-stakeholder national mechanisms to guarantee the safety of journalists and other media practitioners who remain the major victims of freedom of expression violations, at both national and regional levels.

 

  • Called on governments in Africa to work towards formulating and implementing policies that promote the exercise and enjoyment of human rights on the internet and particularly meaningful and affordable connectivity as well as bridging the gender digital divide.

 

Members re-elected Mr. Edetaen Ojo, Executive Director of Media Rights Agenda in Nigeria, to serve as Chair of the AFEX Steering Committee for a further period of two years. They also elected to the Steering Committee Mr Samkelo Mokhine, Executive Director of Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) in South Africa; Ms Mary Goch Ajith, Board Chair of the Association of Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS); and Mr. Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in Ghana.

 

Adopted in Accra, Ghana, this Saturday, the 26th day of June 2021.

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