In Botswana, Rodrick Mukumbira, a Zimbabwean national who had been working as a journalist in Botswana since 2002, was expelled on 2 August. On July 27, Mukumbira received a letter from the government revoking his work and residence permits and ordering him to leave the country within seven days. Local press freedom groups have expressed concern that the expulsion may be linked to his work. Mukumbira was a news editor for the "Ngami Times" in northwest Botswana and a correspondent for international news media, including Agence France Presse and the UN-affiliated IRIN. No explanation was given to Mukumbira for his expulsion.
In Chad, Sy Koumbo Singa Gali, publication director of the independent newspaper "L’Observateur", was sentenced to one year in prison without parole and a 100,000 CFCA fine (US$188) on 15 August. Singa Gali was sentenced in relation to an interview her paper had earlier published with another jailed "Observateur" journalist, Garonde Djarma. Also: on 8 August, Michaël Didama, director of the private weekly "Le Temps", was convicted on charges of defamation and incitement to hatred and sentenced to six months in jail in connection with articles in his newspaper about rebel activities in eastern Chad.
- In Ethiopia, Tamrat Serbesa, the editor of the "Satanaw" newspaper, was sentenced to one month in prison on 5 August for his refusal to reveal the source of a story in his newspaper. The sentence reportedly stems from a 26 July article in which a lawyer was quoted anonymously criticising the Supreme Court for turning down an appeal by the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy. Serbesa, who was initially arrested on 7 July and released a day later after posting bail, refused to reveal the name of the lawyer to the Supreme Court and so was held in contempt of court and duly sentenced. Another editor, Andualem Ayle of Ethiop newspaper, received a fine of 2,000 birr (US$225) for contempt of court in the same case.
In Gabon, the Media Regulatory Council has suspended the independent bimonthly newspaper "Nku’u Le Messager" over an editorial that allegedly insulted the council. The decision reportedly follows an August 8 opinion piece by the newspaper’s publisher Norbert Ngoua Mezui, criticizing the council’s composition and saying that members were overpaid and lazy. In a statement the council said the suspension would be lifted only if the newspaper changed its editorial team.
In the Ivory Coast, Brahima Gollé, a journalist at the independent daily "Dernières Nouvelles d’Abidjan", was reportedly attacked and beaten by uniformed men in Yopougon, a suburb north of Abidjan on 4 August. Prior to the attack, the newspaper had received threatening phone calls from people claiming to be members of the Republican Guards. On 1 August the paper published an article by Gollé concerning the death of Republican Guards Corporal Arouna Diarra.
In Somalia, Abdullahi Kulmiye Adow, a reporter for the Mogadishu-based independent radio station HornAfrik was released on 7 August, after five days of detention. Adow was reportedly expelled from the city of Jowhar, where he had been arrested, and told not to come back. According to reports, he was arrested after he reported that officials of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) had taken over Jowhar school buildings for their operations, displacing some 1,500 students.
In Zimbabwe, Desmond Kwande, chief photographer of the "Daily Mirror", was arrested on 4 August while taking photos of people being rounded up in the city centre. The police officers told Kwande that he was violating city by-laws by taking photographs of the round-up campaign. Kwande had reportedly applied for and been granted permission to take the photos. He was released three hours later after paying an admission of guilt fine.
In Uganda, the KFM radio station, which was suspended on 12 August, was allowed back on air on 18 August. The journalist Andrew Mwenda, who in his weekly radio show on 10 August made accusations against the Ugandan government in connection to the death of the Sudanese vice-president John Garang, faces a possible five-year prison sentence. Furthermore, the Broadcasting Council’s conditions for allowing the station back on the air was that Angelo Izama, the producer of Mwenda’s radio programme, would be dismissed and that the radio station would pay 4.95 million shillings ($US2,700) in damages.
Sources for the alerts:
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York
Ethiopian Free Press Journalists’ Association (EFJA), Addis Ababa
Human Rights Watch (HRW), United States
International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), Canada
International Press Institute (IPI), Vienna, Austria
Journaliste En Danger (JED), Democratic Republic of Congo
Media Foundation of West Africa (MFWA), Ghana
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Namibia
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), Nigeria
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), France