CPJ is honored to present its 2024 International Press Freedom Award to Nigerien journalist Samira Sabou.

Samira Sabou is one of Niger’s most prominent investigative journalists, who publishes mainly on her Facebook page and is the president of the Association of Bloggers for Active Citizenship (ABCA), an organization that advocates for freedom of expression and the rights of women and youth. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the Croissance Actualité Afrique (C2A) newspaper, directed the Economic and Social Development Information Magazine (MIDES) news website, and reported with the state-owned National Office of Publishing and Press (ONEP).

Throughout her prestigious career, Sabou has been arrested, detained, and subjected to years of legal harassment because of her reporting on governance issues. In response to the various legal proceedings brought against her, she stopped working for the media and only publishes on her social media accounts.

In July 2023, the Nigerien military seized control of the government in a coup, overthrowing the democratically elected president. In September 2023, four men in plainclothes arrested Sabou without warning at her mother’s home. She was held by the men in an unknown location for eight days and then delivered to the judicial police, where she was able to contact her lawyer. Eleven days after being arrested on suspicion of maintaining “intelligence with a foreign power” and espionage, Sabou was provisionally released. The case is ongoing, though the espionage allegation was subsequently dropped.

Separately, in January 2022, Sabou and another Nigerien investigative journalist, Moussa Aksar, were convicted for violating the cybercrime law. Their appeal of the case is still pending. In 2020, Sabou was arrested on cybercrime charges and spent 48 days in detention while she was pregnant. This case also remains open. The challenges Sabou faces in continuing to cover Niger are similar to those faced by journalists across the Sahel, working under post-coup governments and in a context of insecurity.

The Gambia Press Union (GPU) is deeply concerned by the country’s press freedom situation after the Gambian president and his environment minister decided to sue two newspapers for defamation.

President Adama Barrow’s suit against The Voice, a privately-owned daily newspaper, stems from a September 23rd story which claims President Barrow has chosen a successor as part of an exit plan.

The case was called before the Kanifing High Court today (October 25, 2024) before it was adjourned till November 22, 2024 and Musa Sheriff, the Editor-In-Chief, and The Voice newspaper given 30 days within which to file their defence.

Similarly, the Minister of Environment, Rohey John Manjang, has filed a defamation suit against reporter Kebba Ansu Manneh and The Alkamba Times claiming damages of up to D50 million ($725, 479 at today’s exchange rate). The case will be mentioned at the High Court in Banjul on November 12, 2024.

The Environment Minister’s suit against the reporter and the online news platform stems from a June 19, 2024 news story which alleges that she is involved in illegal transaction of seized logs.

“We are concerned as a Union because these suits brought against two journalists and two media houses has the chilling effect of undermining press freedom and freedom of expression,” GPU President, Muhammed S. Bah, said. “We therefore urge President Barrow and the Minister of Environment to drop all legal proceedings against the

journalists and media houses.”

The GPU is deeply concerned by both the huge financial implications, and the potential of these cases to force journalists and media houses in The Gambia into self-censorship, and therefore significantly limit their ability to effectively carry out their constitutional mandate of holding the government and public officials to account.

“These defamation suits, plus the ongoing criminal trial of Musa Sheriff and Momodou Justice Darboe of The Voice newspaper on false publication charges will significantly reverse gains made by The Gambia in the last few years in terms of press freedom,” GPU Secretary General, Modou S. Joof, said.

“We call on the aggrieved parties, President Barrow and Minister Manjang, to drop the suits and seek redress at the Media Council of The Gambia – an independent self- regulatory mechanism for the Gambian media – with all parties agreeing to the outcome in order to safeguard press freedom,” Joof said.

The Media Council of The Gambia (MCG), established by the GPU, is an independent self- regulatory mechanism for addressing public complaints against the conduct of journalists

– a mandate it has carried out successfully since 2020.

It is governed by an 11-member Governing Council, comprising representatives from the government, media, civil society, and the private sector. The Governing Council has a dual role of exercising oversight over Secretariat and serves as an Appeal Panel.

The MCG mediates complaints raised by individuals and organisations against the media, building the ethical capacity of media practitioners, and mitigating conflict that might arise between the media and its stakeholders – through the Ethics Panel which presides over public complaints against the media.

It was a tough display of soccer Maneuvers on the field as Tungina United locked horns with Black Star FC of Pirang.

Black Star capitalized on early chances to score.

Musa Jarju netted both the first and the second goal of the match in the first half of the encounter.

Tungina United fought vigorously but could not neutralize.

Eventually, the match ended 2-0 in favor of the Black Star FC of Pirang.

The kickoff was taken by the Alkalo of Kuloro Mr Siaka Saidy who advised the players to accept the outcome of the match in good faith.” In every game, there must be a winner and a loser. The tournament is meant to enhance peace ”

Mr. Kebba Barry, the first chairperson of the Kuloro and Tungina Sports Committee made similar sentiments.

This is the second edition of the Bell Bottling Company’s Football Tournament in Kuloro following a successful one last year

The winners, Black Star FC went with a trophy and cash prize of D10,000 while the losers, Tungina United got D5,000.

The chief of Kombo East, Bakary Sanyang handed the trophy to the Winner, witnessed by other community leaders as well as Bell Staff.

Eight teams participated in the tournament namely:Jola Kunda, NEMA, Sitako Academy, Bonto Koto FC, Bonto Kuta FC, Black Star FC, Tungina United, and Kaira Kunda.

Exposure to high levels of heat may impact both the growth of foetuses during pregnancy and infants up to the age of two, a new analysis shows.

A study conducted by Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (MRCG at LSHTM), funded by the Wellcome Trust revealed that heat exposure must be considered in public health interventions to reduce the impact of climate change on pregnant women and their children. The findings published in The Lancet Planetary Health, suggest that heat stress may impact the growth of babies after they are born, adding to previous research by the team showing the impact of heat stress on foetal development.

Being the first of its kind, the study showed that infants up to the age of two exposed to high heat in their environment may have lower weights for their age. The largest decreases were seen in infants between 6-18 months of age who had experienced higher average daily levels of heat stress in the previous three-month period.

At 12 months old, infants exposed to an average heat stress value equivalent to 30°C were more likely to have a reduced weight for their height and age, compared to those who experienced heat stress equivalent to 25°C. The results were consistent in both male and female infants.

The data was originally collected through the Early Nutrition and Immunity Development (ENID) randomised controlled trial conducted in West Kiang in The Gambia, between January 2010 and February 2015. A total of 668 infants were followed across their first 1000 days of life. 329 (49%) of the infants were female, while 339 (51%) were male.

The trial analysed the relationship between heat stress and foetal growth based on clinically-recognised scores for weight, length and head circumference for gestational age. It also evaluated the effect of heat stress on infant growth based on weight and height scores from 0-2 years of age. At birth, 66 (10%) infants weighed less than 2.5kg, described as a low birthweight, 218 (33%) were small for gestational age and nine (1%) were born prematurely.

Heat strain occurs when our body\

By Alagie Saidy-Barrow 

“Orders from the top” is the anthem of compromised and spineless security heads who have little to no understanding of security and what it means. In the days of Yaya Jammeh, no warrants were needed and no explanations were required when his mindless security officers went after Gambians because they “received orders from the top.” But this mindless acquiescence to power wasn’t unique to the security officers, government officials called it “presidential directives.” These holy presidential directives were one of the ways Jammeh and his enablers bilked Gambians out of billions! But in our simpleminded approach to transitional justice, we remain obsessed with security Junglers while colluding and embracing the financial Junglers. 

Key to any Security Sector Reform is a recalibration and reorientation of the mindsets. You know, the mindset that thinks security officers are working for people in power and not the people who actually pay their salaries. The mindset that thinks participating in the abuse of fellow citizens is defensible because they’re just “doing their job.” The mindset that thinks that all orders are to be obeyed because these minds are not equipped to handle situations where they have been given questionable orders. The mindset that thinks subordination to civilian authorities means executing the desires of political authorities. The mindset that conflates the ruling political party and its members with government authority. The mindset that conflates protecting power with protecting the people. The mindset that tethers its survival to the fortune of the political elite and government officials in power. For security sector reform to be remotely effective, those mindsets must be recalibrated and reoriented. 

Change of structure in the security services, composition, change in leadership, change in names, etc are all well and good but thoughtful education programs must be put in place for any effective reform. That way, security officers don’t simply rely on “orders from the top” because they see themselves as representatives of the “top.” Importantly, we cannot claim to be serious about security sector reform when we insist on fidelity to laws that give one person and his mandarins unchecked powers to manipulate the security personnel as he desires. Cue the recent promotions within the security services, specifically The Gambia Police Force. 

Security Sector Reform should go beyond personnel numbers, structure or posture, and the validation of policy documents. Critical to any serious reform is the mindset of the security personnel. If the minds are not recalibrated, the standard operating dictum will remain “we received orders from the top…” And because these security officials think they cannot build their houses, amass wealth or live comfortable lives if they don’t obey these “orders from the top,” they’ll continue to abuse Gambians all in the name of “we will not compromise on the security of the nation.” If one doesn’t know any better, you’d think their abuse of the people is about the security of the people as opposed to their desire to build homes, buy cars, live a comfortable life, and enjoy the trappings of power all because they executed the “orders from the top.”

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