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Niger leaves Gambia behind
Wednesday, 20 October 2010 20:25
- RSF press freedom reportBy JollofNews Staff Writer
50 years after independence Africans remain out of reach of their desire for their voice to be heard, says Reporters Without Borders.
Gambian journalists are among those facing problems by enemies of the press, according to a report published today, October 20, by RSF,
as the global press body is known by its French Acronym, Reporters Sans Frontières.The report said African journalists are still seeking freedom five decades after independence. It points to the Horn of Africa as “worst off”, with censorship striving well in Sudan and Rwanda.
Even though Gambia showed slight improvement in performance, statistically, its president, Yahya Jammeh, remains positioned prominently in the bad books of the organization, which condemned Jammeh’s “predatory” attitude towards the press.
“Gambia (125th) and Niger (104th) were neck and neck last year at 137th and 139th thanks to the predatory behavior of their respective presidents, Yahya Jammeh and Mamadou Tandja,” RSF said.
But, it added, thanks to the overthrow in February of Tandja, press freedom in Niger has improved markedly, “accounting for its 35-place jump, although the situation is still very uncertain.” The Gambia, on the other hand, remains highly restrictive for the independent media, with self censorship the order of the day.
Other countries featuring prominently on the top list of anti-press zones in the world include Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia.
“With many African countries marking the 50th anniversary of their independence, 2010 should have been a year of celebration but the
continent’s journalists were not invited to the party. The Horn of Africa continues to be the region with the least press freedom but there were disturbing reverses in the Great Lakes region and East Africa,” the report said.The good news is that, two African countries, Tanzania (41st), Burkina Faso (49th), made giant leap forward by entering the ranks of the world’s top 50 nations in terms of respect for press freedom, said the report.
And it added: “The relative positions of the African countries in the top 50 have also changed. They are now led by Namibia (21st), which has recovered its former pre-eminent position, while Cape Verde (26th) has caught up with Ghana (26th) and Mali (26th).”
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