Media Monitoring Report: January to March 2024
The first quarter of the year 2024 has been marred with a troubling series of media freedom violations across Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). From physical assaults to cyberbullying and unlawful detentions, these incidents highlight the ongoing threats faced by journalists in their pursuit of truth and transparency in East Africa.
By Muhia Robert
In January 2024, our monitoring efforts recorded two media freedom violations in Kenya and one in the DRC. In Kenya, journalists covering a raid at a popular entertainment joint were attacked and had their equipment confiscated. The altercation stemmed from a confrontation between Nacada officials, police, and the club's security guards. In a separate incident in Siaya, a correspondent was attacked by fellow journalists due to tribalism, underscoring the deep-seated divisions within the media industry. Meanwhile, the United Nations expressed concern over rising hate speech in the DRC, warning of its potential to incite violence.
February brought two additional incidents, one each in Kenya and Ethiopia. In Kenya, cyberbullying targeted a prominent media house on the X platform, with perpetrators using hashtags to tarnish its reputation and spreading fake memos. Cyberbullying has been used as a tool to undermine media's credibility it is troubling, especially when aimed at investigative journalism that seeks to highlight important issues, the media house in question was planning to air an investigative series dubbed “Broken System”, which was an editorial project intended to shine a spotlight on the functionality of basic government services through experiential tracking of ordinary Kenyans who interface with state agencies daily.
In Ethiopia, a French journalist Antoine Galindo covering the African Union Summit was detained on suspicion of causing unrest after meeting with an opposition party official. Following intervention from various media guilds and media freedom activists from East Africa, the journalist was released after a week.
In March, four media freedom violations were documented, three in Kenya and one in the DRC. In the DRC, journalist Stanis Bujakera remained detained on charges of spreading false information after publishing an article implicating Congolese intelligence services in a politician's death. In Kenya, journalists covering a doctors' strike were attacked by hospital security personnel, and another incident involved accusations of the president targeting a media house. Additionally, a journalist was robbed at gunpoint, highlighting the dangers faced by media professionals in the course of their work.
In conclusion, the recent sequence of media freedom violations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo between January 2024 to March 2024 highlights the dangerous environment journalists operate in. The incidents of physical assaults, cyberbullying, and detentions underscore the urgent need for greater protection of media freedom and the safety of journalists. It is crucial for authorities to uphold press freedom and hold perpetrators of violence against journalists accountable as safeguarding a free and vibrant media landscape is essential for democracy and transparency in the region.