Military coups threaten liberal media

Text Isaac Kaledzi, DW editor, Programs for Africa

The tactic isn’t new and the script is often the same— soldiers pick up arms, battle those loyal to a democratically elected sitting president and Military seize power in a coup.

Decades after such scenes got played multiple times in the post-independence era of most African countries, the plot coups doesn’t seem to be losing any steam, instead gaining appreciable momentum and appetite especially in West Africa.

In the midst of a devastat-threaten ing pandemic in 2020, Mali was plunged into a political crisis when President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was forced to step down when soldiers liberal seized power. What should media have appeared as an isolated event quickly ignited a flame of other putsches in the West African sub-region. Soldiers in Guinea last year also took a leaf from Mali to overthrow President Alpha Conde. A coup attempt in neighboring Guinea-Bissau was foiled early 2022, but there was success for soldiers in Burkina Faso a few weeks later. Coups have also taken place in Chad and Sudan and this is getting many worried on the continent.

Coups are of grave concern

In February this year, Nana Akufo-Addo, Gana’s president and current chair of the West African regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), expressed concern over the resurgence of putsches in the region. He told his fellow heads of state at an ECOWAS summit that they needed to “address this dangerous trend collectively and decisively before it devastates the whole region.” AkufoAddo described the trend as a “matter of grave concern” that must be tackled seriously. But while there are calls for a serious approach towards dousing the rate of coups, there is a growing sympathy for putschists and military juntas across Africa among ordinary citizens.

Scenes of jubilation always welcome such takeovers as citizens claim to crave for a change even if it means the toppling of democratically elected governments. By the time soldiers seized power in Guinea last year, many citizens were experiencing economic hardships. The military takeover came at the right time for some and gained support from some ordinary people who were pinning their hopes for better living conditions on the new military rulers.

Soldiers from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, led by General Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the Transitional Military Council inSudan, secure a rally attended by the general.

Coups are always bad

For some analysts, no matter the motive and rationale for soldiers, taking up arms to topple democratically elected governments is bad for the development of any country. “Democracy, no matter how bad it is, is better than military rule,” says political analyst Ibrahim Alhassan from Ghana. He blames the regional bloc for failing to be proactive in ending such putsches. “In the sub-region we see leaders are living it up while the population suffers in abject poverty. If ECOWAS is unable to address that disconnect, that insensitiveness on the part of the political leadership, we will continue to record these unfortunate happenings,” he said.

ECOWAS chair Akufo-Addo also stressed that the evolution of coups “challenges the democratic way of life we have chosen. We need to stand firm to protect democracy and freedom in our region.”

Free media under threat

Coups have a direct impact on the media. The absence of a democratic dispensation often means a difficult time for liberal and democratic media. It becomes increasingly difficult for journalists to hold those in power accountable. When soldiers seized power in Mali, it didn’t take them much time to express their distaste for critical media outlets. Shortly after the coup in 2020, the Media Foundation for Africa (MFWA) said in a report that within the space of 19 days (September 10-29, 2020) five violations were perpetrated against a number of journalists and a media house. The violations ranged from denial of access to information, arrests, threats and physical assault.

In March this year the media regulator in Mali suspended two French public broadcasters, Radio France International and France 24. This was after media reports of a mass grave and the indictment of the military alleged to have committed some human rights violations in collaboration with Russian mercenaries. African media researcher, Kobby Gomez Mensah says that the trend is very concerning. “Nobody should be interested in the situation where free expression is clamped down upon. That is what we are seeing.”

Arbitrary arrests of journalists

In Sudan where soldiers are also in power, journalists are being arrested and state media has been placed under military control. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the clampdown by the armed forces.

It said Sudan’s continuous clampdown on the media presented serious consequences for the freedom to report the news and for access to information. Sudan’s military leadership still continues to maintain extremely tight control over all information about the takeover. Reports about the violent crackdown on protests are punishable and the internet is frequently being shut down.

The story is no different in Burkina Faso where on January 23, a freelance reporter Henry Wilkins and Associated Press reporter Sam Mednick were arrested and detained at a military camp in the capital. The journalists told the International Press Institute that they were covering the recent military coup, which ousted President Roch Kabore.

Sudan’s continuous clampdown on the media presented serious consequences for the freedom to report the news and for access to information.

Blocking access to the internet is also a phenomenon associated with Burkina Faso supressing free media. Free press in the country keeps deteriorating, a situation that is compounded by the security crisis there.

In the aftermath of the failed coup attempt in GuineaBissau, a group of men in military uniform stormed a radio station called Radio Capital FM, destroying equipment and injuring journalists in the studio. At a press conference on February 8, the president of the Journalists Union of Guinea-Bissau, Indira Correia Baldé, said that there was a threat to journalists following the attempted coup. “Hooded people with guns entering a radio station shows that we are facing danger,” he said as he called “on the international community to stand by and continue to support Guinea-Bissau and media professionals.”

No end to the struggle for liberal media

According to the African Development Bank, there have been over 200 coups and attempted coups in Africa since the years of independence.

“At the beginning of these coups you see euphoria among the population and then a few days later you don’t even hear of the population,” says African media researcher, Kobby Gomez Mensah, on the deliberate suppression of free media.

The slightest encouragement for military takeovers, according to Mensah, will further weaken any remains of protection for journalists. Weak democratic systems mean journalists are exposed to attacks and abuses. Journalists continue to struggle to freely report even under some democratic governments. Countries falling under military leadership after a coup worsen the situation, dampening any shimmer of hope for free media in Africa.