Reporting Rights and Freedoms
CHARM Media Fellowship: The Stories

IN PARTNERSHIP
WITHcontents
In Cameroon, journalists can’t breathe as obnoxious
laws stifle press freedom – By Ndi Eugene Ndi

1

Cameroon’s bloody war: Inadequate healthcare leaves
women and children on the edge – By Ndi Eugene Ndi

9

New oil palm project puts Cameroon indigenous
communities at risk – again – By Ndi Eugene Ndi

14

Gay Christians keep the faith despite prejudicefrom pulpit and pews – BY YVONNE MOOKA

20

Engen explosion latest in line of grievances– BY Nomfundo Xolo

22Intersex surgeries raising concerns among
Ugandans – BY Jessica Sabano

26

Stigma still keeping albinos away from healthfacilities – BY Jessica Sabano

29

Ugandan journalists paying price of police brutality
against campaigning politicians – BY Jessica Sabano

33

Reporting on Human Rights andMedia Freedoms in Africa
This fellowshipsupported theselected candidates
to report on key
issues that explore
restrictions on civic
freedoms, including
the freedoms ofexpression, assembly
and association, as
well as human rights– with a specificfocus on women,
labour, LGBTQI+,
environmental andIndigenous rights,
and the rights ofjournalists andactivists.

From September 2020 to February 2021, CIVICUS and Wits
Journalism hosted a Media Fellowship initiative, as part of
the Consortium to Promote Human Rights, Civic Freedoms
and Media Development in Sub-Saharan Africa (CHARMAFRICA) programming. Journalists, media professionals
and producers were invited to apply for the 2020 CHARMMedia Fellowship.
The fellowships are part of CHARM-Africa’s ongoingwork to protect and expand the space for civil society
organisations and human rights defenders, as well as
nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent
media and journalism in the region.
This fellowship supported the selected candidates toreport on key issues that explore restrictions on civic
freedoms, including the freedoms of expression, assembly
and association, as well as human rights – with a specificfocus on women, labour, LGBTQI+, environmental andIndigenous rights, and the rights of journalists and activists.
This publication is a collection of their published articles.

About CHARM
The Consortium to Promote Human Rights, Civic Freedoms
and Media Development (CHARM) in Sub-Saharan Africa
is working collectively to nurture civil society, humanrights defenders, independent media, and journalists in
the region, by supporting actions to protect and expand
freedoms to speak out, organise, and take action.
The six consortium partners (CIVICUS, Fojo Media,
Wits Journalism, Civil Rights Defenders, Hub Afrique andDefendDefenders) from across the African continent,
are collaborating to strengthen the effectiveness andbuild the resilience of journalists, media practitioners,social media producers, human rights defenders, and civilsociety activists and their organisations, to advance moredemocratic and free societies.
CHARM focuses its work on sub-Saharan Africancountries where civic freedoms are obstructed, but there
is still space to speak out, organise and act, including
pockets of resistance that can be supported to strengthen
human rights and democratic freedoms. The project isfunded by the Swedish International Development Agency.

Disclaimer: Articles have been reprinted from the original publication, as part of the fellowship agreement. The content
responsibility and opinions expressed are wholly the authors.

<>

December 23, 2020 • News Watch Cameroon By Ndi Eugene Ndi

In Cameroon,
journalists
can’t breathe as
obnoxious laws
stifle press freedom
Journalists in Sierra Leone are now heaving sighs of relief after the
repeal – following a gruelling 55-year struggle – of a law which served as a tool used byauthorities to curtail press freedom.
On October 28, President Julius Maada Bio signed a decree revising the country’s 1965
Public Order Act, which effectively removes measures that criminalised publications
deemed libellous or seditious. The promulgation of the law followed earlier scrutiny by
parliament.
Press freedom watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) described the moveas “a welcome
step towards improving conditions for press freedom inthe country”.
Last year, Liberia moved in the same direction with President George Weah saying
the reforms were adherence to international legal instruments to which the country is asignatory, and which demand that African countries abolish inflammatory media and other
REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

related laws. While Sierra Leone and Liberia have made the list of African countries where<libel or slander is a civil offence, and not a criminal offence, journalists in Cameroon are still,in effect, caught up in a state-supported chokehold.
The country has seen a spike in arbitrary arrests and detentions, harassments and otherforms of attacks on journalists for their work. Ahmed Abba, Radio France Internationale’s
Hausa-language correspondent, who was accused of terrorism, spent 29 months indetention before he was released in 2017 and forced to go on exile.

>1

At least six other journalists in the country, including
Kingsley Fumunyuy Njoka, Thomas Awah Junior and Paul
Tchouta are in jail.

Shrinking press freedom
Jude Viban, National President of the Cameroon
Association of English-Speaking Journalists (CAMASEJ),
says he receives complaints daily from members about
harassment, threats and intimidation by the power wielders.
“Journalism as a whole and journalists across the world
have the same problems of intimidation, threats and attacks
because they work on sensitive issues. But in Cameroon, it
is accentuated and more complex,” says Viban. He blames
REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye

the situation on laws which give little or no protection to
media professionals.
“What is happening is that individuals are a threat because if
you get to the authorities who are supposed to be investigated,
they will, because of their interest, stall the case or make thecase disappear or you are not just listened to. The blame is on
you when you come complaining. The authorities already tag
you as the one who did something wrong. That impunity does
exist, and we must admit it does,” he explained.
Newspaper headlines at a kiosk adjacent the Ministry of Finance in Yaounde.

Yerima Kini Nsom, Yaounde Bureau Chief ofthe English language bi-weekly, The Post newspaper, likens

Journalist, Samuel Wazizi, whose legal name was SamuelAjiekah Abuwe, died in military custody in Yaounde in

The country
has seen a spike inarbitrary arrestsand detentions,harassments
and other formsof attacks onjournalists fortheir work.

<>

journalists in Cameroon to endangered species.
“Journalists in Cameroon are born free, but everywhere

August 2019, but the military made his death public only on

they are in chains. We still have laws that tighten the lace ofJune 5, 2020, following intense pressure. He was arrested

control around the neck of every journalist in the country,”in a township in the conflict-ridden Southwest region of thesays Kini.

country and accused of having links with armed separatists

Although the preamble to Cameroon’s 1996 constitution

fighting since 2017 to create an independent Anglophoneguarantees both freedom of expression and of the press,

state they would call ‘Ambazonia’. The government has

libel and slander remain both civil and criminal offences. A

labelled the armed separatists as “terrorists”.

guilty verdict can mean a prison term of up to six months

Wazizi was the second journalist to have died in custodyin the country in the last 15 years. In 2010, journalist, Bibi

and/or a hefty fine.
According to Kini, the criminalisation of press offences has

Ngota, died in a similar way while in government custody,

negatively affected the quality of journalism in the country,

according to CPJ.

because it causes journalists to exercise self-censorship.

2

Arrey Collins Ojong

Media scholars, journalism trainers and lawyers in the
country also agree that current laws do not protect media
practitioners.
Eugene Nforngwa, Media and Development Researcher
at Yaounde-based African Knowledge and Policy Centre(AKPC), argues that journalists do not enjoy any form ofprotection under the current Cameroonian laws.
“The laws in Cameroon are written to check the media
and check media excesses rather than to promote themedia and freedom of expression. I think we should have a
law that is intended to promote freedom of expression andfreedom of the media and tries to prevent any efforts byother stakeholders from infringing on these freedoms. Thisis the only approach that can guarantee that journalists areable to do their work well,” says Nforngwa.

Punitive legislationwww.flickr.com

I witnessed an
extremely risky
atmosphere forjournalists [inCameroon] who
remained the sole
stakeholders toreport and informthe common manon the day-to-day
issues that directly
touch on the lives
and future of thepeople.

Rene Sadi, Cameroon Communication Minister.

“I witnessed an extremely risky atmosphere forArrey Collins Ojong of Arrey & Associates Law Office, ajournalists [in Cameroon] who remained the solelawyer who offers pro bono defence to journalists and otherstakeholders to report and inform the common man onvulnerable persons, says he is profoundly alarmed about

the day-to-day issues that directly touch on the lives andthe current state of the media and journalists in Cameroon

future of the people,” said Arrey, who is also National Vicebecause available legislation is solely punitive.

President of Cameroon Humanitarian Lawyers Without

Apart from the constitution and a few ratified conventions,which are hardly ever applied, authorities have done little toBorders (known in French as Avocats Sans Frontières
Humanitaires Du Cameroon).

nothing to put in place legislation that protects free speech,“I was motivated to believe even journalists admired sopress freedom and digital rights for citizens and journalists,much were an endangered species and required protection,

Arrey underscored.

thereby protecting free speech and the only source of this“For instance, the Cameroonian Penal Code still convicts

protection would be the law,” Arrey explained.

individuals found guilty of defamation under its section
305 with an imprisonment of from six days to six months

Access denied

and with fine of from FCFA 5,000 to FCFA 2 million,” Arrey

Another issue which further compounds the situation of

explained, citing it as part of laws that hinder press freedom

the Cameroonian journalist is the lack of access to official

in Cameroon.

sources of information. The country lacks a Freedom of

The human rights lawyer says he was motivated to defend<>

Information Act which would compel official sources topressmen when he saw how journalists were continuously

disclose public information. This, according to Kini, forces

being molested, beaten and detained without due course,

journalists to resort to secondary sources which aresimply because they were struggling to do their job.

sometimes not trustworthy.

3

As if to confirm the situation, when this reporter
approached a director in the Ministry of Communication
for comments, he declined on grounds that he needed
clearance from the Minister. At the time of publishing thisreport, the Communication Minister was yet to reply to aninterview questionnaire submitted to him at his request.
The unwritten but scrupulously respected sealed
lip policy of the government, according to the presidentof the English-speaking journalists’ guild, only fuels
citizens’ mistrust in authorities as it allows misinformation
Reinnier KAZE/AFP via Getty Images)

to flourish.
Despite the fact that Cameroon has ratified both the
African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and theInternational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ofwhich provide protections for journalists and their sources,
the Yaounde regime seems to be in no hurry to givejournalists the rights they deserve.
Arrey says it is regrettable that the applicability ofnational and international legal instruments that guarantee
the rights and freedoms of journalists and other citizens
Cameroonian journalists demonstrate on May 3, 2010 in Yaounde. Police in Cameroon forcefully
stopped several hundred journalists from staging a demonstration on world press freedom day to callattention to the recent death of an editor held in detention.

“You can write a faulty story because the sources that“remains elusive”.
Respect for press freedom has been declining for years in
Cameroon and deteriorated more in the wake of the BokoHaram insurgency and the armed conflict in the Anglophoneregions, with journalists exposed to a high risk of threats

are there are not ready to talk to you and you rely on

and arbitrary arrest, according to independent monitors likesecondary sources. For instance, you cannot voluntarily go

CPJ and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

to the Presidency or the Prime Minister’s office to verify a

The country
lacks a Freedomof Information Act
which would compel
official sources
to disclose public
information.

<>

particular issue of public interest,” Kini, who has practised

Controversial anti-terrorism law

journalism since the early 90s, explained.

In an apparent move to further muzzle the press, theHe went on: “We have had situations in this country

government went on to enact a controversial law that directly

where when a journalist goes to a minister who is handlinginfluences the functioning of journalism and limits reporting

an issue that the public needs to know, the minister says

especially on human rights violations in the country.

he needs clearance from the Prime Minister, and then the

Leaning on the controversial 2014 anti-terrorism law,

Prime Minister’s Office will say it needs clearance fromYaounde can label journalists, opinion leaders, activists andthe presidency. So the story dies if you don’t rely on

government critics as “terrorists” and prosecute them insecondary sources”.

military courts.

4

Critics say thispolicy of delaying
to issue definite
licences and“administrative
tolerance” also
retains media in theasphyxiating grip ofgovernment because
they can be closed
whenever theirreporting is foundto be unsavoury.

“Under the context of this particular law the governmentand 2018 presidential candidate, Prof Maurice Kamto of theenjoys the exclusive monopoly to define the term terrorism,”

Cameroon Renaissance Movement (MRC). The journalists

says Arrey.

were accused of being supporters of the opposition leader,“Individuals and journalists even within the digital andwho has been a thorn in the flesh of the Biya regime sincephysical space, risk jail terms of up to 20 years regarding

the 2018 presidential vote; which he claims he won but wasan opinion or expression that the government deems mightrobbed of his victory by incumbent Biya.

affect public order which they interpret as acts of terrorism
which fall within the exclusive competence of militaryobnoxious. For instance, it suffices for you as a journalist to

tribunals for adjudication purposes,” he adds.

say Maurice Kamto [opposition leader] or other civil society

Arrey explains that the ambiguous law also gives law
enforcement officers the leverage to continue restricting

supporting terrorism,” says Kini.

and harassing journalists and anyone suspected of holding

No way to reportan opinion and information they are empowered by the said

Rights groups have indicted the military combatting Bokolegislation to interpret as acts of terrorism.

Haram in the north and in the crackdown on armed separatist“The suppression of freedom of expression in the country

fighters pushing for the secession and independence of thecountry’s two English-speaking regions.

areas affected by ongoing crisis [like the Boko Haram in

Out of fear of being persecuted and/or prosecuted as

the Far North and armed separatist conflict in Anglophonewell as the inability to gain access to official sources ofregions] would order an individual in public to hand over his

information, journalists have underreported the security

or her mobile phone for examination without any judicial

forces’ excesses and human rights violations in these areas.

order, thereby violating their privacy, yet no cause for alarm,”“You see in more recent years that curfews and otherthe founder of the Limbe-based Arrey & Associates Law

restrictions on the general public do apply to journalists who

Office said.

are supposed to continue to be informing the population,

There have been cases where journalists who are covering

even if it is about how those curfews and restrictions areriot protests in the country are treated in the same way as

successful,” Nforngwa explains, saying this makes theprotesters and charged/tried under provisions of the saidpractice tougher.

law and given punishments.
At least eight journalists including Tah Mai Javis of My Media>

leaders have a right to protest for you to be accused ofpress freedom by arresting, detaining, physically abusing

has even gone to an extent where security forces in the<“Some of the provisions of the [anti-terrorism] law are very

In response to heavy criticisms for the use of obnoxious
laws to muzzle the press, authorities have, in the past,

Prime TV in Douala and his cameraman, Tebong Christian,touted the number of private media outlets in the country

Equinoxe TV cameraman, Rodrigue Ngassi, French language

as proof that the press is free. According to media reports,

daily newspaper, La Nouvelle Expression, reporter, Lindovic

the government has registered over 600 newspapers,

Ndjio, and Radio France Internationale correspondent formost of which are community and regional papers and are

Cameroon, Polycarpe Essomba, were arrested and detained

published only occasionally.

in different police stations in the political capital Yaounde andSeveral television and radio stations too operate without

economic capital Douala last September while covering an

a licence. Critics say this policy of delaying to issue definite

anti-Biya protests. The protest was called by opposition leader

licences and “administrative tolerance” also retains media

5

Newspapers in Yaoundé, Cameroon / Wikimedia Commonsby ministers,” Kini said, adding “just wait for the period of
campaigns and you see those newspapers coming out likedogs, to attack the adversaries and/or perceived and realenemies of their masters”.

Incommunicado detentions
Cameroon has a history of detaining journalists
incommunicado, according to CPJ and RSF. The country’spress freedom ranking worsened this year. The central
African country is ranked 134th out of 180 countries – where
one is the freest, according to RSF’s 2020 World Press
Freedom Index. The score is three places lower than its 2019
position of 131. The country has also featured among top
on CPJ’s list of jailers of journalists in Africa in the last halfdecade years, and is rated “Not Free” by Freedom House.
For the current situation of journalists in the country to bebetter, Nforngwa says there is the need to reform the laws,

The governmentorganised what it
called the National
Communication
Forum in Yaounde in2012 on the stakes
and challengesof the media in the
country but its
resolutions havesince remained in
the drawers ofauthorities in thecapital.

<>in the asphyxiating grip of government because they can beclosed whenever their reporting is found to be unsavoury.
Kini and Viban argue, however, that press freedom cannot
be measured only by the number of private media outlets.
“It is not because you have a thousand newspapers thatand the starting point is to have a clear understanding ofwhat the law is intended to do.
“I think we should have a law that is intended to promote
freedom of expression and freedom of the media and tries
to prevent any efforts by other stakeholders from infringing

you think the press is free. When we have these thousands ofon this freedom. This is the only approach that cannewspapers with doubtful publishers and editors, it therefore

guarantee that journalists are able to do their work well,” themeans that they can be easily manipulated,” says Viban.

researcher, who is also a journalism trainer, proposed.

“It is important to have newspapers that are independent,
credible and that can help the population to make informed
choices. Having many media organs that are not helping to
inform deepens mistrust in government,” he adds.
To Kini, projecting the number of private media organs
in the country as a yardstick for press freedom is a “verywhimsical and misleading” narrative.
“Most of the so-called newspapers are not vibrant

However, previous attempts at engineering media law
reforms in the country have not been successful.
The government organised what it called the National
Communication Forum in Yaounde in 2012 on the stakes andchallenges of the media in the country but its resolutions havesince remained in the drawers of authorities in the capital.
The scientific committee of the conference organisedby the country’s Ministry of Communication said among

enterprises. It is a very chaotic situation because some ofother things in a document then that the forum had agreed

the so-called publishers you see are just little birds dancingthat further reflection should be made, in order to get ain the middle of the road where the real drummers are in

substitute to imprisonment against common law offences

government. There are many newspapers that are createdperpetrated by media organs.

6Charlie Ndi Chia, President of the Cameroon Union of
Journalists (CUJ) and member of the country’s media
regulator, the National Communication Council (NCC),
who participated in the deliberations at the three-day
conference, together with his secretary-general and NCC
colleague, Christophe Bobiokono says the forum, likemany others before it, might have been railroaded andtaken advantage of by interests surreptitiously opposed tocredible media in Cameroon.
“I personally think that completely deregulating the
Cameroonian media crowded as it were, by overly gullible
practitioners would be a wise step to adopt. Similarly,
decriminalising offences committed by pressmen in the lineof duty is a pretty dicey venture,” says Ndi Chia.
The CUJ president said further that given the queer
value system that drives the average Cameroonian
media practitioner, it is safer to hang on to the status quo,acknowledging it is debatable, but that it would take very
open minds to put the cards on the table and thrash the topic.
Bobiokono recalls that one of the resolutions of the forum
was the creation of a national order of journalists which wasgoing to do auto-regulation but the government has beenreluctant to implement the resolutions.
“The national order of journalists was going to
act like a regulatory body like it is the case with medical
doctors, lawyers, engineers, pharmacists,…You must belong
to the order and abide by its rules and it is easy to control
and also take decisions,” he said.

Reinnier KAZE/AFP via Getty Images)

Pro-democracy
advocates fear afree and independent
media may be a farfetched dream for
Cameroon as longserving rulers like
Biya will always
try to control
the narrative andmanipulate their own
version of reality – ascheme that cannot
be achieved with afree and independent
media.

a fulfilment of a promise President Maada Bio made on

No political will

the campaign trail prior to his 2018 election, politicians inBoth Ndi Chia and Bobiokono do not see any government

Cameroon seem not to be concerned about the obnoxious

will to have a free and independent media in the country.

laws in the country. None of the candidates at the 2018

“Those who run the government are certainly aware of
the virtues of a free press. But for parochial interests, I am

opposition leader, Cabral Libii, during campaigns ahead

pretty sure that many of those in government would ratherof the vote, made mention of a repeal of law such as thehave manipulable lapdogs in newsrooms,” Ndi Chia said.

2014 anti-terrorism law or putting in place of a Freedom Of

While the repeal of the media law in Sierra Leone was<>presidential election – including a journalist turned

Information Act.

7

Pro-democracy
advocates fear afree and independent
media may be a farfetched dream for
Cameroon as longserving rulers like
Biya will always
try to control
the narrative andmanipulate their own
version of reality – ascheme that cannot
be achieved with afree and independent
media.

President Paul Biya, who once declared he wants to beThis has been evident with the growing protests and dissent

remembered as one who brought democracy and press

we have seen throughout the country. It was also evident

freedom in Cameroon, won a seventh term during theduring the last elections, which were thoroughly rigged in

October 7, 2018 vote, extending his grip on the country he

Biya’s favour,” Smith said. He added that “Paul Biya has

has ruled with a tight fist since November 1982.

been in power longer than most Cameroonian citizens havePro-democracy advocates fear a free and independent

been alive. He is a retrograde dictator who represents themedia may be a far-fetched dream for Cameroon as long-worst of Africa’s past, not the future that Cameroonians areserving rulers like Biya will always try to control the narrative

yearning for and deserving of”.

and manipulate their own version of reality – a scheme thatcannot be achieved with a free and independent media.

Biya, 87, first became president on November 6, 1982
when a large number of the country’s nearly 27 million

Jeffrey Smith, Founding Director of Vanguard Africa, a

citizens were not yet born. He inherited a country of 9.2

Washington DC-based pro-democracy advocacy group,

million people from Ahmadou Ahidjo, the first president.

says truth, facts and objectivity are a dictator’s worst

Cameroonian-born international governance, humanenemy while a free media and an informed citizenry

rights, and democracy advocate, Dr Christopher Fomunyoh,

represent their kryptonite.

agrees that Cameroon’s state of democracy is worse now“This is why leaders like Paul Biya, who have failed theircitizens for generations, need to silence or quite literally killthan it was three decades ago.
The Senior Associate and Regional Director for Central

journalists. It’s because they expose him for the supreme

and West Africa at Washington DC-based National

failure that he is,” Smith said.

Democratic Institute (NDI) says there is much to fix for“It is evident that Paul Biya, and the ruling regime in

Cameroon to actually be referred to as democracy.

Cameroon, have no intention of ensuring an open media“Credible independent organisations such as Freedom

or political space in the country. Their very survival, in fact,

House consider Cameroon does not meet the definition

depends on restricting these spaces. This should not,of democracy and so I couldn’t rate it on that scale. The

however, be seen as a sign of strength for the regime. It iscountry’s overall state of democracy scorings are worsequite the opposite. It is the ultimate sign of their growing

now than they were three decades ago,” Fomunyoh said.

weakness. And they should be rightly called out for it and“You can’t be the oldest president in the world—soon

also held accountable,” the executive director of Vanguard

turning 88—the longest-serving with 38 years at theAfrica opined.

helm and have that weigh negatively on a country facing

To Smith, for Cameroon to advance towards democracy –multiple challenges,” opined Fomunyoh who is author ofreal democracy, there is a need for a change in leadership at

the book, The Cameroon of Tomorrow—series of thoughts,

the very top.

messages, criticisms and proposals on the democratic“Cameroonian citizens are clearly demanding change.

evolution of the country.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region. It is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA)

<

>

8

February 3, 2021 • News Watch Cameroon By Ndi Eugene Ndi

Cameroon’s bloody
war: Inadequate
healthcare leaves
women and children
on the edge
A smile adorns Sonita’s face as she watches her two-year-old son playwith his peers. Sonita’s mind races back to when, animated by joy, she hoped the experienceof bringing forth her first and only son would be easy. But she says that hope didn’t last longas giving birth to him became one of the most exacting moments of her 27 years on earth.
Sonita got pregnant when she lived in Ekona, a town in the restive English-speaking Southwest region of Cameroon.
“First of all, I could not properly follow up antenatal care because of gunshots here andthere,” Sonita says.
While she thought the conflict situation would get better, insecurity instead worsened,
forcing her and other Ekona residents including Sonita’s lover and author of her pregnancy
to run for their lives. After spending months seeking safety in the jungle, Sonita says she
had a fierce bout with malaria. And it was not going to be her last fight for her life.
Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images“That is how labour started,” she says. “I came to town with the younger sister of the man<

who impregnated me. After three days in labour, I had to be operated upon,” she explains.
The surgery, however, did not end Sonita’s sorry story.
“They did a wrong surgery… After three days, pus started coming out of the spot where
they incised me and it was smelling. I was taken to the theatre again, but the pus did notstop flowing out. When I was taken to the theatre for the third time, the doctor said my case
was above him,” Sonita tells NewsWatch.

>9

assistance to victims of the crisis,” Abine says.
He regrets that not all of the cases his foundation has
handled have been successful like Sonita’s.
“We have those cases in hundreds,” Abine says. “There wasanother lady we took from the bush to the regional hospital.
She underwent surgery and everything was just fine. But
subsequently, she suddenly died. That is the most painful
loss we have had since we started this,” Abine regrets.
After overcoming such an unforgettable experience,
Sonita named her son Victory, “because going through what
I went through and coming out alive together with the childshows God has given us victory.” Since she left the hospital,
Flickr/ United Nations OCHA

Sonita and her son have been living in Souza, a precinct
near the country’s economic capital Douala.
“I had no strength to take care of my child following
repeated surgeries. His father too ran into the forest forsafety. So, my auntie who is in Souza was helping me totake care of the child. I have been living with her since
then…I cannot go back to Ekona because everybody is on
the run,” Sonita says.
Minawao, Cameroon – Women wait at the health centre in Minawao refugee camp. Most came to havetheir children checked for malnutrition.

Intractable bloody conflict
The conflict which started in 2016 as peacefuldemonstrations by lawyers and teachers in the Anglophone

Sonita was transferred to the Buea Regional Hospital,

regions over perceived and real marginalisation by thesome 14km south of Ekona, by the Ayah Foundation,

Francophone-dominated government has killed over 3,000

a humanitarian organisation which has been providing

civilians, soldiers and separatist fighters, according to earlylifesaving healthcare to victims of Cameroon’s drawn-out

2020 estimates by the United Nations.

conflict. The socio-political tensions have exposed womenand children to health problems, and then denied them thesecurity situation arising from the armed conflict,basic right to healthcare.

aggravated by restrictions on movement, have prevented

Ayah Ayah Abine, Founder and President of Ayah Foundation,accessing healthcare. It has been hindering this vulnerable

was diagnosed that she was between life and death as her

set of people from reaching healthcare facilities andwomb had been infected, but medics saved her life.

disrupting vital supply chains of essential drugs and“By the grace of God, Sonita is one of the most beautiful>

many people, especially women and children, fromsays when tests were conducted on Sonita at the hospital, it

success stories we have had since we started healthcare<

The escalating violence and increasingly deteriorating

equipment. Medical staff too have been compelled to flee,
forcing health facilities to shut down.

10The government
blamed the burningof the Kumba District
hospital in theSouthwest region
on February 11, 2019,
on armed separatists,
but separatists
on their part,accused the militaryof perpetrating
the infernothat left four
people dead.

The government and English-speaking separatists who

conditions in makeshift shelters. Others have been forced

want to create a separate nation made up of the Northwest

to relocate to other cities, where they live on the streets, orand Southwest regions have been trading accusations overwith host families in sometimes overcrowded and unsanitary

the burning of several healthcare facilities in the regions.

settings.

However, rights groups have largely indicted the government
for the burnings.
The government blamed the burning of the Kumba District
hospital in the Southwest region on February 11, 2019, on“The women live in the bushes without even hygienic pads,”
Abine says, adding that: “They squeeze tree leaves and insert
in their genitals during menstruation. The diseases that
follow this method are so terrible for them”.

armed separatists, but separatists on their part, accused themilitary of perpetrating the inferno that left four people dead.
Some 255 (34%) out 7,421 health facilities in the

Untold traumatic experience
In addition, many people have faced traumatic experiences

Anglophone regions remain non-functional or only partiallylike conscription into armed groups, kidnappings for ransom

functional, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund,or for use in rebel camps as cooks, exploitation and sexual

UNICEF. Immunisation in general and measles prevention

abuse, gender-based violence, restriction on freedom of

have been significantly disrupted as a result of the conflictmovements and family separation. Women have been theand the risk of outbreaks increased.

most affected.

Existing health centres, authorities say, are increasingly

The violence has exacerbated psycho-social distress,

under pressure due to the influx of the injured and severe

according to Dr Belinga Mireille Ndje Ndje, Clinicaltrauma patients. The healthcare facilities are overwhelmed

Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of

due to inadequate staff – majority of whom have flown to

Yaounde I.

safer regions.

“It is well known that these scourges compromise thefuture of children. If they do not benefit from serious

Healthcare access denied

psychological care, we may find ourselves later with deviant

Again, not all emergency cases in the regions can reachadults,” Dr Ndje says.

the functional health facilities which are mainly in the urban
areas. Armed separatists intermittently block roads and haveseparated or unaccompanied since 2018. As schools andsince declared and enforced all Mondays and some national

entire villages are being burnt, civil society activists say girls

and international days commemorated in the country as

who cannot attend school are prone to early pregnancies,“ghost town” days with no movement.

difficult deliveries and the risk of obstetric fistula and need

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) noted on its website thata majority of the 2,500 patients it referred by ambulance“People who have suffered the atrocities of the crisis,
whether physically or psychologically, need to be taken carefrom obstetric complications, “but also include children underof. Many will have problems but will not manifest them right

15 and people suffering injuries and wounds inflicted byaway. Even resilient people deserve support,” Dr Ndje adds.

In the restive areas, women, alongside their children, havefled into forests or bushes where they live in extremely poor

>

care.

between June 2018 and March 2019 were women suffering

violence”.

<

UNICEF says over 5,000 children have been registered as

She advised that stakeholders should create psychologicallistening cells in areas in crisis and even in other regions,“especially those hosting the displaced.”11separatists from the Anglophone regions, who are in prison,
met in the capital last July. But the pre-talks ended in futility.
Some Cameroonians welcomed the New Year 2021 withwishes that the crisis should end, but a grisly start to 2021
could be signalling the conflict’s bloodiest year yet. Violence
has surged in the two English-speaking regions, leading to thekilling of at least 25 people, including women and children, in
Injection d’un malade.jpg / Wikimedia Commonsthe first ten days of the year.
In one of the incidents on Sunday January 10, the armyraided the village of Mautu in Muyuka sub division of theSouthwest region, killing at least 10 civilians, amongst them
women and children. The army, however, denied involvementin the killings, saying troops were on a preventive raid on theposition of terrorist groups who opened fire at the sight ofmilitary vehicles.
During the exchange, “some terrorists were neutralised,”
military spokesperson, Colonel Cyrille Serge Atonfack Guemo,
said in a statement.
The UN, UK, US and Canada amongst others condemned
the rise in violence and killings since the beginning of the year.
The Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family

Hopes for peace
were again rekindled
when government
representatives
and some frontline
leaders of the armed
separatists from theAnglophone regions,
who are in prison,
met in the capitallast July. But the
pre-talks ended in
futility.

<>

The US embassy in Yaounde said “the innocent lives cut short(MINPROFF) in Yaounde was yet to respond to whether such

were robbed of the opportunity to serve their families andcentres have been established or are being envisaged.

communities,” while the British High Commission in Yaounde
said there “must be an urgent and impartial investigation, andNo end in sightProtracted violence in the English-speaking regions has
uprooted more than half a million people from their homes,

the perpetrators must be brought to justice”.
Colonel Atonfack said “a scrupulous investigation has beenordered to uncover every detail” of Sunday January 10 killings.

while over 70,000 others have fled to neighbouring Nigeria,
according to the International Crisis Group and Human

Exposed to hardship, then ignored

Rights Watch.

Good health, which is a prerequisite for every human to enjoy

Peace talks dubbed Major National Dialogue, organised

other rights such as the right to work and dignity, is presented

in late 2019 in Yaounde, granted a ‘Special Status’ to thein the constitution of Cameroon as an “inalienable right,” yetEnglish-speaking regions but there are no indications thisexperts say the government seems not to be taking concrete

move will work in favour of an end to hostilities. Since then,measures in that light to the thousands of most vulnerable

the bloodshed has continued unabated.

women and children affected by the crisis.

Hopes for peace were again rekindled when government
representatives and some frontline leaders of the armed

Ndansi Elvis, an expert in Health Economic Policy andManagement, says the government has demonstrated a12

Ndansi, who is
an Obama Scholar
at the Columbia
University in New
York, says thegovernment isgood at identifying
problems anddrawing up fancy
programmes toresolve them butvery poor andunable to implement
any of them.

“high level of neglect” towards the health of the people of thenumber three of the seventeen UN-adopted Sustainable

Anglophone regions.

Development Goals (SDGs) which the country adheres to andA 2018 government emergency response plan identified
healthcare as one of the key priorities for the regions,claims to be implementing.
“None of the Sustainable Development Goals can be

but the government has not made good on its promises.

achieved where there is an armed conflict. The government

The plan acknowledges that health needs are high as theof Cameroon has failed to resolve the arm conflict in thedisplaced population – especially children under five, andAnglophone regions for over four years today. That is apregnant or lactating women – had no access to basic

clear demonstration that the government does not bother

health services.

about these sustainable goals such as access to healthcare,

But Yaounde authorities have been distributing foodstuff,
mattresses and blankets to some affected persons withno medical supplies and little or no efforts to ensure healthservices remain functional and health workers stay safe.
Ndansi, who is an Obama Scholar at the Columbia University

zero poverty, education for all, and even environmental
protection,” he said.
Some Cameroonians think the responsibility to end
the conflict in the two regions — which has further
compounded pre-existing vulnerabilities for the mostly

in New York, says the government is good at identifying

agrarian population of the regions — lies in the hands

problems and drawing up fancy programmes to resolve themof the sovereign government that has the responsibility

but very poor and unable to implement any of them.

to protect citizens, provide healthcare and call for a“Why should you give homeless people mattresses?”negotiated settlement.

Ndansi rhetorically questions. He suggests that the first thing

Should the government continue to neglect the healthwill be to provide them with shelter since most of their homes

needs of the population in the two regions, Ndansi says, it

have been burnt down.

could breed fresh unrest like it has been the case recently“For how long will the food sustain them,” he questions

with haemodialysis patients in Bamenda who protested

further, saying: “I think the approach government is using isagainst the breakdown in machines. The neglect, he says,

far from being realistic and sustainable”.

could also reverse the gains the country has made in terms

The government’s near neglect of the healthcare of citizens

of immunisation. Also, a sickly population will undermine

affected by the armed conflict in the two English-speaking

Cameroon’s prospects of becoming an upper-middle

regions of the country, Ndansi says, is in contrast to goalincome economy by 2035.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region.

<

>

13

March 4, 2021• News Watch Cameroon By Ndi Eugene Ndi

Cameroon’s bloody
war: Inadequate
healthcare leaves
women and children
on the edge
Ebang Patrice*, an Indigenous Bagyeli forest community member, sits
under a palm tree next to his dilapidated thatched house. With a broom in his left hand, hesavours some fruits which he says his children harvested from a lush bushland, just a few
meters away. Ebang uses the broom from time to time to chase away uninvited guests –notably flies and bees which attempt to join him in his feast.
The old man says, without any scientific backing though, that besides being a source ofessential nutrients, the fruits are medicinal. But it may just be the last time the Bagyeli patriarch is enjoying such fruits as the source, a pristine forest where Indigenous communities
live, is being deforested for a palm oil production and processing agro-industrial complex.
Ebang’s community falls within a 60,000-hectare concession the Cameroon government
has leased to a little-known domestic company, Cameroun Vert SARL (CAMVERT). The concession spans the Campo and Nyete subdivisions in the Ocean division of President Paul
Biya’s native south region of the country.
Communities and local NGOs are sounding alarm bells that the project is dangerous to thelivelihood of some 28 surrounding Indigenous communities – mainly hunters and non-timGiles Clarke / Getty Images

ber forest products gatherers.

<

Besides being a key source of livelihood, the forest, which borders the iconic CampoMa’an National Park, is also a cultural asset and spiritual sanctuary for the Mvae, Iyassa
and Bagyeli Indigenous people. But these communities will lose access to the land and its
livelihood as the concession goes into agricultural production.

>

14

Ebang Patrice

Ndi Eugene Ndi

Our forefathers
are buried insideand we go there
and perform sometraditional rites
when thatis necessary. Now
with the coming of
the big company,
we will not perform
this ritual again andthis is dangerous to
our livelihood as
our ancestors cancurse us.

The Bagyeli community of Moungue Village. Photo Madeleine Ngeunga-FPP.

“The forest is very important to us,” Ebang says. “Our lives

However, following stiff resistance from the Indigenous

depend on that forest because it is a source of medicine.

community and rights activists, the government went backIt is our pharmacy. We treat our sick with either tree

on its vomit, suspending the logging projects.

leaves, tree barks or roots which we get from the forest,”

The Ebo Forest is one of the last intact forests in central Africa

he explains, admitting that with the land now leased to theand home to many endemic species as well as the criticallyinvestor, they will lose this important source of medicine.

endangered lowland gorillas and chimpanzees. Besides theseEbang, who is in his early sixties, said the forest is also
their spiritual sanctuary. “Our forefathers are buried insideand we go there and perform some traditional rites when

fauna species, those opposed to the project cited a loss ofcommunity rights, livelihoods and unique forests.
Local non-governmental organisations and communities

that is necessary. Now with the coming of the big company,

had actively opposed the logging project which saw the

we will not perform this ritual again and this is dangerous toconversion of a forest area of 68,385 hectares – the size

our livelihood as our ancestors can curse us,” he bemoaned.

of 96,000 football fields – into a Forest Management Unit
(FMU) for logging.

Culture of politicking on forests
Like the Bagyelis, the Indigenous Banen people in the Littoral

Head of Government in a statement said it had beenregion of the country were on the verge of losing their forest

instructed by President Paul Biya to reverse the earlier

and spiritual sanctuary when the government announced that

decree allowing logging in the forest.

it was opening up the Ebo forest for logging.

<>

Last August 2020, the office of the Prime Minister andEnvironmentalists and the Indigenous Banen people15Such an announcement was supposed to have beenpreceded by public consultations where a social andenvironmental impact assessment study is presented,
views or objections of communities involved, before adecree by the Prime Minister is signed opening up thearea, according to Aristide Chacgom, an environmental
campaigner and coordinator of GDA.
Legally, even if the company had conducted consultations
and not taken into account views of communities, the decree
to begin operation would have still been a prerogative of thecountry’s President, given the size of the concession.
“The declassification and procedure asking CAMVERT
to begin exploiting 2,500 hectares of the concession weremarred by several illegalities,” Chacgom said.
The declassification process, Chacgom explained, also
ignored two preconditions for changing the legal statusof the forest which also violated the rights of local people
Grrenpeace

enshrined in the Cameroonian law.
“Two conditions are supposed to be fulfilled for
declassification; an initial study which says if the land
can be declassified and then a declaration of public utility
which is done by the Ministry of State Property and Land

while the Banen
community andactivists are singing
victory songs,
the Bagyelis ofCampo and Nyete
are gnashing theirteeth in agony
following theimplantation of the
CAMVERT project.

described the sudden government U-turn as a major

Tenure. None of these were done and the environmental

victory. But while the Banen community and activists are

impact study came after declassification by the Prime

singing victory songs, the Bagyelis of Campo and Nyete are

Minister contrary to what the law says,” Chacgom detailed

gnashing their teeth in agony following the implantation of

the procedures which he said were rigged.

the CAMVERT project.
The Cameroon Ministry of Forestry and Wildlifeannounced that it will reclassify 2,500 hectares of theGood example succeeded byserious assault

the CAMVERT concession but activists have faulted theDutch logging firm, Wijma, ran the concession as a Forest

government decision which they say grossly violates theManagement Unit between 2005 and 2016 and according

rights of Indegenous Bagyelis.

to independent environmental campaigning organisation,
Greenpeace Africa, it was a good example of a well-managed

Rigged procedures

logging concession, earning a Forest Stewardship Council

About 40 local civil society organisations (CSOs), including(FSC) certification as “sustainable”.

Green Development Advocates (GDA) challenged thereclassification of the important forest area in a statement.

<>

The firm’s careful logging left many trees within theconcession standing and serving “an important carbon

16

strategic wildlife migration corridor.
Yet a senior official of CAMVERT, Mamudou Bobbo,
said the zone had been degraded by over 70 per centand could no longer be exploited as a Forest Management
Unit and the promoter of the project carried out studies
which results showed the area is fertile for palm oil
production.
“The promoter of CAMVERT then presented the projectto the Minister of Agriculture who contacted the Prime
Minister’s Office to declassify the ‘degraded Forest
Management Unit’. When the PM’s office contacted theMinistry of Forestry, the latter confirmed the result of thestudy,” Bobbo who is CAMVERT Project Manager told local
television channel, Equinoxe TV.
“No human activity or village exists within a Forest
Management Unit…It is just incomprehension, people

Samuel Nguiffo says conflicts emanating from land lease
for agribusiness in the country are a result of legislationthat does not recognise customary ownership.

thought the promoter of the CAMVERT project was coming
to grab their land but that is not the case,” Bobo explained.

Ndi Eugene Ndi

Mamudou Bobbo

sink,” the CSOs said in their statement. It also serves as a

Ndi Eugene Ndi

The promoterof CAMVERTthen presented
the project tothe Minister ofAgriculture who
contacted the Prime
Minister’s Office
to declassify the‘degraded Forest
Management Unit’.
When the PM’s officecontacted theMinistry of Forestry,
the latter confirmed
the result of thestudy.

But Greenpeace Africa maintained the project, on a land
surface about seven times the size of Dakar, is land grab
and agribusiness’ “most serious assault on indigenous
rights in the region in years.”“The CAMVERT project is a case of illegality and abuseof Indigenous rights that will aggravate the climate andbiodiversity crises if it goes ahead,” said Greenpeace Africa
Cameroon Campaign Manager, Ranèce Ndjeudja.
“It exposes once again the perilous myth of sustainable
forest management, as well as the growing problem of
conversion of forests – including logging concessions
certified ‘sustainable’ by the Forest Stewardship Council –into agribusiness plantations in Cameroon,” he added in astatement on the website of the rights group.

Power, politics, business
CAMVERT which is owned by Aboubakar al Fatih began
initial planting in September last year. Fatih is a billionaire<>

Aristide Chacgom says CAMVERT project marred byseveral illegalities.

17

national and international NGOs resulted in the company
abandoning the claim.
The Oakland Institute, an independent policy think tank,bringing fresh ideas and bold action to the most pressing
social, economic, and environmental issues, had said the
SGSOC “land grab” involved backroom bullying by the US
government.
A similar project by Palm Resources Cameroon SA, asubsidiary of Singaporean company Biopalm Energy Limited
CIFOR Oil Palm Industry in Cameroon / Flickr

in the Bipindi and Lokounje subdivisions still in the Ocean
division is also being contested by Indigenous Bagyelicommunities of Bella, Nkollo, Gwap and Moungue.
On behalf of the Indigenous communities, two nongovernmental organisations, Forest Peoples Programme(FPP) and Association Okani, have taken legal action seeking
to cancel a 2018 presidential decree leasing the 18,000
hectare concession to Biopalm.
The organisations have also referred the matter to the United
Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,according to documents NewsWatch has seen.
Experts say the high demand for land for palm oil is a resultof growing need for oil; for cosmetics, food, and to cookExperts say thehigh demand forland for palm oil isa result of growing
need for oil;for cosmetics,
food, and to cooksome industrial
products.

<>

forest operator who is close to President Paul Biya’s rulingsome industrial products. Demand for oil in the country stood

Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party.

at more than one million tons, while local supply was justAccording to Greenpeace Africa, another company
controlled by Fatih appears to have been associated with

300,000 tons per annum as of 2018, according to Cameroon
Vegetable Oil Refiners’ Association (ASROC).

recently suspended plans to log the Ebo Forest.
The CAMVERT project highlights a growing trend ofPalm oil demand not justification

demand for land for palm oil production in the country.

However, conservationists say destroying biodiversity-

Over ten years ago, SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon

rich forest and habitats of Indigenous communities for(SGSOC), a local subsidiary of New York-based agri-

monoculture is creating more problems than seeking

corporation, Herakles Farms, struggled to clear 70,000

solutions to the country’s palm oil deficit.

hectares of rainforest for an oil palm plantation in“Monoculture of palm oil cannot equate very rich

the English-speaking southwest region of the country

biodiversity of natural forest. In economic terms, you willclaiming a “vast majority of the concession is secondary

see what you earn but will not see what you lose in terms

and degraded forest.” A massive opposition by forest-of economic value of the forest including environmental

dependent communities around the project area andservices that the forest provides to communities around, to18According to
the CED Secretary
General, there
is some glimmerof hope thatland tenure law
currently being
revised will take
into consideration
customaryownership andthis will greatly
reduce conflicts
among Indigenous
people, investors andthe state.

the country and to humanity,” said Samuel Nguiffo, Secretary

With this system, he said, the government will be

General of the Yaounde-based Centre for Environment andgetting money from taxation which according to him

Development (CED).

will fetch the government more money than what it“We are only seeing the short-term benefits and are
oblivious of the long term loses in the process of making

obtains now.
“Today government gives one hectare of land for one

decisions. We think palm oil will generate a lot of jobs, but it isdollar, but it can generate more than one dollar on a

not always the truth. You will have jobs, for sure, very poorly

hectare if taxes are a proportion of wealth generated. The

paid jobs but if you look at the long term, what you lose ingovernment will be able to make more than 10 dollars

terms of potential of job creation, job generation in the forest,a year on a hectare and the three parties will be happy,”

it is very high,” Nguiffo added.

Nguiffo explained further.

To the CED Secretary General, conflicts emanating from

CED and other organisations have been working with key

land lease for agribusiness in the country are a result of

stakeholders across the country to improve customary

legislation that does not recognise customary ownership.

and formal rights to land and natural resources through a

While government leases out land which it considers

project known as LandCam. The organisations organised

state property, communities on their part believe they havea land tenure week in Yaounde last January with fiveownership of the land and that to start any activity on it, an

members of government in attendance.

investor needs their authorisation.
“This clearly means there is a problem with our legislation.

According to the CED Secretary General, there is someglimmer of hope that land tenure law currently being

There is a problem with especially the issue of land

revised will take into consideration customary ownershipownership in our legislation. We cannot continue like that withand this will greatly reduce conflicts among Indigenous

our legislation else we will be having more and more conflicts

people, investors and the state.

because with time, land becomes more and more scarce“One of the things that clearly came out (of the landand people become more and more ready to fight to keep it,”tenure week) was the need to recognise the rights of all

Nguiffo said.

the actors. It was a very clear message that there will be
no land security for any of the actors if the right of only

Obsolete legislation

one of the actors is not recognised and protected,” Nguiffo

For these conflicts to be reduced, Nguiffo says the very old

said as one of the key messages to the government at the

1974 land tenure law of the country has to be revised andYaounde gathering.

customary ownership recognised.
“Communities will never have the capacity to negotiate withmultinational companies. So the state will have to organise

Until the obsolete land tenure law in Cameroon is properly
revised, the fate of thousands Indegenous people like Ebang
will continue to be on the balance.

the law in such a way that each deal at the local level should
be approved by the government and signed by three parties;*Ebang Patrice is not a real name. The source’s name wasthe community, the investor and the state,” said CED.

changed for security reasons.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region.

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19

February 23, 2021 • 705 By YVONNE MOOKA

Gay Christians
keep the faith despite
prejudice from
pulpit and pews
From young, Bakang Ndaba loved worship and being actively involved in
his church. At school, he was a passionate member of member of Scripture Union, a global
youth bible study organisation.
Today, it is a sore point for the 21-year-old that while he still values his Christian faith, hedoes not feel the same for the Christian community that he says discriminated against him
throughout his life, .simply because of his sexual orientation.
Ndaba identifies as gay and says he has been mistreated by Christians both at church andat home.
“I didn’t see or feel anything wrong with myself,” Ndaba explained.
He is among many gay Christians who find it difficult to practice their faith because of the
prejudice of fellow worshippers.
It has been more than two and a half years since the Botswana High Court issued a historic ruling decriminalised homosexuality. But for many LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex) people, like Ndaba, the struggle against discrimination continues. And
the memories of their traumatic experiences – many being treated as people possessedwith demons – still haunt them.
Growing up, Ndaba knew he was different from other boys – he was more feminine andliked playing with girls. His first encounter with homophobia, he said, came was when he
Jakayla ToneyUnsplash

was around five years old. He recalls how his aunt reacted with disgust to a gay person on a<television show the family was watching.
“She said that if God ever gives her a gay child, she would kill him,” Ndaba recalled. Even
though he was little, his aunt’s words hurt him.

>

20man). This commonly refers to someone whose sex was
identified as female at birth but identifies as male.
Sam said he left his church because he was being forced
to attend services in skirts – something he never liked.
While international human rights organisations andothers hailed the court judgement that legalised same sex
relationships as a step in the right direction, not everyone ishappy with it. The government has appealed the ruling and adecision is still expected. Biggie Butale, Botswana Patriotic
Rihaij from pixabay

Front (BPF) president and a man of the cloth, warned that if
government is not careful, the country is going to end up like
Sodom and Gomorrah.
Sodom and Gomorrah were notoriously sinful cities
in the Bible that were destroyed by God for its people’s
wickedness, including homosexuality.

His first
encounter withhomophobia, he said,came was when he
was around five
years old.
He recalls how his
aunt reacted with
disgust to
a gay person ona television show
the family waswatching.

Ndaba recalls a visiting pastor who came to preach to‘It’s a terrible decision. We have opened a pandora box,”

pupils at his school in 2015. “He took me aside and said he

Butale said. The ruling, he fears, will open the door to other

wanted to pray for me because I had an evil spirit that must

undesirable things such as gay marriages, gays adopting

be cast out,” he says. He also adds that a high school official

children and gay parades. “Soon, we are going to see

once accused him of having a legion of demons and that ofprostitutes say they also want to be legalised,” he said.

being a bad influence on other students, by being gay.
Still determined to his practicing his faith, Ndaba now
attends Catholic mass as he has found that Catholic

Religious groups like Scripture Union (SU) Botswana havealso criticised the court decision, as being un-Christian.
While such groups challenge the move, others like thechurches to be less homophobic than the Pentecostal ones.

Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO) andTransgender people in Botswana are subjected to similar

Rainbow Identity fight to support it along with those, likeprejudice. Transgender refers to a person whose genderNdaba and Sam, who are attacked for their sexual orientation.

identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth.

For Ndaba, it came as a glimmer of hope when he finally

Onneile Sam, a transgender man, has an aunt who used

got to be invited to a LEGABIBO meeting in 2015. “It was theto insult him, saying she was going to look for a boyfriend

first time I saw gays and lesbians together under one roof,”

for him and questioned why he dressed like boys and used

he said. Sam also got to meet other transgender persons

men’s body lotion. “Sometimes she would mock me in aupon attending Rainbow Identity events.

different language saying I’m a Satanist,” said 26-year-old“They made a difference in my life. I got acquainted toSam, from Marobela. The term trans-man is used as a shortthem and managed to open up to facilitators. I felt I wasn’t

form for either identity (transsexual man and transgenderalone anymore,” he said.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region.

<

>

21

December 17, 2020 • www.newframe.com By Nomfundo Xolo

Engen explosion
latest in line ofgrievances
Environmental activists and residents in South Durban have long been
asking for stricter environmental policies to clear the polluted air they breathe every day.
The explosion at the Engen refinery in Durban South two weeks ago is merely the latest
in a string of events a resident such as Joanne Groom, born in the area and now anenvironmental activist, spends her time fighting against while also advocating for the rightsof residents.
The Engen refinery is in the middle of the township of Wentworth and has been a site ofcontroversy for decades because of the harm it causes to the health of residents. Former
minister of environmental affairs Valli Moosa recognised the area as a pollution hotspot as
early as November 2000.
Groom, a community worker and communications officer at the South Durban Community
Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), says the harmful effects of pollution on human health andthe environment are worsened by high rates of unemployment and poverty.
“South Durban residents are surrounded by gas-emitting industries and people’s homes
are dangerously located within a few kilometres [of] them. While some people find workfrom the industries, a lot more are suffering with respiratory illnesses that many have to livewith until death. Unemployment also worsens the health status of residents because theycannot afford proper medical services.”
About 200 000 people live in the South Durban Basin, which is made up of Wentworth, a
IADE-Michoko from Pixabay

working-class area that was designated for people classified as coloured by the apartheid<

government; Merebank, which was an Indian township under apartheid; and the Bluff,
formerly a working-class white suburb.
Large petroleum companies like Engen are allowed to pollute freely in South Durban,says Groom.

>22medical issues like bronchitis, asthma and other respiratory
diseases, which disqualify them from working in thechemical industries,” says Groom.
The explosion at the Engen refinery two weeks ago
hospitalised six employees and two residents, an 83-yearold and a toddler, who were treated for shock. A block of
Gallo Images / Contributor Jessica Sabanoflats was also damaged, forcing about 28 residents into
temporary accommodation.
The Department of Employment and Labour has issued
Engen with a prohibition order and the plant has beenreportedly shut down with a 20m no-go zone around theaffected area of the facility, pending the outcome of a safety
investigation.
Ishaam Abader, the acting director general of the
Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, said theprovincial department would be completing a report on theincident in 14 days.
Following the explosion, social justice groups andEnvironmental activists and residents in South Durban have long been asking for stricter environmental
policies to clear the polluted air they breathe every day.

residents expressed outrage outside Engen’s facility,
demanding the refinery’s permanent closure. On 9
December, protesters arrived at the gate to deliver a“In First World countries, they manage plants and they reduce

memorandum of demands. But Engen’s management failed

their carbon footprint in the industries, yet here it is different.

to receive it, further fuelling emotions in the crowd.

Even the standard set by the World Health Organization is notfollowed in South Durban by these industries.
“We need stricter enforcement of the Constitution and

SDCEA air quality and youth development officer Bongani
Mthembu told the demonstrators: “This is disrespectful. We
have been asking for a proper emergency evacuation plan

environmental health policies, which means regulatory bodies

and communications procedure since 1997. We are stillshould stay away from corruption and instil policies that are

waiting. Engen does not even have the decency to send an

aimed at protecting the environment and the lives of people.”

executive member to receive our demands because they
don’t care for this community.

Multiple burdens<>

South Durban communities carry the burdens of poverty,‘Fugitive emissions’

unemployment and drug abuse. Health factors are oftenThis is not the first time residents have been directlyat the core of these issues. “Young people do not evenaffected by the refinery. Merebank, Wentworth, Treasurequalify to work in the very industries that are causing mostBeach and the Bluff residents suffered breathing problemsof the social and economic problems they face. This isafter a gas leak at the Engen plant released methyl

because they fail even the induction because they havemercaptan into the air on 22 July.

23

gettyimages.com

Following the
explosion, social
justice groups andresidents expressed
outrage outside
Engen’s facility,
demanding therefinery’s permanent
closure.

Durban-south residents protest at the Engen refinery gates.

The SDCEA is demanding accountability, compensationand community engagement from Engen.

<>“Growing up, my mother was always sick. She always
had asthmatic attacks, which were very severe. I did not“Engen must engage in a long-term participatory andunderstand why she couldn’t function properly. As I grew older,consultative planning process to develop a decarbonised

I soon realised that the main cause for that sickness were thestrategy that takes the needs and interests of affectedenvironmental effects of the industries that were in our area

communities,” says Mthembu, who has been an

where we had previously stayed, in Montclair, South Durban.

environmental activist for 14 years. The gradual progress“We need to continue lobbying so that companies likeon environment and climate change awareness demands

Engen take responsibility and accountability for the damage

more accountability from companies emitting “fugitiveand risks they continue to impose on its workers andemissions”, he adds.

neighbouring residents,” says Mthembu.

24

A health study
conducted in 2002
at Settlers Primary
School, which is
between the Engen
and Sapref refineries,
indicated a 52%
occurrence ofasthma in children
at the school, with
26% of these being
persistent cases.

Engen, a major and regular polluter, resumed operations

levels of air pollutants are causing acute adverse effects

in June 2020 after halting operations during the national

among susceptible children, who make up a significant

Covid-19 lockdown. The brief reprieve for residents living in

fraction of those exposed. Industrial pollution is clearly

the South Durban Basin underlined concerns about the healthhaving a negative effect on the respiratory health ofeffects of air pollution, even as petrochemical refineries such

South Durban residents.

as Engen and Sapref began chugging away again.

Methodologies for determining the relationship between
respiratory outcomes and air pollution are well established

Pollution kills

and studies show that there tends to be a higher incidence of

There are about 600 industrial entities in South Durban,

respiratory diseases in working and middle-class communities.

including two of the country’s largest refineries: Sapref,

In 2007, pressured by environmental and civil groups,

which is a joint venture between Shell and BP, and Engen,the environment department established a plan for South

which is majority owned by Malaysian oil and gas company

Durban. Through this plan, the department, led by thePetronas. There is also a Mondi paper pulp plant, a Tongaat-

eThekwini municipality, would provide strategies for air

Hulett sugar refinery, a sewage treatment works, a cluster

pollution management. The plan has not come to fruition.

of chemicals industries, major petrochemical and chemical“There were numerous complaints about odours,

storage facilities, textile manufacturers, metal smelters, oil

chemical leaks, flares, visible emissions and healthrefineries, breweries, and paint and motor factories. Many ofcomplaints from the [South Durban Basin] community.

the smaller industries emit pollutants nearer to the ground.

Ambient SO2 concentrations in the [area] were also among

Single Buoy Mooring, 1km offshore of the Bluff, is the main

the highest in South Africa,” reads the report.

point of entry for crude oil into the country.

A 2017 Lancet Commission on Pollution andA health study conducted in 2002 at Settlers Primary

Health found that “diseases caused by pollution were

School, which is between the Engen and Sapref refineries,

responsible for an estimated nine million premature

indicated a 52% occurrence of asthma in children at thedeaths in 2015 – 16% of all deaths worldwide – threeschool, with 26% of these being persistent cases. This

times more deaths than from Aids, tuberculosis andmassively exceeds the average of 14% to 16% in Europe.

malaria combined, and 15 times more than from all wars

The study’s findings provided evidence that current

and other forms of violence”.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region.

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25

March 24, 2021 • www.newframe.com By Jessica SabanoIntersex surgeriesraising concerns
among Ugandans
The birth of intersex children is real and a source of concern among asection of Ugandans. While many health and human rights bodies worldwide are against thepractice of operating them to become of one sex, the practice still thrives.
Although such surgeries are rarely successful, medical practitioners in the country keepon operating infants of such cases.
“Those intersex conditions which are manageable we do handle but those which are not,we don’t,” said Emmanuel Ainebyoona, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health before
he referred this reporter to Mulago National Referral Hospital medical officials with more
information on the subject.
Mulago Hospital Executive Director Dr Baterana Byarugaba, said they carry out surgeries
as conditioned by medical code of ethics.
“We perform surgeries that are in line with our medical ethics. We do not performsurgeries to please people. However, if any surgery is in our medical line of ethics, we docarry it out,” Dr Baterana said.
Intersex, which is also known as difference of sexual development (DSD), is an umbrellaterm that refers to people born with variations in sex characteristics that do not fit a boy or
Universal Images Group via Getty Images

girl. Although some parents may have heard of this term, many who find themselves in a<similar situation are shocked to realize that babies can be born with anything other than amale or female sexual organ. Therefore, most parents abandon and deny such children theirrights, referring to them as a bad omen.
Intersex children in Uganda have for long been rejected in society and their liberties suchas freedom of association and right to health, among others have been denied. This is
attributed to cultural beliefs, ignorance and stigma amongst people in various communities.
“In First World countries, they manage plants and they reduce their carbon footprint in theindustries, yet here it is different. Even the standard set by the World Health Organization is notfollowed in South Durban by these industries.

>

LEFT: Members of the transgender and LGBTQ community prepare their
make-up for the Transgender day. of Remembrance in order to pay tributes to victimsof hate crimes in Uganda and all over the world in Kampala, Uganda

26

situation. He is the son of Mr Andrew Kamulegeya andRose Kamulegeya, residents of Kkoome Islands in Mukono
District but currently, he is staying with his grandmother
Rosemary Zawedde.
Zawedde says people in the community started isolating
his grandson at the age of four when he started playing
with his age mates and they came to realize that he was
not like them.
“My neighbors have stopped their children from playing or
associating with my grandson in any way. I have to keep him
Pixnio / Roy Perry, Barbara Jenkins, NIOSH, USCDCP

indoors most of the time to stay at peace with neighbours,”
Zawedde says.
She says this situation has forced her to ensure that evenwhen she is bathing him, nobody sees the boy’s sexualorgans because people make fun of him which affects him
emotionally, mentally and psychologically, hence affecting
his entire life.
Amos, whose stature appears to be that of a boy, enjoys
doing house chores by way of assisting the grandmother.
He says he has experienced the harsh reality of rejection
because of being born different. He adds that the tough times
started at the age of three when he was abandoned by his
mother due to fear of stigmatization from society.
Ms Zawedde says Amos’ father was the first to abandon
This reality has condemned intersex persons into isolationfrom the public, making it hard for them to access services
such as education and health thus attracting growing
condemnation from some doctors and activists.
Dr Ismail Mugoya, a medical specialist says the victims
need all the necessary care and should not be rejected.
“Let people associate with them to feel fit and avoid
worries in them because they have a right to life, association,
education and medical care,” he said.
Pervasive fear prevents many intersex persons fromdiscussing their gender identities even with members of theirfamilies due to fear that they will be rejected.
Amos, a five year old boy is painfully facing such a<>

him claiming he was travelling to search for a job. However,since 2017, he has never returned to check on his son.
Ms. Zawedde adds that at the time Amos was bornin Kawolo Hospital, Buikwe district, they were advised togo for surgery at Mulago Referral hospital, yet the thenShs 10 million procedure was too costly for them to afford.
Dr Musa Owor, a gynecologist, says “it is very important
while screening such children to establish where thetesticular tissues exist so that they can be removed. For
females with ambiguous genitalia, they have a long clitoris
and a closed vagina.”
He advises parents to stop worrying when they give birth
to an intersex child, noting that the surgery can be done

27

The root causeof human rights
violations againstintersex people
include harmfulstereotypes,
stigma, taboos andpathologization(which is treatingintersex persons
as necessarily ill ordisorder).
Dr Frank Mugisha

successfully. He adds that parents need to get a specialised

been attempted to alter ambiguous genitalia in infancy but

doctor who understands intersex issues to find a progressive

most of these have been unsuccessful. It adds that in suchapproach.

cases, intersex children have ended up developing physical

Dr Frank Mugisha, the executive director of Sexual
Minorities Uganda, an organisation that works for sexual

characteristics of the opposed sex at puberty.
The survey also indicates that most intersex children inminorities, says “some intersex persons may identify with the

Uganda are assigned female at birth and raised to identify

sex marker assigned to them at birth while others may not.”as women, but for many intersex women, female biologicalHe said that he was aware that surgeries are conducted inmilestones, such as menstruation and breast development

the country.
He added that “most may feel forced into sex and gendercategories that they do not identify with, which may beproblematic in their adolescence when they are able to makedecisions for themselves.”
He explained that the human rights violators of intersex

do not necessarily follow. Instead, some are faced withchanges associated with male puberty, such as beard growth,
body hair and voice deepening.
A large number of intersex adults are dissatisfied withthe results of childhood genital surgery; the study authors
recommend that surgical decisions be postponed until

persons face include forced and coercive medical

adolescence or adulthood when the patient can giveinterventions, infanticide, discrimination in access to

informed consent.

education, sports, employment and other services.
“The root cause of human rights violations against

According to SIPD, at least three children are born withan intersex condition at Mulago Hospital every week. Theintersex people include harmful stereotypes, stigma, taboos

condition also affects up to 1.7 percent of the world’sand pathologization (which is treating intersex persons as

population, according to the United Nations.

necessarily ill or disorder)”,” he added.
According to the August 2015 survey by the Support

According to the 2019 study by Istanbul University
in Turkey where Dr Banu Kucukemre Aydin and her

Initiative for People with Congenital Disorder (SIPD), an

colleagues analyzed data on nearly 14,200 newborns,

intersex health and rights organisation, Uganda does not

18 of them had ambiguous genitalia. That’s a rate of 1.3 inhave a laboratory to perform chromosomal tests for children

1,000 births – much higher than the rate of one in 4,500 toto determine sex and that genital reshaping surgeries are

5,500 reported in previous studies.

often flawed. It indicates that a few surgeries haveThis publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship and CHARM-Africa’s ongoing work to protect and expand thespace for civil society organisations and human rights defenders, as well as nurture and enhance the effectiveness of independent media andjournalism in the region.

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28

February 1, 2021 • www.newframe.com By Jessica Sabano

Stigma still keeping
albinos away fromhealth facilities
Stigma still keeping albinos away from health facilities.
Living with albinism, Sarah Mutesi, a resident of Kayanja Village in Mukono District says
when she conceived for the first time, she went to a government health facility in Mukono
District for antenatal care but nurses there neglected her.
“No nurse attended to me because of my skin complexion. They wondered the kind ofman had impregnated me,” Mutesi says.
Mutesi decided to visit another government health facility but the medical personnel she
found there allegedly told her to undress before he called in other medical staff to come andsee her body.
“This was very disappointing as I couldn’t believe medical professionals could act in thatway. I decided to go back home and kept away from health facilities until I gave birth, alone
in the house without any assistance from any medical personnel,” she says.
Mutesi was also abandoned by the father of her child and she has since not seen him two
years later. She recalls him telling her they don’t accept Albinos in his family and that she
was a misfortune. Such cases are some of the push factors that make people with albinism
to shun health facilities.
Elizabeth Negesa, an another woman living with albinism, also the director of Elgon Foundation for Persons with Albinism, says people like her are isolated and fail to access proper
medical care. She recounts how she went to a health facility in Mbale City and she wasreportedly denied services.
Flickr/ Feije Riemersma“When I approached the medical personnel, she was tough as she asked why I had visited<the facility,” she says, before narrating how she was told to undress and then the medical
personnel tipped other nurses to come and see her body.
“I regretted why God created me after nurses laughing at me,” Negasa says.
Negasa says she was immediately pushed aside and the medical personnel started
working on other patients.

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29

Jessica Sabano

Elizabeth Negasa one of the people with Albinism who has faced tough times in accessing facilities.

“This made me cry as I walked out of the hospital premises. I

woman, they get cured of HIV/Aids. In the process, these

couldn’t narrate the ordeal to anybody there since even patients

women acquire sexually transmitted diseases besides get-were trying to distance themselves from me,” Negesa says.

ting unwanted pregnancies. This not only leaves the victims

She went back home and stayed without medication. She
had conceived and fortunately, she was able to give birthalone at home. Negesa says even taking a child for medica-

Negesa has so far registered 489 people living with albinism, who have medical challenges in the two regions ofon ignoring her.

Elgon and Ssebi in eastern Uganda.

rights of albinos in Uganda.
Besides the stigma they face, people living with albinism
also fall victim to people with weird beliefs about them.
“Men have a belief that when they sleep with an albino>

single parents,” Negesa says.

tion or immunisation was not easy as health workers kept
Negasa decided to start up an organisation to fight for the<

struggling to get medication but also raising children as“We tried to raise our issues to a commissioner in the
Ministry of Gender but he didn’t give any hopeful reply.”
Negesa says they have tried to join groups of different
People with Disabilities (PWDs) but the government has
failed to come out and help them fight for their rights.

30

condemned the act of denying people living with albinism
medical care because of their skin colour. They say they
have a right to health services just like any other person.
Dr Paul Bukenya, a medical specialist at Kawolo Hospitalin Buikwe District, says everybody is entitled to access medical care at any health facility.
“People living with albinism should not be discriminatedagainst in medical facilities because they are human beings
like others and it is their right, guaranteed by the Constitution of Uganda,” he says.
He says by denying people living with albinism medical
services, Uganda will not know or get the right statistics ofpeople with different kinds of needs.
Wikimedia commons / Onu Brazil

He says when that happens, some of the victims end up
getting what is not right for their health as they resort toself-medication.
He adds that this hampers general healthcare service
delivery. “Discrimination and stigma will always lead to an increase in HIV/Aids as people will fear to go to health facilities,”
he says.
Hassim Magumba, the chairperson of Mpungwe
Sub-county in Mayuge District and a leader of people livingwith albinism in the district, says: “When the government is“Even when government is preparing its budget, they dodesigning sexual health programmes, people living with al-

not in any way allocate a budget for us people living withbinism are not always included, yet they are always sexually

albinism. We feel isolated and this makes us live a misera-

harassed. Some are raped, defiled, and infected with HIV/ble life,” she said.

Aids by heartless men who lure them into sex.”

She says given their condition, they sometimes need tomake frequent visits to the health facilities.
“As we grow older, the muscles weaken, sometimes achange in the environment affects our eyes thus the need tosee an eye doctor so often,” Negesa explains.
Negesa says at least two people living with albinism die of>other people.
“They are entitled to proper medical care just like anyother person,” he says.
The Gender ministry spokesperson, Frank Mugabi, says:

skin cancer every month due to lack of access to proper med-

“People living with albinism are included under the PWDs

ical care. She says she has so far registered 30 people living

and are not supposed to be discriminated against becausewith albinism with skin cancer since November last year.

it is against the law. They should report to local authorities

Doctors and human rights defenders in Uganda have<

He appeals to all stakeholders to pay attention to people
living with albinism since they too are sexually active likeso that their issues are addressed.”31

Lack of skin pigmentation makes for more susceptibility
to sunburn and skin cancers.
Hassan Mulondo, the general secretary of Association of
Uganda (Africa Albino Foundation) says Uganda has about
250,000 people living with albinism.
In Uganda and other parts of Africa, albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically.
For a number of years, the United Nations (UN) has underlined the extreme discrimination faced by people living withalbinism. In 2013, the UN Human Rights Council called forthe prevention of attacks and discrimination against people
living with albinism.
In December 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted aresolution proclaiming June 13 each year as International
Albinism Awareness Day.
Flickr/ Pablo Belice

In 2017, the International Bar Association proposed universal standards for the protection and promotion of rights
for people living with albinism.
According to a June 2020 UN report, it is estimated thatin North America and Europe, one in every 17,000 to 20,000
people have some form of albinism.
The condition is much more prevalent in Sub-Saharanabout albinism

Africa, with estimates of one in every 1,400 people being af-

Albinism is a congenital disorder characterised in humans

fected in Tanzania and the prevalence as high as one personby the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin,in 1,000 across Africa.

hair and eyes.
It is associated with a number of vision defects such as pho-

In some countries, majority of persons living with albinism
aged between 30 and 40 years die from skin cancer. Skin

tophobia (intolerance of light) and nystagmus (a vision condi-

cancer is highly preventable when persons living with albi-

tion in which the eye fails to achieve normal visual activity).

nism enjoy their rights to health.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship. It is funded by the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

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32

December 28, 2020 • www.newframe.com By Jessica Sabano

Ugandan journalists
paying price ofpolice brutality
against campaigning
politicians
On December 27, Mr Saif-llah Ashraf Kasirye, a Radio One journalist andan online Ghetto TV cameraman was rushed to Masaka Hospital in critical condition after
he was allegedly shot in the chaos that ensued as police tried to disperse supporters ofpresidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, also known as Bobi Wine, in Masaka District.
According to another journalist, NTV’s Ali Mivule, Kasirye was hit by a projectile on the headand started bleeding profusely. Mivule says he too was shot in the thigh at close range.
This is not the first time Kasirye was attacked while doing his job. Just over a month ago,on November 18, Kasirye was assaulted by security operatives, as he was taking photos
on the campaign trail of Bobi Wine, in Luuka District. During the assault, Kasirye’s camera,phone, and recorder were damaged, and his eyes pepper-sprayed, leading to his collapse
and eventual admission at Jinja hospital.
“I tried to tighten my jaws but they forcefully opened it and pepper-sprayed me. I now feela lot of stomach pain and my camera, phone, laptop, and recorder were taken by the officers,” Mr Kasirye recounted his ordeal to officials of the Human Rights Network for Jour-

Credit: flickr /youngrobv

nalists (HRNJ).

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33

“I have been covering candidate Kyagulanyi and lately,
I have realised that whenever I go close to security totake photos, the men in uniform start cocking their guns
threatening to shoot us,” Lubowa says, adding: “We have forlong been beaten, intimidated, threatened and equipment
including computers, cameras, radio recorders vandalised,
but no step has been taken by lawmakers, that’s why wehave become reluctant to report to police because there isno justice in most cases.”
Goran Tomasevic15 Feb 2016 Reuters

Mukhaye reveals that police have fired live and rubberbullets at them putting their lives at risk. She also says
they are always pepper-sprayed, making them worry about
their health.
Likewise, Moses Mukama a journalist attached to Baba
FM in Jinja District says he was assaulted by supporters of
a candidate contesting to be a member of parliament. Mr
Mukama says he continues to seek medication as he has
not completely recovered from the assault.
There is an outcry of journalists to the government toallow them to exercise their freedoms to act professionally

Many journalists,
mostly those whocover opposition
campaigns, havefound themselves
victims of theattacks meted out
when security forces
try to block or stop
the candidates andtheir supporters.

<>

Campaigns, a troublesome place

and also an appeal to other bodies including civil societyEver since presidential campaigns were flagged off inorganisations to push for an end to brutality towards

November, the activities have been marred by the arrests ofjournalists. The cases keep rising as the current election

mainly opposition presidential candidates. They are accused

campaigns get into their last lap.

of holding mass campaign rallies and yet the Electoral
Commission (EC) has called for the candidates to have a

Attacked, beaten, and harassed

small number of people addressed, and for them to conduct

Cliff Wamala a journalist of NTV-Uganda was left nursing

their campaigns on television and radio plus other media

injuries inflicted on him by police during a standoff withplatforms in a bid to curb the spread of Covid-19.

presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi that lasted

Many journalists, mostly those who cover opposition

several hours in Alebtong District on December 11.

campaigns, have found themselves victims of the attacks“We were working and showed them our identification

meted out when security forces try to block or stop thecards and documents but then they continued beating us

candidates and their supporters.

as we tried to record events during the standoff. We need

Damalie Mukhaye and Abubaker Lubowa, bothjournalists attached to Nation Media Group-Uganda
who are trailing various presidential candidates havetheir own narrative.

police to understand that we are doing our work just as
they are doing theirs,” Mr. Wamala said.
Another journalist, Stephen Otage a reporter with
Monitor Publications Ltd, says he was beaten by a soldier

34

A longtime problem
The coordinator of the HRNJ, Uganda, Robert Ssempala,says they have so far registered 33 cases of journalists
being brutally attacked during this election period. Ssempalasays the government has interfered a lot in media freedoms
during this pandemic and election campaign period. Somejournalists have lost jobs, others have been ordered not togive space to some opposition candidates and other media
houses have been threatened with being shut down should
they fail to follow orders.
Recently in northern Uganda, one of the presidential
candidates Patrick Amuriat Oboi of Forum for Democratic
Change (FDC) paid for space on radios in Gulu and Lira, in the
Getty Images/ Luke Dray

month of November to talk to the voters but was later switched
off without delivering his messages. Amuriat says he was also
blocked from Etop, Kyoga and Delta Radios in Soroti District
after he had booked for talk shows, with the radios declining tohost him, citing intimidation from the government.
Bobi Wine has not been given a chance to access any
radio stations and has been constantly blocked wheneverMembers of the press take shelter during a student protest.

he tries to appear at anyone. In many of these situations,journalists find themselves unable to host candidates to

Mukhaye reveals
that police
have fired live andrubber bullets atthem putting theirlives at risk. She
also says they arealways peppersprayed, making themworry about theirhealth.

on December 15 at the Electoral Commission offices overinterview them. Some find themselves harassed by security

photos. Despite identifying himself, the soldiers instructedor being detained and interrogated for hours over why they

the journalist to surrender his camera, phone, and later

were allowing opposition candidates to go on air.

arrested him.
“I was slapped by a soldier and driven to UPDF fuelstation in Mbuya, blindfolded using my own facemask

noting that their relationship is usually smooth but gets

amid interrogation of how long I have been a journalist, myrocky especially when it comes to riotous situations where

age and place of residence,” Otage said.

their principles and ethics of journalism is lost and theyMoses Balikowa a journalist at City FM Jinja was beaten
and pepper sprayed as he was trying to record Robert>become political activists.
“Journalists prevent us from arresting suspects during

Kyagulanyi in Luuka District on November 18 as police wassuch situations, some block us from doing our lawful duties

arresting him.

thereby rendering them vulnerable to arrest and any other“Security officers beat me up as I trying to record and myrecorder and phone were damaged. I was seriously injured
and up to now my right leg is not yet okay,” Balikowa said.

<

The police spokesperson Kampala metropolitan area,
Mr. Patrick Onyango however, denies harassing journalists

acts,” Onyango says.
Ssempala says press freedom in the country has not
improved since last year’s World Press Freedom Day.

35

The HRNJ press
index report also
indicated that 46
media houses wereaffected by press
freedom violationsin 2016.

He says last year (2019), HRNJ documented over 260

crimes against journalists were reported as resolved incases of abuse and violations on press freedom in Uganda

comparison to 12 per cent in 2019 and 11 per cent inwhich if left unchecked will hinder good journalism.

2018. The agency tasked with defending press freedom

Previous years show that the situation has generally been in

has reported that even though 2020 saw a slight decrease

decline. HRNJ documented 135 cases of violations againstin the rate of impunity for crimes against journalists, 87

journalists in 2016, a slight decline from 143 cases reported

per cent of such cases worldwide were still not resolved.

in 2015. Of the 135 violations recorded, 16 directly involved

While casualties related to countries experiencing armed

female journalists. Male journalists continue to be theconflict have declined, fatal attacks against journalists

targets as they are the majority in many newsrooms.

covering stories related to corruption, human rights violations,

The HRNJ press index report also indicated that 46

environment crimes, trafficking, and political wrongdoing

media houses were affected by press freedom violations

have risen in other countries, the report indicates.

in 2016. Of these, Daily Monitor was most affected, withIn her remarks last year, on May 3rd, during the World Press

14 journalists suffering violations. The part-government

Freedom Day National Dialogue, the former US Ambassador,owned New Vision did not escape attack, with 12 cases

Deborah R. Malac said: “In Reporters Without Borders’ 2019of abuse of its journalists reported. In third place wasWorld Press Freedom Index, Uganda dropped eight places to a

NBS Television where nine cases of violations against

ranking of 125 out of 180 countries in the world, compared tojournalists were recorded.

117 the previous year. As the report noted, acts of intimidationand violence by security forces against reporters are an almost

A global trend

daily occurrence in Uganda. The situation is even worse

According to the “Safety of journalists and the danger ofoutside of Kampala, where security officials routinely prevent

impunity”, a report by the Director General of UNESCO

journalists from covering events and often arrest and rough2020, only 13 per cent of the cases globally involving

them up.” A year later and the situation has not changed at all.

This publication has been written as part of the CHARM 2020 Media Fellowship. It is funded by the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

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36

civicus.org

info@civicus.org

journalism.co.za/CIVICUS

journinfo@wits.ac.za@CIVICUSalliance+27 11 717 4028