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SOUTHERN AFRICA PRESS FREEDOM REPORT 2019-2020

journalists Dick Shumba, Isaac Jali and William
Zare with metal bars at Mponela in Dowa, while
covering the campaign tour of then DPP and UDF
Alliance running mate Atupele Muluzi.
Other issues brought to the fore also included
threats made by members of Parliament in
February 2020 to beat up journalists accused
of being spies and agents of the opposition,
barring them from interviewing the Leader of the
House and deleting footage of the proceedings
of the House. MISA also called out the Malawi
Police’s continued assault of journalists, and
arrests for covering the arrival of the European
Union Elections Observer Delegation without
permission.
In 2020, about 32 violations of media rights
were reported in Mozambique, linked to the
military conflicts in Cabo Delgado. Ibraimo
Mbaruco, a journalist working with Palma radio
and television, was reportedly abducted by
security forces for his coverage of the conflict.
His whereabouts still remain unknown.
Another journalist, Amade Abubacar was
arrested by soldiers, kept incommunicado for
eleven days in violation of the “48-hour rule” and
allegedly tortured, before being presented to an
investigating magistrate, where he was accused
of “possessing a list of names of youth who
operate with Al-Shabaab”.
He was denied legal representation, however,
MISA Mozambique fought for his release on bail in
April 2019, although he continues to face several

The offices of independent newspaper
Canal de Moçambique
after an arson attack
August 23, 2020, in
Maputo
CREDIT: CANAL DE
MOÇAMBIQUE

restrictions. In September 2020, Luciano da
Conceição, a correspondent of DW in Inhambane,
was apparently kidnapped and badly assaulted,
his identity documents, two mobile phones, and
a tape recorder taken. His assailants allegedly
gave him a stern warning against his reporting.
In August 2020, unidentified individuals
attacked and set ablaze weekly paper Canal
de Mocambique, known for its critical coverage
of state excesses. An attempt had also been
made to kidnap its editor, Matias Guente, on 31
December 2019. The paper is under investigation
for violating “state secrets” due to its publication
of a series of reports exposing apparently illegal
contracts linking the former defence and interior
ministers to security and protection contracts for
petroleum companies in Cabo Delgado, where
the military insurgency is taking place.
In Zambia, several attacks against journalists
and media were recorded. On January 29, 2019,
Prime TV journalists Njenje Chizu and Toliwe
Banda Chanda were sent away from a briefing by
the ruling Patriotic Front Secretary General Davies
Mwila from the party secretariat, on accusations
of “not covering the party”.
In May 2019, Tobias Daka, a journalist with
Radio Maria Zambia was attacked and harassed
by Patriotic Front party supporters after he
participated in a political talk-show. Several other
journalists were attacked between July 2019 and
January 2020 for their coverage, or lack thereof,
of different stories.

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