M

MISA’s appropriately selected theme for
2017 – ‘lights
out on democracy’ – provides an ideal
framework to
interrogate the
democratic
project in southern Africa. A closer look
reveals an environment for media and
citizenry that is highly volatile, hotly
contested and often under pressure. A
landscape where the insidious and subtle erosion of free speech rights is compounded both by the media’s struggle for
economic survival and its relevance to
citizens who all too easily disown their
media and the critical role it plays in
keeping power to account.
Tanzania and Zambia stand out as democracies gone amok.
The Zambian political and social landscape was peppered with incidents
ranging from the death of a student from
Copperbelt University who was injured
by police during a protest, to the bombing of a privately-owned media house in
Lusaka and the declaration of a state of
emergency following a spate of arson attacks on public installations.
President John Magufuli’s crack down
on all criticism and dissent is both subtle and overt and weighted against popular political and economic reforms.
This makes it difficult for advocates to
navigate the terrain of harnessing support to fight for fundamental rights when
Magufuli’s fiscal policy decisions reflect
the strengthening of an economic sector. Citizens and stakeholders overlook
infringements on freedom of expression
and media freedoms. His shrewd skill in
crafting law under the guise of regulation is in fact constricting the space for

10

So This is Democracy? 2017

opinions and in essence is creating a
police state. Opposition politicians and
journalists including the exiled Ansbert
Ngurumo and the still-missing Azory
Gwanda are on a growing list of the
dead, disappeared and detained.
Across several borders in Zimbabwe, a
major political shift with the removal of
former President Mugabe in a November 2017 ‘intervention’ by Zimbabwe’s
defence forces has so emboldened security forces - not only in Zimbabwe –
that there is a legitimate concern for the
abuse of power or lack of accountability
on the part of the security forces. Supposed actions in the public interest or
national security increasingly appear to
be motivated by personal gain and consolidation of power in the securocrat.

FREE EXPRESSION ONLINE
The inclination by African governments
to shut down the internet or suspend
social media sites and messaging apps
continued in 2017. Whilst fewer internet shutdowns were recorded in 2017 as
compared to 2016 (twelve instances of
intentional internet or mobile network
disruptions in nine countries in 2017,
compared to eleven in 2016 ), Quartz
Africa suggests that in 2017 governments either did so more frequently or
over longer periods of time.
Internet shutdowns impede human
rights such as freedom of expression
and assembly, access to information
and political rights. They also come at
a huge cost to African economies. It is
estimated that these digital interruptions
came at a cost of nearly US Dollar 11
million last year.
Breaches to internet freedom thrive and
flourish when there is no coordinated
citizen and active society response. Digital rights activists warn that full-blown

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