Committee to Protect Journalists - Botswana

Attacks on the Press 2009: Africa Developments

2010-02-16T05:02:50Z

BOTSWANA

2005-08-22T00:00:00Z

AUGUST 2, 2005
Posted: August 17, 2005

Rodrick Mukumbira, Ngami Times, Agence France-Presse, IRIN
EXPELLED

The government sent a July 27 letter to Mukumbira, a Zimbabwean national who had been working in Botswana since 2002, revoking his work and residence permits and ordering him to leave the country within seven days, according to the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA). He was forced to leave the country on August 2, the journalist told CPJ. Mukumbira was a news editor for the Ngami Times in northwest Botswana and a correspondent for international news media, including Agence France-Presse and the UN-affiliated IRIN.

Journalist's expulsion draws concern

2005-08-09T16:00:00Z

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by your government's recent expulsion of Rodrick Mukumbira, a Zimbabwean national who had been working as a journalist in Botswana since 2002. Local press freedom groups have expressed concern that the expulsion may be linked to his work.

On July 27, the government sent Mukumbira a letter revoking his work and residence permits and ordering him to leave the country within seven days, according to the Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA). He was forced to leave the country on August 2, the journalist told CPJ. Mukumbira was a news editor for the Ngami Times in northwest Botswana and a correspondent for international news media, including Agence France-Presse and the UN-affiliated IRIN.

Attacks on the Press 2002: Africa Analysis

2003-03-31T17:10:53Z

Although the Kenya-based East African Standard, one of Africa's oldest continuously published newspapers, marked its 100th anniversary in November, journalism remains a difficult profession on the continent, with adverse government policies and multifaceted economic woes still undermining the full development of African media.

Attacks on the Press 2002: Botswana

2003-03-31T17:09:30Z

Though journalists and human rights observers generally consider the independent press in Botswana free, the government proved in 2002 that it is unwilling to tolerate negative coverage from state media.

Attacks on the Press 2002: Ivory Coast

2003-03-31T17:05:40Z

Hopes were high in July that Ivory Coast's political crisis would end after a judge in the capital, Abidjan, confirmed that former prime minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara, the leader of the opposition Rally for Republicans (RDR), is an Ivory Coast citizen.

Attacks on the Press 2001: Africa Analysis

2002-03-26T17:12:05Z

Silence reigned supreme in Eritrea, where the entire independent press was under a government ban and 11 journalists languished in jail at year's end. Clamorous, deadly power struggles raged in Zimbabwe over land and access to information, and in Burundi over ethnicity and control of state resources. South Africa, Senegal, and Benin remained relatively liberal from a press freedom perspective, while corruption and fear pervaded newsrooms in Mozambique and Togo.

Attacks on the Press 2001: Botswana

2002-03-26T17:10:20Z

Botswana is generally considered a model of peace and stability in southern Africa, and its press, though relatively small, is vibrant and outspoken. Relations between the government and the press were strained this past year, however, as officials tried to influence editorial policy and cooperated less with independent journalists.