AT the 20th African Investigative Journalism Conference (AIJC) held at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa from October 30 to November 1, 2024, journalists from across Africa raised an urgent call for action on journalist safety and press freedom amidst escalating threats on the continent.
Marking the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, they addressed the increasing dangers faced by reporters, including harassment, imprisonment, and targeted killings for exposing corruption and human rights abuses.
Delegates included participants from countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including nations as diverse as Nigeria, Argentina, China, Andorra, and Sweden. The gathering offered a rich mix of workshops, discussions, and networking events focused on advancing journalistic integrity, innovation, and cross-border collaboration.
While addressing the growing threats journalists face in an event that brought over 450 journalists from 32 African nations together, the participants urged governments to act swiftly and end impunity.
Their demands included releasing all journalists detained for their reporting, establishing an African tribunal for investigating crimes against the press, and banning government and private sector surveillance of journalists.
They also called on civil society and press freedom organisations to collaborate on rapid response mechanisms, offer legal and psychosocial support for journalists in distress, and strengthen protections for female journalists facing harassment.
“Effective collaboration and coordination among journalists’ safety organisations and human rights defenders, including by effectively reporting on attacks against the media and individual journalists; and to promote policies that safeguard media freedom and improve access to information laws, thus strengthening the legal framework that supports independent investigative journalism across Africa.
“Collaboration and coordination to establish dedicated helpdesks and reporting platforms for journalists and newsrooms facing online harassment, surveillance threats, or digital security breaches. Set up rapid response mechanisms for journalists in crisis; provide legal, emergency, or psychosocial support for journalists in distress; and facilitate the development of open-source digital tools for investigative journalists.
“Increased advocacy and capacity building for the safety of female journalists including developing strong newsroom protocols to address attacks on harassment of female journalists,” part of the communique adopted by the participants and endorsed by the African Editors Forum (TAEF) and other organisations at the AIJC 2024.
The conference also served as a consultation forum for UNESCO, which is working to develop risk assessment frameworks for the safety of journalists, with the AIJC participants emphasizing that journalism is a public good, vital to democracy, and called for African governments and media stakeholders to protect those who risk their lives to report the truth.
Earlier at the event, the convenor, Beauregard Tromp, while addressing the Congress of Journalists, said that a key focus of the AIJC was to develop grassroots investigative journalism on the continent through the 2024 under-30 fellowship program.
He noted that over 25 young journalists who displayed strong potential were fully sponsored to attend the conference, supported by partners like the Open Society Foundations, the Africa-China Reporting Project at Wits Centre for Journalism, and the Gates Foundation.
“We’ve also spoken at length about the need to strengthen Global South cooperation within the journalism community. We have established networks with our colleagues in the US and Europe, but we don’t have the same collaboration with colleagues in Latin America, Asia, and other areas.
“We’ve worked hard over the years with organisations like the Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN) to build and foster these relationships, attending events like the 2024 COLPIN conference in Madrid to learn more about how we can better engage with these communities.”
Ugandan journalist Blanche Musinguzi named Africa’s Best in 2024
In a highlight of the AIJC, Ugandan journalist Blanche Musinguzi was awarded the African Investigative Journalist of the Year Award for his groundbreaking investigation into the illegal trade of Congolese hardwoods through East Africa.
His investigation, titled “How Congo Trees are Smuggled through East Africa”, was supported by the Pulitzer Center and the Rainforest Investigations Network, exposing the far-reaching impacts of timber smuggling networks on local communities and ecosystems.
The award ceremony took place on October 31, with the convenor of judges Gwen Lister commending Musinguzi for his persistence, courage, and exceptional storytelling in navigating challenging conditions.
“It’s a story featuring great investigative research on the ground, persistence, and courage in a dangerous part of our continent, as well as profound reporting. It is also an accessible and well-written report, an often-overlooked component of journalism,” Lister said.’
The investigation traces the illegal processing and export of valuable timber from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to various countries worldwide.
“It’s also a story with great environmental impact, uncovering the people and companies behind widespread criminal activity with negative repercussions in many regions across Africa,” said Lister.
In his acceptance speech, Musinguzi reflected on his journey, sharing how his rural upbringing in western Uganda and his mother’s sacrifices inspired his dedication to journalism.
“Even now if you ask her, ‘What does your son do?’ she would not be able to tell you. She was able to provide me with my fees and send me to school, but she could not read my report cards. When I went to secondary school, my classmates’ parents were teachers and doctors, and so on, and they would come to visit their children, but no one could come to visit me – they couldn’t.
“So from a very young age, I learned to take things seriously. This award goes to all of us, and it’s an encouragement that we continue to do good work,” he said.
Runner-up honors went to Ghanaian journalists Manasseh Azure Awuni, Adwoa Adobea-Owusu, and Evans Aziamor-Mensah for their investigative series, “The GH₵ 3 Billion Lie”, which revealed the creation of parasitic companies used to siphon off taxpayers’ monies in the oil sector.
Third place was awarded to Hennie van Vuuren of South Africa for his work on the Russian Doll series, which explored covert operations surrounding South African military figures and Russian geopolitical interests.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M