In Ivory Coast, journalists are raising the alarm, citing attempts at corruption or intimidation that encourage self-censorship.
The Ivorian government's attempt to impose a new leader on the National Union of Journalists of Ivory Coast (UNJCI) has sparked protests in recent months.
"In Ivory Coast, we journalists like to say: freedom of expression exists, but it's the freedom after expression that doesn't. Between 2016 and 2022, the newspaper La Voie Originale recorded at least 56 sanctions," states César Etou of the newspaper "La Voie Originale".
In July of last year, Beninese journalist Hugues Comlan Sossoukpe was arrested in Ivory Coast and extradited to Benin, despite his status as a political refugee in neighboring Togo. He was accused of criticizing former president Patrice Talon.
"The law decriminalizes press offenses, but that doesn't stop the authorities from arresting journalists and interrogating them for hours and hours at the research brigade. This is no way to live," explains César Etou.
On a social level, journalists live in precarious conditions, rarely receiving the salaries to which they are entitled under the collective agreement. This amounts to approximately $480 per month for a male editor and double that for a female editor.
Often the obligation to preserve financial contracts pushes the media to disregard the public's right to information.
"To be clear, we are not really free. Because often the press houses have partnerships with companies which means that there are reports that we cannot do," says journalist Fatoumata Kaloga.
The Minister of Communication, Amadou Coulibaly, who is also the government spokesperson, rejected these criticisms, stressing the need to combat online misinformation which is sometimes picked up by the media.
"We do not kill journalists in Ivory Coast. We do not imprison them," he said last month.
