The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and its partners have initiated moves to seek an amicable solution to the recent standoff between the authorities and some radio stations in Guinea-Bissau.
On April 7, 2022, the government closed 79 radio stations. The Ministry of Social Communication announced the closure in a press statement, revealing that the radio station operators had failed to regularize their broadcast license status within the 72-hour deadline given by Minister Fernando Mendonça. The Minister’s ultimatum initially targeted 88 radio stations, but nine of them managed to meet the deadline.
On April 13, a delegation from the MFWA, the Union of Journalists and Media Technicians (SINJOTECS), the MFWA’s partner in Guinea-Bissau, and the Network of Community Radios and Televisions (RENARC) met with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Social Communication about the closure of radio stations.
The six-member delegation included Daisy Prempeh, a senior MFWA official who arrived in Guinea-Bissau to coordinate an MFWA-EU project aimed at empowering the media in Guinea-Bissau, as well as Ivanildo Paulo Bodjam, the organization’s project assistant.
The delegation basically requested that the Ministry review its decision to close the affected radio stations and allow for a negotiated payment plan. The team pointed to the precarious finances of radio stations in the country and expressed concern that a national code enacted to regulate broadcasting activities had not yet been approved to help promote the broadcasting industry.
The delegation asked the Ministry to review its decision to close the affected radio stations
The delegation asked the Ministry to review its decision to close the affected radio stations
The delegation asked the Ministry to review its decision to close the affected radio stations
The delegation asked the Ministry to review its decision to close the affected radio stations
The leader of the delegation, Fátima Tchuma Camara, Vice-President of SINJOTECS, told MFWA that the meeting was friendly and fruitful, although there was no immediate progress on the request to lift the sanctions against the stations.
The Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Social Communication, Germánia Fadul, promised to convey the concerns raised at the meeting to the Minister and assured the delegation of the Ministry’s willingness to engage in dialogue.
While the Guinea-Bissau government’s willingness to engage in dialogue on the closure of radio stations is commendable, the MFWA remains extremely concerned about the impasse. We urge the government to consider the important role that radio stations have played and continue to play in helping to deepen democracy in Guinea-Bissau and to compromise on the issue.
Meanwhile, on April 12, the day before the MFWA’s meeting with the authorities, the Ministry of Media issued a decree threatening radio station managers and owners with a three-year prison sentence.
The Ministry invoked Article 42 of Guinea-Bissau’s Broadcasting Law to issue the serious threat. The provision reads:
“Anyone who carries out broadcasting activities without a license, or who makes transmissions that are considered clandestine under the terms of this law, will be punished with imprisonment of up to three years or a corresponding fine.”
However, a veteran journalist from Guinea-Bissau, who spoke to the MFWA on condition of anonymity, dismissed the threat as untenable. According to him, the law invoked by the government refers to unauthorized and pirate broadcasting, rather than licensed broadcasters whose permits have expired.
