In Guinea-Bissau, the 21-day sprint to Election Day begins November 2 and both politicians and journalists are preparing for a hotly contested campaign.
The high-stakes election season brings with it logistical and ethical challenges for reporters. Media organizations are preparing coverage proposals to present to international partners, particularly the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). These proposals often include requests for per diems to pay for transportation, food, lodging and communication for journalists.
This practice has long been common in Guinea-Bissau, where media outlets lack the financial resources to independently cover elections. As a result, many will either accept or turn to political candidates or parties for travel support, creating a relationship that compromises journalistic independence. To maintain impartiality, media outlets are increasingly seeking support from international and regional organizations.
The UNDP has been supporting media organizations in Guinea-Bissau with some funding, though the exact amount varies. During the 2023 parliamentary elections, UNDP provided financial aid to several outlets, including radio stations Sol Mansi, Jovem and Bombolom, as well as newspapers O Democrata, Capital News and Última Hora. Each received about $2,500, according to a VOA reporter in the country.
UNDP has also been promoting civic education, working through the National Elections Commission, which partners directly with media outlets. Despite these efforts, the Union of Journalists and Media Technicians (SINDICATO dos Jornalistas e Técnicos da Comunicação Social) reported that their recent attempts to obtain additional support from international bodies, including the United Nations, the EU, and ECOWAS, have been unsuccessful.
Guinea-Bissau also faces issues including the influence of powerful drug traffickers and organized crime. In 2023, President Umaro Sissoco Embalo dissolved the opposition-dominated parliament after what he termed a coup attempt. Voters also face pressing social issues such as the cost of living, access to health care and education.
The government has summoned private media organizations, demanding $5,000 for a license to continue broadcasting. This issue has surfaced before, and in response, the Forum of Private Media Organizations, or FOCSP-GB, prepared a counterproposal to present to the government.
The proposal suggests that commercial radio stations and newspapers in Guinea-Bissau pay $3,000 for a license, with a $1,000 biannual renewal fee. For community radio stations, the proposal suggests a one-time payment of $500 for a license, with no need for renewal, acknowledging the important role these stations play in their communities. The government has yet to comment or respond to the proposal.
Many radio stations have been unable to raise the $5,000 needed to secure their licenses before the elections.
Four political parties and three coalitions are competing in the November 24 contest.
Guinea-Bissau's political system has been severely strained in recent years by divisions between the president and the parliament, as well as infighting within the main political party. Corruption remains a major issue, advocates say, worsened by the corrosive influence of drug traffickers.
"Corruption is widespread, including among senior government officials, and both military and civilian officers have been charged with involvement in illegal drug trafficking," wrote the nonprofit organization Freedom House this month.
It highlighted the case of Malam Bacai Sanha Jr., the son of a former president, who pleaded guilty in a U.S. court in September 2023 to charges that he was leading an international drug trafficking network.
At the time, he was accused of planning to use the drug profits to finance a coup in his home country.
Freedom House also documented efforts to intimidate media outlets, writing that in recent years, "armed men -- some dressed in military clothes -- have repeatedly attacked the private station Radio Capital FM, which is allied with the PAIGC [African Independence Party for Guinea and Cape Verde], vandalizing its offices and destroying broadcasting equipment."
Freedom House reported that, in December 2023, "in the sequence of the alleged coup attempt, armed men and in military uniforms invaded state television and radio stations and ordered them to be removed from the air; a few hours later, the men sent technicians to the stations to broadcast music and then a news segment about the dissolution of parliament by the president."
The application of "exorbitant" private radio licensing fees is identified as a threat to press freedom, especially when legal default can lead to up to three years in prison for the station owner.
In April 2022, Freedom House said the government ordered the closure of 79 radio stations for lack of payment of licensing fees, and "all stations, except for two, resumed the broadcast later that month, after civil society organizations helped them negotiate staggered payments to the Government."
In its latest report this month, the group also addresses the dissolution of parliament in December 2023.
"The military apparently refrained from interfering in politics in the years following 2014, although they were used by President [Umaro Sissoco ] Embalo to complete his term," the report said. It added that "voters and politicians' choices continue to be influenced by corruption and the networks of clientelism."
Corruption is widespread in the country, including among senior government officials.
"Judges are highly susceptible to corruption and political pressure, and the judicial system as a whole lacks resources and the ability to function effectively," the report said, adding there are "multiple restrictions on personal social freedoms."
VOA reached out to the office of the president, but inquiries went unanswered.
Reporters have also faced aggression from security forces. In September, Julio Oliveira, a photojournalist for the Lusa News Agency, was detained by the Rapid Intervention Police, attacked, threatened to be taken to the police station and forced to erase all the images he had on his camera. He had been filming a caravan that accompanied former prime minister and opposition leader Domingo Simoes Pereira to his residence in the center of Bissau.
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Lusa denounced the attack, saying it was "shocked by the unexpected and inexplicable aggression" to its photojournalist.
"These types of procedures cannot fail to deserve the most vehement condemnation of the Lusa Board of Directors, finding themselves in violation of the most elementary principles of freedom of information and press, as well as the rule of law," it said in a statement.
In August, during the swearing in of the new Cabinet, the president told the new Minister of Social Communication Florentino Fernando Dias, "Your role, Minister Florentino, is not to close the radio stations, but they must be legal and must pay the contributions to the state."
Embalo urged him to "help the journalists' unions so that they are legal, because the union regulates the conduct of the professionals of the sector, prevents someone from proclaiming himself journalist only because he has an internet and a telephone."
However, tensions continue, with journalists complaining of being barred from covering official events. In an incident in July, Embalo used profanity toward journalists upon arriving at the airport following a trip to China.
Watchdog groups say the country is increasingly becoming a dangerous place for the media, and restrictions are preventing citizens from accessing important information.
"The situation of Guinea-Bissauan journalists is dramatic," said Sadibou Marong, the sub-Saharan Africa bureau director for the press freedom nonprofit Reporters Without Borders. "The president of the republic displays a disastrous attitude toward the media."
This story originated in VOA's Portuguese Service.
