Kenya: Media closure, MP arrest and tear gas follow ‘subversive’ Odinga swearing-in

Kenya: Media closure, MP arrest and tear gas follow ‘subversive’ Odinga swearing-in

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga’s symbolic swearing-in ceremony in Nairobi is considered “a well- choreographed attempt to subvert or overthrow the legally constituted Government of the Republic of Kenya,” according to a statement released Wednesday. Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i said full investigations into Odinga and his Nasa “co-conspirators and facilitators” are…

MONUSCO, media groups alarmed over DR Congo journalist arrests

More than 15 journalists were among those arrested or detained while covering protests in Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday, drawing the condemnation of both MONUSCO and media advocacy organization Reporters Without Borders. The arrests were among more than 120 documented by the United Nations in Kinshasa and other cities…

Rwanda-Burundi tensions reflected in war of words over food

The English-language New Times in Rwanda on Saturday described the Burundi government’s refusal to accept humanitarian aid because the food was grown in Rwanda as folly and “misplaced obstinacy.” “It is those kinds of immature politics we are witnessing across the border that has destroyed many countries,” the news outlet…

#Oromo news network in U.S. works to defeat Ethiopia’s media blackout

Ethiopia’s state of emergency dramatically reduces access to information about the Oromo population from within the country, where independent journalists and bloggers have been silenced for weeks. From outside Ethiopia, however, Oromo journalists and activists continue to provide news of what’s happening behind the veil of tightly controlled state media….

Mugabe threatens tougher media laws

Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, has threatened to introduce new harsher and more rigid media laws after he accused the press of lying and writing fiction about him, New Zimbabwe reported. The statement was made during Mugabe’s speech at the luncheon of the third session of the 8th Parliament on Thursday….