The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns recent attempts by the House of Assembly in Nigeria's Akwa Ibom state to expel journalist Haruna Acheneje from the state, which is located on the country's southern coast. Acheneje is a correspondent based in Uyo, Akwa Ibom's capital, for the national daily The Punch. On August 11, The Punch ran an article by Acheneje titled "Lawmakers protest non-payment of allowances." On August 14, the House of Assembly passed a resolution to expel Acheneje from the state.

On 18 August 2003, at the opening of the Nthabiseng Thutuzela Care Centre at Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said the South African government would not comment on continuing allegations that Deputy President Jacob Zuma tried to solicit a bribe from a French defence contractor linked to South Africa's multi-billion rand arms deal. Maduna also instructed government agencies and persons involved in the investigation not to comment on the issue.

One of the once heralded Seven Buildings project in Johannesburg was evicted on 26 August. The CEO of the building's new, alleged title holder was a member of the board of the project. The owner of the private security company contracted by the city to carry out the evictions was a member of the same board.

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A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically - like a "what's new" page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly - from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction.

Residents of Vrygrond Phase 6 won an agreement from the Cape Town Unicity today that evictions would be put on hold for at least 3 months. This decision comes after members of the Vrygrond Action Committee (previously Vrygrond Anti-Eviction Campaign) presented research done within Phase 6 showing that the evidence presented to the Cape Town High Court by the Unicity's lawyers earlier this year was fatally flawed. Officials of the Unicity had been trying to move ahead with eviction orders on the basis of the fact that they claimed that most of the people who occupied houses in Phase 6 had moved to Vrygrond after 1998.

Soroti district has no more drugs to treat displaced people who are fleeing LRA rebels in neighbouring districts. The District Director of Health Services in Soroti, Dr Nicholas Okwana, says that he cannot find enough drugs to serve the 130,000 displaced people in Soroti town. He could now suspend Operation Safe Haven (OSH) - the emergency health relief programme for displaced people in the municipality.

High-ranking government officials in both Namibia and Zimbabwe have lashed out recently against the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). MISA reports that, on 14 August, Namibian President Sam Nujoma launched a verbal attack against the organisation as well as "The Namibian" newspaper and its editor, Gwen Lister. The president condemned MISA, which he said was only out to insult him and other heads of state, and accused "The Namibian" and MISA of being "unprofessional" and "reactionary." Nujoma also instructed reporter Andreas Frai of the Namibia Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) not to work with MISA anymore.

Fifteen journalists are still languishing in Eritrean prisons nearly two years after a crackdown on the independent media, according to Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Association of Eritrean Journalists in Exile (AEJE). The two organisations have criticised the "arbitrary" way in which the authorities carry out arrests as well as the secrecy surrounding journalists arrested in Eritrea.

Radio is the most popular, pervasive and affordable means of communication in developing countries like Ghana and Sierra Leone, where lack of basic infrastructure and illiteracy are common denominators, and where funds to produce and distribute media materials for development are in very short supply. The radio, viewed against the backdrop of problems highlighted, would be the most viable and accessible medium of instruction and communication. The Panos Institute West Africa has set up, in both countries, a pilot radio project using Oral Testimonies. The methodology of Oral Testimony (OT) radio reporting is based on a specific interview method using the “Oral Testimonies” of the local population in their original languages. Local and rural community radio stations generally broadcast in these languages, as a result, interpretation and communication problems are not foreseen.

The Media Monitoring Project has deplored recent incidents in which journalists from the privately owned media were allegedly harassed and assaulted by overzealous members of the police force and supporters of ZANU PF. The Daily News reported that a journalist with the Kwekwe based privately owned Midlands Observer, Flata Kavinga, sustained “a deep cut on the head and sustained multiple body injuries” after he was assaulted by suspected ZANU PF supporters. According to Kavinga, the suspects accused him of peddling messages that were anti-government through his paper and through the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) T-shirt he was wearing. The police confirmed the incident.

APC and CTO are proud to announce the release of the “ICT Policy for Civil Society” training pack. The pack includes a curriculum and accompanying materials to build the capacity of civil society organisations to understand and engage policy and regulation related to information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Non-Profit Resource Training invites registrations for the following workshops:
* Project Implementation & Management Workshop (J'BURG) 1-2 September
* Financial Management of Funded Projects and Programmes 10-11 September
* How to Write the Winning Funding Proposal (DURBAN) 17-18 September
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joyce (021) 685 7726 or email: [email protected]

Yeken Kignit (“Looking Over One’s Daily Life”) and Dhimbiba (“Getting the Best Out of Life”), two new social content soap operas, are changing behaviour in Ethiopia. New evidence indicates that more than a third (35 percent) of new family planning clients in Ethiopia have heard one of the radio soap operas. Nearly six percent of the new clients said they visited the clinic as a result of listening to one of the dramas. Since the programs began broadcasting in June 2002, 7,500 letters from enthusiastic listeners have arrived at Population Media Centre’s (PMC) Ethiopia office, the U.S.-based organisation behind the dramas.

The Tunisian government should release journalist Abdullah Zouari immediately and unconditionally, Human Rights Watch has said. Zouari was arrested after he assisted a Human Rights Watch research mission in the south of Tunisia. Zouari, currently in Harboub prison, has faced constant harassment since he completed an 11-year prison sentence in June 2002.

Earlier this month, Gambian police assaulted Buya Jammeh, a reporter for the English-language biweekly The Independent, near the newspaper's offices in the capital, Banjul. According to sources familiar with the incident, on August 9, two police officers stationed a short distance from the newspaper stopped Jammeh on his way to a radio station where he works part-time.

The 4th issue of the Africa Freedom of Expression Digest is available. The aim of the digest is to compile on a monthly basis the trends of violations on freedom of expression on the continent.

Young Africans have been urged to pursue careers in information and communication technologies to help the continent realise its development goals. At a recent conference participants called on African youth organisations to draft a plan of action on how to implement ICT and Nepad projects in their countries.

The World Rainforest Movement (WRM) is an international network of citizens' groups of North and South involved in efforts to defend the world's rainforests. Among their activities, they publish a monthly electronic bulletin. Previous issues can be accessed through the web site www.wrm.org.uy. The newsletter has a section focused on Africa.

In the latest issue, e-civicus has articles on pioneering social entrepreneurs from around the globe and economic upliftment among the San. To subscribe email [email protected].