There is something going wrong among African political leaders in 2007. Africa is supposed to have acquired some democratic experiences, but now some practices are reminding us of the era of dictatorships. I strongly agree with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Mathai when she says: “I believe in the freedom of the press that cannot be separated from democracy, my conviction is that journalists should be left to regulate themselves and not be pushed to the wall” (Kenya civil society joins Bill protestors).

It is very sad to realise that only northern Africa is having a better score as the following analysis shows:

Central Africa

This part of Africa is breaking all the records. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, private journalists are being assassinated in the street. In neighbouring Rwanda, independent papers are being shut down by authorities for illicit reasons and journalists are being forced into exile. Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Gabon and Chad are the only ones where no major abuses against journalists have not been reported, at least for 2007.

Western Africa

Until last June, Mali was praised to have achieved the most successful democratic transition in all Africa. And this happened after another peaceful end to the Touareg war. In June, President Amadou Toumani Toure’s administration got contaminated by the virus that many other regimes have, by jailing journalists who had published critical essays by high school pupils.

Southern Africa

Southern Africa has ceased to be the most stable part of Africa. Zimbabwe has become a kind of dark spot in all, including freedom of press. To materialise this, President Mugabe passed last week the so called “Interception of Communications Bill”, giving the government the power to censor even phone and Internet communications in search for subversive information. Hummmm!!!I know phones can be wiretapped but I do not see what kind of technology Mugabe has to enter people’s e-mail accounts.

Eastern Africa

No major scandal has been reported in Eastern Africa until today 15 August. Just a few months before the elections, the parliament passed an intimidating and controversial media bill, compelling news organs to reveal their sources when needed. This simply means that nobody will dare deliver any information any more and that no journalist will dare make any comments and analysis for fear s/he would be forced to reveal his/her source. It is simply scandalous and president Kibaki should take a very long distance from the parliament and make himself popular among news men and the civil society, as he will have imposed himself as the guardian of democratic values.

Democratically elected dictators

To answer my own question, and I am sure other webloggers will agree with me, freedom of press is in serious danger in Africa and something – but what???- needs to be done. African democracy is sick, and that sickness is called is called “democratic dictatorship”, and the virus causing it is spreading all over Africa, as the number of democratically elected dictators is growing.