Mozambique: Media suffers ‘government controls, political meddling’ – IPI report

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Mozambique: Media suffers ‘government controls, political meddling’ – IPI report

4:16 CAT | 14 Dec 2022

File photo: Lusa

The International Press Institute (IPI) has described independent media in Mozambique are under “pressure” and subject to “strong government controls and political interference” in a report out this week.

“One of the main conclusions of a four-day mission to Mozambique was that journalism is under pressure,” IPI said in the report, which is based on research carried out on the ground in August and which has now been published.

According to the report, several journalists and civil society groups in Mozambique expressed concern about the “shrinking space” for action and “worsening climate” for independent journalism in the country “since the President of Mozambique, Filipe Nyusi, took office in 2015.”

IPI also denounced the “constant erosion of the already fragile press freedom environment” as well as restrictions on access to information and independent coverage of issues of public interest, such as corruption and armed violence in Cabo Delgado province.

“Rapid action is required in order to strengthen the protection of press freedom and reinforce support for the main democratic institutions in Mozambique,” the institution said.

According to IPI, the media in Mozambique operates under an “uncertain and unclear” legal and regulatory environment, whose implementation is “weak”, which contributes to “increasing restrictions on press freedom” in the country.

“The implementation of these guarantees is weak and the press in Mozambique is instead subject to strong informal government controls and political interference,” it stressed.

The institution also expressed concern about the “pattern of impunity” that exists with regard to physical attacks on, harassment of and threats to journalists in Mozambique in the run up to the country’s elections, in which “journalists should be free to cover without fear of threats, retaliation or physical harm.”

The IPI calls on Mozambique’s government to consider the report’s recommendations and the reactions of national and international stakeholders in the debate on projects to update the 1991 Press Law, to “ensure that the legislation aligns with national and international press freedom commitments and principles.

“Of paramount importance is the need to ensure that strong legal safeguards are in place to guarantee the independence of media regulation in Mozambique,” it concluded.