This book provides critical perspectives on media structures, ownership, new regulatory regimes, and the way both nations and local communities within them have engaged with globalisation via localised responses in Southern Africa. Studies detailed in this collection discuss privatisation, black empowerment, liberalisation, traditional communication, democracy and media freedom, the kalahari San, identity and new media.

Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi has named a multi-sectoral Interim Management Team (IMT) to assist the Eastern Cape government in stamping out corruption and ease its administrative backlogs.

The fatwa issued a fortnight ago against the ThisDay Journalist Isioma Daniel by the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State in Northern Nigeria has far-reaching implications beyond the immediate threat to her life, press freedom, and the controversy surrounding Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World beauty pageant. Before going further, it is important to declare an interest in the matter. I am a journalist by training, and have campaigned for press freedom, freedom of expression and human rights in general all my adult life. I have also lived and worked in Nigeria, campaigned against military dictatorship, and in the past wrote a column and features on current affairs for ThisDay Newspaper. This 'admission' does not in anyway disqualify me from commenting on this issue, quite the contrary. I may also add, that although my professional judgement is that portions of Isioma's article were controversial, the fatwa against her is completely out of order.

What are the implications and significance of the fatwa beyond the immediate issues?

Firstly, it is important to recognise that the issuing of a fatwa by an elected politician represents a dangerous political phenomenon. That is, one of a nascent dictatorship based on a fusion of religion and the state (in a section of a secular country). This phenomenon began with the passing of death sentences by stoning against allegedly 'adulterous' women in the name of religious law. In all cases, not a single man responsible for the pregnancies or babies used as evidence against the women was indicted. The failure of the Nigerian government to intervene decisively to halt these blatant miscarriages of justice permitted the phenomenon to expand its jurisdiction to cover press freedom, freedom of expression and the arbitrary and extra-judicial imposition of death sentences on other citizens.

Secondly, by first concentrating its initial attacks on the alleged promiscuity of women, e.g. unwed mothers and beauty contestants in a largely chauvinist society, this phenomenon was able to employ a divide and conquer tactic, and also cloak the potential danger of its spiked fist with a glove of dubious morality. We have not heard that the Zamfara State government (or for that matter the Nigerian government) is opposed to the giving away of teenage girls into marriage. This in turn, highlights the inequalities in Nigerian society in general and the country's constitution in particular. For instance, the present Nigerian constitution written by the last military regime, and accepted by the incumbent civilian government, denies women many rights including the right to confer citizenship on their non-Nigerian husbands through marriage, a right taken for granted by Nigerian men. A senior government official once justified this on the logic-defying basis that women are “easily carried away by emotion” and may end up conferring Nigerian citizenship on foreigners in exchange for love.

Thirdly, by advocating a legal and institutional framework which aims to restrict the movement and activities of women, and deny them their economic, social and political rights, Zamfara and other states advocating similar laws will by default literally 'bury' half the problems of their states in relation to unemployment, provision of education and so forth in one stroke. The other side of this of course, is that society is denied the benefit of half of its skills, talent and productive forces. It is significant that high unemployment and deepening poverty in some states have provided armies of unemployed and desperate youth easily converted into raging mobs by cynical manipulation of some religious and political leaders.

Fourthly, the violent protests orchestrated by political and religious opportunists and the issuing of the country's first ever political fatwa could be interpreted as a testing of the waters, and a show of strength by potential demagogues to see how far they can go without being challenged by secular and democratic forces, or even other Islamic leaders.

It is necessary to point out here that the problem is not with Islam. Christian fundamentalists in the United States for instance have regularly attacked and even killed doctors running family planning clinics and women attending them. Despite carrying out these acts of violence with thinly veiled and tacit support of right wing religious and political leaders, no one in their right mind can allege that the problem is with Christianity. To further emphasise this point, women in predominantly Muslim countries such as President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Tansu Çiller in Turkey, and Begum Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh have emerged as democratically elected leaders. In 'conservative' countries such as Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan under the Taliban where democratic rights are suppressed, elections are not held - never mind the emergence of women leaders.

Within this context, the problem of invoking religion and narrow interpretations of religious morality to suppress democratic rights can be seen more as a device by members of ruling elites or opposition groups to build social and political support for their political agendas, rather than as a strictly religious problem. This problem is only religious to the extent that at best, it reflects the undemocratic interpretation of a religious school of thought. In order to stop such undemocratic schools of thought from gaining political ground and suppressing democratic rights, the time to intervene is now.

Individuals, whether public officials or private citizens, cannot be allowed to commit crimes with impunity in the name of religion which otherwise would not go unpunished. Calling for the arbitrary murder, execution or assassination of anyone is a crime regardless of if it is done in the name of religion.

If the Nigerian government is not to create a dangerous precedent, the Inspector General of Police must at the very minimum commence investigations into the statements and actions of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi.

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and all democratic and judicial institutions of the Nigerian government must also go beyond opposing the Fatwa, and reaffirm unequivocally the supremacy of all constitutional and democratic rights over any pronouncements by any person, whether public office holder or private citizen. These rights include media freedom, and the fundamental rights to opinion, free expression, association and life.

In addition, the Nigerian government must recognise and affirm that it is not the place of the government or private individuals to punish the media for errors or the content of news reports, features or opinion articles. Any redress sought must be through the judiciary, or through an independent ethics or complaints body not appointed by or dominated by the government. The media cannot play its vital role of sustaining democracy through holding the government and powerful individuals to account if the government or private citizens can arbitrarily arrogate to themselves power to punish the media.

To fully appreciate the consequence of not acting now, we must ask the question: What would have been the consequence for democracy and the unity of Nigeria if Isioma Daniel and the publisher of ThisDay Nduka Obaigbena had been murdered by zealots carrying out the exaltations of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor? What would have been the consequences for the West African Sub Region of a chain of events which could have led to widespread religious and ethnic conflict in a country of one hundred and twenty million people? Without a shadow of doubt, failure to halt 'politically' motivated rights violations at the starting blocks, often have devastating consequences for society.

* Rotimi Sankore is Coordinator of CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights
* Send comments and views for publication to

Background Information:
On the 16th of November 2002, Isioma Daniel wrote an article on the Miss World beauty pageant published in ThisDay, a Nigerian national newspaper. In the article, which addressed the controversy over Nigeria’s hosting of the pageant, she suggested that the prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen a wife from the participants. The article attracted complaints from Muslims and protesting youth torched the Kaduna offices of ThisDay in Northern Nigeria. Over two hundred lives were lost in the protests, and churches, mosques and other property were destroyed in attacks and counter attacks by Muslims and Christian youth. The federal government had to deploy the police and army to restore peace, and imposed a curfew for some days.

The Newspaper publicly apologised for the article, and explained that the Editor had tried to remove the offending sentences, but failed to do so due to technological difficulties. The publication emphasised that it is not anti-Muslim and has several Muslims in top management positions. Some Muslim leaders accepted the apology and called on fellow Muslims to do the same. But some other Muslim leaders refused to accept the apology, and supported the Fatwa issued by the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi. The potency of the fatwa was undermined by the fact that it was opposed by the country’s leading Islamic body the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and some prominent Muslim scholars on the grounds that the writer and the publication had apologised, and that the Deputy Governor does not have the authority to issue fatwa’s. The Nigerian federal government also opposed the fatwa and press freedom groups in particular condemned it. However, the Zamfara State government, which was the first Nigerian State to introduce Islamic Sharia law, has not withdrawn the fatwa.

Isioma Daniel has fled the country.

Related Links:
* Nigerian Sharia state holds firm on fatwa

* Soyinka blames federal government
http://allafrica.com/stories/200212020458.html
* Fed Govt Nullifies Fatwa
http://allafrica.com/stories/200211300099.html
* The truth behind the Miss World riots
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,850959,00.html
* Sultan Wants Perpetrators of Kaduna Riots Punished
http://www.thisdayonline.com/

To reduce poverty in developing countries, urgent action is needed to combat poor reproductive health and to help women avoid unwanted pregnancies. This can be achieved by eliminating illiteracy and gender discrimination, says the State of World Population 2002 report.

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The judge leading government anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria has accused parliament of attempting to undermine a probe into alleged financial wrongdoing by senators.

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President Levy Mwanawasa's opposition to the abuses and injustices of the Chiluba regime won him a lot of support and respect from a great a majority of Zambians. But many are starting to wonder how blind his quest for justice is.

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Deputy President Jacob Zuma denied allegations that he attempted to secure a bribe from one of the companies involved in the controversial arms deal, his representative Lakela Kaunda said last Friday.

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The Catholic Fund for Overseas Development says the EU's Common Agriculture Policy undermines the livelihoods of millions of farmers in developing countries. The policy promotes export dumping and denies them the access to the largest market in the world. This is particularly worrying because agriculture is the main economic activity in many developing countries.

Development through Radio (DTR) is a unique rural radio project in Zimbabwe. Popularly known as the Radio Listeners' Clubs, the DTR project was developed to give rural people access to radio. Groups of women are trained to produce their own radio programmes.

In Zimbabwe, choosing your political affiliation is a matter of life or death, confirms a new report. Political abuse of food is the most serious and widespread human rights violation in Zimbabwe at present, according to a November report from Physicians for Human Rights, Denmark (PHR-DK).

The organisation said its most significant findings related to the abuse of food and warned that if it was not possible to increase non-partisan food supplies into the country, then starvation and eventually death would occur along party political lines in Zimbabwe. “We conclude that in the last four months, manipulation of food was directly related to elections. The threat of being deliberately starved by the government if the opposition won votes, was used to profoundly influence vulnerable rural voters in recent elections in Zimbabwe.”

PHR-DK said in all cases of problematic food distribution, those implicated in politically manipulating access to food were Zanu-PF officials or supporters. The lack of food – a situation maintained by Zanu-PF - served a dual purpose for the party: it allowed political control through controlling who accessed food, and it created a Zanu-PF dominated black market which enriched the party hierarchy.

Covering the period from August to October 2002, the report documents the story of a mother named only as DD, who has nine children under the age of 12. She was an active Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporter before the Presidential elections and had experienced trouble accessing food as a result. Shortly before the rural district elections, she realised that her food situation was desperate and that her children were in serious danger of starving to death. She realised that the MDC was not in a position to help, and that as long as she remained a MDC supporter, she would not get food, because that is what everyone in her ward had repeatedly been told by Zanu-PF officials. She had tried repeatedly during 2002 to get on to World Food Programme feeding lists and was told by the local community leaders responsible for drawing up lists that she was not eligible as she was from the MDC. The kraal head, named as T in the report, came to her home and told her she had to surrender her MDC cards if she wanted to benefit from WFP donor food. This was shortly before the Rural District Council elections. DD said she was made to publicly surrender her card and buy a Zanu-PF card. Immediately on doing this, she was declared as being eligible for WFP food, and was placed on their feeding lists. At the time her child was diagnosed as having kwashiorkor, a condition caused by protein and calorie deficiency.

The report is the third report in 2002 on torture in Zimbabwe written by PHR-DK. In January and May 2002, reports concluded that “mutilating torture” was being practised by government supporters against the political opposition, and that perpetrators operated on the assumption of total impunity.

The January and May reports both reflected concern at the clamp down on the Zimbabwean judiciary, media and civil society and its impact on the flow of information on human rights abuses to the international community. “In May we warned that in the Zimbabwean context, fewer formal reports about abuses did not indicate that fewer abuses were taking place. Rather it indicated that repressive legislation and a growing government campaign against independent voices had succeeded in decreasing the information flow.”

The organisation concluded in its November report that little had changed. “Torture and ill treatment beyond any doubt is still being practised by government supporters against their political opponents in Zimbabwe. The fact that perpetrators continue not to care whether they torture people who can identify them, or whether their acts of torture or ill treatment leave marks that can easily be recognised as caused by torture, underlines a clear assumption on their part, of impunity.”

PHR-DK said current findings reinforced the conclusion of earlier reports – that there was a deliberate policy of torture and impunity by the authorities. The November report documents that attacks on independent voices in the media, the judiciary and civil society have indeed continued, and are predicted to escalate yet further in the next few months, in the form of further repressive legislation, as well as attacks on individuals.

PHR-DK is an independent group of Danish medical doctors founded in 1990 whose goal is to bring the skills of the medical profession to the protection of human rights. Previous reports from the organisation are available at

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