Media, state and army representatives discuss media freedom in Guinea. Photo: Antti Kuusi, IMS

Presidential elections are taking place in the West African country of Guinea on 27 June. The transitional period of moving from military rule towards democracy has opened up new possibilities for the country’s media

By Antti Kuusi, IMS

The government and the army are slowly letting up on the pressure they have been asserting on the country’s media. The National Transitional Council, formed in February 2010 to manage the country’s transition from military to civilian rule, has been able to negotiate a compromise that has the moved army back into the barracks. Even the police have disappeared from the streets of the capital Conakry and the few traffic police that remain are unable to control even the traffic.

The government has traditionally kept tight control over the media. Radio and TV stations, as well as the country's largest and only daily newspaper, are state-controlled and rarely offer much coverage of opposition views. However, with what is expected to be the first free presidential elections since Guinea’s independence from France in 1958, media’s access to election information and candidates is more crucial than ever in order to inform the public of their electoral choices.

Forum on media freedom

Together with several Guinean media and state organisations International Media Support organised a two-day forum to discuss media freedom in Guinea around the electoral period. The forum was opened by high level state and media representatives including the President of the National Transitional Council, Mrs. Bah Diallo Rabiatou Serah. More than fifty participants discussed the situation and put together recommendations on good conduct during the electoral period. The dialogue was extremely positive and both parties wanted to concentrate on getting the job done. the high-ranking security officer, Colonel Sory Camara thanked the transitional government for freeing the army and security forces from arbitrary orders and called the security forces the brothers of media workers.

Media guaranteed access to election events

During the second day of the Forum several recommendations were made on how to improve the relationship between security forces and the media. Most important was the promise by security forces to guarantee access to all election events and voting venues to any journalists with press cards. Also, it was agreed that both security forces and media would have focal points to deal with problems arising during the elections.

Additionally, it was decided that there would be no discrimination or differentiated treatment of state and private media. The participants will meet again after the first round of elections to review how the recommendations have been implemented.

The elections are being organised with strong economic backing from the UN and EU. Security around the elections is guaranteed by a special 7 000-person strong security force FOSSEPEL. 24 candidates are competing in the elections.