The
President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ),Mohamed Garba, has been elected today Sunday 31 March, 2013 in Casablanca (Morocco) as the new president
of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) following the third congress of
that continental body representing the interests of over 50,000 journalists in
Africa. Mohamed Garba replaces Omar Faruk Osman Nur, who served as FAJ
President for the past six years.
The
Congress in accordance with Article 9.4 and 9.5 of the FAJ Constitution,
elected a 9 members steering committee, which later elected Mohamed Garba as
the new President. In the same vein, Maria Louisa Carvalho of the Angolan
Journalists Union was elected as the Vice President of the Federation, while
Stanis Nkundiye of the National Syndicate of Media Professionals in the
Democratic Republic of Congo retains his position as the Treasurer of FAJ. Other
members of the Steering Committee include Ibrahima Khalilloulah Ndiaye
(Senegal), Alexandre Niyungeko (Burundi) Muheldin Ahmed Titawi (Sudan) Credo
Tetteh (Togo) and the former Vice President of the Federation, Foster
Dongozi, from the Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) and Mouhamed Bchir Chakakou (Tunisia).
Three
reserve members to the Steering Committee were also elected namely, Edouard
Adzotsa (Congo Brazzaville), Collin Haba (Rwanda) and Rolland Affail Monney
(Ghana).
In
his inaugural speech to the participants at the Congress, FAJ new President
Mohamed Garba, said that the primary concern of the new Steering Committee will
be to unite the affiliates in the continent and moreover to ensure that unions
in the continent are strengthened in order for them to defend the rights and
welfare of their members. The Steering Committee, he emphasised, cannot do
their work effectively without the existence of strong unions. “We will
endeavour to confront the major challenges before us and will always do the
best we can to promote respect of the rights of journalists and to promote
quality journalism in Africa”.
Mohamed
Garba paid tribute to the outgoing FAJ President, Omar Faruk Osman Nur, who he
said had demonstrated a lot of determination for the past six years to ensure
that FAJ meets objectives that it has set out for itself at its
inception. This new Steering Committee, he said, will utilise that working
programme set up by the former Steering Committee, and will not at any time
hesitate to contact and consult with Faruk, in order to tap from his wealth of
experience.
FAJ
President Mohamed Garba thanked the Moroccan Union of Journalists for hosting
the Congress. He also thanked the IFJ President, Jim Boumelha for his
unflinching support to the unions in the continent and his commitment to ensure
safety and protection of journalists in Africa and the world at large. He
assured the IFJ President that he will continue to work with the IFJ in the
most effective manner and will make its doors continuously open to all the
regional associations in the continent.
This
two day congress was the occasion for delegates from 34 countries to have a
look at the governance and policies of the Federation. Delegates scrutinised
and discussed the activities and financial reports, debated and approved
motions, reviewed constitutional amendments and working programme for 2013-2016
as well as elected new leaders. Delegates also addressed pressing issues facing
journalists and their organisations such as increased attempts to criminalise
journalism work, working conditions in the media industry, gender equality,
safety of journalists and impunity.
For
the first time since FAJ has been created the congress included an event
specifically dedicated to the working programme to achieve gender equality. The pan-African gender council committee has been formally put in
place sanctioned by the congress, making FAJ the first IFJ continental
federation that has special structures dedicated to address the needs,
interests, and issues of women journalists. In this regard, the congress
elected Mrs Mounia Belafia (Morocco), Fatima Abdulkareem (Nigeria), Carla Lima
(Cape Verde), Angele Chisimba (Zambia) and Kadiatou Diallo (Guinea Conakry) as
members of the gender council committee. Delegates said they are very confident
on the new FAJ leadership on which they are expecting to score more key
successes to promote and protect the rights of journalists.
The
congress was hosted by the Syndicat
national de la presse marocaine (SNPM). Younes M’Jahed president of SNPM
expressed deep pleasure to welcome delegates in Morocco, and called on them to
develop more solidarity and to stand up together for a better recognition of
the work of journalists in Africa.
FAJ
over the years has received recognition and support from its parent
organization, the International Federation of Journalists and claims the
position of legitimate voice of journalists and journalism in Africa. Delegates
asked the new leadership to rebrand its image in order to maintain a high-level
profile with partners and the trade union movements.
FAJ represents 50,000 journalists in 34 countries in Africa