In Togo, a journalist honoured for his fight against corruption must from now on live in exile

Originally published on Global Voices

Screenshot from Ferdinand Ayité's YouTube channel. Fair use.

In Togo, a journalist's determination and resilience net him an international prize, but cost him exile.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF)'s 2023 index places Togo in the 70th position out of 180 countries for freedom of the press. Compared to the 2022 index (100th out of 180), the country, under president Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé since 2005, has certainly achieved a good boost of 30 places but its situation remains troubling.

Indeed, the country is badly affected by corruption: according to the NGO Transparency International‘s Corruption Perceptions Index, Togo occupies the 130th place out of 180 countries with a tally of 30/100. This score evaluates the level of corruption in the country's public sector on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean).

Notwithstanding, a newspaper, L'Alternative, which publishes articles as well as talk shows on YouTube, does not hold back from mounting inquiries on corruption and human rights violation cases. Ferdinand Ayité, manager of this newspaper has long been a thorn in the side of the Togolese judiciary. Thus in December 2021, Business Minister Kodzo Adédzé and Minister of Justice and Legislation Pius Agbétomey brought a complaint against Ayité and Joël Egah, director of the newspaper Fraternité, for defamatory remarks in a broadcast accessible on YouTube:

Isidore Kouwonou, managing editor of L'Alternative and presenter of its broadcasts, is also named in the case. Feeling the threat hovering over their lives, Ayité and Kouwonou fled the country a few days before the latest hearing on March 8, 2023.

On March 15, the two journalists were sentenced in absentia to three years in prison and fined XOF 3 million (USD 4,981) for “contempt of authority” and “spreading lies on social networks.”

On June 29, it was therefore while he was in exile that the investigative journalist received the announcement that he had been awarded the 2023 International Press Freedom Award of the Committee to Protect Journalists. He is the only African, and shares the prize with Nika Gvaramia of Georgia, Shahina K.K of India, and María Teresa Montaño of Mexico.

Global Voices chatted with Ferdinand Ayité in an interview conducted online jointly with the Togolese channel Plume d'Afrique. The interview has been edited for clarity.

Global Voices (GV): You've just netted the 2023 International Presse Freedom Award bestowed by the Committee to Protect Journalists. What are your initial feelings after this honour?

Ferdinand Ayité (FA): C’est un sentiment de fierté et d’amertume. D’abord de fierté parce que c’est un prix assez prestigieux, et savoir que je suis le seul Togolais et Africain à obtenir ce prix cette année est un réconfort. Un sentiment d’amertume parce que ce prix intervient au moment où au niveau de notre rédaction nous avons énormément de difficultés. J’ai sur le terrain plusieurs collaborateurs qui ne peuvent plus travailler aujourd’hui parce que je ne suis pas à l’intérieur du pays. Savoir que ces dames et jeunes gens ne peuvent plus faire ce qu’ils savent faire, c’est-à-dire le journalisme, est quand même un sentiment d’amertume. Voilà ce qui m’anime en ce moment.

Ferdinand Ayité (FA): It's a feeling of pride and bitterness. Firstly, pride, because it's a rather prestigious award, and to know that I am the only Togolese and African to receive this prize this year is comforting. A feeling of bitterness because this award takes place at a moment when, on the publication front, we're experiencing enormous difficulties. I have several collaborators on the ground who can no longer work today because I'm not present inside the country. To know that these young men and women can no longer do what they do best, that is, journalism, is still a feeling of bitterness. This is what is driving me at the moment.

GV: Can you tell us briefly about your journey and what acted in your favour?

FA: Il y a plus de 15 ans, nous avons lancé ce projet que nous avons appelé ‘‘L’Alternative’’ et nous avons commencé par travailler là-dessus avec mon rédacteur en chef de l’époque, Maxime Domegni qui est aujourd’hui à l’international. Nous avons fait notre petit bonhomme de chemin, subi des humiliations, des persécutions, des harcèlements judiciaires et administratifs, la prison, la condamnation et aujourd’hui l’exil ! Je pense que c’est notre capacité à pouvoir tenir malgré tous ces évènements qui fait qu'aujourd’hui ma petite personne a été primée sur le plan international. C’est le fruit de la résilience parce qu’ailleurs, peut-être pour avoir subi des persécutions, certains ont abandonné. Moi je n’ai jamais abandonné, même il y a un an et demi de cela à la sortie de prison, avec mon confrère qui malheureusement est décédé, paix à son âme ! Beaucoup de voix se sont élevées pour nous dire qu’il fallait laisser tomber. Mais j’ai repris mes émissions sur YouTube comme si de rien n'était. Je pense que quelque part, de loin, il y a des gens qui observaient ce qui nous arrivait au pays.

FA: More than 15 years ago, we launched this project which we called “L’Alternative” and we started by working on it with my chief editor at the time, Maxime Domegni, who is today at the [International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]. We've ploughed our little furrow, suffered humiliations, persecutions, legal and administrative harassments, prison, judgment and today exile! I think it's our capacity to hold our ground despite all these events which has today singled out my humble person for international recognition. It's the fruit of resilience because, elsewhere, perhaps having suffered persecutions, certain people have given up the fight. Myself, I have never given up, even a year and a half ago, on my release from prison, with my colleague who is sadly no longer with us, may God rest his soul! Many people spoke up to tell us we should let it drop. But I re-started my YouTube broadcasts regardless. I think somewhere, from far off, there were people observing what was happening to us in this country.

GV: A few hours after your recognition, you wrote of “a light in this sea of difficulty which we are sailing at this moment.” To what were you referring?

FA : Je parle de ma situation et de celle de mon rédacteur en chef. Le 15 mars dernier, nous avons été condamnés à trois ans de prison assorti d’un mandat d’arrêt international. On a dû quitter le pays, et nous sommes aujourd'hui des fugitifs. C’est difficile et triste de se retrouver dehors, loin de nos familles et de nos parents, qui à leur tour, font objet de harcèlement au pays. C’est par rapport à toutes ces évènements et à notre situation actuelle que j’ai eu à faire cette déclaration. C’est très difficile pour les journalistes que nous sommes d’être contraints à vivre cette situation.

FA: I'm speaking of my situation and that of my managing editor. On March 15, we were sentenced to three years in prison backed up by an international arrest warrant. We had to leave the country, and we are today fugitives. It is difficult and sad to find ourselves shut out, far from our loved ones and families, who, in turn, are subjected to harassment in the country. It was all these events and with our current situation that I was dealing with in this statement. It is very difficult for journalists that we are forced to live with this situation.

GV: Given the setback, do you think you went too far in your commitment to a free press in Togo?

FA : Non, quand on a des principes et des valeurs et quand on les défend, on n’a jamais été trop loin. J’ai été président de SOS Journaliste en danger, [une association des journalistes togolais pour la défense de la liberté de presse], nous avons fait des manifestations au Togo pour exiger le retrait de certaines lois et certaines dispositions mais on a été bastonnés et gazés. Voir aujourd’hui qu'on peut envoyer un journaliste en prison, c’est quand même assez grave pour un pays qui se dit démocratique. Tant qu’on n’a pas une presse vraiment libre et indépendante qui contribue à la consolidation de la démocratie à travers la libre information des populations, ce qui est mentionné dans notre constitution, on ne va jamais trop loin.

FA: No, when one has principles and values and one is defending them, one has never gone too far. I've been president of SOS Journaliste en danger [an association of Togolese journalists for the defence of press freedom], we have held demonstrations in Togo to demand the repeal of certain laws and certain measures but were beaten and teargassed. To see today that they can send a journalist to jail is pretty serious for a country which calls itself democratic. As long as we don't have a really free and independent press that contributes to the consolidation of democracy through free information to the people, which is cited in our constitution, you can never go too far.

GV: To whom do you dedicate this award?

FA : Je dédie ce prix à la presse togolaise parce qu’elle se trouve aujourd’hui dans une situation assez préoccupante. Que soit la presse audio-visuelle où les fondateurs sont acculés par des difficultés financières, ou les journalistes qui perçoivent difficilement leur salaire, on ne parle pas souvent de ces problèmes. De même, la presse écrite est dans une situation catastrophique: certains journaux ne paraissent plus aujourd’hui ou pas selon leur périodicité à cause de ces contraintes financières.

Aujourd’hui, cette presse n’est pas indépendante car l’indépendance est d'abord financière. Il faut se rendre compte que la presse est totalement dans le gouffre. Ces cinq dernières années, une dizaine de journalistes sont morts, et la plupart sont décédés parce qu’ils n’avaient pas les moyens de se soigner. Cela doit interpeller non seulement les journalistes mais les autorités.

Nous ne sommes plus à l’époque du simple journaliste de reportage, car cela, avec les réseaux sociaux, tous les citoyens peuvent le faire. Le problème est l’espace qui ne nous permet pas d’évoluer, d’avoir des moyens pour pouvoir faire la loi. Les journalistes indépendants eux vont creuser au fond de la marmite, investiguer pour faire ressortir des dossiers qui permettront qu’on puisse corriger les tares de la société.

FA: I dedicate this award to the Togolese press because it finds itself today in a rather troubling situation. Whether it's the audio-visual press or its founders with their backs against the wall financially, or journalists having difficulty seeing their way to making a living, we don't often talk about these problems. Similarly, the written press is in a catastrophic situation: some papers no longer appear today or not as scheduled because of these financial constraints.

Today, this press is not independent because independence is firstly financial. You have to realize that the press is at rock bottom. Over the last five years, nearly a dozen journalists have died, and mostly have done so because they lacked the means to take care of themselves. That ought to command the attention not only of journalists but of the authorities.

We are no longer in the days of the jobbing newshound, because that, with social networks, is something all citizens are able to do. The problem is the space that doesn't allow us to evolve, afford us a means laying down the law. Independent journalists are those who will get down to brass tacks, investigate, to highlight the cases that will allow society's ills to be addressed.

Originally published in Global Voices.