- Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade has issued a decree dismissing the country's anti-press minister and chief propandagist of the ruling party from the government.
Farba Senghor, minister of craft, transport and aviation, has been accused of orchestrating recent attacks on the independent media.
It was not confirmed whether Mr. Senghor would maintain his post of the propaganda director of the Senegalese Democratic Party. President Wade is yet to name a replacement for Mr. Senghor.
Senghor's dismissal came almost two weeks after unidentified men raided the offices of 'L'As' and '24 Heures', two privately-owned in Dakar. The attackers sprayed mace at employers and destroyed reporting and printing equipment on 17 August.
The newspapers pointed accusing fingers at Senghor of ordering the destardly attacks. Senghor vehemently denied the allegations.
Prior to the attacks, the newspapers were engaged in a bitter dispute with the government over the beating of two Senegalese journalists during Senegal/Liberia football match.
The two papers have been adamant that the police officers accused of mistreating Baboucar Cambel Dieng and Karamokho Thioune, reporters of RFM and West Africa Democratic Radio, should be put on trial.
As the dispute became tense, the terrorised newspapers decided to run stories on Mr. Senghor's private life, prompting him to call on the government and the party to cut off their advertising contracts with the papers.
Senegal, one of Africa's major democracies, has had frequent push and push with the press for reporting critical and sensitive issues.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
front page
| news
| countries
| archive
| currencies
| news alerts login
| about afrol News
| contact
| advertise
| español