RSF is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation focused on safeguarding the right to freedom of information.
Last year, The Gambia scored fifth in Africa and 46th in the global ranking.
Sadibou Marong, RSF director for the Sub-Saharan Africa region, explained the rationale behind this recent drop, attributing it to two reasons.
The first reason, he said, is as a result of delay in payment of bills of subscription and adverts to media houses by government, which he added, affects the daily production of media outlets.
Marong further added that another reason for the decline has to do with the country’s draconian media laws introduced by the former regime, which he said, are still in the law books.
Moreover, RSF revealed that the country’s security and the legal scores remain similar to those of last year.
Suffice it to state here that after 22 years of abuse under Yahya Jammeh, The Gambia has made great progress in press freedom. In 2023, one of those responsible for the assassination of the late veteran Gambian journalist, Deyda Hydara was sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court.
It is also believed that the ‘difficult’ economic situation also weighs down on the country’s score, which also has a “rather good” social and security situation.
