A veteran journalist vanishes in the capital
Press freedom across the Sahel has taken another heavy blow. The sudden disappearance in Niamey of Moussa Kaka, a well-known Nigerien journalist who heads Radio Télévision Saraounia (RTS) and stands as a historic figure in regional news, has triggered a wave of outrage and anxiety far beyond the country’s borders. A seasoned reporter who once served as an emblematic correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI), Kaka has been untraceable for several weeks, as the security and political climate in Niger grows steadily more tense.
No word since he left home
Based on accounts pieced together from relatives and local colleagues, the journalist has given no sign of life since leaving his residence in Niamey. The transitional authorities have issued no official grounds for any arrest, and efforts made with security services and police stations across the capital have so far produced nothing.
For decades, Moussa Kaka has been a familiar face and voice to audiences across Africa, known for his rigorous coverage of security issues, political crises and the complex community dynamics of the Sahelo-Saharan belt. His career, built on in-depth investigations and privileged access to actors on the ground, has repeatedly exposed him to pressure from various regimes.
RSF steps forward
Confronted with this deafening silence, the press advocacy organisation Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reacted without delay. Speaking on Africa Radio, Sadibou Marong, director of RSF’s West Africa bureau, voiced the organisation’s deep concern over what he described as a troubling detention or forced disappearance.
“The disappearance of Moussa Kaka is an extremely alarming signal for the entire Nigerien and Sahelian media landscape. We urgently call on the Nigerien authorities to shed full light on his situation, to specify whether he is being held by intelligence services, and to guarantee his physical integrity and immediate release,” Marong said.
The NGO recalled that protecting information professionals is the responsibility of the transitional government, and that journalistic work cannot be equated with an act of destabilisation.
A media landscape under mounting strain across the AES
This case unfolds in a particularly harsh context for journalism in the countries of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which brings together Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Since military transitional governments took power, civic and media space has faced growing restrictions: suspensions of international outlets, intimidation, arbitrary arrests of civil society actors and forced self-censorship among local journalists.
For the profession in Niger, the Kaka case illustrates a worrying erosion of the safeguards that underpin the practice of journalism. As the sub-region grapples with immense security and economic challenges, the disappearance of one of its most respected voices casts a dark shadow over the future of the right to report freely in Niamey.
