On the 16th of January 2019, an investigative journalist in Ghana, Ahmed Hussein-Suale was killed near his family home in Madina, Accra.

It was a clear case of assassination. According to eyewitnesses around the murder scene, two men had been hanging around that spot for a week. On the day he was killed, they had fired at his car as he was approaching a junction, hitting him in the neck. Then one of them walked up to his car and shot him twice in the chest. Turning round to look at bystanders, he smiled and raised a finger to his lips.

Ahmed has been working for the masked Anas Aremeyaw Anas, the owner of a secretive, investigative team in Ghana. Together, they had worked undercover to expose acts of corruption and other societal evils. Among them is the investigative documentary, Number 12 which revealed the corruption in football refereeing, especially in Africa, and which led to the ban and resignation of a number of football officials.

This documentary, released in June 2018 angered some powerful figures in Ghana, including one who allegedly released the picture of a hitherto anonymous Ahmed, as well as other private details about the late journalist saying, “That’s him. His other picture is there as well, make it big. If you meet him somewhere, slap him… beat him. Whatever happens, I’ll pay.”

And now, in January 2019, Ahmed Hussein-Suale is dead.

Democracy is supposed to be the best system of government that allows for law and order in a society while ensuring that the people govern themselves either directly or through elected representatives. But in Africa, as in some parts of the world, democracy has a different definition. It is a system that gives people the illusion that they have a say in how they are being governed.

Every day, we are faced with the sad reality of the mismanagement and destruction of Africa by its leaders who continue to impoverish and disempower the people so that they do not have the will to fight back. When courageous people rise above suffering to expose them or bring about change in their countries, they are faced with opposition from these leaders which takes different forms.

In some countries, there are laws subtly restricting free speech. These laws https://qwenu.com/2019/02/01/in-africa-democracy-has-a-different-definition/