By Saio Marrah
The Clerk of Parliament, Umarr Paran Tarawally, has on Tuesday 10th August 2021, said the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has the right to regulate the conduct of its members ( journalists) that sit in the press gallery within Parliament, but not the press gallery itself.
He made this statement during the commencement of two days training of journalists on parliamentary reporting. The training which commenced on Tuesday 10 August 2021 at the new conference room of parliament was being supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The clerk pointed out that Section 80 of the Standing Order (SO) of parliament gave the power to the Speaker to grant a permission of journalists to sit in parliament. “The speaker may grant a general permission to the representative of any journal to attend the sittings of parliament under such rules as he may from time to time make for that purpose.”
He said even though SLAJ, being the parent body for Sierra Leonean journalists, has the right to regulate the conduct of its members, he argued that the speaker of parliament has the absolute right on how to constitute or reconstitute the press gallery itself.
He said this is because the press gallery is what he called “a creature” of parliament and not that of SLAJ. “The power to constitute, reconstitute and the power to direct how the parliamentary press gallery functions is in the exclusive domain of the speaker of parliament, who may delegate such function to an MP, a leader, the clerk or whoever is charged with the responsibility to ensure that the administration of parliament is run effectively and efficiently,” Tarawally told the media practitioners.
He also disclosed that journalists who are members of SLAJ, all staff of the PR units of parliament, interested members of parliament who had worked as journalist, freelance journalists, and the new media activists are the categories of journalists that maybe accredited by the speaker to sit in the press gallery and report professionally on the happening of the proceedings.
He further pointed out that under the condition which the accreditation was granted, if it is violated, the accreditation can be revoked.
He however said even though no one is stopped from reporting the happening of parliament, yet to become a member of the press gallery is “quite dichotomized distinguished “from the general parliamentary reporting.
He therefore said: “If you are a member of SLAJ and you are a journalist you can apply on a daily basis when sittings are commenced to come report on parliamentary sittings, but to have access to the gallery designated for the parliamentary press gallery, you should be continuously or permanently accredited by Mr. Speaker,” he added.
He therefore said the training was not just about journalists knowing how to do parliamentary reporting, but for those from the press gallery to suggest an idea about the way forward.
According to him, in other countries, the press gallery is the most vibrant and that in Kenya, no one reports on the happenings of parliament besides the press gallery.
The Interim President of the press gallery, Rev. Vincent Jabbie Momoh, called on SLAJ, which he described as the umbrella body, not to see the Parliamentary Press Gallery (PPG) as betrayers.” I want to make use of this opportunity to encourage and implore SLAJ, our umbrella body not to see members of the Interim Executive of PPG as betrayers. We were appointed to reconstitute the gallery with an autonomous mandate that will lead the gallery to a democratic election. We can’t continue to see the abeyance, that is why we accepted the appointments,” he said. This was in reaction to SLAJ condemning some members in the press gallery for acceding to what the association said was an illegal interim executive set up by the office of the clerk of parliament. SLAJ said the office had no authority to do that saying there was legitimate executive still in place that was recognized by the body.
On another note, he also called on the administration of parliament, the UNDP and other partners to kindly assist journalists at the press gallery with more training opportunities, equipment, exchange programmes, scholarships, peer-review and funding for public education on the role of parliament and MPs, and independent media oversight activities.
The UNDP Technical Advisor to parliament, Roseline Jariatu Smith, a former house member thanked the current parliament for being closer to the people through the media and assured that the UNDP will continue to support parliament towards democratic dispensation.
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