A prominent media lawyer says Sierra Leone's position on the World Press Freedom Index over the last two years “under-represents” the image of “a country which had set the pace for others in the West African sub-region.”
According to the index, the country, ranked 61 out of 180 countries in 2013, dropped 11 places to 72 out of 180 in 2014.
Lawyer Ansu Lansana told the State Policy and Human Rights Committee of the Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) that “it is imperative that Sierra Leone embarks on image-rebranding not only on the economic front but also on the democratic front”.
He called for the repeal of the criminal and seditious libel laws to bring Sierra Leone in line with the recent ruling of the African Court of Human and People's Rights which states that “imprisonment for defamation violates free speech.”
On wider media issues, Lansana, who is also the UNDP consultant working on the codification of media laws in Sierra Leone, said “the prevailing public perception of the Independent Media Commission (IMC) is that it is a toothless bulldog with powers it cannot exercise unless through cabinet decisions channelled through the Minister of Information.”
He said that if the IMC should regain its relevance as an impartial regulator, “the chairman and members should not be subjected to political appointment, nor should their tenure of office be at the behest of the president. To do so is to create a perfect scenario for the political micro-management of the commission.”
He described the section in the IMC Act that requires the president of Sierra Leone to appoint IMC commissioners on the advice of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, SLAJ, as “an empty legislative courtesy” because Section 53 (3) of the 1991 constitution of Sierra Leone makes it impossible for any court to hear a case from a concerned party, should the president discountenance a piece of advice on such appointments from SLAJ as in recent cases.
Lansana called for a “special chapter guaranteeing media freedom...consolidating reforms in the IMC; encompassing its composition, mode of appointment of commissioners; functions and independent operations of its finances”, and urged the CRC to always remember, in its interactions with public during the constitution-making process, that “there is a synergy between free media and democracy; the two are locked in a symbiotic fusion and feed off each other – as democracy guarantees media freedom, free media in turn protect democracy.”
However, president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Kelvin Lewis said they were not surprised that press freedom was “deteriorating” in the country which he said was because “government has gone back on all its promises.”
He said President Ernest Bai Koroma’s promise in 2007 had changed from “’repealing’ to ‘reviewing’ the criminal and seditious libel laws” and even at that there had not been any serious efforts in that direction.
Lewis said the president “does not seem to be committed to repealing the libel laws and in last year two journalists were convicted on those laws”.
The SLAJ president said “the issue of IMC and President Koroma’s ignoring of the advice of SLAJ also shows that his government has no intention of granting press freedom.”
Both the information minister and his deputy declined to react when contacted to do so.
© Politico 16/12/14
