By James Tamba Lebbie
The editorial team at Politico newspaper views with some concern the attempt by the management of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation to drag our image into disrepute in its press release issued on 4 May (See below) in reaction to a front page story with the headline “Massive Corruption at SLBC…KPMG report says” carried in our 2 May 2012 edition.
We wish to be categorical in expressing our views, and justifiably so, that the SLBC management totally lacks the professional pedigree to question our journalistic credentials. That they are “stunned” by our report either tells you that the concept and practice of independent and accountable journalism is alien to them, or because they are very much enmeshed in the old template of patronage and pro-establishment journalism or both.
Meanwhile, to illustrate the editorial bankruptcy of the SLBC management as they attempt to poke holes in our story, which we believe was carried out within the bounds of the highest professional standards, we will scrutinize below some of the points raised in their press release:
“The paper purported to be reporting a draft of an ongoing audit exercise the SLBC, through the Ministry of Information has requested KPMG to carry out on its January–December 2010 financial activities. While the SLBC cannot comment on any concerns raised in the draft report we are stunned that The Politico which sees itself as a group of professional journalists could in a hurry afford to make a story out of an inconclusive and unsigned document.”
To begin with, Politico newspaper did not “purport” to report but did report the findings of an audit report carried out by KPMG on the SLBC for its January to December 2010 financial activities and we stand by it. If the SLBC management believed that that KPMG report was a “draft”, they should not have responded to us. Therefore, that the SLBC management would assert that they “cannot comment on any concerns raised in the draft report,” after they have already commented on it to us, is disingenuous.
And to say that they were “stunned that The Politico which sees itself as group of professional journalists could in a hurry afford to make a story out of an inconclusive and unsigned document,” is dishonesty and misleading to say the least. As a matter of fact, we demonstrated balance and were fair in the running of our story. If we were unprofessional and reckless as the SLBC press release is insinuating, we had the option as a newspaper to run our story based on the report of a very credible audit firm without talking to the SLBC management and Board. Instead, we made deliberate attempts to seek the reactions of both parties mentioned in the report. Mr. Festus Minah, Acting Chairman of the Board of Trustees spoke to us on the phone while Mr. Elvis Gbanabom Halowell spoke in person and both reactions/responses were carried in our story. In addition, we didn’t opinionate or editorialize in our story. We merely presented both sides of the story and allowed the reader to make a judgment. That is straight news, which differs from a commentary and/or an opinion.
In addition, if the SLBC management was convinced that the KPMG report was “an inconclusive and unsigned document”, they should have pointed that out and/or refused to comment on the report when we approached them. Instead, the Board Chairman reacted to the report by explaining measures the Board has taken since they became aware of the alleged fraud. The DG on the other hand attempted to discredit the KPMG report and to create the impression that the report was stale and therefore a waste of our time to carry it. Also, even if we agree for the sake of argument that the KPMG was a draft, we believe that such a “draft” would not be fundamentally different from the final report.
And the press release also has this to say:
“Following the publication, on Friday, May 04, 2012 the management of SLBC and KPMG had a lengthy meeting in which both institution condemned the publication and dissociated themselves from it. “We are not a part of this publication,” a senior KPMG official said. The official noted that what they have put together was a working draft to which further documentations, meetings and discussions have been requested of the SLBC and not a document for public consumption since all the facts have not been captured yet nor has the audit report been signed by either party.”
Whether or not officials of KPMG distance themselves from our story is irrelevant, and by the way, the SLBC cannot speak for KPMG. What is important to ask is whether or not the KPMG report on the SLBC is true. And in case the management of SLBC don’t know, we are journalists whose loyalty is to the people of Sierra Leone. So if such an important public institution is allegedly involved in a massive corrupt practice as pointed out by the KPMG audit report, we are bound by our monitorial and radical responsibilities as journalists to bring it out to the public. And we decided to make this report public because we did not believe the report will be made available for public consumption, judging by past records of shelving away important reports from public view.
We wish to make it abundantly clear that we at Politico newspaper have “no sacred cows” in our journalistic sojourn. We don’t consider documents/reports on public institutions that should be accountable to the public as classified as long as there is overriding public interest.
And we will conclude with these few points:
That all allegations carried in our story are not fabrications. They are charges contained in the KPMG report. And to buttress this point, we have made a deliberate decision to serialize the report for public consumption.
That we at Politico agree with the SLBC management on only one point raised in their press release, which is that, “the SLBC is not only a new concept but a far cry from what the SLBS was.” We definitely cannot challenge this assertion. And that is why we consider the Director General’s rating of the SLBC’s performance at 40 percent at the SLAJ AGM in Bo, as well over the top.
That we also have in our possession the Elizabeth Smith report on the SLBC’s editorial performance, which is even more scathing than KPMG’s audit report. Politico newspaper will publish it on a date of our chosen.
That Politico newspaper will remain seized of the issues relating to the SLBC.
SLBC PRESS RELEASE
ON A PUBLICATION ON THE FRONT PAGE
OF THE POLITICO NEWSPAPER WEDNESDAY MAY 2, 2012
The attention of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) Board of Trustees and management has been drawn to a publication on the front page of the Politico newspaper of Wednesday May 2, 2012 captioned MASSIVE CORRUPTION AT SLBC. The paper purported to be reporting a draft of an ongoing audit exercise the SLBC, through the Ministry of Information has requested KPMG to carry out on its January–December 2010 financial activities. While the SLBC cannot comment on any concerns raised in the draft report we are stunned that The Politico which sees itself as a group of professional journalists could in a hurry afford to make a story out of an inconclusive and unsigned document.
Following the publication, on Friday, May 04, 2012 the management of SLBC and KPMG had a lengthy meeting in which both institution condemned the publication and dissociated themselves from it. “We are not a part of this publication,” a senior KPMG official said. The official noted that what they have put together was a working draft to which further documentations, meetings and discussions have been requested of the SLBC and not a document for public consumption since all the facts have not been captured yet nor has the audit report been signed by either party.
Management would like the public to know that for the period beginning January to December 2010 which KPMG is auditing, the SLBC went through four different kinds of management structures: there was initially the SLBS management structure, the transition team structure, the caretaker team structure, and the substantive current management team structure (which had only been in office for three months). Management and KPMG have noted the difficulty experienced in securing and confirming certain information such as the one indicating that SLBC has been unable to account for eleven billion Leones worth of property assets of the SLBC. The claim is not only ridiculous but unsubstantiated, since at no time has this current management inherited any such documentation.
The Politico purported to be quoting the KPMG draft when it accused the SLBC Board of Trustees of receiving sitting fees for which they never met. Management can categorically state that at no time did any Board member receive any emolument for meetings not attended. There are enough records at our disposal if the so called investigating team headed by Mr. Tamba Lebbie was interested in reporting an objective case rather than creating a mischief.
All throughout the procurement of the SLBC satellite undertaken after UNIPSIL decided to cut off the SLBC radio transmission from their satellite, the SLBC with then only two full time staff and the Board undertook the process of securing a satellite for the corporation so as not to cut off information from the entire country for any period of time. Along the process, SLBC Board and management solicited the support and advice of the Government of Sierra Leone, the National Public Procurement Agency (NPPA), and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Management views the reporting of The Politico with suspicion. While the SLBC strongly supports the freedom of information and accepts Politico as partners in the media, we call on that organ and indeed all media to be mindful of the professional ethics of reporting, especially inconclusive and unauthenticated reports.
The current SLBC management would like the public to know that while we did not manage the SLBC for the entire period under audit review but only took over the last three months, we have raised the level of the corporation to high professional standards with a detailed and complex editorial policy guide, staff manual guide, sound financial policy guide, and a procurement policy. This development is important to be mentioned because it is public knowledge that the SLBC is not only a new concept but a far cry from what the SLBS was. The expected KPMG report will be the first audit this institution is going through despite its predecessor, the SLBS having existed for over seventy-five years. While change management has been challenging in terms of administration, finances, attitude and professionalism, we are proud to note that significant strides have been made since the formation of the SLBC as a national public broadcaster!
SIGNED
MANAGEMENT
Friday May 4, 2012
