By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
Minister of Information and Communication, Mohamed Rahman Swaray, has told lawmakers in the House of Parliament that journalism in Sierra Leone will be better if they go ahead and repeal the criminal libel law from the country’s law book.
Swarray was addressing Members of Parliament on Thursday during the second reading of the bill to repeal Part 5 of the Public Order Act of 1965 which criminalizes libel.
“Some of the toughest laws in this country have been passed during times of great apprehension. In spite of all the apprehension now about repealing this law, I know journalism will be better and more professional after this repeal,” Swaray said.
Whiles urging MPs to go on and repeal the obnoxious law, Swaray said enough safeguards were now in place to prevent journalists from being reckless.
He noted that the civil libel provisions of the law, the Bankruptcy Act, the SLAJ Disciplinary Committee and the reviewed IMC bill will all serve as a necessary check to journalists abusing their freedom to practice by “assassinating the hard earned reputation of other well-meaning citizens.”
Members from across the aisle voiced their support for the bill. SLPP lawmaker and Chairman of the Legislative Committee, Hindolo Ngevao, said: “this is a huge step for our democracy.”
“The circumstances that existed back then when the law was introduced doesn’t exist now,” he added.
All Peoples Congress (APC) MP, Abdul Kargbo, said during the deliberations that “this law exists in autocratic states. It should not exist in a democratic state like ours; when people express themselves freely and are in fear of going to jail.”
Kargbo’s support, like those of most other MPs, came with a note of caution about the responsibility of journalists.
“Freedom of speech can also have consequences. Someone can use this freedom to impede on the rights of other people. In as much as we want journalists to breathe, we should protect the reputation of people in our society,” Kargbo added.
Leader of the National Grand Coalition (NGC) in parliament, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella, also remarked: “We are of the opinion that there has to be safeguard. Those who are mostly targeted by journalists are prominent citizens. We want to understand what will be the role of the IMC, the judiciary and whether self-regulation will work.”
Leader of Government Business, Martin Nyuma, said the repeal will not give journalists a free pass to abuse the right of others with their new found freedom.
“What we are doing is to give journalists freedom and hold them to account,” Nyuma said.
“Let us allow people to practice freely, this is a democracy. We are doing this for every Sierra Leonean; we are not doing this just for SLAJ. So I call on all of us to make history and repeal this law,” he added.
The repeal bill was committed to the Legislative committee after which debate started on the amended IMC Act, which is supposed to serve as a safeguard in the post repeal law.
The debate on the IMC bill brought forward concerns about registration and renewal of license, definition of public interest and other issues.
At the close of the debate, parliamentary leaders from the SLPP and APC asked lawmakers who owned or are sponsoring any media to declare their interest whiles the bill is being committed to the Legislative Committee.
“Those who have interest please disclose it. Because if you participate through this process, it will affect our work,” Leader of the opposition APC party, Chenor Bah, said.
Nyuma also re-echoed Bah’s call, saying that members who are involved with media ownership should stay away from the process as a standard ethical safeguard from influencing the process.
Whiles committing the IMC bill to the Legislative Committee, Nyuma said all opinions that have been sent in since the bill was first published, will be read through and considered.
He encouraged every interested party to take part in the legislative engagements.
In his closing remarks, Swaray thanked MPs whiles assuring the government’s own commitment to hold media people accountable by strengthening the media through capacity building and professional development.
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