By Hassan Ibrahim Conteh (Editor)

As Sierra Leone’s elections draw closer, President Julius Maada Bio seems to enjoy a media fraternity with journalists across the country.

The President prides himself as he has guaranteed Sierra Leoneans a Press Freedom throughout his reign.

He doesn’t arrest or lock up a single journalist in police cells or imprisoned any.

Currently, Sierra Leone is ranked 7th  in Africa and 46th in the world as a country that upholds Press Freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders.

Such glory must be credited to President Bio and his team, the New Direction government.

However, last week, he was with some journalists at a fourth Annual Presidential Media Cocktail at Country Lodge in Freetown.

Mr. Bio was brimming with confidence while addressing press men about his success scored over the years in media landscape.

His name has gone down in history to have kicked out the 55 five year old draconian and obnoxious Public Order Act of 1965.

The old law was used by politicians to criminalize journalists.

In the past decades, the media landscape was under the furnace of government officials as they stifle dissenting opinions.

The President, however; at a cocktail party bragged himself to be a man of his words. He had promised to repeal the Criminal Libel law during 2018 elections campaign.

And he has fulfilled that promise by revoking the Sierra Leone’s Public Order Act, one of the oldest colonial and draconian laws in Africa.

Mr. Bio is admired to have taken a bold step to repealing a controversial law that was used to hook up journalists and writers.

In the past turbulent days, journalists and writers who tend to criticize government were arrested and locked into prison.

The law was used as a ‘trap’ and hook for journalists just like other countries that were colonized by Great Britain.

In the past decades, popular journalists like David Tambayoh, Paul Kamara and others were arrested and looked up in police cells and prisons using the old law.

In those dark and gloomy days, critical opinions of persons were suppressed by the government. Journalists, writers and advocates hardly expressed themselves freely without hindrance and resistance by government operatives.

Journalists operations are scrutinized thus a deep fear is instilled on them. And efforts by human rights advocates and the media to stamp out the seditious libel law became a fruitless endeavor.

 

The wind of change

After writers, broadcasters, novelists, advocates had suffered under the scourge of the seditious libel law, Sierra Leoneans saw a wind of change.

The wind of change was seen on  23 July 2020, when President Bio finally removed the Criminal and Seditious libel law, otherwise Public Order Act of 1965.

Journalists and other writers became happy because they now have freedom to express their opinions.

President Julius Maada Bio was widely admired around the world. He was heaped praises to have taken a bold step to effect a change in the media industry.

 

“ I have given you heaven…successive governments have failed to repeal the law,’’  President Bio said  at  recent meeting with journalist.

The President also said he would like journalists to work with him until he got to the final stage.

“Stay with me, stay the course and let us finish this journey together,’’ he asked journalists.

But Sierra Leoneans, who should be represented by the press to hold government accountable in public office, may be confused as to which relationship that exist between journalists and the government.

Despite Sierra Leone enjoys Press Freedom, they wonder whether there is a ‘beneficial relationship’ between the government and journalists in Sierra Leone.

A number of questions have been raised about journalists’ role to serve as ‘watchdogs’ and mediators between the government and the people.

All over the world, journalists are known to be the people’s voice and must not waiver from their responsibility to tell the truth about government misdeeds and failures.

‘’As I speak, no journalist is in fear or in detention for doing their work…let the marriage continue’’ President Bio addressed journalists at a media cocktail.

A lot of questions have been asked by some Sierra Leoneans about the responsibility of journalists to the people.

Some quarters of the public say in as much as President Bio has fulfilled his promise to guaranteeing Press Freedom, journalists likewise must also fulfill their social responsibility to the people.

The duty to hold power to account,  duty to report accurate stories that will promote ‘quality debate’ in public forum, to be objective and impartial at all times.

Also, as elections are expected to be held in June next year, Sierra Leoneans have long expressed deep fears about the replacement of the criminal libel law to the current Cybercrime law passed in 2020.

Though President Bio was admired for winnowing out the Criminal Libel law, the introduction of Cybercrime act has sent a chilling effect on the minds of Sierra Leoneans.

To many, the Cybercrime Act poses danger to writers, critics and particularly journalists.

Legal experts and advocates have heavily condemned the act to be selective and that it is meant to mostly target journalists.

They considered certain provisions within the act as dictatorial to the operations of journalists, internet and social media users.

The new law seems to give police officers compelling powers to censor people’s computers and confiscate them upon their investigation.

The Cybercrime Act merely tends to reverse the gains already made by the New Direction government, according to many observers.

The stance of government information ministry was scorned of by right activists and media practitioners. Government says it wanted to protect the privacy of ordinary Sierra Leoneans in cyberspace especially social media users.

But many thought government speedily moved to enact Cybercrime Bill of 2020 as a tactic to muzzle the press and to suppress dissenting voices of social media users.