When late President Siaka Stevens handed power over to the then Military head, Late Major-General Joseph Saidu Momoh, the former was confronted one day on the queue for fuel. A little girl told her that he had left the nation with long queues for fuel and rice. You know what the Old Pa told her? You definitely don’t know… but I will tell you.
Pa Shaki indeed agreed that yes, he left queues but that his queues never took a curve like President Momoh’s.
You see the old man ‘shaki’ was very witty. What he was simply saying was that comparatively his days in power were better. Before I forget, let me say here that President Momoh was a very good- natured man, but I think he was not ready for the kind of power thrust upon him just like that. Let me tell you, politics or no politics, previous years are always better than current ones. This is just the way of the world, whether we like it or not. Do you listen to Bobby’s songs? He says they used to say ‘Munku by packet’, but that today they say ‘Munku by carton’! Do you see the point?
Bobby, also says that one cannot fight against the world or go against the world. What I find so appalling is that somehow, quite a good number of our press have suddenly taken sides in the political divide and are coming out with very instigating calumnies and diatribes. Yes, we do not expect them all to carry the same view points, but at least we expect that they should be objective. But then you may ask, can we really experience justice in this country. And don’t forget that justice is the center point of even religion, democracy and good governance.
Of late, the media seems to be negating the very tenets that they are supposed to uphold and the main arbiter which is the Independent Media Commission appears to be systematically undermined by sections of society and a portion of the very media. Well now, there seems a stand-off between the IMC and some media Houses.
Why is it that any institution meant to regulate the conduct of certain sectors always end up being flouted in a most brazen way?
We are witnessing quite a lot of overt apprehension over the outcome of the coming elections. Every blessed or cursed day that passes, we read the kind of virulent pieces in some of our local tabloids or radio.
One is made to run into one conclusion; that is that the real people who are threatening peace are sections of our Media.
We often squarely blame the politicians for instigating young people into violence. But this time round the media have joined politicians.
These keep fanning the flames of discord between especially the two main political parties.
Like someone used to say, no one actually goes to any university to study how to be violent. We can hardly get anywhere if we are going to continue to call the dog with a stick in our hand.
In the same token, you cannot employ the dog to be a butcher except of course, if it had given up the habit of eating meat. When the lizard of the homestead fails to do the things for which its kind is known for, it will be mistaken for the lizard of the farmyard.
The kind of sensationalism and inflammatory expressions in our media of late has every potential to cause unrest especially as the political temperature is already near boiling point!
There are two Commissions that I am most times in sympathy with and these are the Political Parties Registration Commission and the Independent Media Commission.
They are both mandated to regulate and ensure compliance to certain statutory provisions that govern the bodies that they serve.
However these two have limitations that make them rather lame.
Take the situation where the PPRC garners the guts to penalize either of the two big parties.
You can say it again; hell will be let loose in this small Salone.
Like we say, their hands are tied and woe betide them, if they as much as cough loud enough.
Sometimes I wonder why structures are put in place but then not allowed to function. When can we actually talk about the independence of our Commissions? During the war, we actually felt all we needed was to survive the war and all other things will simply fall in place.
To our greatest surprise it seems it is becoming as difficult to survive the peace as the war. Why am I saying all this? I am saying all this because at the moment the standoff with the IMC is unfortunate to say the least. Tongues are already wagging over the issue and some of the fears could well be grounded.
We have scores of Commissions, some of which are just there in name. The IMC is one Commission that has over the years, boasted of commissioners with high integrity and credibility and I think the situation of the media in Sierra Leone has improved a lot.
The Media’s role is so critical especially at a time like this, when we need every effort not only to do the right thing, but also do things right.
One thing our belligerent journalists and politicians should know is that not everybody who puts shit on you is an enemy and not all those who remove you from shit are your friends.
A lot can pretend to be on your side but actually expose you to more vulnerability.
We have seen this at play from one election to the other. We have to seriously keep in focus the tight rope-walking role of the IMC. These roles include: to promote a free and pluralistic media throughout Sierra Leone; to ensure that media institutions achieve the highest level of efficiency in the [provision of media services; to promote fair competition among media services; to protect the interest of the public against exploitation or abuse by media institutions; and to promote technological research and the development of adequate human resources for the advancement of the media industry throughout Sierra Leone.
Indeed ensuring high efficiency and the protection of the public are very essential and crucial roles of the IMC.
The whole idea of instituting the Independent Media Commission was to have a kind of regulatory body in order to reduce tensions between the Media and the public.
Some 20 years ago or so, the newspaper standard was very low and publishers were barely scraping to survive.
At that time, the judiciary often threatened the very existence of the media, which comprised mainly of a couple of newspapers, most with awful print.
We can recall, the many incarceration of scores of journalists, especially during the loathed one-party political dispensation. Indeed the media world in Sierra Leone has come a long way and I think no one wants any backward movement.
Don’t we have a stark irony here when the IMC is battling it in court? Well, we’ll see how all this will end; giving the current overcharged political landscape.
The current press wars are said to have vibrant political colourings like every other activity we are engaged in these days. Yes, this is part of the reality of our situation. Generally one would expect that the press is part of the extended civil society since they see themselves as the mirror of society. This by implication means they are on the side of the general good.
They cannot be overtly partisan and that explains why the party radio stations were shut down. When any press goes partisan, it can hardly stand the test of time.
Like Hilary Clinton recently said, a business is as good as the environment in which it operates. The bare truth is that media work is business and it has to run just that way. However the human face needs to be maintained if it has to be a true reflection of what it should be. You might see a clash between the profit motive and that of the people centred. How an acceptable balance is kept, makes a particular media credible and thus popular. In all this, let us remember that when the lizard of the homestead fails to do the kind of things its kind is known for, it will be mistaken for that of the farmyard. We only hope and pray that what is happening to the IMC is not going to be another Robbing Falacy!
By Ben Cambayma
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