The recent publication by the Awareness Times newspaper by turning the picture of the President upside down and another with him carrying two horns, sparked controversies and debates about whether it was nice to caricature the President or not. The article landed the publisher of the newspaper at the CID for interrogation. To find out how the ordinary man felt in seeing their President with horns, our reporter Ishmael Bayoh sought their views.
Algasimu Jah : Caricaturing the President in my eyes looks funny more so when horns are placed on his head. But in another aspect I see it to be that the President has grown as he now becomes a real man. That I can say again depicts the horn in my eyes. With all fairness in as much as it is a fundamental right to express one self, there should be some amount of respect for the head of state.
Foday Unisa Sesay a.k.a Y.K Soja: Actually it is not good to either ridicule the President or caricature him because of who he is and the respect he commands. We should have respect for our President because he is our father. By giving him horns turns him into a monster and we should know that democracy and freedom of speech do not mean flouting ones’ fundamental human rights, and when violated the law should take its course.
Hassan Kamara: I felt sad when I saw the picture of the President with horns and also turned upside down. Cartoons and caricaturing should have limits and if sent out gives a bad image of our country that we have a monstrous leader. Yes, some will say it’s their democratic right, but let us consider that we are just coming from conflict and elections, what we need now are publications that will not create chaos. This is a time for us to think about development and not be spiteful or be partisan.
Lamin Dumbuya: I felt dissappointed when I saw the picture. I heard that the caricature depicts the hardship currently in the country. One thing people should know is where we are coming from and they should know that it takes time for things to settle as the government met lots of obstacles.
Saidu Gbla: That is utter disrespect for the President. I could not believe it when I saw the President with horns. I felt disgusted. Things should not be done this way. People should not be spiteful or use politics to create chaos. This is the attitudinal change the President is talking about.
ADVERTISEMENT