APC: What about the media?

The two major political parties in Sierra Leone have unveiled their manifestos few weeks ahead of the November polls. 

The sixty six (66) page manifesto of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) contained the pictures of the Presidential Candidate and Running Mate, Julius Maada Bio and Kadi Sesay respectively, boldly and nicely printed. Of course, the palm tree symbol of the SLPP was conspicuously printed on the green and white cover of the manifesto. The words contained on the cover of the SLPP manifesto are: “A New Direction for a Better Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone First) Main Document”.

The content of the SLPP manifesto focused on issues like human development, infrastructure, the economy and governance.

The manifesto of the APC is made up of sixty four (64) pages; decorated in magnificent red color, which represents the party’s colour and of course, with President Koroma’s picture strategically located. The party’s sun symbol is at the top of the manifesto’s cover with the picture of the new railway located in the center of the front page. Pictures of tractors embarking on road construction, the Bumbuna dam, and a hospital are among the pictures that make up the front cover of the APC manifesto. 

Beautiful pictures of agricultural produce and farms, hand pumps, a graduation ceremony and the sentence: ‘Imagine what we can do in another 5 years’, formed the APC manifesto back page.

The APC manifesto focused on the party’s core political and economic ideals, track record, the economy, natural resources, service delivery, protecting and empowering the vulnerable, enhancing national integrity and security, deepening, democracy and the new politics, and promoting strategic foreign policy and international cooperation. 

The ensuing question is the first among the series of questions to be looked into in this, and in subsequent articles focused on the manifestos of the two major political parties. 

Are there provisions in the manifestos for the press/media?

After carefully going through the two manifestos, it was clear that the APC made no serious provision for the media in its five-year plan (2012 – 2017), whilst the SLPP at least made some commitments or promises.

The only mention of the media in the APC manifesto has to do with what the APC supposedly did for the media in the past five years. However, the party managed to re-echo its failed 2007 election promise to enact the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

“There is a proliferation of radio stations….SLBS has been transformed into a corporation (SLBC) and now transmits worldwide…Pass the Freedom of Information Act”.

The aforementioned is literally what is contained inside the APC manifesto that is media related. With the aforementioned fact, is there any specific provision in the APC manifesto about media? We shall look into that shortly; but let us at this juncture go into the SLPP manifesto and see what is contained therein.

“The Fourth Estate has been very useful in informing and educating the public on governance issues. Since 2002, there has been a proliferation of press houses and radio stations….The major challenges of the Fourth Estate is a continued existence of the seditious libel law, the absence of Freedom of Information (FOI), limited capacity of journalists and uninformed and unethical reporting, absence of a true National Broadcaster and bribery of journalists by politicians…in the New Direction, the SLPP administration will reform the Fourth Estate through the following: Repeal the seditious libel law; review and enact the Freedom of Information Bill; enact policies and laws to develop the capacity of journalists; support the School of Journalism and other institutions to train journalists; provide funding opportunities for journalists to establish press houses as corporate entities; encourage the private sector to invest in the media; provide from the budget a yearly subvention to SLAJ; build the capacity of the IMC to enforce the IMC Act; review the legal and operational status of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) to make it a truly professional national broadcaster”.

If the media is to support or vote for a particular political party based on the provisions for the media in the various manifestos, which political party do you think will attract the support and/or votes of the media in the forthcoming elections? The answer is obvious. But what in an instance where the media choose to be very critical about the provisions and lack of provisions for the media in the various manifestos and support or vote on other considerations? Answer the questions for yourself.

However, it is no gainsaying the fact that the APC in its manifesto considered the media less (I am actually being moderate with my words; at least for now).

Somebody might argue that the commitment or promise of the APC to enact the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) is a serious provision on the media agenda of the APC. But is the FOI law specifically for journalists or a general law for the benefit of all Sierra Leoneans including government officials themselves? It is definitely not a media specific provision. So could this mean that the APC has no plans for the media in the next five years? Or does the conspicuous silence on media issues mean that the APC is satisfied with the current status of the media? Was the APC trying to avoid a repetition of its 2007 promises on the media that were never fulfilled? If the answer to this last question is a yes, then why was the repeat on the FOI promise? The APC 2007 manifesto promised the enactment of the FOI law. Five years on, the APC is still reiterating the same promise. Hmmm!!!

What about the libel law? Why is the APC silence about the libel law this time round? In 2007, the APC promised to at least review the country’s libel laws. The first term of the APC has ended and the libel laws remain the same. Not even pressure from the journalists and other stakeholders has made any difference.    

For the SLPP, the provisions for the press are obviously there; in abundance to be more precise. But is the SLPP truly committed to such promises? As good as they look; they are suspicious, in my view. Similar promises like those have been made in the past and remain unfulfilled. Hope these are not just bogus promises aimed at hoodwinking the press to support or vote for them. The fact that the SLPP has not been so friendly with the press, especially in recent times, is in total contrast with what the party is putting in black and white. And guess what! The SLPP promises to the media are on the last page of the party’s manifesto. Could this mean that the media is last but not the least in the SLPP agenda or were these provisions only included to complete the sixty-six page manifesto (flop cont, we call it in the local Krio parlance)?

Whatever are the answers to the aforementioned questions, the media can at least hold the SLPP by its words in an instance where the party attains power and renege on its promises.

The APC should endeavor to explain to the press and the general public the rationale behind the exclusion of the media in their five-year plan. 

With Abdul Fonti