By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Reporters Association of Liberia (RAL) is set to meet its counterpart, the Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU) to discuss issues on cross-border reporting.
The cross-border reporting model will focus on contemporary issues affecting the two countries especially mining.
The parent body for Sierra Leone’s SLRU, the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) will also be engaged by RAL for further discussions.
RAL and SLRU are umbrella organisations for journalists in the two Mano River Union (MRU) countries.
The planned meeting of the two journalists was announced during a one-week training of Liberian and Sierra Leonean journalists on reporting in the mining sector in February this year.
RAL Secretary-General, Mark Mengorfia said Liberian Journalists were poised to have a meeting with their Sierra Leonean counterparts so that cross-border especially issues would be effectively reported.
“It will be good for the two countries to come together and report on many issues that affect them,” Mengorfia said.
If the meeting materialised, Mengorfia went on, movement between Sierra Leonean and Liberian journalists in investigative journalism would be made easier.
“We Liberian journalists are working hard to ensure that the meeting takes place,” he assured.
The two MRU countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone share a lot in common. Both are blessed with mineral wealth tapped by foreign companies that pay royalties to governments.
The endowment of minerals has become constant sources of conflicts in the two countries over the years.
The two brutal civil wars Liberia and Sierra Leone experienced in the early 80’s and late 90’s respectively have been linked to the competition for control of the countries’ mineral wealth.
After stability was restored in the two countries, foreign countries came up with initiatives to ensure transparency and accountability in the mining industry.
One of such initiatives is the setting up of the Extractive Industries and Transparency Initiative, a global body that ensures transparency and accountability in the mining sector.
Membership into EITI is open to all mineral-rich countries that are willing to be transparent in their mining activities.
EITI also have other criteria which countries are expected to meet before becoming members.
Currently, the two countries, Liberia and Sierra Leone are EITI members. As members of the transparency and accountability body, they are required to submit reports annually to EITI headquarters.
In the execution of such function, Liberia has her EITI branch in Monrovia known as Liberia Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative (LEITI) and Sierra Leone similarly operates the Sierra Leone Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) in Freetown.
The two agencies submit EITI reports annually in compliance with the requirements of the parent body.
The cooperation of journalists in the two MRU countries is required to ensure that the two organisations achieve their objective of cross-border reporting in the mining sector.