In his national address on the update on the Agreement for National Unity delivered in Freetown on 14th June 2024, president Julius Maada Bio once again made some glowing statements that contradict what has been really going on, which has once again left much to be desired.
In his nicely worded speech the president among many other things said: “Today, I stand before you not only as your President but as a fellow Sierra Leonean, deeply committed to the progress and prosperity of our beloved nation; Our journey towards a united and cohesive Sierra Leone is not just a vision; it is a shared mission that includes everyone. Your role as citizens is integral to this mission, and your contributions are deeply valued…Building Sierra Leone into a more peaceful, inclusive and prosperous country requires our collective input.”
“I implore every citizen of our great nation not to be passive bystanders to nation-building but to engage in our national development efforts actively. Your voice, ideas, and actions are not just important but vital to our progress. You are the backbone of our nation’s development. Your aspirations are at the heart of our Government’s commitment, and we will continue to work tirelessly to fulfil them…In our collective journey towards national unity and cohesion, I call upon every citizen to embrace the values of tolerance, respect, and solidarity.”
To build Sierra Leone will indeed require all of us working together, not from just one side of the aisle where the ideas and opinions and thoughts of all are considered valuable. Since we will never see things the same way at all times, it is very important that we consider every opinion as valid. This is the essence of collective input.
But can or will our voices, ideas and actions which form the backbone of our nation’s development be important to nation building if they are stifled, suppressed or not given room to breathe?
For this retort we will use the media as an example, with the experiences of nightwatch and indeed all independent newspapers as a case study.
Despite the huge subvention that the Bio led government has reportedly given to the media umbrella organisation SLAJ, by the actions of people from State House or the Office of the President, they have been trying to muzzle the media and starve us based on how they dish out advertisements.
It must be categorically stated that the media in Sierra Leone survives exclusively by advertisements. There is not paper that will or can survive just on sales from readership. And the government, apart from being the biggest employer in the nation, is the biggest advertiser in the media.
As the Fourth Estate in our governance that informs the people on what is going on in the public sector, the media should be allowed to report and publish opinions that may not sit well with the ruling party regime, but if considered and worked on in the best interest of the country would make the sitting government to appear as caring.
But fighting against the freely expressed thoughts and opinions of those that you want to see as against the regime will always make the government come across as being against the national progress and national cohesion it is trying to preach.
The government is in the habit of advertising in newspapers they consider friendly while denying the same for those they consider as not fully committed to their cause. If you preach national unity and for business to thrive, we think it should be done on a level playing field.
Because of this newspaper’s policy of publishing news and articles that focus on what the governments are not doing when compared to what they promised to do and nightwatch’s policy of having no political party leanings, this news medium has had to suffer the brunt of government advertising not appearing in this paper.
When the APC was in power, nightwatch was accused of being a SLPP supporting paper; now that the SLPP is in power the paper has been accused of siding with the APC. As a result of this nightwatch journalists are not invited to government functions with those who place adverts in government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) instructed not to place adverts in this newspaper.
This medium has been severally told by those responsible for placing government advertisements in newspapers that based on the paper’s front page and other news they are impressed upon by their superiors not to place adverts in nightwatch.
Government MDAs that owe nightwatch millions of leones since 2018 have refused to pay us because the paper is seen as being against the system, told that the paper don’t support the government. For failing to tow the government line, nightwatch journalists are referred to as APC journalists.
Anytime a government advert is placed in this news medium from a parastatal or MDA, those responsible for placing the adverts would inform us that they get calls from State House or Office of the Vice President instructing them to stop such ads and asked why the individual is giving adverts to nightwatch since the paper is against the government.
Meanwhile, some of them do give ads to this paper but on the condition that if the paper will publish anything hard on the regime, the paper should not run that particular MDA’s advert as it will make the people that placed the advert to look bad to the powers that be for supporting nightwatch in their work on behalf of the people and country.
Despite the president’s vow to respect divergent views and opinions on paper and in speeches, in reality his government has placed the media under heavy scrutiny, virtually imprisoned us and does not respect freedom of speech or the promotion of peace and national cohesion.
It must be stated that government operatives even interfere with NGOs that advertise in this medium going as far as threatening them not to advertise in nightwatch.
For the progress and development of our society, it is the responsibility of journalists and media houses to checkmate government and inform the people on what is really going on instead of being spoon-fed by spin doctors in the public domain.
We cannot or will not all be cowered into concurring and blindly supporting whatever a regime says, even if what they say is misleading and untrue. It is this paper’s policy not to support any party but to focus on what they are not doing, what they have done against their mandates, and on any plan or action that is against the progress that they preach.
During the Ernest Bai Koroma regime, nightwatch was called a SLPP supporter; now that a SLPP president is in office, this paper is being called an APC paper. When will this end so we can really progress and develop as a newspaper, and indeed as a nation?
The news media does not feel like our “aspirations are at the heart of our Government’s commitment,” and that the government “will continue to work tirelessly to fulfil them.”
This medium and indeed all independent news media houses don’t feel like our “collective journey towards national unity and cohesion” and our “values of tolerance, respect, and solidarity” are being “embraced” by all, not the least the sitting government of the day.