By Amadu Barrie
The Commissioner of the Right to Access Information East has updated journalists in Kenema on the mandate of the Commission.
Speaking to journalists representing different radio stations in Kenema at her Maxwell Khobe Street office, Mrs. Mary Wuyatta Karimu stated that the Commission has the statutory mandate to promote access to information held by or under the control of any public authority.
She noted that the Commission can only succeed in achieving its mandate with the involvement of the media. She also encouraged journalists to make efficient use of their right to access information in order to be free from dentition or defamation.
Commissioner Karimu told journalists that if they demand for information before they report their stories, they are assured of reporting an accurate, balanced and credible news story and therefore called on all journalists to demand for information from all public authorities, and if their demands are not met, they should refer the matter to the Commission, which will ensure compliance by the MDA provided the information does not fall under any of the categories of exempt information.
The secretary general of Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, Eastern Region, Ahmed Jusu Sheriff, congratulated the Commissioner on her appointment and assured of the Association’s fullest support to the Commission.
He stated that the Commission is one of the most important Commissions that every journalist must make a friend with in order to be professional in their profession.
A female journalist, Victoria Bernard, expressed her satisfaction over the mandate of the Commission as stated by the Commissioner.
She noted that one of the problems they, as journalists, have been facing is the deliberate refusal of public information officers or public authorities to give them information that is of public interest, adding that the Commission has come to help them access information and assured that they will be professional in their reportage.
Concluding, Mrs. Mary Wuyatta Karimu told journalists that come the 1st of March, 2019 the Commission will embark on a robust inspection of all ministries, departments and agencies and community based organizations, among others, to know whether they are complying with their proactive publication obligation as entrenched in the Right to Access Information Act of 2013.