By Ralph Simeon Sesay
The New Direction Government, like the All People’s Congress, has continued to confuse the electorate by appointing a plethora of journalists and other Sierra Leoneans with media backgrounds as Communications Specialists both at State House and the Ministry of Information.
The Office of the President and State House has got a number of media officials serving in various capacities as Communication Managers, Strategic Communication Specialists and Press Secretary, etc.
In the Ministry of Information and Communications we have between eight (8) to twelve (12) individuals also serving as Strategic Communication Specialists with lofty salaries and other emoluments. This is in addition to the Minister, Deputy Minister and Directors in the Ministry of Information.
Like the APC, the SLPP has continued to employ the services of such professionals bloating the wage bill and also bypassing the official information structure stipulated in the civil service.
What is most baffling with such appointments is the fact that the existence of these individuals and their offices has not saved the government from sustained and well orchestrated propaganda and sabotage by opposition operatives and detractors. The so-called Communications Strategists have continued to trail behind the opposition propagandists whenever government policies are under attack. It has become very evident that the bunch of Communications Strategists are failing to strategize well to face their adversaries whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Whosoever must have advised the government to go through this path has failed to reckon with the reality that the SLPP, as a party in opposition, had maintained a leaner and fitter Communications outfit (Joe Sesay and Lahai Lemma) during the March 2018 elections. They were able to subdue the plethora of propaganda the APC had created in the form of spokespersons vigorously relisting the wind of change.
The plethora of Communication Strategists has done very little to showcase the efforts of government around several projects already rolled out, including its flagship project. The New Direction Communicators have relied on radio programs (Morning Coffee & Good Morning Sierra Leone) in Freetown and some other few radio stations in the regions to explain government policies. They have not been able to effectively counter the widespread propaganda by the opposition against government. The situation seems to be taking a similar trend also in the main stream media where government is increasingly receiving a lot of bashing.
The Communication Strategists have failed to target the different facets of our population in the country, especially the gullible ones in the remote areas, using the many existing media platforms. Such engagements will dispel the negative and unpatriotic rumours against what government is doing amidst a battered economy.
In Bombali, Northern Sierra Leone, it is reported that Civil Society players are fighting to dispel rumors among parents that they will be obliged to pay the sum of Le250, 000 if their children or wards spoil or destroy the supplied FAQE Government core textbooks. Government has spent huge sums of money to procure these textbooks and our information is that they are currently stacked in stores across Bombali and other areas in the district due to this well calculated propaganda. A number of times similar unfortunate rumors have also succeeded in destabilizing the laudable efforts of government especially on the FAQE.
The situation is also the same with the Commissions of Enquiry, which opposition detractors branded as a witch hunt activity before its commencement in January, 2019. The Ministry of Communication and the Government Outreach Unit held several regional town hall meetings to explain the essence of the COI. Such meetings, to a very large extent, were largely inadequate to address the numerous issues then challenging the establishment of the COI.
During such meetings, Paramount Chiefs and other traditional stakeholders had appealed to the Ministry of Information to provide them with logistics to further cascade the messages surrounding the establishment of the COI to their subjects.
If opposition detractors continue to have their way, whenever government rolls out meaningful development programs, then what is the essence of having Communication Strategists within the governance structure? It is better to dismantle such structure and go back to the official government information structure, which has proved to be efficient and effective.
The current leadership at the Ministry of Information and Communications, under Minister Mohamed Rado Swarray, and his able lieutenant, Solomon Jamiru Esq., has robustly matched up to the task of effectively defending and showcasing government policies even before the creation of this confusing structures within and outside the Ministry. They have been able to contain media wars whenever and wherever they rear up their ugly heads. So why the existence of such outfits?
+232 76-336213/030317197 ralphsimeonsesay@yahoo.com