Statement for Presidential Coctail 2021
Thursday 16th December, 2021
Country Lodge, Hill Station, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Your Excellency, please permit to ask everyone present here who has not yet been counted. Let me see your hands raised please. If the Census people are here, I encourage you to please go around and do the counting whilst we continue with the program.
I believe as citizens we should all stand up and be counted. If the government wants to count us 10 times in a year let them count. I don’t think there’s any harm in that. May be the government is planning to do some gifts distribution to every household during this Christmas. So if you refused to be counted then you will lose out and you will have yourself to blame.
Your Excellency, since the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, SLAJ has become very attractive, especially for women.
Earlier today we inducted new members into SLAJ from the Western Urban and Rural regions, after a membership drive of over 200 applicants, the highest ever in take in the Association’s 50 years of existence. Of this total, women constitute 30 percent, the highest ever we have recruited into SLAJ.
All of this, thanks to your policy of free media. It is clear now that women can freely practice our profession. And I expect now we will begin to see more women taking leadership positions in the media industry.
The arrest of journalists in relation to their work has also subtantially reduced since the repeal. In this light we have signed an MoU with the Security Sector to see how we can improve our relationship with especially the SLP so that the working environment will be more conducive for us.
However, and regrettably, the latest incidents of cyberbully of our dear sister and colleague, Mrs Asmaa James, by one of our popular musicians, and the physical attack and detention of an AYV Staff by the SLP will cloud all of these gains. And this is the huge challenge we will continue to face, especially in the digital space. These are the imperfections of life; when you plan for good, others plan for bad. We hope that in the new year things will improve.
Your Excellency, may I take this opportunity to remind you of your outstanding manifesto promises to the media.
For the annual subvention, this year’s allocation has been surprisingly delayed as we are yet to receive for 2021.
For land for a SLAJ Secretariat, when it comes to lucky dips I don’t think I will stand a chance. I have heard my colleagues and some people say I am probably the luckiest President SLAJ has ever had, but I don’t think I will want to put that to the test through a lucky dip to acquire land that Your Excellency promised us. So if your Excellency will consider our follow up request for SLAJ to acquire the Daily Mail building at Rawdon Street, that will be the best gift of the year to the media.
In addition, Your Excellency, I want to draw your attention to the SLAJ East Building project which is now almost 40% up. Thanks to Chief Brima Swaray of the NPPA and our own Sheikh Bawoh of the SLRSA for their contributions. We call on other well meaning people and organizations to support this initiative for an independent media.
For the investment conference for the media, we have worked with the Ministry of Information and Communications, the indefatiguable Minister Mohamed Rahman Swarray and his team, throughout the year to put a program together, but there are still outstanding issues that we are trying to sort out. We will continue to work with the MIC to deliver on this promise by mid next year and we anticipate a conference whose outcomes will change the face of the Sierra Leone media for ever.
In this vein, Your Excellency, we are happy that you have just launched a Sports Development Fund and committed Le10 Billion Leones from the State. May I take this opportunity, Sir, to inform you that SLAJ under my leadership will launch the Golden Jubilee Journalism Welfare Fund by mid January 2022 to cater for the welfare of journalists in times of emergency and to promote independent journalism in Sierra Leone. Several corporate bodies, including Orange SL, Mercury International and Rokel Commercial Bank have consented to contribute to the seed fund, part of which will be invested in bearer bonds so it will yield dividend periodically. We hope other well meaning organisations will come onboard in time for the launching, and I believe the State, and your Excellency, would not want to be left out from this intiative to support independent journalism in the country.
Your Excellency, there are other promises but we understand the State can only do some because of limited resources. So we understand the times and we will not be Oliver Twist.
Your Excellency, as I conclude, here’s a recap of some of the topical controversial highlights of the year, not necessarily in order of sequence, which kept the media and the citizens excited:
• The April 19th Parliamentary Clash in relation to the tabling of the mid-term census instrument which saw MPs throwing punches, doing mix martial arts, police spraying gas and a very senior citizen breaking his fast;
• The appointment of the NEC Commissioner for the Western Area
• The final Re-run MP elections for Constituency 110 which the SLPP lost;
• The Black Johnson Fish Harbour, which we expect to produce patinum fish in the near future;
• The COP26 Glassgow Climate Change Summit and the untimely Public Notice from Leadway for the exportation of our timber;
• Those that are practicing Munku politics in my party, to the idiots who want to interrupt while I am speaking
• The Koinadugu bye election and those conflicting figures,
• The 68 million Dollars the Bank Governor used to bribe hoarders of the Leone to bring back the national currency to the banks but which is the only bribery that is not corruption.
• The SLPP Women’s Leader Elections: we tok am, we do am!
• The indefinite suspension of the Auditor General and her deputy...
And the last, but not the least, Your Excelenncy, Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues in the media: I WILL CONTINUE TO FLY!
I wish you merry christmas and happy new year 2022.
God bless the media.
God bless SLAJ.
God bless Sierra Leone.
Comments
Post a Comment