By Amin Kef Sesay
The President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Ahmed Sahid Nasralla, in a reaction on the issue of accepting a donation from President Julius Maada Bio on behalf of the Association started by thanking all for their comments on this issue of a donation to SLAJ as posted by Chernor Bah.
He said taking away the insults and derogatory snipes their comments are all valid- FOR or AGAINST.
“I read anger, frustration, disappointment in the majority of the comments and some of you have already passed judgment but as SLAJ President I take them all in good faith, and I am sure they emanated from the height of esteem you have held our Association,” he stated.
The SLAJ President maintained that he bears no ill will to any of you furthering that as a matter of fact, that is what they want and what they have been fighting for in the 50 years of existence as an Association: saying it is their RIGHT to have their say on national issues even if leaders (and people like them in positions of trust) do not agree with them.
He said it is that right they fought hard to uphold and protect, and even seeking to expand, through the repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law and now with the Cybercrime Bill 2020.
“So it is well within your right to hold us to account, and I am humbly presenting my own side because I have the obligation to give an explanation for our action as an Executive to ACCEPT the donation from His Excellency our President Julius Maada Bio,” he intimated.
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla explained that on Friday, 7th May, 2021, he got a call from the Press Secretary at State House informing him about a donation of food items he wanted to present to SLAJ the following day, on behalf of His Excellency, ‘for members of SLAJ who are observing the month of Ramadan’.
“I said OK, let me inform my Executive and revert. I did, and we agreed with the proposed date, time, and venue for the presentation- Saturday 8th May, 2021 at SLAJ Headquarters, 56 Campbell Street, Freetown. When I got back to the Press Secretary to confirm the donation, I insisted that we should invite the media to cover the presentation and he accepted,” he added.
The SLAJ President said during the presentation, as some may have read from the news story from State House (or the TV news) on the donation, the Press Secretary said he was presenting the food items on behalf of President Bio to SLAJ ‘for distribution to members who are fasting’.
He continued that accepting the gifts on behalf of SLAJ and the members concerned, he thanked the President for the gesture and made it clear to the Press Secretary and his team that their acceptance should not in any way indicate that they would stop holding the President and his Government to account.
“In our culture and tradition, we always find ourselves in situations that make it very difficult, if not impossible, to reject gifts/donations; and I personally don’t think it is a sign of respect to refuse a gift from our President. In fact, I considered it an honour for the thought alone, and the spirit of Ramadan encourages such kinds of exchanges as long as strings are not attached,” he furthered.
He said there are two things about gifts or donations given to organisations like SLAJ which is how they receive it and what they do with it after receiving it.
The SLAJ President went on to state that they are aware that accepting gifts goes a long way to undermine their principles of independence, credibility, and objectivity, and there is also the issue of conflict of interest.
He said all of that actually do need to happen, they only need to be perceived, and that is exactly what has happened in this particular instance.
He asked the question: “So how did we receive the donation?”
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla stated that the fact that they insisted on media coverage of the donation is a clear show of transparency and accountability to the public.
He said the next step was to account to their membership adding that they immediately put out a notice to the general membership that they have received so and so from so and so and it is for so and so underscoring how the donation was not done in secret.
He asked again: “What did we do with the donation after receiving it?”
The SALJ President revealed that it is the stage they are in now.
He said the donation was meant for their Muslim members who are fasting.
“On May 5th, as part of our activities marking World Press Freedom Day 2021, SLAJ supported the hosting of Iftar during which we provided food and drinks and Ramadan lectures to non-members of the Association. Individual members of SLAJ have also been giving donations here and there during this Ramadan. Therefore, accepting a donation of food items from the Presidency does not imply that we are starving or we are cheap,” he made it categorically clear.
He said as he writes this response, the SLAJ National Executive has reached a decision to hand over the foodstuffs to the Iftar Committee in SLAJ to distribute to their Muslim members because it is meant for them.
The SLAJ President stated that having said that let him also kindly make several things clear: He pointed out that SLAJ is an Association of professional journalists, not an Association of people who own media houses in the country.
He said SLAJ does not determine the editorial policies of the more than 200 registered media houses in the country.
“Whether the Association accepts gifts or not, there will always be media houses promoting the programs of the Government of the day and there will be others constantly opposing. The FACT is, like every other sector of society, the media is also sharply divided along political lines,” he elucidated
Ahmed Sahid Nasralla maintained that it is not the first time SLAJ has received gifts/donations from a sitting Government.
He said we can go back decades and decades to give instances.
The SLAJ President said and beyond Governments, SLAJ solicits support from time to time from MDAs, mobile phone companies, Banks, Mercury International, Embassies and High Commissions, CSOs, NGOs, even the Sierra Leone Police with those they constantly have clashes and many more to finance their programs and in many instances, the support is provided.
He said SLAJ do not sign any MOUs with organisations/institutions that say that in return for their support the Association should not hold them to account.
Nasralla said nevertheless, let him hasten to point that he is not making reference to activities of past administrations of SLAJ or the culture of soliciting support from those they should be holding to account to justify their current action saying that is just the REALITY on the ground.
He said granted it’s an ETHICAL DILEMMA that they have been grappling with stating that some of them with political lenses, including the members of the public, are not helping the situation.
Nasralla said since he was elected President of SLAJ, his vision has been HOW DO WE MAKE SLAJ SELF-RELIANT and hence INDEPENDENT?
“God knows we are trying, but help is needed,” he said frankly adding that if Mercury International and Africell decide to withdraw their support to the media in the form of advertising, more than half of the media houses will DIE saying one can imagine how many of their colleagues will be unemployed.
He said let him end by borrowing a quote from the statement of DAIRE COURTNEY, the Second Secretary of the Embassy of Ireland in Sierra Leone, delivered during their program marking this year’s World Press Freedom Day:
“It is significant that journalists in Sierra Leone have maintained the ability to hold those in power to account and also be able to speak to them as colleagues and to work with them to really make progress. I think that has been very significant. I see you even continue to do that now on other issues.”
He said that has exactly been their approach to make things happen for the media saying that is how they achieve the historic repeal of the law that once criminalized free speech.
“This is how we got the Government to be giving annual subvention to SLAJ, no matter how small. This is how we got the Government to make a commitment that SLAJ will have its own land and headquarters. This is how we got the Government to make a commitment to support community radio stations to ensure information filters down to our people in remote rural areas. This is how we are making progress with the cybercrime bill by accommodating most of our concerns in the area of protection of free speech, free media, and people’s privacy rights,” he disclosed.
He said to them the President is not an ENEMY, neither is the Government.
The SLAJ President maintained that they strongly believe that as the Fourth Estate, they are a key partner in development; and the Government of Sierra Leone has an obligation to support the media to be professional and independent to efficiently play its role in our democracy- providing accurate information to the public, exposing corruption, holding the Government, its agencies and public officials to account, and above all setting the agenda and providing the platform for healthy democratic discourse.
He said if people care for the media and respect the role they play in society they should be genuine with their criticisms and help the media to grow while thanking all once more for their contributions to the important conversation.
The SLAJ President said be rest assured that they have not in any way been compromised underscoring how they will never be compromised, and will continue to perform their selfless duties to the best of their abilities.
