Who Is Fooling Who At State House? Sierra Leone President Asked to Assure Media Independence in the Country

The Accra-based sub-regional rights body, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Tuesday urged Sierra Leonean President, Ernest Bai Koroma, to respect the independence of his country’s Independent Media Commission (IMC) in carrying out its regulatory mandate. The call followed the withdrawal of the broadcast licence of Afri Radio, a privately-owned radio station, on 12 April by the statutory media regulatory body, the media commission, ”following a direct order from President Ernest Bai Koroma.” ”The MFWA calls on President Koroma and his government to respect the independence of the IMC and allow it to carry out its regulatory mandate under the Act that established it as advised by the State Attorney,” the sub-regional rights body emphasized in a statement. According to MFWA, President Koroma, during a meeting with officials of Sierra Leone’s National Telecommunications Commission on 9 April, reportedly ordered the Chairman of the IMC, Rod MacJohnson, to immediately suspend the broadcasting licence of Afri Radio. The media regulator was said to have later declared that the decision to ban the radio station came after “various meetings held with state authorities … on the issuance of Afri Radio’s broadcast licence.” ”The circumstances surrounding Radio Afri’s suspension has stunned majority of Sierra Leoneans, particularly President Koroma’s directive and this has raised questions about the independence of the IMC,” MFWA noted. Meanwhile, the IMC Chairman was said to have initially refused a similar directive from Sierra Leone’s Minister of Information and Communications, Alhaji Alpha Kanu, to suspend the radio’s broadcasting licence on the basis that the minister did not have any authority under the IMC Act of 2000 to order the suspension. Sierra Leone’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Frank Kargbo, also reportedly wrote a letter, dated 10 April, expressing concern and refusal to order the IMC to carry out the Information Minister’s directive, arguing that the ”IMC is the only body with the mandate to ban the radio station.” Kargbo was quoted as maintaining: ”the IMC is an independent agent in the performance of its functions and is competent and capable of knowing how to respond to the advice given to it by the Information Minister.” ”If the advice was taken seriatim, it will lead to substantial procedural defects which in principle and in law contravenes the IMC Act of 2000,” he added. Credit http://africansuntimes.com/2013/04/sierra-leone-president-asked-to-assure-media-independence-in-the-country/