Part I: Summary of Recent Events and Parties Impacting
the Media in Sierra Leone
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP)
Negotiations with the RUF continued with the newly elected SLPP government. On
March 29, 1996, the democratically elected civilian government assumed office.
About four months later, the government reached a cease-fire agreement with RUF,
but fighting continued throughout much of the country and the cease-fire did not
hold.
Although the electoral process had spurred the launch of numerous newspapers,
the media's expectation of greater freedom as a reward for its pressure on the
NPRC regime that led to civilian rule was quickly nullified. The Kabbah
government simply recycled the intolerance and tactics of its predecessors by
banning newspapers, detaining journalists, and slapping criminal libel and
sedition charges against the independent press. Citing national security
concerns, the government began harassing the media, some of which were
established just pre-elections for short-term economic or political gain, and
staffed by non-professionals.
In May 1996, the Parliament passed legislation prohibiting reporting on
parliamentary committee decisions and secret sessions, and created the charge of
"contempt of Parliament" to enforce these guidelines. On October 11, 1996,
Torchlight editor Sheka Tarawali, and Expo Times editor Gibril Koroma and
reporter Max Jimmy were the first to be arrested on contempt of Parliament
charges. Their arrests were in connection with an article Tarawali had written
titled, "Kabbah Bribes MPs," about loans the government had approved to Members
of Parliament to purchase Mercedes Benz vehicles. Without the benefit of a
trial or a court appearance, Parliament sentenced Parawali to one-month
imprisonment. Koroma and Jimmy were released after apologizing in person to
Parliament. The Torchlight newspaper, which is a mouthpiece for the opposition
United National People's Party (UNPP), had already been targeted by the
government when its first issue was banned in September 1996 on the grounds that
it contained unflattering articles about President Kabbah.
There were 12 newspapers in circulation in 1996; in 1997 there were more than
50. To counter what was perceived as rampant unprofessionalism, the Sierra
Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), headed by Frank Kposowa, drew up a code
of ethics that proposed minimum requirements for the experience and education of
editors and journalists, and forwarded it to the government for ratification.
The SLAJ strategy relied on de facto censorship, rather than accessible
journalistic training, media self-scrutiny, or improved professional standards,
to counter what was perceived throughout society as sensational or inaccurate
reporting.
In July, a National Reconciliation Committee (NRC) was inaugurated to
investigate the NPRC's abuse of power and crimes against civilians. A glaring
absence from the NRC's mandate was the authority to investigate or prosecute
human rights abuses committed by either government soldiers or RUF forces during
the war. The NRC never functioned because of an Indemnity Bill that was passed
before the NPRC left power, and which the Kabbah government wanted to ratify in
Parliament. This Bill was widely believed to be one of the prices paid by
President Kabbah for the NPRC to vacate the State House.
On November 30, 1996, President Kabbah and RUF leader Foday Sankoh signed the
Abidjan Peace Accord. Delegations from the United Nations, Organization of
African Unity, and the British Commonwealth also participated in the
negotiations. The agreement ordered the immediate cessation of hostilities and
authorized the UN and ECOMOG to ensure the implementation of the agreement,
including the cease-fire, disarmament, and demobilization of combatants.
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