By Sorie Fofana.
On Friday, 8th October 2021, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio signed into law the abolition of the death penalty in Sierra Leone.
On the occasion of the World Teachers’ Day on Tuesday, 5th October 2021, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio fulfilled another election manifesto commitment by publicly recognizing forty eight outstanding teachers across the country.
Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965 which deals with defamatory and seditious libel was repealed by Members of Parliament on 16th July, 2020.
On Wednesday, 28th October 2020, His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio performed the symbolic signing of the amended Public Order Act at a public ceremony held at State House.
The signing ceremony was attended by a galaxy of distinguished personalities including the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Justice, the British High Commissioner, the US Ambassador and a host of media practitioners and senior Members of Parliament including the Leader of Government Business in Parliament.
During the signing ceremony, President Bio said, “I have always argued that the repeal will unshackle free speech, expand democratic spaces, and consolidate our democracy. It will open up the space for the growth of the media industry in the country”.
A Bad Law Buried
Many Journalists in Sierra Leone have either been detained for or charged to court under Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965 (defamatory and seditious libel).
As editor of the “New Vision” newspaper in 1999, I was arrested and detained at the CID Headquarters here in Freetown for publishing what someone at State House considered to be a seditious material. I spent one night in detention at the CID for publishing a story that had questioned the conduct of a Senior Adviser to the President (Ahmad Tejan Kabbah) at State House. I was ordered arrested after the publication hit the news-stand.
I was released the following morning on the orders of the President, after my detention was reported on the BBC Network Africa Program. President Kabbah ordered the Acting Inspector General of Police, Kande Bangura to ensure that I was released without “further delay”. After my release, I was taken to President Kabbah’s office by the Attorney General, Solomon Berewa. In the presence of Berewa, Kabbah apologized to me, by stating clearly that he was not aware of my arrest and subsequent detention.
In another encounter, Solomon Berewa as Attorney General, one morning invited me to his office and reprimanded me for a story in the “New Vision” that he considered to be inciteful. He warned me not to publish any story that would undermine the security of the State.
As editor of the “New Vision”, I had published a story about the Cabinet’s refusal to approve a request by the Chief of Defense Staff, Maxwell Khobe for the payment of Le320M (Three hundred and twenty million Leones) for intelligence gathering by the RSLAF.
Berewa argued that by publishing that story, I was inciting the Army to rebel against the Government. Thankfully, he did not deny the accuracy of the story. He only reminded me that truth is not a defense in a seditious libel matter.
Manifesto Pledge
In his bid to become President of Sierra Leone in 2018, Brig. (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio pledged in his Party’s Manifesto to repeal Part V of the Public Order Act if he was elected President. He was determined to keep that promise.
Those of us, who have dealt with him, know that he hardly makes promises. Because, once he makes a promise, he ensures that that promise is kept.
Madam Mamadi Gobeh Kamara (the former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications) described President Bio as “a man who says what he means and means what he says”. She could not have put it better!
After two years in office, President Bio has fulfilled several Manifesto pledges he made during the campaign to become President. He has repealed Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965, abolished the death penalty and passed into law, the cybercrime and security bill. It shows that he is a man of his word.
Hailed By The British
In an Op Ed published by the “Awoko Newspaper” on Friday, October 30 2020, the former British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Simon Mustard wrote, “On 28th October Sierra Leone took a significant step forward in enhancing Human Rights with the repeal of Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965 and enacting the Independent Media Act 2020. It is a day that should be celebrated for media freedom and by all Sierra Leoneans”.
Simon Mustard continued, “We congratulate His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio for achieving his Manifesto commitment…The UK and partners stand together with Sierra Leone as we continue to build a new media regulatory system which gives protection to the public, as well as those in positions of responsibility, while also defending media freedom”.
An Audacious Decision
President Bio has taken the bull by the horns in repealing Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965 and abolishing the death penalty in Sierra Leone. Some of his predecessors promised but failed to repeal the obnoxious Part V of the Public Order Act. The Act was used as a weapon to intimidate those Journalists and opposition Politicians who had the courage to speak truth to power.
In his final days or months in office, President Kabbah was confronted with the decision to either order Philip Neville to be charged to court for false and malicious publication or get him to retract a story about the Libyan Rice saga.
The Attorney General, Frederick Carew one Friday afternoon, came to brief President Kabbah on the outcome of the Police investigations into the matter. By then, Philip Neville was in detention at the Kingtom Police Hospital.
The Attorney General met Dr. Sama Banya and I with President Kabbah just after having a sumptuous lunch at the Presidential Lodge at Hill Station. He informed the President that he had enough evidence to convict Mr. Neville in court.
President Kabbah wanted to know what we thought of the Attorney General’s decision to charge Mr. Neville to court. For the sake of confidentiality, I would not state what Dr. Banya advised the President to do.
I did advice the President that since he had few months to leave office, he should not approve the Attorney General’s suggestion to charge Mr. Neville to court. I advised him to go for the option of a public retraction and an apology.
After some few minutes of reflection, President Kabbah said, “I am not a vindictive man…Mr. AG, I advise you press for the publication of a retraction and an apology from the newspaper…Don’t charge the matter to court”. The AG left the Presidential Lodge a very furious man. I could tell from his facial expression that he was not happy with me.
Mr. Neville’s Lawyers and the AG agreed to settle the matter by the publication of a half page apology and retraction of the story on the front page of the “Standard Times” newspaper for one week.
Thank You, President Bio!
Some past Presidents of SLAJ lined up at State House to witness the symbolic signing by President Bio of the Repealed Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965. They included Kelvin Lewis, Umaru Fofana, Alhaji I.B. Kargbo and Philip Neville. Kelvin Lewis could not hide his emotions when he said that he never dreamt of this event happening in his life-time.
Frank Kposowa with whom I served as Vice President when he was President of SLAJ, once told me prophetically that he would not be alive when Part V of the Public Order Act of 1965 would be repealed. Sadly, he died almost two years ago.
I want to thank President Bio for his courage to repeal such a bad law and for abolishing the death penalty. It takes a leader to do what he has done. It shows clearly that President Bio is a man of his word.
Thank you, President Tok&Do!
