Plain tok Let The ‘Public Order Act’ Stay Until… By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop) Since that day, about a fortnight ago, when the Special Executive Assistant (SEA) to President Ernest Bai Koroma, Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, made overt threats, both on her Face Book page and in her newspaper—the Awareness Times—that the Public Order Act of 1965 would soon be invoked against any journalist who engaged in falsehood and alarmist reportage; a debate about the Act has reemerged. But the debate about whether or not the Public Order Act of 1965 should be expunged from Sierra Leone’s law books is as old as Methuselah. The ironical thing about this Act is that it has always been supported by many practising journalists. It’s like a seesaw: when the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was in power, SLPP-leaning journalists would always glorify it whenever they felt that something written about their party and government was not right. That also goes for the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) and its APC-leaning journalists. In short, when the APC is in power; the Public Order Act is good for its media goons. And when the SLPP was in power; the Act was as good as the Gospel for its media goons. So, what the fuss about this archaic law? A content analysis of it will show that the SLPP, as a government, had made great use of it than any APC government in the history of party politics in Sierra Leone! As the African proverb goes: a sensible man should not look at the spot where he falls down but the place where he trips; so if one really wants to make a good analysis of this Act one should first study its historiography. How did this draconian Public Order Act of 1965 come into being? The Public Order Act was enacted by the SLPP in 1965 with the opposition newspaper, We Yone, specifically in mind. Because critical We Yone journalists were constantly set free by Freetown juries prior to the enactment of this law, the Act calls for trial by judge alone unlike in Britain where criminal libel cases are heard by juries. This Act states that: “Any person who maliciously publishes any defamatory matter knowing the same to be false shall be guilty of an offence called libel and liable on conviction to imprisonment for any term not exceeding three years or to a fine… or both…”( Section 26, page 436) Also, under this Act, “…the truth of matters charged may be inquired into, but shall not amount to be defence unless it was for the public benefit that the said matters charged should be published…(Section 28(1) page 436) As a practising journalist, I am against this Act because it contradicts Section 25 of the 1991[Peter Tucker] Constitution of Sierra Leone which states that, “Except with his own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of expression…the said freedom includes the freedom to hold opinions and…impart ideas and information without interference… (Page 21)” Moreover, this Act also contradicts Section 11 of the same 1991 Constitution which maintains that, “the press…shall at all times be free to uphold…and highlight the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people” (page 6). But because many journalists have made it their hobbies of taking innocent citizens’ right to privacy to the abattoir and threatening them with blackmail; because many journalists have consistently been contravening their Code of Practice by acting as politicians, and because many journalists have been flinging both SLAJ and the Independent Media Commission’s Code of Conducts inside sewers, there is always a very strong argument for retaining the Public Order Act of 1965—though always in comatose to be resuscitated by any government! Looking at the history of the Public Order Act; it has remotely been used by an ordinary citizen. As noted earlier in this One Dropian dropping, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) had made use of this draconian law more than any political party or government in Sierra Leone. The first victim of this Act was Dr Sam Hollist under Sir Albert Margai. Sam Metzger and Taqi followed. Though ex-President Ahmad Tejan Kabba(h) of the SLPP presented himself as a democrat, he made great use of the Public Order Act during his eleven years rule (1996-2007). In 1996, Edison Yongai of The Point newspaper was charged under this Act. In 1997, Ibrahim Seaga Shaw, Gibril Gbanabom Koroma and Abayomi Charles Roberts—all of the Expo Times newspaper—were charged under this Act. It was because the Tejan-Kabba(h) administration believed in this Act so much so that it allowed Nigerian soldiers, under the command of Major Tanko, in 1998 to invade the No.1 Short Street offices of the Independent Observer newspaper and beat up Editor Sorie Sudan Sesay and Administrative Manager Bai Bai Sesay and later their subsequent incarcerations with their Managing Editor Jonathan Leigh at the Congo Cross Police Station. And it is this Act that was evoked by the SLPP government, during the 2007 elections, to force the Standard Times newspaper to retract its “Libyan Rice” story after it had earlier stood by its report 100%. Even lawyer Charles Francis Margai of the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) has once made use of the Public Order Act. According to Joseph O.D. Cole in his pamphlet “The Law and the Media in Sierra Leone”, lawyer Charles Margai proffered charges against Expo Times’ editor Ibrahim Seaga Shaw and had him arrested under warrant and prosecuted in the provincial town of Bo, southern Sierra Leone, for an alleged libel [under the Public Order Act] during the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) military rule. Charles Margai later became a Minister in the Tejan-Kabbah government (page 8). It is sad that many Sierra Leonean journalists have been squeaking about the Public Order Act and Press Freedom without comprehending them fully. Even with press freedom; there are limitations! My take on the issue is that: if SLAJ is unable to control its members by making them adhere strictly to their Code of Conduct, and if the IMC has been showing great inertia in terms of performing its core functions; then it is logical for the Public Order Act to be maintained until SLAJ and the IMC come up with an alternative punishment for journalists’ follies, blackmails, alarmist reportage and seditious libels! In summary I hold two views on this issue. I strongly believe that the Public Order Act should be expunged from our law books because it does not only criminalize libel but contravenes Sections 11 and 25 of our national Constitution. But I also hold the view that the Act should be maintained in the law books because if this law is still in existence yet many journalists could be very reckless with official state secrets and ordinary citizens’ reputations, then imagine how hyper-reckless they will become if this law is expunged. Many readers will now be wondering why I want the Public Order Act of 1965 to be expunged and at the same want it to be maintained. Well, if you don’t know, there is a terminology for someone holding two contradictory views on an issue. George Orwell, of Animal Farm fame, called it “Doublethink” in his novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” (published in 1949). medsankoh@yahoo/+232-76-611986
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:02:50 +0000
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