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PRESS
FREEDOM DAY 2009....
AND NOT A WHIMPER
FROM THE ERNEST BAI KOROMA PAID PEN PUSHERS.
ARE THEY ALL SO BUSY BEGGING AND CRAWLING ON MISERABLE BELLIES
FOR FAVOURS AND PERKS THAT THE DAY HAS GONE JUST LIKE THAT?
WHAT A TRAGEDY, WHAT A BETRAYAL!!!!
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Sunday May 3, 2009 -
World Press Freedom Day -
Time for those in authority to take a good second look at
attitudes to the "critical" press.
Today is World Press Freedom Day -
a day set aside by UNESCO,
 the
UN body to focus on issues affecting members of the Fourth
Estate and this year the theme is aimed at finding ways of
bridging the gap between the governed and the state machinery
with the focus on the media and dialogue. On the
UNESCO website to mark this day is this important text
that should serve as a pointer to what governments especially
those in the mother country should be seriously thinking about
with a view to state operatives realising that the ball has
always being in their court and it is left with them to embark
on a change of attitude towards the press that is seen as
critical.
"Media
functions as a vehicle for the flow of a
plurality of viewpoints and multiplicity
of voices, thus permitting exercises of
citizenship such as participation,
criticism and voting. Informed citizens
can better and more actively participate
in their societies’ decision making
processes."
UNESCO
Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura in his
message for today Sunday May 3, 2009 World
Press Freedom Day has noted that
"Strengthening the principles and
practices of a free and professional
media is the most sustainable way of
encouraging a media culture that works
towards building peace. Only a media
that is vibrant, independent,
pluralistic, inclusive and fair,
editorially free and beyond censorship
and influence from owners or interests
can contribute to dialogue and
reconciliation across divides."
A far cry from what obtains in
the mother country. A situation where certain characters
parading as "independent journalists" in the business to get
perks from a government which has been conditioned to describe
any critic as "enemies of the state" are having a field day. The
Ernest Koroma set-up (AFRC Mk 2) believes it should be painted
in all the nice colours and sprayed with all manner of
sweet-smelling perfumes forgetting that at the core of it all is
a putrid and festering sore of thievery and deceit as ordinary
Sierra Leoneans see life becoming unbearable by the hour with
nepotism, regionalism, cronyism, violence and the threat of it,
massive corruption and deception becoming the forte of its
functionaries.
MORE
WHAT WE WROTE ON WORLD PRESS
FREEDOM DAY IN 2005
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May 1, 2009
- You have to read this to
believe the state of journalism within and without the mother
country
SLAJ to
observe special week to mark Press
Freedom Day
As
part of marking World Press Freedom
Day which is on Sunday 3 May, the
Sierra Leone Association of
Journalists will observe a special
week of activities country wide.
With nine of our colleagues dead
through natural causes in the last
six months, the association will
observe Memorial and Thanksgiving
Services on
Friday 31
April at the
Freetown Central Mosque, Wilberforce
Street, and on Sunday at the St
Anthony’s Church at Syke Street,
Freetown...
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April 29, 2009 - 17
years ago today history made as the first successful coup in 24
years sees the back of the then APC government of President
Joseph Saidu Momoh.
Update..May
1 and still watching -
What...collective amnesia of convenience? Have the April 29,
1992 events vanished from the APC version of the history of
Sierra Leone? Why have the so-called "independent" mouthpieces
of AFRC Mk 2 kept so quiet on April 29? Did AFRC Mk 2 headed by
President Ernest Bai Koroma issue an edict - "dont even remind
us"? The Sierra Herald thinks not but is the usual self-serving
self-censorship by so-tagged "Editors-in-Chief" some of whom
have never darkened the doors of a serious school for
journalists, lest "di Pa go vex" and cut off the money supply.
Shame on you, shame.
Seventeen years ago today April
29, a group of army officers came to
town, the capital that is, to make demands for an improvement in
their conditions at the war war front where they had been
battling the savage and brutal hordes of the RUF and their
allies in the national army, the sobels. That was what they
initially stated. Residents in the capital first noted the
presence of the men from the front when they started hearing the
boom boom boom of what sounded like heavy guns not normally
heard in Freetown. Very soon word spread that State House has
been occupied and that there was a twin-barrelled gun in front
of this seat of government. Curious onlookers were there to
watch the unfolding scene and before the end
 of
that day, the breathless voice of one Captain Valentine Strasser
was heard on the air waves telling all and sundry that the APC
government had been overthrown and the birth of the National
Provisional Ruling Council, the NPRC. Ironically these were men
in uniform who had been recruited by the same government using a
system only understood by them. To get into the army then you
had to be verified and given a green card by the self-same APC
operatives, thus making sure, they believed, that they can go on
plundering the country while ordinary folks were forced to
endure a level of hardship never before seen in the mother
country. The general jubilation and great sighs of relief which
followed this action is well documented and highlights the wages
of repression and the disregard for the human rights of
citizens. The rest, as they say is history.
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....and as President Ernest Bai Koroma's gbatolites invent award
after award conferred upon His Excellency Dr the
Chancellor etc etc please be reminded of something the Sierra
Herald carried a little while back. Write all the "gbatolitic"
articles you can, all the drivel, crawl as low as you can and
invent events
as only the self-serving brain of a sewer-dwelling and rabid gbatolite can muster, but please in all you do remember there
are millions out there who can easily see through you. Take this
matter of a certain Mayor of a London Barnet place carried on
the front page of the creator of journalists out of thin air
Gibril Gbanabome Koroma (inventor of Bishop Johnson
school teacher Sullay and one Krugba as journalists). Many a
Londoner would have seen through the various attempts to robe
His Excellency, the Dr, the Professor, the Insurer, the AFRC/RUF
apologist and would advise that simple checks be carried out as,
believe it or not, there are Sierra Leoneans living within the
borders of the United Kingdom who can tell you that there is no
such thing like a London Barnet. There is a
London Borough of Barnet not a London Barnet please.
Kindly remember too that there's only one
Mayor of London
and that position is at present occupied by the Conservative
candidate Boris Johnson. And while at it please be reminded too,
that there is a
Lord Mayor of the City of London whose duties are quite
different from Mayor Boris Johnson. And one more thing - why
have the gbatolites studiously avoided the historical and almost
earth-shattering event of today April 29, 1992 that kicked out
the inept and corrupt APC after 24 years of suppression,
corruption and outright disrespect for the human rights of
Sierra Leoneans in their own God-given country? Trying to
rewrite history? No way gbatolites, no way!!!!
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Hope at last on the
horizon for the SLBS - Parliament to soon pass into law a new
body, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, the SLBC.
There's one
good news trying to make the headlines in the mother country and
the Sierra Herald is proud to hear about moves by government,
 Parliament
and all those who want to see a new phase in state/national
broadcasting as the somewhat moribund Sierra Leone Broadcasting
Service, the good old SLBS is transformed into a new entity, the
Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, the SLBC. This is
something that should have been effected ages ago ever since the
Tejan Kabbah government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with the UK government way back in 2002. In that document, the
then government promised to take the necessary steps to
establish SLBS independent of government control by the end of
March 2004. According to the draft of the bill which Parliament
has to discuss and approve soon, very soon.
The
Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) is dedicated to
the principles of public service, to democracy, and the
overall development of the people of Sierra Leone. SLBC is
an independent watchdog of all the branches of government,
the private sector and civil society.
We welcome
this new development and hope that the mother country will now
have a national broadcasting set-up that will be truly manned by
competent professionals whose administrative head will be more
concerned with delivering the goods rather than making State
House a part of his/her office.
MORE
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April
27, 2009 - Another
anniversary and so what next?
Today is the 48th anniversary 
of the mother country becoming a new member in the community of
nations after shaking off the shackles of colonialism. Those who
made it possible had dreams that the new Sierra Leone with
affairs of the country directed by its own citizens would now
ensure that Sierra Leoneans ate from the table and not feed on
what had dropped from the greedy and gaping jaws of those at the
table. Apart from those insincere and hypocritical statements
ending with "God bless us all", what has the average citizen
gained, what has he/she got to point to as truly life-changing
for the better?
MORE
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...and the speech of a
President who encourages the use of violence against the weak
and powerless...
If you had any doubts about
President Bai Koroma's support for the human rights abusing and
murderous AFRC/RUF junta led by Johnny Paul Koroma, then this
speech on the country's 48th independence anniversary leaves no
doubt about his love and admiration for the most brutal band of
rapists and murderers that ever walked the streets and alleyways
of the mother country. Today's speech as usual full of fury of
lies, more lies and signifying nothing but deception clearly
highlighted how this apologist of a President tried to give his
own version of history.
"...we Sierra Leoneans have
demonstrated over and over again that we are truly committed
to change and can bring about necessary changes when they
are required. In 1967, determined Sierra Leoneans made
history by making Sierra Leone the first nation in Africa to
change a Government through the ballot box, which feat was
repeated in 2007, 40 years later! In 1996, determined Sierra
Leoneans resisted military rule and succeeded in replacing
the military junta with a civilian democratic regime. On May
8th 2000, many young Sierra Leoneans sacrificed their lives
to confront Rebel Leader, Foday Saybana Sankoh when he sought to
derail the peace process."
This is the resolve of Sierra
Leoneans to bring about changes according to the President with
no mention made of the determination of the civilians to disobey
and resist the junta of Johnny Paul Koroma during AFRC/RUF days,
the first time in the history of the country that Sierra
Leoneans have stood up to the military and telling the soldiers
and rebels in their face - "We do not want you - leave the
scene", nor did this AFRC/RUF apologist mention the resolve of
the people that despite the mayhem visited upon them by vengeful
hordes of barbarians in January 1999 in which at least six
thousand were slaughtered, Sierra Leoneans had resolved that
they can only have a leader they want through the ballot box.
Now you know why after video shots and stills showing his chief
bodyguard Leatherboot's involvement in the raid on the
opposition SLPP headquarters, this apologist had the gall to
parade the beast for all to see just how pleased he was with him
and his alleged acts of brutality!!!!
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LEST WE FORGET - JANUARY 6 AND WHAT HAPPENED TEN YEARS
AGO
IN
MEMORY OF ALL THOSE WHO PERISHED 10 YEARS AGO FOLLOWING
THE MASSIVE AND BRUTAL ASSAULT ON THE CAPITAL ON JANUARY
6, 1999 THAT LEFT AT LEAST 5,000 SIERRA LEONEANS DEAD,
TENS OF THOUSANDS TRAUMATISED AND MILLIONS STILL TRYING
TO UNDERSTAND WHY SATAN VISITED THE CAPITAL.
MAY THE GOOD LORD CONTINUE TO COMFORT THE SURVIVORS,
PROVIDE HEAVENLY REST FOR THE DEPARTED AND IN HIS MERCY
REWARD EACH AND EVERYONE IN KIND FOR THEIR PARTICIPATION
IN THAT POGROM - INCLUDING ALL THOSE NOW LIVING IN
COUNTRIES WHERE HUMAN RIGHTS ARE SACRED BUT WHO WHILE IN
SIERRA LEONE AND OUTSIDE THE BORDERS OF THE MOTHER
COUNTRY WELCOMED THE BEASTS AND THE ATROCITIES AGAINST
THE CIVILIAN POPULATION.
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The
Sierra Herald
 wishes
you and yours a very merry Christmas 2008 and a
prosperous and Spirit-filled 2009 with hopes that the
voiceless, the downtrodden and dispossessed in their own
God-given land will one fine day get the justice they
truly deserve. That they would have their fair share of
the mother country's
natural resources so that they too can sit at the table
to eat rather than searching for crumbs on the floor
from the table the oppressors feed - crumbs that are no
longer there. We pray that our disadvantaged especially
the aged and infirm, the blind, the sick, our women and
girl folks as well as our youths will enjoy all the
protection they need as citizens of the only country
that is truly theirs - Sierra Leone. We leave you with a
couple of pictures found on the websites of the former
SLAJ President Philip Neville as well as Peter Andersen.
Yes - this is a celebration of our children who can no
longer be raped, drugged, murdered and savaged to fill
the depraved as was witnessed during our troubles of the
rebel war and under the awful horror called the AFRC/RUF
junta.
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JUSTICE AT LAST FOR VICTIMS DEAD, DYING AND LIVING AS
CHARLES TAYLOR'S SON "CHUCKIE" IS GIVEN 97 YEARS IN JAIL
It would seem that there
would no longer be any rest for the wicked as a US court
today sentenced Charles "Chuckie" Taylor
the son of Liberia's warlord Charles Taylor to 97 years
in jail for his part in the torture and murder of people
he perceived to be enemies of his father. Today's
sentencing brings to an end a case that has been of
interest to human rights activists and others yearning
for justice. Indeed the conviction of Chuckie and this
sentence, the first such move by the US courts paves the
way for others to be hauled before US courts and should
send a message to all that US citizens linked to human
rights abuses outside the borders of the United States
have no place to hide anymore, no territorial protection
any more. That's the way it should be - no rest for the
wicked as we continue to appeal to witnesses and victims
of torture and other human rights abuses in Sierra Leone
to contact the Sierra Herald should they know where
their former tormentors are as well as those who aided
them by whatever means including the use of newspapers
and other outlets.
The wheels of justice
may seem to move slowly, sometimes painfully slowly, but
in the end will get to the destination - station
justice.
THE MIAMI FBI PRESS RELEASE
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PRESIDENT
LANSANA CONTE PASSES TO THE GREAT BEYOND
Guinea's President Lansana
Conte
has died, years after battling a number of serious
ailments including diabetes. Reports say the President
of the National Assembly Aboubacar Sompare made the
announcement of his death a a broadcast on state
television thus ending speculations about the
President's state of health. Just before this official
announcement the rumour mills in Guinea were full of the
demise or near death of the man who had ruled Guinea
ever since he stepped in in 1984 to fill a dangerous
void left by the death of another dictator, Ahmed Sekou
Toure. President Conte was believed to have been 74 when
he departed for the great beyond leaving Guineans to
sort out his successors as he had never really made one
known. Sierra Leoneans would be watching with interest
what happens next as the neighbouring has often found
itself inextricably linked to the the mother country
ranging from providing refuge for a number of prominent
Sierra Leoneans close to the seat of power including
Siaka Stevens, Joseph Saidu Momoh and Ahmad Tejan
Kabbah. He refused to recognise the illegal and
murderous AFRC/RUF junta despite Kemoh Fadika's
hastily-cobbled delegation to him begging for support.
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Another
colleague falls in the line of duty - Didace Namujimbo
is no more
It is with deep regret and
great sadness that we received and have to report the
death of another
colleague and as usual all because he was doing his job
sans guns, bullets, RPGs and lethal weapons.
Journalist Didace Namujimbo who was with Radio Okapi is
reported to have been killed by a single bullet to his
head near his home in Bukavu. He is the second Okapi
radio journalist to be murdered just seventeen months
after the fatal shooting of Serge Maheshe. The rights
group
Reporters Without Borders has urged the authorities
to carry out a thorough investigation and "to find the
person who fired the shot and to identify those behind
the murder. There is no more room for botched
investigations and grotesque sham trials.”
Our thoughts are with
the relations of this fallen colleague and hopes that
they will be comforted and not be of despair sure in the
knowledge that our fallen brother rests in the Lord.
Amen.
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HOLD
THE FRONT PAGE - MOIJUE KAIKAI NOW WEARS A RED HAT AND
IS PROUD OF IT
Yes, you are not seeing
things, nor in a dream. This is Moijue Kaikai,
 the
one-time firebrand in the then ruling SLPP of Ahmad
Tejan Kabbah and the opposition PMDC of Charles Margai.
On a brief visit to London last week, Moijue told the
Sierra Herald that he was now for the ruling APC of
Ernest Bai Koroma and he was quite adamant in making the
point that he was not in his latest political venture
because he was a bit "low on resources" and needed to
give a boost to his expense accounts as his political
opponents claim. "They must be in another land. The
vision of President Ernest Bai Koroma for the country is
just up my street and he deserves all my support", he
roared in the best SLPP-PMDC-APC voice he could muster.
And say his critics
"How can you trust such a man who wears different
colours as and when the mood suits him?" More later.
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Human
Rights abuser in Rwanda exposed, tried and sentenced to
life in jail. No hiding place for the evil. Kindly take
note
junta apologist
Ibrahim Seaga Shaw. There's no hiding place for the
evil.
He was one of those who
actively encouraged the hunt for Tutsis, provided the
resources that oiled the killing machine in his part of
Rwanda where he held an influential position. He could
have helped put a stop to the 1994 genocide, but did not
and when the world asked for justice, he actually
embedded himself in the office of the Arusha tribunal
where as a defence lawyer, he had access to evidence
implicating his kind. To what extent he filched and
manipulated documents of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, ICTR, is yet to be determined but
Rwandan genocidaire Simeon Nshamihigo (his real name)
parading as a Congolese national with name Sammy Bahati
Weza is now serving life in jail. He was unmasked in
2001 after a witness at one of the trials recognised him
and revealed his true identity as one of the alleged
organisers of the mass murder of hundreds of thousands
of Tutsis and was arrested in Tanzania. This thing
called justice!!!! And what about journalists who gave
the oxygen of publicity to the beasts of the junta?
They will account,
never mind the denials!!!!
MORE
And if you live in the US
and/or within that country's law enforcement areas of
operation, please do not fail to contact ICE (the
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) about
people who directly/indirectly supported human rights
abuses in Sierra Leone and elsewhere and who now try to
hide within the midst of people they helped torment.
MORE
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VICTORY FOR
NATURAL JUSTICE - THE GURKHAS WIN A LANDMARK BATTLE
London - September 30,
2008 -
In what is no doubt a victory for natural justice and a
deep sense of appreciation, the Gurkhas wanting British
right to residency and by extension citizenship and
denied because of a time-line have laid bare the
discriminatory if not institutional bias of the UK Home
Office. What has a date drawn by Whitehall got to do
with a people who have traditionally being a part of the
British army, ready to lay down their lives for King,
Queen and country and who have displayed remarkable
discipline under extreme conditions of war, willing to
go the extra mile when all seemed lost. Indeed the MoD
has noted on its website dedicated to the Queen's Gurkha
Rifles that -
The Gurkhas are a unique unit in the Army with a reputation
of being amongst the finest and most feared soldiers in the world.
Today's court ruling
should be the final step in removing the Home Office
cobweb of discrimination embedded in discriminatory laws
and a warning to ECO's (Entry Clearance Officers) in UK
missions abroad that the issuance of a visa should go
beyond inherent and perceived prejudices.
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