Monrovia – The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) says it is panicked at the fastest pace at which official intolerance for independent journalism and dissent is escalating in Liberia.
Report by Gerald Koineyneh, [email protected]
In an open letter to the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, Liberia’s Chief Justice Francis Korkpor and several local and International Journalism Institutions including the West African Journalism Association (WAJA), the PUL called on them to intervene in asking President George Manneh Weah to give clarity on how Jonathan Paye-Layleh, the BBC’s Liberia Correspondent undermined his work for peace and human rights in Liberia.
It can be recalled on March 22, 2018 at a press conference with the visiting UN Deputy Secretary General, the Liberian leader accused the BBC Correspondent of being against him during the civil war when he was promoting human rights and peace.
The President’s statement was in response to a question Paye-Layleh asked on his administration’s stance of implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations that called for establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia to allow victims of the Liberian civil conflict the opportunity to confront their alleged abusers.
“Baffled, at the answer to the question has left the journalism community, the Press Union of Liberia will this very public and honorable manner request your respective interventions to ask President Weah and his officials to end their attacks and persecution of journalists for the good of one of the world’s foremost peace building projects (Liberia). We pray to your consciences that you ask His Excellency, George M. Weah, President of the Republic of Liberia, to provide the world with a chronology detailing scrupulously when, where, why, what and how Jonathan Paye-Layleh undercut his work for human rights in Liberia,” the PUL pleaded.
The local media parent body in the letter signed by its President, Charles Coffey, Sr., noted that winning the 2017 runoff Presidential election by more than 61 percent clearly defines the popularity of President Weah across Liberia and accusing one of “our top journalists of being against him (Weah) in an inexplicable manner and the attending confusion that have tagged number of clarifications made by different officials of government only but endanger the life of Jonathan Paye- Layleh.”
It noted that the President’s strange flare-up against Paye-Layleh in the full view of the world is deflecting the Liberian’s journalistic substance in a competitive international newsroom setting for two leading global news networks, the BBC and Associated Press News Agency that Paye-Layleh works for.
“Please eminent ladies and gentlemen, the Liberian President’s detailed explanation will end this national stand-up which is fast moving toward the burning of the journalist career on unsubstantiated comments. Every second which passes without President Weah providing clarity on his accusation against the BBC correspondent, leaves the Journalism Community more anxious for individual professionals’ personal safety.”
The Union also pointed out that it has in its powers the proper reprimands for bridge of any ethical standard; adding: “We name, shame, suspend and ultimately expel memberships from the Press Union of Liberia for causes such as the one the President has accused Jonathan of; nothing that or a journalist to undermine works around human rights is not only disingenuous and grossly unethical but a charge which kills the foremost essence of contemporary journalism, service for the greater good of all of humanity.
Detailing chronologically what it termed as the escalating pace of official intolerance for independent journalism and dissent in Liberia, the PUL condemned the February 13, 2018 incident where Montserrado County Representative Munah Pelham-Youngblood, in open plenary at the House of Representatives allegedly insulted and assaulted FrontPage Africa Reporter Henry Karmo. Karmo’s only wrong was rooted in a story in the Front Page Africa which was critical of Representative Pelham-Youngblood’s role since the ascendency of President George M. Weah to power in Liberia.
The FPA piece written by Karmo detailed the deportment of the lawmaker in a strange double role as a Protocol officer and Representative at the same time during President Weah’s first State of the Nation Address.
It recalled that on March 13, 2018, the Mayor of Monrovia, Jefferson Koijee, warned that the CDC-led government, which he vigorously campaigned to bring to power, will not be unsettled by the reports of the media.
“Mr. Koijee was quoted in the local dailies stressing: “We [will] stand tall to work for our people and care less about the media criticisms of this government.” The Mayor of Monrovia continued his rant saying that they have only taken over state power after a long 12 year wait and will not be bothered by critical analysis of ills in the Weah Administration by the Media.
It is intriguing that the powerful Mayor’s pronouncements came after an unembellished statement from President George Weah’s preferred choice for Deputy Information Minister for Public Affairs, Eugene Fahngon.
Mr. Fahngon vowed that the media in Liberia will remain poor or broke for the next 12 years, inferring that President Weah will win a second term. Fahngon accused the journalism community in Liberia of denting the election campaign of President Weah by tagging him as being “dull” and as well accompanied that description with other derogatory languages.
It furthered detailed in the letter that on April 9, 2018, Information Minister Lenn Eugene Nagbe in an apparent move to cement the allegation of Jonathan depicting a positive image of the civil war accused the BBC Correspondent of being a key member of the rebel National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) propaganda machinery.
The Information Minister told state radio ELBC that he is surprised at Mr. Paye-Layleh for seeking asylum in the United States only because of what he calls a reconciliatory statement President George Weah made to him in Monrovia recently.
“These scanty propagandistic infusions give no detailed explanation as to which story or pieces Jonathan wrote which promoted the war and the National Patriotic Front of Liberia. All these propagandistic infusions have done is to provide reasons for ordinary die-hards of the President to attack Paye- Layleh and set the stage for intimidations and harassments of journalists who will report critical pieces on running government,” the PUL intoned.