The Editor,
Once again the battered of our non-government radio stations and citizenry of Liberia are being subjected to attacks aided and abetted by those who we have entrusted with the role of leadership.
The closure of Voice FM headed by Mr. Henry Costa clearly demonstrates the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf led government inability to tolerate opposing views on national issues drastically affecting the ordinary people.
All Mr. Costa has been passionately fighting for is to draw attention to the plights afflicting the poor people and that government must do the right thing. We experienced similar unwholesome actions under the NDPL led government, where political parties were ban and newspapers offices, were stormed by armed men and shutdown. It was when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf referred to President Samuel K. Doe as an “Idiot” and her civil liberty was violated under our constitution which guaranteed her right to free speech. Fellow Liberians, let not our blind loyalty to this government impedes our good decision making.
In all fairness after two years of operation, consistently exposing the evil deeds in government, the Voice FM is not shut down because of the station operating illegally or inability of renewing permit.
The crux of the matter is with all the recent strong revelations of corruption perpetrated by government employees attached to Madam President at the Ministry of Public Works, John F. Kennedy Hospital, National Security Agency, Melvin Tolbert saga at the Supreme Court, Ministry of health, In the House of Representative and Senate and Liberian Civil Aviation Authority. Nevertheless, our courts must function to protect our liberties, and no illegal barriers should be imposed to prevent non-government radio stations from shedding light on misrule and misdeeds when there is credible evidence.
As I listened to Assistant Minister Isaac Jackson on Prime 105.5 FM, he fought to give justification of the closure of Voice FM and it was very sad with lies and deception shamelessly shooting out of his mouth like the venom of a cobra. We understand that all attempts made by the management of Voice FM to have the Ministry of Information renew the station license were deliberately delayed to obstruct their function. Unfortunately, it would be difficult if not impossible for transparency to existing in a government institution responsible for media licensing and renewal are run by government appointed loyalists whose decision are not independent.
Therefore, it is evident that the Ministry of information recklessly overlooked that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition, freedom of expression must be the hallmark of good governance to expose corruption in a developing country such as Liberia where pervasive corruption has been canonically accommodated, entertained and celebrated by those in authority. Voice FM has become the platform of the voiceless where truth being told fearlessly and this administration sees it as serious threat to electing VP Joseph Boakai of the failed Unity Party in 2017 should continue to expose their wickedness and silencing Voice FM is just a calculated risk when majority of the ordinary people have no confidence in this Ellen and Joe led government.
Charles Russell
[email protected]
Philadelphia