We Totally Agree With Umaru Fofanah! In as much as we live in a world in which we cannot agree at the same time; it is only pertinent that we disagree if only to agree on certain issues or when we reach a certain point. That said, we quite agree with former President of Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Alhaji Umaru Fofanah, who stated at the last, but first press conference staged by the First Gentleman of State in the person of HE President Ernest Bai Koroma, that: “There should have been an Appendix B, which should have explained who should attend these press conferences. The Ministers and heads of parastatals far out-numbered the journalists in the State House room on Friday; pretty much like those clerical staff at the weekly Information Ministry briefing who ensconce themselves while the journalists have to squirm for where to sit on. Does anyone need telling that on a Friday, which is largely half-day in reality in many government offices, these officials should have stayed in their workplaces doing the job they are being paid for instead of clapping at a press conference? Journalists do not clap at a press conference. So much was the misrepresentation…” The importance of journalists the world over cannot be overemphasized nor underestimated! We are of the belief that what out former SLAJ President in the person of Alhaji Umaru Fofanah is saying, and had said, about the way and manner in which “unauthorized” people crowded the Integrity Hall at State House last Friday, is not only a pointer to the fact that people working at State House do not know their duties; but it is also an indication that the President himself encourages “imbeciles” parading as journalists! Otherwise, we would have expected him to have told those State House staff including his driver, and others who had no business in the Integrity Hall on Friday last, but crowded it, thus taking up all the seats reserved for journalists, to: “Get up, take your crutches and walk out of this hall because you definitely do not have any business here!” But then, we have a President who is seeking attention at any point in time; the reason he does not care or cannot tell his State House staff from genuine journalists invited to frequent his Integrity Hall for only one time! President Koroma should know if not learn that journalists are a queer if not jealous lot of people; similar to the way heads of state consider themselves. Would President Koroma feel confident and happy when he calls a meeting of his colleagues, for him to see dozens of people at his meeting that were never or are not heads of states? Well, that is the way journalists felt at that President Koroma’s first press conference held at Integrity Hall at State House in Freetown last Friday! If we can give some advice, it is only to say that if President Koroma really meant what he said last Friday about him considering journalists as serious people who have a lot to do in the development of this country, then our advice to him is to live up to his word. Whenever the President next wishes to call a press conference, he should ensure that those in the hall apart from his advisers and bodyguards should and must be practicing or recognized journalists. He of all people should know he cannot take journalists for granted!!!
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 09:22:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015