The leadership of the Sierra Leone Police in the person of the Inspector General of Police, Mr William Fayia Sellu has Tuesday 28 March 2023 registered renewed commitments toward sustaining smooth working relations with the media.
IGP Sellu gave the reassurance whiles delivering his keynote address, marking the closing of an intensive two-day media training organized by the SLP at the Sierra Leone Police Wives Association Multipurpose Hall, Kingtom Barracks Kingtom, West of Freetown.
The seminal which specifically touched on the significance of information management, the mitigation of disinformation, mal-information, fake news, misleading contents, satire and parody, imposture contents, fabricated contents, false contents, manipulated contents and false contexts which are always used by new media mischief makers, with the tendencies of misleading the public prior, during and after the June 24 polls.
Underscoring the importance and timeliness of the two-day training, Mr Sellu observed that exercise has offered journalists and SLP Operations Officers drawn from all deployments across the western region, the opportunities of better consolidating relationship for the sustenance of mutual benefits. He said both parties from now going forward are fully capacitated with the required understandings of the roles and responsibilities of each other, especially in the daily conduct of various functions of journalists and the Police.
“The rationale behind this training is to clearly understand the internal dynamics in the discharge of the functions both the Police and the media, and if we do this, we will know the dos and the don’ts, guiding each other and there will be no misperception,” he said.
The IGP mentioned that the Sierra Leone Police is guided by principles of legality, professionalism, necessity and accountability, adding that personnel should not engage in any conduct with the tendencies of earning the SLP bad publicities. He thanked the head of Police Spokesman and Media One Brima Kamara for organizing the training.
Mr Sellu said the training also provided need for Police and journalists to meet and discuss and provide remedy to challenges affecting smooth working ties between them. He called on journalists and the Police to work as a family and be each other’s keeper, work as partners in development, and encouraged personnel to always conduct themselves in a professional manner not to give the media any bad news about the institution.
Vividly reflecting on his personal human relationships with journalists and the media, the Police Chief further narrated that during his days as the Chief Security Officer to the late president Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, good number of his friends were members of the forth-estate, saying that the late Managing Editor of the Independent Observer, who was later appointed as Deputy Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Jonathan Leigh, former Managing Editor of Concord Times, Kingsley Lynton, Mr Ahmed Kanneh of blessed memories of the New Storm and former President of SLAJ Mr Kelvin Lewis, who he explained to have and continue to enjoy perfect human touch with.
He entreated journalists and the Police to maintain good relations, noting that elections come and go every five years, but human relationship lasts for ever. IGP Sellu also encouraged journalists always set the records strength by giving the public the correct, accurate, timely and balance information without biases or prejudice. Mr Sellu urged all to apply skills learnt so far from the two day the training.
Addressing participants during the opening secession of the training on Monday 27 March, the Director of Training SLP, Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Sylvester Koroma underlined the need to for journalists to understand the duties and responsibilities of the Police. AIG Koroma said knowing policing functions can enable journalists to work very well with the Police and help them propagate the programmes and activities of the force well, outlining the provision of security as one of the key roles of the Police.
The SLP Director of Training observed that most people like freedom but do not like to take the responsibilities attached to it. He commended the Head of Media and Police Spokesman Acting Chief Commissioner of Police Brima Kamara for organizing the training, which provided the Police and the media better understandings of the roles of each other. “We are the greatest defenders of Human Rights, that is why we train our personnel to deliver on their duties in line with international best practices. We need objective criticisms of Police operations. We need people who can criticise us”, AIG Koroma said, and expressed hope that the two-day training will provide better understanding for the media and the Police, and officially declared the seminar opened. Speaking of the aspect of Right to Access Information on Tuesday 28 March, the Chairman and Information Commissioner, Right to Access Information Commission Dr Ibrahim Shega Shaw dwelled of on the exempted areas and limitations of the 2013 Act, which according to him guide journalists seeking information to stay away from anything that has to do with risk of defence, national security, personal privacies and the likes…not anything the requester ask for he/she can provide them with. He explained that it is the duty of the Public Information Officer to engage the process, which most times anger journalists.
Dr Shaw informed that the Commission’s portal is at advance stage of providing requesters with an online-electronic forms, which make it much easier for both parties. He said that if there is no representation from the third party there should be no restrictions for information, but however cautioned journalists to be careful with the areas of public interest.
On national security and defence he said military tactics and operation cannot be disclosed to journalists ie if the security are on preparations for activities relating to the defence of the state should also not be made available to journalists. Dr Shaw disclosed that journalists should not give sources of a confidential sources.
On international relations, he said that Public Information Officers may refuse if such information has tendency jeopardising multilateral ties with the country. Economic and commercial interests where in information relating to trade secrete should not be released by Information Officers. On the exempts, he said expenditure of public funds should be released in public interests for the process of transparency and accountability.
He expressed profound delight to meet with operations and information officers at the training and encouraged journalists to stay off from the line. Significant contributions were made on the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, with key focus on the Public Order Act, Police hierarchy and the maintenance of law and order, by the Police Spokesman Mr Kamara and the President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists Ahmed Sahid Nasralla opened a platform for the recommendations on how journalists are expected to conduct themselves on polling day come June 24 this year.
The Deputy Head of SLP Community Relations, Superintendent Samuel Saio Conteh explained in detail the negative impacts of disinformation, mal-information, fake news, misleading content, satire and parody, imposture content, fabricated content, false content, manipulated content and false contexts. All of which he said have the tendencies of deceiving the public. The occasion was climaxed with the presentation of certificates to participants.
