Parliament Meddles in Press Gallery Politics
The Parliament of Sierra Leone stands accused of meddling in politics of the Parliamentary Press Gallery, (PPG) this accusation comes after the Office of the Clerk of Parliament put out a public notice that Pursuant to Standing Order 80 of the Houses Rules of Procedure, the Office of the Clerk has reconstituted the Parliamentary Press Gallery.
Many journalists were quite surprised by this announcement and consider it a direct interference in the activities of what should be an independent body.
It is important to note that the process to restructure the PPG is ongoing. A Reformation Committee was formed following our initial engagement with the Clerk of Parliament Hon. Umar Paran Tarawalie. The Committee is currently looking into membership and challenges and is expected to give recommendations on the way forward, following which SLAJEC will move on to conduct d elections for a legitimate executive.
According to a senior journalist who wished to be anonymous the powers of parliament only stop at giving accreditation to which media is assigned to cover parliament.
“The only role that the administration of Parliament should have in media coverage of Parliament should be in providing accreditation. And that simply means providing documentation to those assigned by their media houses in order to enable them access Parliamentary facilities. I think SLAJ should take up the matter decisively and should Parliament insist on the current path, all media houses should withdraw their correspondents” my source suggests.
The Reformation Committee is also expected to clean up the membership of the gallery as lots of journalists have been spotted in the gallery who are not assigned by any media institution.
It should be noted that this is the first time the house is selecting members to fill vacancies in the executive of the PPG. SLAJ is in the coming days expected to engage the leadership of parliament to reach an amicable resolution on the matter.
