By Nasratu Kargbo
President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Ahmed Sahid Nasralla has said in order for the election to be successful, the media should be empowered so that they can capably educate the public. He made this call on the 16th February 2023 at the launch of a project titled “Ensuring Locally-led Elections are credible and transparent (ELECT) in Sierra Leone”.
The President said that this year’s elections will be different, stating that they will be using a totally different system which he said is the combination of the PR systems and therefore the public should be educated about it.
Nasralla explained that the public needs to understand the mechanics of the elections, noting that if they do not understand there will be cause for confusion, misunderstanding or even conflict. He added that such can only happen if the media actively educate the public on the system.
“It is important that the media in Sierra Leone is empowered to be able to perform its role. As of now the media is not in the position to provide accurate information and education for the public, because the media practitioners themselves do not have a clear understanding of the different systems that will be used in this election” said Nasralla.
He stated that his expectation was at this time the media could have been engaged in massive sensitization and education.
Speaking on the current state of the media ahead of the elections, Nasralla said they are working with partners to conduct training for media practitioners across the day in several areas such as elections reporting, conflict and gender sensitive reporting especially for community radio stations.
The President stated that in today’s world, the media plays a significant role in elections, stating that it serves as a primary source of information, shapes public opinion, influences the outcome of elections by providing information about candidates and their policies, providing the platform for candidates to express their views etc. Speaking on the negatives, he said the media can be used to spread hate messages, false information and manipulate public opinion.
He said that the country needs to invest in community radio stations which ensure the participation of the bulk of the rural population during elections; he stated that most of them are challenged as a result of ineffective governance, lack of resources amongst others.
Highlighting the relevance of strengthening community radio stations, the President stated that they will provide accurate and timely information to rural communities on happenings from the central government.
Giving the overview of the project, Resident Director of International Republican Institute (IRI) Sierra Leone Joseph Jimmy Sankaituah said the project seeks to promote credible and transparent elections in the country.
He said the project is a sixteen months project and will focus on key areas such as civic and voter education, violence mitigation and promoting non-violence elections, deploying security observers, actively engaging media institutions amongst others.
Sankaituah said the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through its partners has provided 1.5 million dollars for the implementation of the project.
United States’ Ambassador to Sierra Leone David Reimer spoke on the relevance of transparency in election, stating that they believe that credible and transparent election that reflects the will of the people is crucial in fulfilling the country’s democratic development aspiration.
“Election should be fair, free and peaceful” said Reimer. He said all parties should have the political space to operate responsibly and that citizens should have the right to vote. The Ambassador said the ELECT activities would support those objectives by strengthening local CSOs.
Highlighting USAID’s expectation from the project, Alpha Sesay said they expect the project’s activities to scale up initiatives, promote citizens’ peaceful participation, engage in political processes and good governance, counter misinformation, prevent electoral violence before, during and after elections etc.
The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by National Democratic Institute (NDI) and International Republican Institute (IRI).
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (17/02/23)
