By Fatmata Gbla.
Sierra Leonean journalists will badly miss their
outgoing President, Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo(pictured), who
resigned his position this afternoon from the
association after his appointment by President Ernest
Bai Koroma as Minister of Information and
Communication.
Among other things, Kargbo made a name for himself and
the journalism profession as a whole for restoring
sanity to the practice.
His biggest challenge was the fight to bring to
justice those responsible for the death of For Di
People newspaper editor Harry Yansaneh who was
physically attacked by the children of SLPP
politician Fatmata Hassan and subsequently died in hospital.
Apart from journalism, Kargbo also fought tirelessly
in the civil society where he championed human rights and social justice cases. Below is the press release issued by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) on IB’s resignation:
Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ)
Press Release
I. B. Kargbo Resigns As SLAJ President
Former President of the Sierra Leone Association of
Journalists (SLAJ), Alhaji Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, today
(11, October 2007) tendered his letter of resignation
as President of the association.
Alhaji I.B. Kargbo was first elected into office as
President in July 2004 for a two-year term and
re-elected in October 2006 for another two-year term.
Under his leadership, SLAJ regained public confidence,
succeeded in unifying its membership and played a very
critical role in nation building.
In his letter of resignation the outgoing President
assured members of his continued support to the
association.
The outgoing President and Managing Editor of the New
Citizen Press is among a list of nominees for
ministerial portfolios awaiting parliamentary
approval. He was appointed Minister of Information and
Communication by President Ernest Bai Koroma.
Meanwhile, SLAJ Secretary General, Ibrahim Karim-Sei
left for Accra over the weekend to participate in a
week-long training workshop on human rights. The training
programme is sponsored by the Centre for Conflict
Resolution based in South Africa.
Before departing for Accra, the Secretary General
disclosed that a general meeting of SLAJ members shall
be held on 20th October 2007 where Alhaji I.B. Kargbo
would formally take leave of his colleagues.
He said members would also discuss the thorny issue of
replacing the outgoing president.
"It’s constitutional matter, though, but members would
decide the fate of the association by either allowing
the Vice President to complete the president’s term of
office or call for early general elections,"
Karim-Sei opined.
Signed: Secretariat
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