By PV Staff Writers.
Mohamed Bangura, Sierra Leone’s new Information Minister has given one of his earliest interviews to the media since his appointment this month while on a visit to Beirut, Lebanon, with the Vice President of Sierra Leone Honourable Dr. Victor Foh.
The Vice President and entourage were in that country to open, for the first time, a Sierra Leonean consulate.
Information Minister Mohamed Bangura (photo) took the opportunity in an encounter with the press to outline some of his plans as Information and Communications Minister of the republic of Sierra Leone.
He said he is going to build an amicable relationship between the government and the media in Sierra Leone by working closely with the Sierra Leone Journalists Association.
Minister Bangura does not believe there should be any bad blood between the media and the government of Sierra Leone and as a journalist and newspaper owner himself he feels uniquely placed to engage fellow journalists to create the enabling environment for a vibrant and professional journalism in the country.
The young but politically mature Information Minister also spoke on the 1965 Public Order Act, which he said would be reviewed under his watch. Journalists in Sierra Leone have always condemned this law but successive governments have for decades found it difficult to amend or abolish it because of the gross lack of professionalism of some journalists in the country who involve in behavior such as blackmail and extortion. Libel and slander by journalists are also very common.
Minister Bangura also promised to bring his Ministry and other government networks in line with current global trends in Information Technology, revamp the national broadcasting corporation (SLBC) which has been plagued by problems of all kinds and the moribund Sierra Leone News Agency which used to be one of the best in Africa.
He said during his first 90 days as Minister of Information and Communications he will will "make sure to resuscitate both media outlets."
He added that he will bring the association of journalists very close to the government by "perhaps initiating an annual dinner" with the President of Sierra Leone in an atmosphere of peace and friendliness.
The Information Minister also commented on the Ebola epidemic which he said has been defeated and that Sierra Leone is now open for business again.
He was very enthusiastic about Sierra Leone-Lebanon relations and the importance of the two countries working closely together for their mutual benefit.
Mohamed Bangura was a journalist for a couple of years in Sierra Leone before relocating to Toronto, Canada at the height of the civil war in Sierra Leone. He returned home in 2006 and since then has been in the political limelight as one of the country’s most dynamic and promising politicians.
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