Ferdinand Nahimana, Hassan Ngeze and Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza; the most popular journalists in Rwanda prior to, and later orchestrators of the 1994 Genocide that claimed the lives of more than an estimated UN figure of eight hundred thousand (800,000) people within a period of one hundred (100) days of bloodbath.
Listening keenly to a BBC Focus on Africa live programme in which Sierra Leone’s Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Hon. Momodu Kargbo was interviewed by the Ugandan born Paul Bakibinga, some of us who know a bit about priming or framing of agenda setting strategies in societies could clearly see that the BBC was really deceived to let the world feel like the All People Congress (APC) government of President Ernest Bai Koroma was actually intimidating protesters.
The questions now in the minds of many are: at the point of that BBC interview, was there any protest in Sierra Leone for the past week? Or can anyone by that time, say he had been intimidated by the government? The answers are certainly NO!!!! Thus, for the BBC to have concluded that indeed there was a protest in Sierra Leone, then it is in itself inciting against the government and people of the country.
Another tormenting episode is using fake voice note clips and fake press releases to incite the students of Sierra Leone to stage a nationwide protest against a very popular regime. Very disgusting!! Especially now that the National Union of Sierra Leone Student has insistently referred to such as inciting, and thus disassociates itself from such act.
Frankly, one could see the popularity of the President as majority of the people still stand together with him in the decision of the Petroleum Regulatory Unit (PRU) on fuel pricing in the country.
Meanwhile, some of us who have learnt about the devastating effects of media reporting in most societies across the world- Nazi Germany, Yugoslavia and Rwanda, will say recent moves by SLPP operatives both within the government and in the cloud of civil society has the probability to fan hate and calamity in the country. This is so especially now that Sierra Leone is ethno-politically divided, and opposition operatives are raising the minority set of people against a very very popular regime. Who knows what will be the fate of our 7million people, in the case when the majority might want to bounce back?
In view of all these, we call for a robust stance by local and international authorities to save our nation not to slip into the strife of catastrophe- a catastrophe that could be regretful like the one in Rwanda.
© Copyright by Awareness Times
Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.