16 October 2009

Local Officials Hijack Community Radio Station


(CEMESP/IFEX) - Local government officials in Salala District, Bong County,
have hijacked the Salala Community Radio Station, dismissed the station's
board of directors, and indefinitely suspended the station manger.

Bridgestone Siakor, the station manager, was suspended by the
newly-constituted board of directors on September 29, 2009 while he was
away representing the station at a community radio conference in Gbarnga,
Bong County.

Salala City Mayor Charles Jackson unilaterally dismissed the old board and
constituted a new one, claiming he was empowered by the citizens of Salala
district to do so.

But Siakor told CEMESP that he will resist his suspension, arguing that the
newly-appointed board is illegal and that Mayor Jackson lacks the authority
to dismiss  the board.

Siakor further informed CEMESP that his suspension was based on his
criticism of corruption in the area and was masterminded by local
authorities headed by Mayor Jackson and Salala District Commissioner James
Kerkula.

Siakor noted that his troubles began when he reported on the radio that the
collection of rice and money from citizens in Salala District for the
recent 162nd Independence Day celebration in Bong County was illegal and
was never sanctioned by the central government.

Siakor has since been replaced by Carcious Allen, administrative assistant
to Mayor Jackson.

Meanwhile, a member of the dismissed board of directors, Daniel Tubman, has
described the board's dismissal and the suspension of the station manager
as illegal, and says that the district authority has hijacked the station.
Tubman said the board would resist all attempts by the local authority to
place the radio station in the hands of their "proxies" who would "dance to
their tunes."

CEMESP is calling for the immediate dissolution of the
government-influenced board of directors and the reinstatement of the old
board of directors and station manager Siakor.

CEMESP Executive Director Malcolm Joseph described the action of Salala
City Mayor Jackson and District Commissioner Kekula as an imposition of a
siege on the radio station and called the action by the two local officials
an attack on press freedom.

The CEMESP director called on the Ministries of Information and Internal
Affairs to intervene in the matter and restore the station to its
legitimate board of directors and station manager.