(JollofNews) – The reported “legal action” against Star FM will be unwise and indeed unnecessary.
The facts are as follows:
1. Star FM reported that Sanna Manjang absconded the jurisdiction of The Gambia with false passports issued to him, presumably, by the Immigration Department.
2. The Immigration Department have set the record straight.
3. The Immigration Department now plan to take “Legal Action” against Star FM for “false information”.
The record has indeed been set straight and, in this particular instance, the Immigration Department is in the clear. So why the “legal action” for “false information”? That would not be a wise move for the following reasons.
a) Star FM has a legitimate “public interest” defence for publishing the story – unless Immigration is insisting that Star FM published in bad faith.
b) Immigration will have to prove “malice” on the part of Star FM before a court will convict. Star FM published the story, even if “false” in good faith – and certainly in the “public interest”.
c) Immigration is a Government Department that must be held to account by the public. A threat of “legal action” will be seen as an attempt to stop journalists from holding Immigration to account. Star FM’s honest mistake has not caused Immigration any damage whatsoever.
d) Finally, it is not in the “public interest” for Immigration to spend tax-payers money with “legal action” against a radio station that was performing a “public duty” – however mistakenly.
Please do not follow through with the threat of “legal action” or “false information” imprisonment. That would not be wise in the current climate of democratic and freedom dispensation in The Gambia under the government of President Barrow.
Dida Halake
Sambagate.com
Dida, don’t waste your most valuable energy advising those dum dums at the Immigration Department. Let them try to take legal action and see how far they will get with it. They must think that it’s still Jammeh’s era of abuse of due process of law prevailing. It must be hard for them to accept the current reality in the country. I will be surprised if Mai Fatty Minister of Interior and the cabinet will entertain public servants threatening journalist and media houses. Those days are now behind us. If anyone in public office do not like to be criticised or something said about you then that person has a choice, walk out through the door. Gone are the days when the publics’ right to know was denied. So brother Halake, let them huff and puff for all they like, people are not scared anymore. President Barrow and his Cabinet should urgently review the libel laws and the laws regarding freedom of expression and bring those laws in line with those of the civilised world.
Buba, whether you are in UK, USA or Gambia, you have to challenge behaviour like this AT EVERY POINT … otherwise it is assumed that it is OK;
When I give Community Advocacy Legal Advice here in UK, I always tell clients: IF YOU DISAGREE, WRITE AND DISAGREE (by e-mail preferably because e-mail is accepted in court as evidence).
When people tell me, “Oh, I phoned them and they were soooo nice”, I say “What phone call?”.
My client says: “The phone call I made to them!”. I says: “You didn’t make ANY call!!”.
Then my client says, “Oh, I get, I will send an email”. “Good”, I say.
Always challenge bad behaviour – or you will be assumed to AGREE!!
Dida, I quite agree with you on challenging such behaviours but sometimes it is necessary to call people’s bluff. A test case of something like this being thrown out of the courts for the reasons you stated in your article will only strengthen media freedom in the Gambia and it will deter other public institutions from trying to silence the media with threats of law suits. Any public servant who takes a journalist or media house to court on a frivolous issue and loose the case should be forced to resign or be sacked and made to pay the bill. President Barrow would be very wise to enact laws that will protect journalists and media houses because they are the eyes and ears of both the citizens and the state.
Buba and Dida, Dormu Rew (like to see Stan chime in) I wish to add that arms of government must not be engaged in spending budgetary allocations on frivolous lawsuits designed to send messages of threat to journalists that they believe will lead to self-censorship on the part of media houses. I was informed that the Immigration Department has hired a young and inexperienced in-house attorney to advise the agency on legal matters. One can bet that this young attorney that’s fresh out of the UTG will be looking to flex his muscles, make a name for himself and if it takes saber rattling on the media to achieve his own selfish ends, so be it he’ll add.
Government resources can be better spent building the internal capacity to offer modern day service delivery than to spend hard earned taxpayer resources on trivia. Agencies must be held accountable to the Butut on how taxpayers funds are spent in this new republic.
The new government must address the onerous legal environment that only serves to curtail the legal rights of journalists and citizens at all levels. If it takes immediate repeal of an existing act(s) of parliament, the coalition government must do so as a matter of urgency. We cannot continue to operate under the current legal environment that may be used and can be used by the current government to promote self-censorship. An art that the Point Newspaper has mastered so well.
Where a takes a memorandum, white paper or pronouncements from the sitting government prescribing clear guidelines on the conduct of agencies of government and the judicious use of resources, such action must be pursued in earnest. We must aim at instilling best practices in the new republic.
There’s so much to be done in correcting the wrongs, buttressed by acts of parliament crafted by the Jammeh APRC government, that the tasks start to look insurmountable. The new government clearly does not have the luxury of time on their side and must start taking meaningful and businesslike steps, not baby steps, to assure the majority of Gambians that they’ve come to institute meaningful changes for the benefit of the nation. Where scrupulous house cleaning is called for, to set things straight, let’s do just that without fear or favor.
The majority of Gambians are yearning for concrete action, in the absence of which, this new government may quickly wear its welcome. Forget about the endless “Ghul Huwas”, the need for action that sent Gambians to the voting booth is what is palpable on the ground and also causing the itch for further action on the part of younger Gambians. It must not be a case of Deferred for Further Action, while we seek revelation from God, as was commonplace in Gambian governance. Or is it?
The older folks can stick to their Ghul Huwas and Tasbiyas while young Gambians keep using their good heads for meaningful change!!
Andrew I do agree with you, the President and his team should take giant steps if they are ever to achieve even a quarter of their goal. Enough with the Insha Allahs. Allah has given us brains, the intelligence and free will to chart our own destiny. Some people are just using Insha Allah after every word to hide their own incompetence. It is used too much in the Gambia because people know they can always fall back on it anytime you want to hold them accountable. They use it as defence for their failure to deliver. There should be a total separation of politics and religion. I know some people will call me a heretic but I wonder how many Gambians tells the doctors to say Insha Allah after every word during consultation. I think most people will agree with me that it won’t be very reassuring if the doctor does that. It is therefore not very reassuring to hear our elected officials sounding like they expect Allah to come down and do their jobs for them. I have sat in doctors’ consultation rooms and hardly ever recalled people insisting on doctors saying Insha Allah. Instead people completely forget Allah during these consultations, they put all their faith in the doctor’s pen and scalpel. So let our elected officials and people entrusted with developing the nation get on with the job and stop hiding behind Insha Allah.
You are a heretic Buba! I am too, because I demand whether you will be at the 2p.m appointment, NO GMT (Gambia Maybe Time), No Insh Allah!!
My brother you’ve really cracked me up. Gambia Maybe Time, well that’s a good one. I like it.