The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) is very concerned about the persistent online verbal attacks against the reporter of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Mr. Umaru Fofana, and is calling on those behind such calculated smear campaign to desist forthwith.
Mr. Fofana, a former president of SLAJ, has come under serious verbal attacks for doing his work as a BBC reporter, putting his personality and safety at risk.
SLAJ said in a statement on Tuesday that “this morning a small group of Sierra Leoneans living in London reportedly demonstrated against Mr. Fofana in front of the BBC office at Bush House.”
“Quite recently, a group of people who claimed to be members of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) Party posted online that they had filed a formal complaint against Mr. Fofana to the BBC and to the International Criminal Court for what they described as ‘biased reporting of political events in Sierra Leone’. They further accused Mr. Fofana of being a card-carrying member of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), and threatened the BBC reporter that he’s going to ‘pay severely for all that he has caused on the Sierra Leonean people,’” SLAJ said in the statement.
SLAJ said that in 2018, audios with invectives and threats against Mr. Fofana’s life were posted on social media by authors who claimed they were “supporters/members of the APC party”.
As far as SLAJ is concerned, Mr. Umaru Fofana is one of the finest and upright journalists of our time; one of the best Sierra Leone has ever produced. “He has over the years exhibited himself as a true professional and has earned the admiration of both local and international journalists.”
SLAJ therefore views such attacks on Mr. Fofana’s personality and threat to his safety as very worrying, and “we urge the Sierra Leone Police to investigate this matter and ensure our colleague is assured of his freedom and safety to practice his profession”.
Equally, SLAJ is calling on the Executive of the APC party to publicly condemn and distance itself from this group of people claiming to be members of their party.
“This is a baseless and calculated smear campaign against Mr. Fofana, and those behind this should be ashamed of themselves. Rather than being victimised, Mr. Fofana should be widely commended for the wonderful work he is doing as a professional journalist held in high esteem by his colleagues locally and internationally,” said SLAJ President, Ahmed Sahid Nasralla.
By Sallieu S Kanu
9/12/2020. ISSUE NO: 7964