Teachers want ban on newspaper lifted
Akwasi Atta Amoah
An indefinite ban imposed on the 'Daily Observer' by Gen Doe's government has prompted many to ask the question, "who decides the form and content of an independent newspaper?" Our correspondent AKWASI ATTA AMOA reports from Monrovia on efforts to get the ban liftedThe continued ban on Liberia's sole independent newspaper "Daily Observer" has elicited a series of calls from local and international quarters on the government of Gen Doe to allow the media to play its crucial role in the exercise to usher the nation into a democratic rule.
The latest call has come from Liberian teachers who in a letter to Justice Minister, Jenkins Scott pointed out that in a society where the means of getting vital information was lacking, lies and rumours were bound to creep in and poison the minds of people.
As educators, the teachers argued on the simple basis that communication is a vital tool for developing and promoting education. But their concern reflects the general mood of the majority of Liberians over the lack of freedom of expression in the country. The indefinite closure of the paper for the fifth time in as many years by the Doe regime was preceded by a warning in a Christmas speech from Gen Doe that the newspapers should take a lesson from the experiences of the past to avoid being closed down!
Established simultaneously with Gen Doe's erstwhile People's Redemption Council, the "Daily Observer" was accused by the Justice Minister, Jenkins Scott of having made the government its target for attacks.
"It has clearly indicated in many of its publications that it is in opposition to the government". The Minister alleged and noted that while the "Daily Observer" is aware of its independence, "it has decided that it shall not exercise such independence neutrally, but take actions to ridicule the government and even the Head of State.
"One does not compel the publishers of "Daily Observer" to support the Head of State. In every society whether you love the one who occupies the highest seat or not, he deserves some respect than that of being ridiculed to some second grade level", said the Minister.
The Justice Minister did not disguise his sentiments. He was not happy about the previous coverage the paper had given to a mass party hosted by Gen Doe and his party - the National Democratic Party of Liberia at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium, Monrovia for the youth-classified as Sun Top Vendors, Shoe-Shine Boys, Car Washers and others.
In his address at the party the Head of State said that in future he would recommend that citizens under 18 years be granted the right to vote.
"The arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens under a cloak of secrecy" the students pointed out, "pose a serious danger not only to the students but to all citizens of Liberia especially at a time when they are ostensibly told that they are free to express their views and affiliate with whichever political party they choose".
According to the Minister, if the "Daily Observer" wanted to do an honest job for the society the most important issue was the 18-year-old voting age. "Simply because it was the Head of State who uttered such statement, the "Daily Observer" chose to subordinate the statement to that of a Union Official" the Minister complained.
The Minister accused the paper of being partisan and pointed out that the Editor of the Daily Observer was the Editor of the defunct "Liberian Age", owned by the True Whig Party. And the proprietor of the paper was an Assistant Information Minister during the last regime.
He alleged that "they did everything to protect that government. It is this government they do not like thus nothing good can be said about it," the Minister concluded.
A casual content-analysis of the "Daily Observer" vol 4 No 110 of Wednesday January 16, 1985 and the issue complained of shows that whereas a fundamental development such as the granting of voting rights to eighteen year olds deserved prominence in the media coverage, the order to close a newspaper was far in excess of whatever journalistic impropriety that paper might have committed.
The front-page lead "Labour Unions Express Concern . . . over Treatment of Workers under Decree 12" drew attention to several violations of agreements and contracts by companies in the country and warned that there was a limit to endurance and that the Liberia V Federation of Labour Unions could no longer ensure obedience to Decree 12, which prohibits strike.
In a press statement the Union said that under the labour laws, workers earning wages are to be paid every two weeks and salary employees once every month or monthly: however "close to five months the working people of the National Iron Ore Company operating in Mano River ... with subsidiaries along the railroad line and the Monrovia Port area have not been paid". The press statement then went on to give a list of ills being meted out to workers, and threatened that the Liberia Unions could not ensure obedience any longer.
A journalistic flaw here was that even though the statement appeared to have been made exclusive to the "Observer" the paper failed to get a comment from the appropriate ministry. It also went ahead to publish on its front page an allegation by a group of students identified as the Lofa University Students Association on arbitrary arrests and detention of people without trial.
The arbitrary arrest and detention of citizens under a cloak of secrecy" the students pointed out, "pose a serious danger not only to students but to all citizens of Liberia especially at a time when they are ostensibly told that they are free to express their views and affiliate with whichever political party they chose".
Since the University of Liberia was re-opened late last year three students and some teaching assistants have been picked up and three other people arrested allegedly in connection with the circulation of anonymous leaflets referred to as REACT.
Here too, apart from these known cases the "Daily Observer" failed to check from the Ministries of Interior and Defence the veracity of the students' allegation about secret arrests.
Above all, the "Observer" may have criticised Gen Doe's government with an editorial comment in the same issue which hailed the decision of one of Africa's most respected leaders, Julius Nyerere, to voluntarily step down without waiting to be overthrown or forced out.
"Many feel that an African leader" the paper observed "should remain in power as long as he feels fit, once the tide of stability and progress is going his way, but it is to the credit of any leader to recognise not only his limitation, but the ability of others to carry on the work of nation-building even more successfully than he, and be prepared to give up that leadership before the tide of popularity turns".
On the same page as the Editorial comment was a contributor's article headlined "In search of a good President" in which the author stated that Gen Doe's name will be immortalised should he ensure free and fair elections which would return the country to civilian rule.
The Government did not refer to the choice of the Archbishop of Monrovia, His Lordship Michael Francis as the "Man-Of-The-Year" around Christmas by the "Daily Observer" News- paper but obviously the commendation of the Bishop as the "Lone Voice in the Wilderness crying against all forms of injustices and arbitrary rule," and urging others to follow his example may have offended official circles.
Head of State Doe's warning that he will not allow the clergy to use the pulpit to issue anti-government statements is clear indication that the authorities could not bring themselves to appreciate the lauding of one whose pastoral letters were an embarrassment to government.
In spite of these "crimes" by the "Daily Observer" the question that needs to be asked is: Who decides the form and content of an independent newspaper?
This is the fifth time the paper has been closed down since it started operations on February 16, 1980. On January 26 last year it was closed down for publishing a story about a teachers' crisis at the time of the Israeli President's visit to Liberia. It was ordered open in July after the ban on political activities had been lifted.
The government's warning to the press, priests and politicians has thrown the Liberian political scene into a state of uncertainty as no one knows where decorum ends and rancour begins. Last year, some journalists, foremost among whom Rufus Darpoh, correspondent for Africa Now magazine, as well as politicians were picked up and detained without trial and later released.
The Press as the Fourth Estate of the realm certainly has a role to play. But in order to be recognised as "a professional and impartial referee" the media should endeavour to remain impartial, non-partisan and have an eye towards truth, fairness and objectivity, without which they will always draw cudgels to their heads and their presses made to suffer premature deaths.
The statement signed by 46 members of the Press Union requested the Interim National Assembly (INA) through its Vice-President, Dr Harry Moniba to appeal to Head of State, Samuel K. Doe to have the "Daily Observer" re-opened.
The Press Union of Liberia issued a position statement on April 8, on the closure of the "Daily Observer" newspaper.
The statement says that while the Press Union has taken note of reasons given by the Justice Minister for the closure of the Daily Observer, the Union, "through careful scrutiny, is of the considered opinion that the prominence given to the story on the Labour Union over the voting age story was done with neither malice nor sinister motive".
While acknowledging that "the privately owned press or even the government owned press may come out with stories that initially annoy the authorities" the statement noted that "it is the experience of the Press Union that these stories can help the government and the people".
The Press Union statement concluded that the closure of the "Daily Observer" is a "sad episode".
