Sierra Leone Telegraph: 28 November 2019:
Sierra Leone’s ministry of information and communications yesterday, 27 November 2019, engaged with key local state actors to discuss and map the way forward, to enhance national dialogue about the impact of the proposed repeal of Part 5 of the 1965 Public Order Act, known as the seditious libel laws.
The objective of the meeting was to further foster advocacy and community awareness raising and sensitization campaigns, the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Mamadi Gobeh Kamara explained.
According to the ministry of information and communications, it is expected that the Bill aimed at expunging Part 5 of the 1965 Public Order Act, will be laid by the Minister of Information and Communications – Mohamed Rahman Swaray in the well of Parliament in the second week of December 2019.
A Bill entitled ‘The Public Order (Amendment) Act, 2019’ has been recently gazetted by the government, announcing plans to bring forward its legislation, which it says will seek to “amend the Public Order Act, 1965 (Act No. 46 of 1965) by repealing Part 5 which deals with defamatory and seditious libel and to provide for other related matters.”
Present at the meeting were the Minister of Information and Communications – Mohamed Rahman Swaray, the Deputy Minister of Information and Communications – Mamadi Gobeh Kamara, representatives from the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, the Media Reform Coordinating Group, Independent Media Commission, Right to Access Information Commission, Open Society Initiative for West Africa and Civil Society Organisations including CHRDI and CGG.
As long as our Local State Actors are involved combined with the right CALIBRE of people in PARLIAMENT in this process, all will be well and the right decision will be made. GOD BLESS our LOCAL STATE ACTORS.