By Isaac Unisa Kamara<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An observer<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ruling Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party has once again exposed a dangerous rot at the heart of its governance: an apparent willingness to intimidate, threaten, and psychologically terrorize journalists who dare to do their jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest outrage involves National Publicity Secretary Moses Sellu Mambu and veteran journalist Thomas Josephus Dixon, Chairman of the Guild of Newspaper Editors and Managing Editor of the New Age Newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a formal complaint lodged with the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, after a live television programme at Africa Young Voices on 27 September 2026, Mambu approached Dixon in the presence of presenter Victor Jones and a videographer and declared: \u201cWe will hit you hard! This is the same reason for which your friend Samura was killed the last time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dixon has provided SLAJ with a formal eyewitness account corroborating the allegation. The reference is to Ibrahim Samura, the journalist who died from injuries sustained in a physical assault while covering the 2018 elections\u2014an episode that remains a stain on the country\u2019s press freedom record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mambu has denied making any threat, claiming he merely \u201ccautioned\u201d Dixon to be careful. That denial rings hollow. Senior ruling-party officials do not casually invoke the killing of a journalist in front of witnesses unless the culture of impunity has already taken root. When the party\u2019s chief communicator reaches for the language of physical violence and historical murder, the message is unmistakable: criticism of power can carry a lethal price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not an isolated lapse of temper. It is a symptom of a government that has grown comfortable treating independent journalism as an enemy to be subdued rather than a pillar of democracy to be protected. A Publicity Secretary who feels entitled to issue such warnings is not acting as a private citizen; he is operating under the banner of the ruling party and, by extension, the state. When the government remains silent or slow to act, it effectively signals that journalists operate at the mercy of party enforcers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
SLAJ has rightly condemned the incident as \u201cextremely grave and disturbing\u201d and demanded an urgent, impartial police investigation. Yet the deeper question is why a sitting government allows its senior officials to create an atmosphere in which editors must fear for their lives after appearing on television. Democratic governments do not maintain informal \u201chit squad\u201d mentalities\u2014whether formal or rhetorical\u2014against the press. They investigate threats swiftly, discipline their own officials, and publicly reaffirm that no journalist should live in fear for performing legitimate professional work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SLPP came to power promising accountability and progressive values. Threatening to \u201chit hard\u201d a newspaper editor while invoking a dead colleague is the opposite of those promises. It corrodes public trust, chills investigative reporting, and tells every young journalist in Sierra Leone that the powerful can still reach beyond the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the government genuinely believes in the rule of law, it must do more than issue routine denials. It must ensure a credible investigation, hold any official found to have issued threats accountable, and demonstrate\u2014through action, not slogans\u2014that the lives and safety of journalists are non-negotiable. Anything less confirms what many already fear: that under this administration, the free press is not a partner in nation-building but a target to be managed, intimidated, or silenced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people of Sierra Leone deserve better. Journalists like Thomas Dixon deserve better. And a government that claims democratic credentials must prove it by ending this culture of menace once and for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Isaac Unisa Kamara An observer The ruling Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party has once again exposed a dangerous rot at the heart of its governance: an apparent willingness to intimidate, threaten, and psychologically terrorize journalists who dare to do their jobs. The latest outrage involves National Publicity Secretary Moses Sellu Mambu and veteran journalist Thomas […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t