Filed in by Olando Testimony Zeongar – 0776819983/0880-361116/life2short4some@yahoo.com
Monrovia – President George Manneh Weah has made unsubstantiated allegations against the Liberian media, branding some journalists he failed to name, as those sending out hate messages that according to him could destroy the nation.
Without stating which media institutions or practitioners involved into releasing to the public hate messages, Weah told reporters Thursday, upon his return to the country from France that journalists were reporting “fake news”, demanding that such news must be filtered and countered.
“Some journalists for some reasons are sending hate messages, that could destroy our whole nation” Weah claims, without naming those involved or citing instances upon which they sent out such messages.
He claims the country’s safety hinges on the evaluation of what he calls “fake news” that goes out to the public.
“So we need to filter what is coming into the news to our people and what they [are] listening to. And those fake news, we must see how we can counter them, because it’s not good for our growth, it’s not good for our country,” Weah demanded.
‘History of wild allegations against journalists’
President Weah since coming to power less than a year ago, has built for himself a rather sad reputation of making unsubstantiated public utterances against the local media, a situation which often time puts journalists at risk in the line of their work, especially at the hands of many of the president’s overzealous officials and fanatics.
There are historical accounts of intimidation of media practitioners in Liberia, recounting both verbal and physical abuses being unleashed against journalists, and one noticeable instance is the fatal death of Charles Gbeyon, who was assassinated in 1985, allegedly upon the order of former president Samuel Doe, while the journalist was doing his job. Gbeyon’s perceived crime was only because he allegedly asked Doe a critical question.
As it was in Gbeyon’s case under Doe in the 1980s, Punch FM/TV online service recalls so was it with BBC longtime stringer in Liberia Jonathan Paye-Layleh in March of 2018, when he asked President Weah a question regarding the establishment of a war crimes court for Liberia during the visit of United Nations deputy secretary-general Amina J. Mohammed.
At the time, President Weah, without providing proof, outrightly accused journalist Paye-Layleh of undermining him during the height of the country’s brutal civil war when he (Weah) prior to becoming president served as UNICEF peace ambassador, advocating for peace and disarmament.
Paye-Layley would later plead with the president’s wife, Mrs. Clar Weah and Vice president Jewel Howard Taylor to prevail on Weah to give proof of his outburst against the journalist, but to date, there has not been a word on this matter from the Liberian leader.
The BBC correspondent said at the time that his life was at risk, as a result of President Weah’s unsubstantiated accusation against him, backed by a subsequent press statement issued by the Executive Mansion when he (Weah) was working for social justice during the course of the country’s 14-year war, the journalist was bent on undermining his effort by depicting a positive image of the war carnage.
Paye-Layley, out of fear that he would be harmed as a result of the President Weah’s verbal attack against him, at the time, urged both the First Lady and VP to use their wisdom, influence and above all, what he called their motherly sensitivity, which he said places them in a special order to understand the pain of someone losing his/her life to come to his rescue before it was too late.
“What I am asking for here, Madams, is simple: Please ask Mr. President, like we have been doing in the media, to explain how I was against him in his advocacy for human rights in Liberia and how did I depict a positive image of the wartime carnage,” he asked.
He pointed out that Liberia is a gullible society, stating that in such a country, what comes from the leader is presumed true.
“My fears goes beyond the possibility of president ordering my arrest someday and formally unsealing the indictment that he has already hinted by his verbal attack; I fear more that some of the tens of thousands of Mr. President’s supporters who so much believe in him and in what he says could understand his allegations against me to mean that I am his enemy. And you can imagine what could happen to me in some corners without it necessarily being by his directive,” Paye-Layleh lamented.
“No matter how strong they are, political leaders cannot control the emotions, actions and attitudes of their supporters; and in his case, there are probably hundreds of thousands of his supporters whose thinking he cannot vouch for; they could harm me as a perceived hater of a man they so dearly love,” said Paye-Layleh, who added that “Liberia has some terrible memories about the way journalists have been treated by governments; and I really hope that history cannot repeat itself on me.”
“The life of a Liberian son is under serious threat and I am of the belief and conviction that the intervention of someone like you in prevailing on His Excellency President Weah to outline the wrongs that he says I committed him in the past will relieve me of the predicament I now face,” Paye-Layley pleaded with Madam Clar Weah and VP Howard-Taylor again.
“I urge you to join the campaign in seeking explanation and clarity from the president because his statements at the media stakeout and his allegations in the subsequent press statement have put my life at risk and injured my reputation to say the least,” Paye-Layley further pleaded with First Lady Clar Weah and VP Howard-Taylor, but to no avail, as up till today’s date, the president has not provided any proof for his accusation against the journalist.
Similarly, when President Weah returned from the UNGA in late September, he again outlandishly accused the media of misleading the the public about the controversial ‘missing’ LRD16 billion, claiming at the time that contrary to media reports, no money had ever gone missing.
However, recent reports coming out of investigations launched into the ‘missing billion saga’ vindicate journalists from the president’s indictment and point to monies indeed being missing.
