By Abubakarr Bah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In volume one of the “Goodies of the Bio Presidency”, I wrote extensively on the remarkable achievements of the then Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) before it was split into two in 2023, following President Bio’s re-election: the Ministry of Information and Civic Education (MOICE) which primarily deals with mass media issues and public education activities, and the Ministry of Communications, Technology and Innovation which generally deals with the telecommunications sector, digital transformation agenda and innovation entrepreneurship.
In Volume one, I highlighted the achievements of Hon. Mohamed Rahman Swaray as Minister of Information and Communications between April 2018 and June 2023. I stated that, between 2018 and 2023, Hon. Mohamed Rahman Swaray placed the MIC- which was blacklisted during the previous regime, on good footing by providing leadership for several legislative reforms such as the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law that was in our law books for 55 years. This helped Sierra Leone in making astronomical leap in the World Press Freedom Index from a rank of 112 out of 162 countries in 2018, to 75 in 2021 and 46 in 2022. It was this period the U.S Government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Scorecard rated our country’s Freedom of Information drive at 98%.
Following his re-election, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio’s masterstroke saw him reassign Hon. Mohamed Rahman Swaray to lead the Ministry of Employment, Labour, and Social Security (MELSS) as Minister. I will be looking at other Ministries subsequently in my series. The President then brought another amazing and exciting player into his team to head the Ministry of Information and Civic Education.
In July, 2023, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio appointed the 2012 United Nations Youth Representative, Ambassador Chernor Abdulai Bah, popularly known among his peers as ‘Cee Bah’. Mr. Bah had already made a name for himself at the United Nations and Purposeful Production, an organisation he established. It is a prominent Africa-rooted global feminist hub that champions the rights of girls and young people, impacting over 150 countries.
Hon. Chernor Bah succeeded his predecessor remarkably well by ensuring that the Government is brought closer to the people. As a team player and civic practitioner, Mr. Bah, in just a year as Minister in the MOICE, has made monumental achievements, especially with his civic engagement initiatives across the country.
As an unwavering feminist leader and global activist, the chief government spokesperson believes that information is a right and not a privilege. It is against this backdrop he is delivering the goodies from the presidency in an easy, cost-effective and calm manner by creating an environment where all institutions of the Bio administration work collaboratively to achieve a coherent, credible and effective information dissemination system.
Who will ever forget the calm and finesse with which he handled communication and information dissemination during the period of the November 26 attempted coup and its aftermath? Through the effective and efficient use of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Tiktok, the MOICE was able to handle or curtail disinformation and misinformation through short and succinct videos and media releases by ensuing that the public is abreast with accurate and credible information. This helped the public to know that the government was in charge and the plot would be foiled, thereby instilling faith and confidence in citizens and the general public.
Hon. Bah believes in the words of American researcher and educator, Muriel Cooper, who once rightly stated that “Information can only be useful when it can be understood.”” His innovative skills as Minister of the MOICE has expanded public information to reach every corner of the country through a medium (krio) that majority of the country’s population understand. Today, citizens across the country are well-informed about critical legislations and governance issues, thereby ensuring that people in the rural communities –from Koinadugu to Kailahun- understand what is happening in the legislative, executive and the judicial arms of government.
The level of elegance at the MOICE weekly press briefings under Cee Bah’s leadership has given an open space to critical state actors- the government, opposition, civil society, the media, etc.- to express themselves freely and clearly in a way that even people in remote communities understand the issues being discussed.
Under Cee Bah as Minister, the weekly press briefings are now broadcast online and simulcast to community radio stations across the country, thereby ensuring that citizens across the country are abreast with what is happening in government.
Commercial motorbike riders in Kambia, Kono and petty traders in Freetown, Kambia, Bo and Makeni, during a video interview, hailed the MOICE for changing the narrative in ensuring accurate and timely dissemination of government information and ensuring that they understand what is being discussed at the weekly press briefings.
“Before now, we were in the dark because state actors- politicians, expatriates, civil society and journalists- speak in English, a language that most of us don’t understand as majority of the country’s population is uneducated. But today, we listen to the radio or follow social media every Tuesday and we now know and understand what true governance is all about. We commend His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio for establishing the Ministry of Information and Civic Education,” said Osman Yeali Sanko Bangura, District Chairman of the Commercial Motorbike Riders in Kambia.
Margarette M. Mansaray, news editor of Radio Bintumani in Koinadugu district commended the MOICE for introducing the online briefings. She said as a journalist, she extracts the videos online and converts them into audios for news broadcast on her station to ensure that residents of Koinadugu are abreast with governance issues.
On June 25, 2024, marking the first anniversary of President Bio’s re-election, the MOICE released a documentary showcasing some of the activities of the Ministry as well as gauging the views of the public about its activities, and people from all walks of life lauded the MOICE for the excellent work it has done especially towards civic education.
Many citizens hold the view that the appointment of Chernor A. Bah as Minister of Information and Civic Education by His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio in 2023 is one of the best and notable additions to his Cabinet. This is premised on the fact that, since he assumed office, Hon. Bah has positively revolutionized the information and civic education space into an inclusive civic engagement platform for all and sundry. These landmark achievements at the MOICE would be catalogued in the portfolio of President Bio’s successes by historians, political and social commentators for many, many years to come, something future leaders and governments will definitely learn very good lessons from.