Veteran journalist urges gov’t to abolish draconian media laws

By Baba Sillah Veteran journalist and co-founder of the Point Newspaper, Pap Saine, has called on the new government to abolish all draconian media laws as promised by the President during his campaign tin order to strengthen democracy and freedom of expression. Mr Saine who was speaking to the Standard on the occasion of the country’s 52nd Independence celebration and the inauguration of President Adama Barrow thanked the Almighty Allah for witnessing the 52nd Independence anniversary of The Gambia with a new era while wishing the country peace, prosperity and good reconciliation among the citizens and other nationalities. “We need it after twenty-two years of dictatorship. We pray that especially we the journalists with this new era to do our job without fear, hindrance professionally so that what people expect from us will be materialized; to inform, educate and entertain them. For the new government I know that they have less than two months in power. We need to support them to inform and educate the public the public about their policies but if they go wrong, it is our duty to draw their attention because no man is perfect. We expect a lot from the new government to bring more changes to strengthen democracy, to strengthen freedom of expression which is key pillar of the world. Mr Saine however challenged all Gambians to work tirelessly for the development of the country, saying that “we should not only rely on aids but rather to work hard for the socio-economic development of the country. “We expect the government to give us opportunity to have access to information. The government should also subscribe with all papers to pay on time and to abolish all draconian media laws as promised, to open a new chapter. As Gambians we should not fold our hands, we should work hard to contribute our quota for the development of our country.”]]>