PRESS RELEASE

Monitoring Report from the Monitoring, Research and Projects Unit of the IMC against Justice FM Radio in connection with its Programme, ‘The Justice Show’ aired on the Station on Wednesday, 27^th April 2022

1. INTRODUCTION

On Thursday, 28^th April 2022, the Independent Media Commission (IMC) received a Monitoring Report from the Monitoring, Research and Project Unit (MRPU) of the Commission against Justice Radio FM 98.5 of Low-Cost Housing Estate, Kissy, Texaco, Freetown. Based on the report, the Commission summoned the General Manager, Kevin Lamin Lamdo to an emergency session with the Complaints Committee at 2:00pm same day, after a spot monitoring visit to the radio station by the IMC Executive Secretary, Khalil Kallon.

The complaints hearing session was attended by Mr Kevin L Lamdo, the Manager; Justince V. Boima, the Presenter/Moderator and Producer of the Programme; and Mustapha Senessie Katta, the Studio Technician.

2. COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE SESSION

At the hearing, the Acting Chairman, Commissioner Mustapha M K Sesay welcomed the team from Justice Radio. After a brief introduction by all present, Commissioner Sesay explained the rules of procedure of the Committee and informed the General Manager, Kevin L. Lamdo about the purpose of the invitation, which he said was in connection with a report received from the IMC MRPU and concerned members of the public in relation to an alleged inaccurate and inciting broadcast attributed to Justice Radio, particularly because of the flaming nature of the recording of the broadcast.

The Acting Chairman requested the head of the IMC MRPU, Joseph M. Brima to restate the Monitoring report that they submitted to the Commission, in the presence of the respondents. Mr. Brima proceeded to present the report. He stated that after a thorough monitoring of Justice FM Radio from 9:00 am – 12:00 noon on April 27, 2022 (Independence Day), the Unit observed that the programme Presenter Justince V. Boima issued threatening and inciting statements likely to be inflammatory, with the potential to provoke violence and public disorder. He said the programme contravened the IMC Media Code of Practice and featured live phone-in calls from the public.  He cited Section 3, Principle 9 of the Media Code of Practice, states as follows:

“Phone-in and live programmes must be managed by radio/television stations in such a way that they are not used to incite violence and public disorder. They should avoid the use of abusive language and statements likely to cause ethnic or religious dissatisfaction”.

Mr Brima said in addition to the above, Section 3 Principle 12 of the Media Code of Practice states as follows:

“The management/ownership of Radio/television stations shall take full responsibility for the content of their programmes”.

After the Head of the MRPU concluded presenting the report, the Acting Chairman of the IMC Complaints Committee session informed the team from Justice FM that the Commission summoned them based on the report and concerns raised by the public.

Commissioner Sesay requested a copy of the recording of the programme from the Station Manager, which according to the IMC Media Code of Practice they were supposed to keep and make available on demand to the IMC within 30 days of the broadcast. Kevin Lamin Lamdo informed the Committee that they did not have any copy of the programme because EDSA abruptly interrupted power supply for about two minutes during the broadcast. He explained that normally they used their laptop to present the programme, but the laptop crashed and they reverted to the Desktop computer, which he said was connected directly to the main power source.

The Station Manager said they lost everything when the power outage occurred. He stated that they had no fuel in their generator and solely relied on EDSA for power supply. When asked whether they had a back-up system, he replied in the affirmative. When asked whether they had energy back up system or UPS surge protector as well, he replied in the negative. When asked for the exact time that the interruption occurred, the Host Justince Boima said he could not recall the time, but was about in the middle of the programme. Mr Boima said he contacted an EDSA staff who he identified as Gbessay, whose cellphone number he gave as 076 691858, to plead with them to restore power supply to the station, and ‘they [EDSA] were magnanimous to send power again within two minutes’.

He was asked to check his phone’s call log for the exact time he called Gbessay. He checked through his phone, but said he did not trace Gbassay’s name and number in the log. He was asked for the phone number that he used to call Gbessay. He gave the number as 079 379082.

The Acting Chairman used the phone number and placed in a call to someone on the other end who identified himself as Gbassay, an EDSA staff. He confirmed the brief power interruption at about 11:00am, but denied receiving any call from anyone at Justice Radio throughout the week.

When asked whether they were aware that they should keep the recordings of their programmes for at least 30 days, the station Manager responded in the affirmative.

Justince Boima was asked whether he was able to access and listen to the broadcast on any social media group after the programme after the show. He responded in the affirmative and added that he accessed and listened to it on two WhatsApp forums, including one called ‘Democracy’. He was asked to identify the Admins of the WhatsAPP group. He gave their names as Ansumana Koroma, Ishmael L.W Lahai, Foday Dallas and Alex Ansumana Kanneh, among others. He was asked to search for and trace the number of the individual that shared the recording on the forum. He checked through the forum, but also said he did not trace the recording on or phone number in the group anymore.

The General Manager was asked for the title of the programme in question. He replied that the programme is titled, ‘the Justice Show’. He was asked to identify the host of the programme and Justince V. Boima responded that he was the Producer and Host/Moderator. He said Mustapha Senessie Katta, the Studio Technician was with him to manage the phone calls, but he later left.

Justince V. Boima was asked whether he did state in the programme that he was going to do any retaliatory attack on and burn down any radio station if their radio was attacked and set ablaze, to which he responded, ‘yes!’ He was asked to identify the radio stations that he threatened to attack. He named the following radio stations:  Tumac Radio, Radio Tempo, Citizen Radio and Culture Radio, which he branded as radio stations of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) Party. When asked on which grounds he threatened to attack the stations, he explained that for a couple of days, he had been doing regular broadcast bothering on the recent Commissions of Enquiry Reports, explaining to the public some of the reasons Sierra Leone is plagued with numerous and serious problems and the difficulties being encountered by the average Sierra Leoneans to make ends meet.

Mr Boima said he had been doing that since the previous week and that some days later, a Sierra Leonean alleged to be based in Holland, by the name of Adebayor, who he associated with the APC, issued a threat in one of his audios recordings on WhatsApp, ‘calling on all APC supporters to go and attack and burn down Justice FM Radio to ash’, because the radio was misinforming the public. That if they failed to burn down the radio, the inciting broadcast from the radio station will lead to another civil war in Sierra Leone.

The Producer said prior to that, he had a very close friend who had warned him to be cautious and gave him some classified information from a security standpoint about a meeting he claimed was held in Waterloo, where those in attendance resolved to burn down their radio station and kill him. Boima said the meeting was held before Adebayor’s threat.

He said a third source who happens to be his younger sister went to the market and on her way, overheard some bike-riders plotting to kill him for claiming to knows everything in this country and also burn down the Justice Radio station. Mr Boima said her sister recorded the conversation and sent it to him. He said based on that, he went and filed a formal report against Adebayo at the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of the Kissy Police Division somewhere in the previous week.  He further stated that his reaction was out of panic from the alleged inciting pronouncement he attributed to Adebayor and the intelligence reports he had gathered.

He noted that Sierra Leone has witnessed instances wherein Adebayor had incited youth to wreak havoc in Makeni resulting to death; in Tombo, resulting to the burning of a hospital; in Lunsar, which resulted in the death of a relative of the Paramount Chief; and in other places. Mr Boima said taking cognizance of his status and role at Justice FM and how they struggle to run the radio every day, he decided to send a clear warning signal to them and that his words were, ‘This radio [Justice FM] is the only independent radio station in the east end of Freetown’.

He explained that at Justice Radio, they do their best to correct erroneous information. For that reason, he said, they had made many friends as well as enemies. He said he was not however prepared to sit down with folded arms to witness the threat from Adebayor become a reality.

Mr. Boima said he therefore threatened that if they attack and burn down their radio station, he will also retaliate by attacking and burning down Culture Radio, Tumac Radio owned by Tunde MaCarthy, Citizen Radio owned by David Tam Baryoh and Radio Tempo owned by Pasco Temple, all of who he described as astute members of the APC.

A member of the Committee asked the General Manager whether he was aware of and monitored the broadcast, he responded that he only knew about it when the IMC Executive Secretary called him on the phone on the matter. Asked whether that implied that he was not in control and the programme did not have his authorization, he responded that he cannot admit that because it is a regular programme in their schedule.

When asked whether he listened to the content afterwards, the Manager said, ‘yes’. Asked what his reaction was towards the programme, he admitted that the content was inciting and totally condemned it. He was asked whether he regularly monitored The Justice Show when he was away from the station, he said he normally tuned in to the station.

The Station Manager, Kelvin Lamdo was also asked whether he was aware of any threat from Adebayor. He said ‘yes’. Asked whether he had any evidence to substantiate his claim, he said yes, through a WhatsAPP voice note. The Acting Chairman requested him to forward the voice note to the RMPU of the Commission, which he did.

The Commissioner asked Mr Boima whether the radio stations mentioned in his broadcast for attack were directly involved in the threat against Justice FM. The answer from Justince V. Boima was that none of the stations directly threatened to attack or burn down Justice FM, but alleged that they were involved indirectly, but failed to state how.

When asked whether he filed an official complaint about the threat to attack their radio to the Management of the radio and seek their advice on the next step, he said he did not file any formal report, but explained to the General Manager and he advised him to report the threat to the police, which he did. He said Mustapha Katta, the Studio Tecnician made a statement to the police to back up the complaint. When asked to identify the Investigating Officer (IO), he identified her as Sergeant Rugiatu Mansaray whose phone numbers he gave as: 077-290-932/078-846-684. The IO was contacted on the phone and admitted that the complaint on the alleged threat of Adebayor against Justince’s life and the Justice Radio station was filed to them the 23^rd April 2022, but was still at the preliminary stages of investigation.

The Acting Chairman asked Justince V. Boima why he still decided to proceed with such a broadcast after he had already reported the matter to the police, Justince V. Boima replied that after he returned to his office, he received a number of calls from people using insulting words against him and his mother. He said prior to that, he received calls from a number of people threatening to kill him. He said that was why he did what he described as the retaliatory broadcast.

When asked whether he recorded the insults and threats as he was well equipped to do so, he replied in the negative. He was then asked how will convince the Committee that he was saying the truth and not presenting mere allegations to justify his reaction, especially when he cannot produce any evidence; he stated that that was an error on his part.

Mr Boima was asked whether he had read and understood the mandate of the IMC, he responded in the affirmative. Asked why they did not report the alleged threat to the IMC, the Justice FM Managers responded that it was an overseight.

The General Manager was asked whether he was aware of the IMC Act and the Media Code of Practice, he said he was. He was asked whether he was aware that they had breached the Media Code of Practice; he said ‘yes’.

During the hearing, the Acting Chairman called Gbessay at EDSA who confirmed that there was power outage in the morning at the time that the broadcast was ongoing. He however denied receiving any call from Justince Boima of Justice.

When asked whether he realized that his utterances incited violence and posed a threat to security, Mr Boima responded that he was not conscious of that. He said he only became aware after the programme, when his colleagues started scolding him, the response of the IMC and reaction of the public.

The Committee played a recording of the program in question. The Producer admitted that the recording was authentic.

Chairman asked Mr Boima whether the APC was part of the threats to attack and set ablaze their radio station, he said no, but he mentioned the party because of the threat from Adebayor who he said was a member of the APC, and his intelligence reports.

He was asked asked for his reaction since he had realised that his programme breached the Media Code of Practice and posed a threat to public order and security. Mr Boima said he was a human being and therefore liable to make mistakes. He agreed that his mistake was grave and he regretted making it. He said he is not a violent person and that he likes peaceful resolution of any conflict around him. He thanked the Committee for their patience and openness in the investigation, apologized to the Commission for his mistakes, pleaded for mercy and promised not to repeat it again.

Kelvin Lamin Lamdo, the General Manager of Justice FM also apologized on behalf of the radio station and pleaded for mercy. He said he had been an epitome of good journalism to many upcoming journalists. He said the broadcast and the embarrassment it has subjected them to was a slap in his face. Mr Lamdo said the broadcast has really dispirited and weighed him down.

Commissioner Sesay thanked them for cooperating with the investigation and the session was adjourned for deliberation and ruling.

3. COMMITTEE FINDINGS

During deliberations on this matter, the Committee noted the following:

• That the April 27 edition of the programme in question, ‘The Justice Show’ was aired on Justice FM between 8:00am – 12:00noon
• That there was an EDSA power cut somewhere through the programme, but EDSA restored power supply within two minutes
• That the Management of Justice FM was aware that it was mandatory for the programme to be recorded and live phone-in programmes to be managed professionally, but they did not record the programme, according to them because of the EDSA power cut
• That the producer said they have a storage back-up system, but lacked a power back up system; as a result, they lost the recording during the power cut since they were using a desktop computer without a UPS to present the show
• That the Station Manager was aware that what was aired on the programme was unprofessional and a breach of some the provisions in the Media Code of Practice and the IMC Act 2020.
• That Justince Boima, the Producer and Host of the programme said he was not initially aware that the utterances were inciting or posed any threat to security or public order; that he only realized that after the programme, based on the reactions of his colleagues, the public and the IMC
• That the Justice FM said they did not have any power surge protection facility within their office.
• That few days before the broadcast, there was a call on members of the public in a well circulated WhatsApp audio message attributed to Adebayor (said to be a Sierra Leonean resident in Holland), to attack and burn down Justice Radio, for misinformation and inciting broadcasts; and that Justince Boima, the Producer, filed a complaint to the effect at the Kissy Police Division, but said the police were yet to revert to them or act on their complaint.
• That the Programme host said the programme was in direct response to that call by Adebayo, as a preventive measure, in order to protect their radio station from attack
• That Justice FM did not submit any evidence of an intelligence report received by them to confirm any meeting by opposition party youth who were mainly motorcycle riders, nor that for an alleged meeting held in Waterloo both to plan attacks on the radio station or any of their staff, as alleged by them in the programme.
• That the producer stated threats of attacks against his person and the radio from at least three sources, but provided evidence for only one against Adebayo
• That there is a weak management structure at the radio
• They admitted that there was no threat from Tumac Radio, Radio Tempo, Citizen Radio and Culture Radio or members of the opposition APC party to attack Justice Radio or any of their staff, as alleged in the programme broadcast
• That justice FM lacks the capacity to screen incoming calls before putting the caller on air during live phone-in programmes, as well as the capacity to delay broadcast, in breach of Section 3, Principle 10 of the IMC Media Code of Practice
• That Justice FM was broadcasting illegally on an expired license on that day, which they had failed to renew (in breach of Sec 42 of the IMC Act 2020 (Act No. 5 of 2020) until they were summoned by the IMC
• That two hired vigilantes serve as security guards and provide security services to the radio station.

 

4. CONCLUSIONS
   • Justice FM breached the Independent Media Commission Act, 2020 and Media Code of Practice for inaccurate reporting, airing unsubstantiated and slanderous statements, and inciting violence and public disorder in its April 27 edition of the programme, ‘The Justice Show’, which posed a threat to security and political stability.
   • Justice FM did not make any reasonable effort to put appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that the programme was recorded, backed up, and managed professionally; and the recording presented to the IMC on demand.
   • By the assessment of the Committee, Justince Boima, the Producer and Host/Presenter of ‘The Justice Show’, lacks the requisite professional training, experience and competence to moderate such live phone-in programmes.

 

5. COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

The Board of the Independent Media Commission at its meeting held on Wednesday 4^th May 2022 adopted the recommendations of the Complaints Committee as follows:

• That a fine of Le 1, 000,000 (One Million Leones) be levied on Justice FM for breach of the accuracy, truth and impartiality provision in Section 3, Principle 6 of the IMC Media Code of Practice, which states thus:

“All stories aired by radio stations must be presented with due accuracy, truth and impartiality”.

 

• That Justice FM should suspend the ‘Justice show’ and all live phone-in programmes temporarily until the IMC conducts a monitoring and inspection visit to assess their editorial and technical capacities to continue to air and manage such programmes professionally.

 

• That Justice FM should retract the untrue and slanderous statements made against institutions, media houses and personalities mentioned in the programme, in at least three editions of its most popular prime time programme. This is in conformity with Section 3, Principle 17 of the IMC Media Code of Practice, which states thus:

 

‘If Radio/TV Station broadcast information that is discovered to be untrue, including slanderous statements made during phone-in programmes, it should carry an immediate retraction, failing which a fine of le500,000 (five hundred thousand Leone) will be imposed by the IMC…’

 

• That the IMC Technical Committee ensures the re-establishment of effective management and editorial structures at the radio, in full compliance with the IMC Act, Media Code and the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Foindu Communications, the Proprietors of the radio.

 

• That a fine of Le4, 000,000 (Four Million Leones) be imposed on the Management of Justice FM for failure to manage the programme professionally, in breach of Section 3, Principle 9 of the IMC Media Code of Practice, which states thus:

“Phone-in and live programmes must be managed by radio/television stations in such a way that they are not used to incite violence and public disorder. They should avoid the use of abusive language and statement likely to cause ethnic or religious dissatisfaction”.

 

• That Justice FM be encouraged to secure the broadcast facility to screen incoming calls before putting the caller on air during live phone-in programmes, as well as the equipment for delayed broadcast during such programmes

 

• That a fine of Three Million Leones (Le 3,000,000) be imposed on Justice FM for failure to make reasonable efforts to record and present on demand the back-up copy of ‘The Justice Show’ of April 27 to the IMC Complaints Committee, in breach of Section 3, Principle 13 of the IMC Media Code of Practice that states thus:

‘All live programmes should be recorded and made available on demand to the Independent Media Commission within 30 days of Broadcast.’

And in line with Sec 19 Sub Sec 7 (a) and (b) of the IMC Act 2020, which states thus:

‘When the Commission is satisfied that a case has been established against a person or media institution, it may order the person or media institution concerned to –

1. Publish an apology and a retraction and may in addition reprimand the person or media institution concerned;
2. Pay a fine in such sum of money as the Commission shall consider commensurate to the wrong done.