Good Day Gassama,
Let us look at the questions you asked.
You are right, in the Magazine category, in addition to The Spectator, we
have Tourism Concern and Sheriff Bojang recently published the second
edition of his coloured magazine Xpress.
On Decree 70/71, we recalled that it was Decree 70 that was first conceived
and promulgated. But the government realised that due to some kind of
precipitation, the people it was meant for were completely forgotten: there
was nothing ordering newspapers to re-register. So, bringing in Decree 71,
which clearly did the job, rectified the shot. It specifically ordered all
existing newspapers to re-register and in addition it multiplied the bond by
100. During the colonial period the bond was pegged at 100 Pounds; at
independence that amount was converted to D1000.
The decree also provides for fines not less than D10, 000 and not more than
D50, 000.
And the court empowers by the decree to close down a newspaper in addition
to the fine imposed on it for contravening the provisions of the principal
Act meaning the original Act.
You seem to think my narration strengthened your point. Now one cannot
equate the two situations of the media for the simple reason that the First
Republic, as seen in my last take, favoured the due process of the law in
most cases rather than the harassment, detention etc. etc. we are accustomed
to under the transition and the Second Republic.
I must hasten to add that we would have preferred that we go to court as it
was the case with Halifa Sallah, Sam Sarr and Sidia Jatta for Foroyaa in
1994 and later with Pap Saine (your father-law?) Alieu Badara Sowe and
Ebrima Ernest for The Point, in 1995.
All the above people won their cases against the state.
I do not think Kukoi used late Femi Jeng and this is the first time I am
hearing this. All I know is that late Femi, Oko Drameh, late Nyanga Sallah
and others were locked up in a crowded cell. Femi, Nyanga and others lost
their life due to suffication. Oko survived the ordeal.
On taxes, you are talking about newspapers in UK and France publishing on a
daily basis over 1 million copies which are sold in addition to hundreds of
thousands of Pounds derived from advertising on a daily basis. Senegal is a
developing country and provides D100, 000 to sustain the media houses to do
their social responsibility role. We do it here for nothing.
In the First Republic, don't forget that in Parliament, newspapers were
accused of harboring a hidden agenda but we were not harassed nor detained.
I hope I have answered to your questions.
Good Day
>From: Jungle Sunrise <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: The private media in the first and second republics.
>Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 14:42:37 +0000
>
>Mr. Hydara,
>
>Happy new year to you, your family, my father inlaw (Pap Saine) and family
>and all at The Point. Happy anniversary and thank you very much for your
>contribution on the current debate.
>
>You wrote:
>
>"As he rightly said all the newspapers save The Independent were in
>existence in the First Republic. The increase in the private media scene
>can
>only be seen in the electronic media namely with the advent of public TV,
>West Coast Radio, Sud FM and City Limit Radio."
>
>Mr. Hydara, if my memory serves me right, there is a newspaper that is
>reportedly owned or co-owned by Pap Joof, the SOS for justice and a few
>other magazines that started after the 1994 coupe. Any idea about that?
>
>You also wrote:
>
>"He was also right with regards to Decree 70/71, which is far from
>favouring
>a press freedom climate in the country. Instead as the Daily Observer
>constantly remind us it is a Damocles sword hanging over the existence of
>newspapers. You asked why it was not used against us. That question should
>be addressed to the powers that be not us. But we can assure that we know
>why."
>
>Mr. Hydara, the point I was trying to make is that, here are two decrees
>often described as obnoxious but whose potency I am yet to see or know
>about. The little I know about these decrees is that one has set a
>registration fee of some D100,000 and the other deals with penalties for
>the
>inaccurate reporting of things, libel or something of that sort. Again you
>may enlighten us about them.
>
>You again wrote:
>
>"If my memory serves me right, Mr. Ba Trawally was unfortunately tried for
>an article he wrote in the 70s about the farm of Barajally and was
>convicted
>to five years imprisonment. Mr. Trawally won the enviable title of the
>first
>Gambian journalist jailed in this country since independence. In 1980, late
>Dixon Colley was tried for an article dubbed Till Dooms day. But he left
>the
>court a free man. Baboucarr Gaye was also detained for interviewing Kukoi
>at
>Radio Gambia the day of the coup which for us journalists deserved a Prize
>and not detention. Sana Manneh won his case against the ministers he
>labelled as corrupt in The Torch. The appeal did not yield any change and
>Manneh went home a free man. I was detained by the NSS and all the big men
>of the service then interrogated me for hours and released me afterwards. I
>also had the pleasure of re-experiencing the same treatment in March 1995
>with the NIA which makes me the only journalist in this country detained
>and
>interrogated by our two security agencies something which am very proud of
>as it demonstrates our consistency. We are for the Gambian people."
>
>Mr. Hydara, the above naration makes precisely the point I was trying to
>make. Apart from the above cases, I was told that the late Femi Jeng died
>in
>police custody for being used by Kukoi Samba Sanyang and his Gang during
>their attempted coupe of 1981. However, the above done during the first
>republic does not justify its continuation in the second republic. The
>point
>I was trying to make was that sometimes brinkmanship does not yield
>dividends. If there is mutual mis-trust between the private media and the
>government to the extent that government agents arrest and detain
>journalists routinely, one may ask where it is all leading to. My own
>opinion is that it is sometimes prudent to watch your step and change
>tactics to achieve the same goals.
>
>I would also like to know your opinion as to whether the articles that we
>read in some of the papers that are critical of government today could have
>been published under the previous regime without a visit from the NSS.
>
>You again wrote:
>
>"Now, on taxes. I am surprised to 'hear' you say other businesses are
>paying
>more taxes than the media. Compare what is comparable! How could you
>compare
>media houses with 'normal' businesses; ours is a semi- social and semi-
>business occupation and that must be taken into consideration. The services
>we render to both the people and the government are not paid for; they are
>free of charge as a result of an empowerment granted us by the very
>Constitution of the Republic. In other countries like Senegal, Parliament
>votes an annual subvention of D 100, 000 to each private media house to
>help
>strengthen the enlightenment process carried out by the media. Therefore,
>we
>are no businesses. And in fact, in the First Republic newspaper taxation
>was
>unheard of. I hope these few lines have answered your questions."
>
>Mr. Hydara,
>
>With all due respect a newspaper is a business and not a charitable venture
>and as such should be taxed like any other business. In the UK, not only
>are
>newspapers taxed, they also pay VAT.
>
>These are some of my observations about your input and would once again
>like
>to thank you and await your response to some of the issues that I have
>raised.
>
>Have a good day, Gassa.
>
>
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