For the couple of days occasioning the George Weah led Government’s pronouncement regarding its review process of its regulatory regime of media licenses and authorization, I’ve been utterly bemused and flabbergasted, over how certain elements in the Liberian media have elected to vilify an outstanding young man, Mr. Partick R. Honnah, himself, an astute media personnel, only because he has professionally stood up to the powers-that-be, in a clear attempt on the part of the Government of Liberia (GoL) to stifle free press.
Ladies and gentlemen of the local press, especially those of you jumping on every available platform, including social media, to put him in the pillory, what has Mr. Honnah done wrong? How has turning innovation into the creation of a radio and television outlet to project critical but objective views and give the citizens a belonging to be heard – a venture poised to provide jobs and help mitigate this nightmare of rampant joblessness in our country become a crime?
Wait a minute, according to what I’ve independently gathered, Patrick and his One Media Incorporated, owner of PUNCH FM/TV, have met all requirements under the laws of Liberia to operate as a media entity. So when did the Information Ministry, with Eugene Nagbe, as Minister, get to know that there were anomalies in the media landscape of the country? When then, did government, with people like Minister Nagbe, who has been Minister of Information even prior to Weah’s ascendancy to the presidency realize that media operation here had been plagued with unspeakable irregularities? Is it when the GoL collected PUNCH FM/TV hard earned cash and then cruelly ran the managers of the media entity around, pursuing documentations of legitimacy from one government office to another or is it when those in positions of trust realized that Patrick and his “Legacy Project”: PUNCH FM/TV, unprecedentedly in a very short period of time began garnering massive show of support from hundreds of thousands of Liberians from home and abroad?
What those of you in the media that are not just only refusing to help Patrick to constructively and peacefully stand up to this seemingly growing repressive and anti-press-friendly regime, but are even, in some instances scorning him and raining vituperation upon his person are failing to do, is to ask some hard questions, as is noted for those who ply the noble trade of journalism – Questions like, if the whole Liberian media have anomalies, as the GoL has said, is it just few institutions, including PUNCH FM/TV that should be singled out for review or all of the dozens of newspapers, radio and television stations scattered across the length and breadth of the country? When exactly will this review process be climaxed? Since indeed the GoL’s press release announcing the commencement of the exercise is silent on as to when exactly the process will come to an end.
Judging comments being spewed out at this successful Liberian media celebrity, coming from government actors and people within close proximity with the presidency, coupled with Patrick’s vocal but constructive candor fearlessly thrown in the face of George Weah and his CDC during the campaign period of the country’s recent past presidential election, absolutely no one needs to be a rocket scientist to know that government’s latest review which is affecting just a handful of institutions is principally targeted at PUNCH FM/TV.
Media workers here, if you like help him or not, today it is Patrick, but just know that in the Holy Bible, Jesus The Christ once said: “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” – Ladies and gentlemen of the press, please be reminded that any group without unity will easily be destroyed –
To this end, I leave you with the story of the three cows below, as a food for thought – If this regime which is showing all early signs of being so bitter and vindictively intolerant of the press, succeeds so easily, even with the help of some media people, to crack down on just one media personnel and/or institution, it will not be too long when the whole media would soon be relegated from its watchdog status down to the backseat of government praise-singing team. God forbids, though.
The Three Cows
Once, three cows lived in a green and fresh pasture near a forest: a white cow, a black cow, and a reddish-brown cow. The cows were kind to each other. They used to graze in the meadow together and sleep near each other.
One day, a reddish-brown lion happened to take a stroll out of the forest onto the meadow. It was hungry and looking for a prey. On catching sight of the cows it became glad, but couldn’t attack them, because they were together. So, the lion sat behind a boulder and patiently waited till the cows would separate from each other.
However, the cows were too clever to separate from each other. They knew that if they were together, no predator could attack them. The lion lay in ambush nearby for two or three days. But the cows continued to remain together, and wouldn’t separate from each other. The lion became impatient. It thought of a plan. It went towards the cows, greeted them and said, “How are you, my friends? Are you fine? I have been busy lately, so could not come and visit you. Today I made up my mind to pay you a visit.”
The reddish-brown cow said, “Sir, your coming has really pleased us and brightened our pasture.”
Both the white and the black cows were troubled by what their friend, the reddish-brown cow said, and were grieved at its thoughtlessness. They said to each other, “Why does the reddish-brown cow believe what the lion says?
Doesn’t it know that lions seek other animals only to prey on them?”
As the days passed by, the reddish-brown cow became more and more attached to the lion. The black cow and the white cow advised it against a friendship with the lion, but their efforts were in vain.
One day, the lion said to the reddish-brown cow, “You know that the color of our bodies is dark and that the color of the body of the white cow is light. You also know that light color is the opposite of the dark color. It will be very good if I eat the white cow so that there will be no difference among us any longer and we will be able to live together well.”
The reddish-brown cow accepted the lion’s argument and started talking to the black cow to keep it busy so that the lion could eat the white cow. The white cow was left alone and was killed, while the black and the reddish-brown cows were busy in idle talk.
Two or three days passed since the lion devoured the white cow. It became hungry again. It called the reddish-brown cow. The cow answered: “Yes sir!”
The lion said, “The color of my body and the color of your body are both reddish-brown, and black does not go with our color. It will be very good if I eat the black cow so that in this forest we all will be of the same color.” The reddish-brown cow accepted this argument and moved away from the black cow.
The lion attacked and devoured the black cow soon. And as for the reddish-brown cow, it was so filled with joy that it didn’t know what to do. It roamed and grazed and said to itself, “It is only me who has the color of the lion.”
A few days passed later, the lion was hungry again. It roared and said, “O the reddish-brown cow! Where are you?” The reddish-brown cow, shaking with fear, went forward and said, “Yes sir!”
The lion said: “Today it is your turn. Get yourself ready, I am going to eat you.”
The reddish-brown cow, with great fear and horror, said, “Why sir, I am your friend. I did whatever you asked me to do. Still, why do you want to eat me?”
The lion roared and said, “I have no friends. How is it possible that a lion makes friendship with a cow?”
No matter how much the reddish-brown cow begged and entreated, the lion didn’t accept its words. Finally, the cow said, “Mr. Lion, please allow me to cry out three times before you eat me.”
The lion said, “Ok. Quickly, quickly!”
The reddish-brown cow cried out, “I was eaten the very day the white cow was eaten. I was eaten the very day the black cow was eaten. I was eaten the very day I made friends with the lion.”
The lion devoured the reddish-brown cow very quickly. Then it said to itself: “I have finished my job in this forest. Now I had better go to other forests.”
Moral of the story: any group without unity will easily be destroyed.
