Concord Times (Freetown)
Mohamed Massaquoi
26 August 2008
Freetown — President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) Monday handed over two air tickets and US$ 2,000 as support to Major Musa Bangura in order for the latter to seek medical attention at the 37 military hospital in Ghana.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the Sierra Leone news agency Philip Neville recalled that it was eight years ago when Maj Bangura and some regiment of the British army were adducted by the westside boys at Okra Hill.
Neville said the gesture came as a result of the efforts of various media houses and philanthropists who viewed the incident as a neglect and marginalization meted out on Bangura by certain authorities in government and the military.
"I want to commend journalists for making sure that Maj Bangura received a proper and befitting medical attention. SLAJ is a responsible institution. I hope that people's perception about journalists will change. What the government and the military failed to do is what we have done as a media institution," he said.
Neville said SLAJ played a pivotal l role to ensure that Maj Bangura was flown out of the country.
Maj Musa Bangura explained that after the incident, the British officers were immediately taken to the United Kingdom and given a proper medication leaving him in serious health difficulties.
"I asked for help in the military but nobody came to my rescue," he said.
Chairperson of the independent media commission Bernadette Cole expressed appreciation to SLAJ for the gesture adding that Bangura was among those soldiers who sacrificed his life for peace and stability to return to the country.
She said journalists over the years have played important roles in the country's democratic process adding that they stood as intermediaries between the government and the people.
"One of the roles of the media is to champion the cause of the masses and what we are evidencing today is the effort of the media. Bangura was arrested by the westside boys with some British soldiers. The British were quickly sent abroad for medical treatment. Had it not been for SLAJ it would have been very difficult for him," she said.
"One of our friends Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere got the information and negotiated with the Ghanian authorities," she said.
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