Liberia: Power of Truth Not Brute Force -Gongloe Admonishes Public Officials, Agents

28 January 2013

By all accounts, the Sirleaf Administration is well on the way to perfecting its legacy tolerating free speech and free press. It has enacted the Freedom of Information Act (FoI) and solidified it with the signing of the International Table Mountain Declaration. The FoI and the declaration affirm Article 15 of the Constitution of Liberia. At every opportunity, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has not shied from citing these exploits as marks of her administration's amenity to democracy – to departing from Liberia's draconian past of oppression. But former solicitor general and labor minister, Tiawon Gongloe, believes that in order to perfect its legacy, the administration has major hurdles to surmount. The Analyst, reports.

Former Labor Minister and rights advocate, Tiawon Gongloe, says despite enacting major pro-press and speech legislations, the Sirleaf Administration is unlikely to leave a legacy of press freedom unless it tempered these legislations with the "power of truth", not with "brute force".

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