Piah wants ELBC open to every sector 

By Ethel A. Tweh

Information Minister-designate Jerolinmek M. Piah has asked the Legislature to repeal the military law of slain President Samuel Kanyon Doe and make state broadcaster ELBS open to every actor here.

Mr. Piah made the proposal when he appeared for his confirmation hearing before the Liberian Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting.

The committee is chaired by Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon.

President Joseph Nyumah Boakai appointed Mr. Piah to head the Ministry of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism (MICAT).

The Information Minister-designate said it is unfortunate for a democratic government to be working with military decree.

He noted that the state broadcaster should not just be a mouthpiece for the national government. 

According to him, Liberia has transitioned from the military era and it must live up to the tenets of democracy.

He stressed the need for every citizen’s voice to be heard on the state radio irrespective of whatever political affiliation in the country.

“So if you are an opposition actor and ELBC gives you space and you want to use the platform to insult people, incite others, and cause chaos, then that’s different,” he said.

“But just for the purpose of having the voices of all actors to be heard, then ELBC should do that,” Mr. Piah suggested.

The MICAT boss-designate indicated that as it stands, it is left with the discretion of the Director General of the Liberia Broadcasting System to decide whether or not he or she will provide the platform for any state actor, especially an opposition politician.

According to him, the act creating the LBS does not give any right to the Director General of the institution to decide who sits on the platform to express his or her view on national matters.

“So the reason why that legislation was drafted is that it will become a law. So if Jerolinmek Piah is the Director General for ELBC, it is not left to his discretion to decide how that station is run,” he argued. 

“The Act creating it a state or public broadcaster must be adhered to. And where does it stand? It’s with you. Wherever that piece of instrument is, when you find it and finalize it, it is a law,” Mr. Piah added.

He promised to follow the law creating the Liberia Broadcasting System when repealed and finalized by the legislature, as it is not an option for the institution’s management to either implement the act or not.

Meanwhile, Mr. Piah has disclosed that employees at the Ministry of Information have been demoralized while no deputy or assistant minister had an assigned vehicle for the last six years.

According to him, only the Minister of Information, had an officially assigned vehicle, while some employees are being paid US$40.

Despite these conditions, he said they are demanded to transport themselves or walk daily to work.

“I was appalled when I heard that for the past six years, all the ministers at the Ministry of Information were walking,” he lamented.

“They didn’t get a car. If the ministers don’t have cars, you expect those poor workers to get buses to bring them to work?” he pondered.

Mr. Piah called on members of the Liberian Senate to be supportive of the ministry in solving these problems, stressing that people are being demoralized by being paid US$40.