On June 23, five JHR trainers and their Country Director traveled to Kabala to give a workshop to the staff at the community station, Radio Bintumani. Despite the excitement of working together for the first time, the team was exploring new territory.
Nestled between lush mountains and farmland, Kabala is Sierra Leone’s agricultural hub. It is reached on a windy and pot-holed road, 6 hours north of Freetown.
Having organized the workshop so close to the July 5th local elections, JHR decided to give training on news writing and elections coverage. At the end of the meeting, new skills and knowledge were put to practical use. A representative from the National Electoral Commission hosted a briefing for reporters with an update of the council elections.
Buried amongst predictable (and un-newsworthy) information regarding voter ID cards, staff training and the campaign, the NEC representative almost said under his breath “to be honest, my biggest worry for this election is police security”.
Only one of the 20 reporters picked up on the statement. And I decided to stay in Kabala for a couple of extra days to help him cover the story.
With the local council elections less than 2 weeks away, there is concern about security in the Koinadugu District.
The National Electoral Commission says it’s worried the police will not have enough officers to cover all polling stations in the District and some candidates don’t feel safe during the campaign.
Abass Sessay reports:
