AWARENESS TIMES has a solid reputation for retracting and apologising, without prompting, when we make errors. Evidence abounds. So if we prefer for Deputy Minister Sheka Tarawalie to take us to Independent Media Commission (IMC) rather than us retracting his so-called misleading quote, it must be for a reason.

It is therefore worthwhile for pro-opposition tabloids celebrating Sheka Tarawalie whom they describe as “very influential” (on which landscape is he influential?) for dragging Sylvia Blyden to IMC, to pause and wait for the IMC’s findings.

Shekito’s TORCHLIGHT newpaper, on 2nd April 2012, misquoted our President to have said he was a Lokoman by tribe but President Koroma never (I repeat, NEVER) said those quoted words of ‘I am a Loko by Tribe’ which appeared in Shekito’s paper!

Rather in what was a ‘Father of the Nation’ mode to make the Lokos feel he appreciated their efforts to entertain him on the day in question (Saturday March 31st 2012), he told the Lokos of how non-Loko outsiders like himself admired the singing skills of Lokos. He warmly accepted their invitation to visit Loko Chiefdoms. President Koroma also said, he accepted Loko’s endorsement of his efforts to develop Sierra Leone since 2007.

This is the type of false quotation which should’ve concerned a LOYAL Deputy Minister

Continuing his address in a clearly jocular and relaxed mood, President recounted of how, whenever it was time for politics, his detractors will use unscrupulous journalists to mis-inform the populace he is a Loko and is not Temne or Limba. He wondered as to what such journalists will write in their papers the following Monday (ie: April 2nd 2012) now that Lokos had embraced him. Little did President Koroma know ‘Judas’ was within. No less a person than his Deputy Minister’s newspaper came out with a misleading piece of ‘I am a Loko by Tribe’ nonsense headline that Monday!

Now, despite significant political fall-out of Shekito paper’s grave error, one is yet to see a single attempt by Shekito to repair the growing damage his paper has erroneously caused to his Boss. Instead, GLOBAL TIMES, which is one of the papers which has been actively twisting words of the President to mean he has disowned his Temne lineage, is where Shekito heads to bad-mouth Sylvia Blyden for supposedly mis-quoting him about Maada Bio! What an Irony! Food for thought.

GLOBAL TIMES which has never been taken to IMC when they write afoul of Shekito’s boss, the President, is the tabloid Shekito uses to propagate his current misadventure. I wonder how he felt when he saw pro-SLPP front pages yesterday - especially with sheer co-incidence of our independent coverage of his piece on the Youth question.  Let me here assure Shekito that we’ll continue to publish anything positive he writes about President Koroma because President deserves better than to suffer for Shekito merely being one of numerous propagandaists on his team.

Anyway, why not wait for the IMC’s Findings? The matter was to have started at the IMC at 3:30pm prompt this Tuesday 15 April 2012. Unfortunately, Shekito did not show up even though me and my acting Editor, Aruna Turay did go to robustly defend our stance.

So, let all wait for the day when Shekito will show up; then wait for IMC’s Findings.

Meanwhile, I see GLOBAL TIMES which has to date, refused to publish a retraction of a grossly malicious, libellous allegation that a Presidential Police Bodyguard was caught fleeing after trying to assassinate Opposition presidential candidate is already finding us “guilty” of ‘arrogantly refusing to publish a retraction’ Ha ha ha! The Black Backyard Pot calling the Shiny Kitchen Kettle Black! Let’s wait and see if IMC agrees with them.   #end