-PRA Communications Unit
By Koma Gandy-Williams and Mohamed Macarthy
Our attention has been drawn to an unverified and unchecked publication done by Gleaner Newspaper on Facebook and Voice of Salone Newspaper with the sole aim of denting and tainting the hard-earned integrity of the Executive Chairman of Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA).
The Executive Chairman of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA), Mr. Brima Baluwa Koroma, took over the leadership of the Agency in 2018. At that time, the Agency had very limited staff that would help transform the visions of President Julius Maada Bio by making the Agency very fascinating and compelling to meet the demands of international standards.
Notwithstanding that, as someone who had held top-notch management leadership at Standard Chartered Bank and Safecon Petroleum Limited, also very cognizant of due diligence in the Civil and Public Service Recruitment, Chairman Baluwa, together with his management, advertised vacancies and followed due procedures that led to the current status quo of the Agency.
It sounds deceitful and repugnant to the general public and well-meaning Sierra Leoneans for a lame dog and toddler newspaper like Gleaner Newspaper and Voice of Salone Newspaper, whose managements ought to have been taught about the tenets of Ethical Journalism. The said newspapers didn’t do the required investigations accordingly and just published their stories with many inaccuracies and imbalances.
The principle of Ethical Journalism gives everyone involved in a story an equal opportunity to tell their side of the story so that readers can get a balanced and fair view of the situation. Neither Gleaner Newspaper nor Voice of Salone Newspaper follows the principles of Ethical Journalism in their blemished stories.
In a nutshell, all staff at the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) went through due procedures, and there are substantial documents at the Human Resources Department of the Agency to vindicate this piece. The Agency prides itself on professionalism, integrity, and compliance. The Facebook publications by Gleaner Newspaper and Voice of Salone are misleading and a figment of imagination to a considerable extent that aims to seek public attention and undue fame.
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