By Fatou Sillah
The Minister of Information, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has sharply criticized the country’s media regulator as “one of the most ineffective institutions,” even as he defended a proposed framework to accredit journalists.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Dr. Ceesay said the Gambia Media Council had failed to fulfill its mandate, prompting the government to step in.
“With all due respect, the Media Council is one of the most ineffective institutions this country has; they have to reform themselves,” he said. “If they had done what they were supposed to do, the government wouldn’t have taken this initiative.”
The minister’s remarks come amid debate over a government-backed proposal to introduce a national system for press identification. Dr. Ceesay described the initiative not as a binding policy, but as a voluntary framework intended to guide accreditation.
“I don’t want it to be a policy because if it is a policy, it makes it binding on all journalists,” he said. “I want it to be a framework or a guideline, but make it voluntary.”
According to Dr. Ceesay, the proposal is designed to help distinguish professional journalists from others, particularly during protests and national emergencies, when access to restricted areas can be contentious.
“How do you know who is a journalist and who is not a journalist if there is a protest?” he said. “If there is a national emergency, journalists have to get access.”
He added that the accreditation process would not be controlled solely by the government but instead managed by a committee comprising representatives from the Media Council, the Gambia Press Union, and the Ministry of Information.
“It is not going to be the ministry that is going to issue the press card; it is a committee composed of the Media Council, GPU, and the ministry,” he said.
The proposal has raised concerns among some journalists and media advocates, who fear it could open the door to restrictions on press freedom. Dr. Ceesay rejected those claims, insisting the government has no intention of interfering with the work of the press.
“We have no intention whatsoever to inhibit journalists from doing their work, to persecute them, or to censure them,” he said.
He emphasized that participation in the accreditation system would remain optional. “It is going to be voluntary; it is at the discretion of the journalist to apply for a press card or not,” he said.
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