By Mark Feldman and Nik Harris
A law firm in the Gambia is demanding security protection for Sierra Leonean academic and journalist, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah, ahead of his proposed visit to his home country of Sierra Leone.
Attorneys at Modou Drameh and Associates say they have sent a letter to Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio earlier this week notifying him of Dr. Bah’s upcoming trip to Sierra Leone.
“We deem it necessary to bring this intended visit to the formal attention of the relevant state and security institutions in the interest of Dr. Bah’s personal safety and fundamental rights. As you may be aware, Dr. Bah has been the subject of sustained threats and harassment in recent years, including death threats linked directly to his professional work as a journalist and public intellectual. These threats have been documented and condemned by international academic and press freedom organizations,” they said.
The lawyers request that Sierra Leonean authorities “issue appropriate instructions to ensure the provision of adequate security and protection measures for Dr. Bah throughout his stay in the country.” Modou Drameh and Associates say they also want authorities to designate “a liaison officer within the Sierra Leone Police to coordinate security logistics in advance of and during Dr. Bah’s visit.”
“This request is made in the spirit of preserving the dignity of academic freedom, protecting human rights, and upholding Sierra Leone’s obligations under international instruments to which it is a party, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ” Principal Counsel Modou Drameh stated.
In recent years, Sierra Leone’s Association of Journalists (SLAJ) has continuously praised Bio’s administration for advancing “press freedom and media development” including the provision of Le2.5 billion government subvention to support SLAJ’s FY2025 budget.
“For six years, I have not only fulfilled my promise on the annual subvention to SLAJ but have significantly increased this support each year. Under my leadership, we have achieved significant advancements through progressive legal reforms that enhance, rather than hinder, journalistic work,” Bio said during his annual media cocktail in December 2024.
SLAJ in turn named President Bio a free speech champion for “creating legislative reforms, enhanced transparency, and secure environment for journalists.”
However, SLAJ and other professional groups in Sierra Leone have been silent on Dr. Bah’s situation despite statements from international press freedom organizations condemning the attacks and harassment against him.
Bah, a historian and investigative journalist, is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University and editor-in-chief of the Africanist Press. For several years now, Dr. Bah has been the target of death threats and transnational harassment for his investigative reporting on corruption in Sierra Leone. The ongoing threats and harassment prevented him from returning to Sierra Leone ever since.
His lawyers have confirmed that Dr. Bah has now decided to travel to Sierra Leone before the end of the year to meet with his family, and also undertake archival research in relation to a book project emanating from his doctoral thesis submitted to Northwestern University. A major publisher has already expressed interest in the book’s proposal.
In a widely circulated statement issued on Monday, Matthew Anderson of the Africanist Press also called on the international community to impress upon Sierra Leonean politicians the need to ensure Dr. Bah is protected while in Sierra Leone.
“Considering the paucity of Sierra Leonean voices in the debates that continue to shape their own country’s historiography, it is imperative that the international community of scholars and diplomats ensure they help impress upon Sierra Leonean politicians the need to protect one of the country’s emerging historians,” Anderson said, adding, “it is the duty of Sierra Leonean leaders to protect each and every Sierra Leonean.”
Bah’s colleagues say scholars and diplomats should not “allow the violation of Bah’s academic freedom and right to free speech continue with impunity and in the shadows.”
“No individual should be subjected to unnecessary harassment on account of exercising their constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of conscience,” they stated.
Although the final itinerary of Dr. Bah’s visit has yet to be revealed, attorneys at Modou Drameh and Associates say the trip is scheduled to happen any time before the end of the year.
The letter to Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio has also been sent to various press freedom organizations and diplomatic missions, including the United States Embassy in Sierra Leone, the US-based African Studies Association, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and the Committee of Concerned Scientists in the United States.
Dr. Bah’s story was recently featured in the Watson Institute’s Trending Globally Podcast. Click here to listen to the full story.
