Journalist Melvin Tejan Mansaray has offered a formal apology to the Speaker and Members of Sierra Leone’s Parliament, marking a potential step toward reconciliation following a months-long standoff that saw him indefinitely barred from parliamentary premises.
On March 4, 2025, Mansaray appeared before Parliament’s Privileges and Ethics Committee in Freetown, where he read a written apology and pledged to retract the statements that triggered the conflict. The hearing was also attended by representatives of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ).
The Committee, satisfied with Mansaray’s remorse and commitment to make a public retraction, discontinued the hearing and adjourned the matter sine die (indefinitely). Following the session, Mansaray confirmed the development on his Facebook page, stating: “I am pleased to inform you all that my hearing with the Privileges and Ethics Committee went on successfully.”
The controversy began on January 10, 2025, when Speaker of Parliament Segepoh Solomon Thomas unilaterally barred Mansaray from Parliament and its environs, accusing him of making disparaging remarks, including that MPs were “useless” and that the Speaker had rigged a vote.
Critics of the ban, including media watchdogs and civil society groups, described it as excessive and procedurally flawed, especially as the punishment preceded any formal inquiry. The referral to the Ethics Committee only came nearly a month after the ban had already taken effect.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) welcomes the conciliatory engagement between Mansaray and the Parliamentary Committee and acknowledges the Committee’s decision to de-escalate the situation. However, we maintain that the initial imposition of the ban without due process constituted a violation of press freedom and the journalist’s rights.
The MFWA therefore urges the Speaker of Parliament to lift the ban on Melvin Tejan Mansaray without further delay. In future, we call on Parliament to uphold constitutional safeguards and to refer disputes involving journalists to the appropriate regulatory bodies, namely the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and the Independent Media Commission (IMC).