Sierra Leone’s Propaganda Minister? : The Man and The Precedent [OSINT] (Part 2)
In the previous article, which serves as compulsory reading for this one, we delved into the social media presence of Sierra Leonne’s Minister of Information and Civic Education — Chernor Bah!
Said article focused primarily around his presence prior to his appointment. In this OSINT piece therefore we will shift our attention to Bah’s time as Minister specifically in comparison to his predecessor!
The aim to create a foundational understanding of his role within government and how much sway he holds over his department — as evident by changes in the ministries activities after his appointment!
With the bulk of the analysis focused upon the social media profiles of said ministry within sites such as Facebook, YouTube and X!
Social Media Activity
Prior to Chernor Bah’s installation into the position; the Ministry, then called the Ministry of Information & Communications, was under the leadership of Mohamed Rahman Swaray who left his position after the 2023 election when he was in turn made the Minister for Employment, Labour & Social Affairs!
And one aspect that seems to instantly stand out in regards to this change is the shear volume of social media activity. Chernor Bah’s appointment within the role marking a significant increase!
The Ministry’s X account for example marked a significant postage frequency shift.
A random sample between February and April 2023 for example (prior to Bah) was marked by a grand total of under 50 posts
Meanwhile a random sample analyzed on the 27th of February 2024 alone on the same X account yielded a grand total of 22 resultst!
More posts in one day than in an entire 3 month period!
And whilst this date was a particularly high input day the increase in post volume on X is a very clear shift — with Chernor Bah’s fingerprints blasted all over it!
The change in the Ministry’s Facebook meanwhile is less pronounced because whilst a slight increase in post activity can be observed after the introduction of Bah into the Ministry the post activity’s increase is nowhere near as drastic as it was with Twitter!
This is probably attributable to Facebook being much more established than Twitter in Sierra Leonne!
Another notable social media that has often been utilised by both ministers past and present is YouTube!
Established by Swaray in 2022 the channel was active in the beginning only to slow down significantly towards the end of his tenure.
As evident by the 4 month gap in between the last 2 uploads in which he was leading the Ministry!
Chernor Bah meanwhile seems to have made a significant effort to utilize the unique offerings of YouTube often uploading video from press conferences that in the past were primarily exclusive to Facebook and more general videos.
YouTube meanwhile was also often utilised after the failed November coup attempt (but more on that later)!
Social Media Content
So thus far we have established that since Chernor Bah’s installation into his position social media activity has increased (on some platforms more than others); but what about the content of said social media platforms?
Well one of the primary differences in this regard is that Chernor Bah tends to appear a lot more either as the subject of the posts or as a background character in comparison to his predecessor!
Though when it comes to Facebook and X especially material under both administrations was often similarly geared towards promoting President Bio, other members of the Cabinet, country initiatives and sometimes on rare occasions non government affiliated actors!
One interesting similarity between the previous and the former administration is that within both women’s empowerment seems to be quite a common theme although Chernor Bah is probably more well known for his initiatives in this regard!
On YouTube meanwhile more of an emphasis is placed upon a series of media appearances conducted by Chernor Bah on a series of outlets. The platform’s unique functionality a very favourable outlet for showcasing his clearly articulate manner!
In summary therefore Chernor Bah’s introduction into the Ministry marked a notable increase in post frequency primarily on Twitter but also on Facebook and YouTube.
Which means that Bah has successfully expanded the reach and the quality of the government’s media arm! In turn also highlighting an influence within executive government!
In the upcoming (and final) article we will finally attempt to answer the titled question in a more succinct manner!
