Mulbah Blasts News of Apology To Bility

                                          Award winning Sports reporter Roland Mulbah

One of West Africa’s enterprising sports journalists, Roland M. Mulbah who is also Secretary General of the Sports Writers Association of Liberia (SWAL) as well as Managing Editor of Kickoff and Complete Sports has blasted media reports that he has written a letter of apology to LFA President Musa Bility concerning the story of a US$1.5 million FIFA goal project contract awarded to his son Sidiki Bility.

The award winning journalist said he stands by his story and will not apologize for something he feels he’s not in the wrong. Bility feels journalist Mulbah had always ‘been in his flesh’ due to his critical writings which prompted him (Bility) and the local football house to take the mighty pen pusher Mulbah to court landing him at the Monrovia Central Prison.

Exactly a day after the Press Union of Liberia (PUL) joined the rest of the globe in marking World Press Freedom Day, Musa Bility, President of the Liberia Football (LFA) was successful in jailing journalist Roland M. Mulbah.

The victim is currently Secretary-General of the Sports Writers Association of Liberia (SWAL) and Managing Editor of the Complete and Kickoff Sports newspapers, of of Liberia’s leading sports dailies and also a reporter for Liberiansoccer.com.

While on the verge of attending a press conference called by Mr. Bility at the entrance of the Benson Street headquarters of the LFA on Friday, May 4, 2012, Journalist Mulbah was served with a writ of arrest on charges of forgery. The accusation borders on the publication of a news article in which Mr. Bility was accused of offering a US$1.5 million contract to his son Sidiki Bility (via a written communication carrying the signature of the LFA President) for the construction of a FIFA technical center to be based in Careysburg, Montserrado County.

Surprisingly, after the writ of arrest was issued, Mr. Mulbah was taken to the Temple of Justice and subsequently the Monrovia Central Prison on Gurley Street by a gray Toyota Four Runner vehicle (marked PC 823) driven by LFA Treasurer Jallah Korvah, accompanied by two court officers.

Former SWAL President Malcolm W. Joseph was joined at the Criminal Court C by members of the current leadership of SWAL, namely Fombah Kanneh, Martina Brooks, Anthony Stephens and Momoh Siryon, as well as Gerald Okai (representing the two sports papers), to secure the release of the sports writer but all efforts failed. It was reported on Saturday, May 5, 2012 on Truth FM, a radio station owned by Bility that Mulbah has apology for the publication of the article, but the Sports Writers’ Chief Scribe has since denied the report.