By Amin Kef Sesay
The rehabilitated Kumrabai Ferry ‘Peace Monument’ ,which it is stated has a narrative relating to peacebuilding in Sierra Leone was commissioned by the Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) which also engaged the community residents on transitional justice issues on the 20th March 2022.
The community engagement raised the awareness of residents in Kumrabai Ferry and its environs on transitional justice issues to prevent conflict and provide an enabling peaceful environment.
The Africa Transitional Justice Legacy Fund (ATJLF) in Ghana provided the fund for the rehabilitation and community meetings facilitated by the MRCG. The project is aimed at engaging the media and communities to increase public awareness on Transitional Justice (TJ) mechanisms and change the narrative on TJ issues in Sierra Leone.
The residents said on the 8 December 2000, Lieutenant General Daniel Opande, Force Commander UNAMSIL, Brigadier Alihasan, Commander Sector 4 and General Issa Sesay, Interim Chairman of the Revolution United Front (RUF), Ahmed Mucksoon Sesay and others met at the village.
According to the residents, the meeting was the first to discuss modalities for deployment of UNAMSIL troops throughout RUF controlled Northern and Eastern Region. Ahmed Thaimu Turay, Mohamed Sesay and Pa Mohamed Kuyateh said at that meeting, UNAMSIL and RUF leadership committed themselves to a peaceful resolution of the then civil conflict.
National Coordinator, MRCG, Dr. Francis Sowa, said the peace monument with the inscription ‘Peace was Born Here’ was pivotal to their work on transitional justice. He said the MRCG would continue to work with the community to continue to showcase the importance of peace within the discourse on transitional justice.
“The key problem the project seeks to address is the apparent low level of public engagements and discourse on TJ mechanisms and learning from the past experiences and recommendations. Most of the factors that took the country to war are still prevalent in most communities and the country’s hard earn peace continue to be labeled as a fragile one and there are concerns about the consolidation of the country’s peace processes and achievements,” said Dr. Sowa.
On 19 March 2022, the MRCG conducted a community engagement on TJ issues in Mile 91 as that place is a conflict prone community particularly during elections. The MRCG hopes that the community engagements will ‘bring to life’ the key issues in the country’s TJ mechanisms that would enhance the advocacy to prevent reoccurrence of incidents that may lead to conflicts by helping to promote peace and reconciliation. The community engagements were done together with a local radio station, Radio Gbaft, which has a history connected to the war and peacebuilding. The station will broadcast highlights of the community engagements. With the Radio Gbaft monthly TJ radio programs, Sierra Leoneans will be reminded of the atrocities committed during the civil war to help prevent reoccurrence.
The MRCG is the coordinating Secretariat for media reform, research and capacity building that seeks to strengthen democratic dialogue and accountability, consolidate peace and ensure development through professional, independent and sustainable media based on the right to freedom of expression and of the press.
It comprises Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ), Independent Radio Network (IRN), Guild of Editors (GoE), Women in the Media Sierra Leone (WIMSAL), Sierra Leone Reporters Union (SLRU), Sport Writers Association of Sierra Leone (SWASAL), Mass Communication (Fourah Bay College), Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC), Independent Media Commission (IMC) and the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC).
