Sierra Leone News: MRIE COMPANY TO EMPOWER 80 NIGHT WORKERS

July 2, 2019

On 1^ST July 2019, in an interview with the Chief Executive Officer of Manor River International Entertainment Company, Henrietta Mbawah, it was disclosed that in April 2019 the MRIE Company organised Miss Manor River Union International Beauty Pageant show in Freetown. She said the show was geared towards empowering 80 night workers (20 from each country) with farm lands and tools to enable them engage in Agriculture. She further explained that Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone participated in the show and the winner of that competition was from Liberia and her platform was agriculture.

Henrietta Mbawah further said that ‘Sierra Leone lives Matter’ and the Manor River International Entertainment Company show is unique and different from the other shows, as it is geared towards advocating for women who suffer from gender based violence in their schools, universities, and communities, adding that the theme for this year is ‘gender based violence as part of goal 5 of the sustainable development goal’.

She further disclosed that each of the contestants was asked to choose a platform that they will use in order to achieve the goal of the beauty pageant, which is to stop gender based violence and the empowerment of women and girls in the manor river union countries when they win.

However, she said the current winner is from Liberia and a student of the University of Liberia. Agriculture is the platform she chose to empower women and girls, as she believes that if women are capacitated in Agriculture, they will increase agricultural productivity and reduce gender based violence in the sub region.

Henrietta Mbawah further added that the winner from Liberia’s platform, ‘agriculture’, will be launched in July in Liberia where 20 night workers have been identified to be empowered with farm lands and farming tools to produce food items like pepper, cabbage, carrot, garden eggs etc. This will in turn empower them financially and take them from the streets.

After the launch, the winner will also take a tour to Manor River union countries to engage young girls in twenty secondary schools and 10 communities in order to encourage them to take part in agriculture and say no to Gender Based Violence.

She ended by emphasizing that they decided to work with Night workers because they are considered less privileged and marginalised by society and in their trade, they are the most direct victims of gender based violence. Having done research on the activities of some of these night workers in the four West African countries in the Mano River basin, during their bid to select the 20 beneficiaries of the project, they discovered that most of these nights workers are in the street because they don’t have alternative employment and are willing to leave the street if they have an alternate source of income generation.

In conclusion, Henrietta Mbawah expressed appreciation to the following institutions for their sponsorship: Africell, Africa Young Voices Media Empire, Sierra Leone Brewery Limited, Sierra Leone Bottling Company, Leone Oil, Rokel Commercial Bank, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Tourism and the National Youth Commission; and called on them for their subsequent support, especially the Ministry of Youth Affairs to help them with farm land for the 20 night workers that will be selected in Sierra Leone to engage in agriculture for the next one year.

Sierra Leone News: BOLLORE Raises Concern Over NSBT Weigh Bridge

July 2, 2019

On Tuesday 2^nd July, 2019 Bollore Transport and Logistics in a press conference held at their conference room at cline town in Freetown, informed pressmen about their concerns over the construction of the weigh bridge by Nectar Sierra Leone Bulk Terminal (NSBT) at the Freetown Terminal Entrance which has led to accidents and traffic congestion in the Freetown terminal entrance.

Speaking at the press conference, Patrick M. Jarbee, Health Safety and Environment Coordinator of Bollore disclosed that since the construction of the weigh bridge, they have raised their concerns to NSBT and relevant stakeholders regarding the said construction that has posed security threats to not only the Freetown terminal but the community as a whole and up till now no actions has been taken.

He further said that due to the construction of the bridge at the entrance, there has been a lot of accidents, the most recent being on Sunday 31^st June 2019, where a vehicle loaded with timber waiting to be weighed hit and destroyed the fence, vehicles, etc. This has cost Bollore millions of Leones to reconstruct the fence and repair the damaged vehicles.

He furthered that these concerns were raised with the past administration, but no actions was taken and they are still calling on concerned stakeholders to address the current issue.

Emerson M. Kamara, Public Relations Officer, Indigenous Transport Owners Association, said that there are lots of challenges faced by transport owners and they have written letters to the stakeholders responsible, but it has been fruitless and he recommend that there be a weigh bridge at Hastings instead of at the Freetown terminal entrance. This, he maintained, will surely ease the traffic congestion and accidents that do occur at the Freetown terminal and Fourah Bay Road axis as it will reduce the vehicles queuing at the entrance of the quay waiting to be weighed, effectively blocking the road.

He concluded by saying that within 72 hours, if actions are not taken for the removal of the weigh bridge at the entrance, they will withhold their services as transport owners, as it makes their vehicles and drivers open to accidents and confrontation with residents in the community over parking space.

Lamin Koroma, Chairman Sea Side Community, also disclosed that the community has raised concerns concerning the construction of the weigh bridge in their community, especially as it poses threats to the lives of their children in the community.

He disclosed that he has written a lot of letters to stakeholders like ONS, SLP, SLPA, State House etc. in order to get the company to relocate the weigh bridge elsewhere, but all these moves were fruitless.

He also maintained that due to over parking by the drivers, electricity poles have been hit by the drivers, adding that he is working on relocating the electricity poles into the Bishop Johnson school so as to mitigate the destruction of the facility.

Gassimu S. Fofana Head of Communications/Public Relations, Bollore Transport and Logistics, said that there has been a lot of consultations regarding the position of the weigh bridge and the security threat it poses to their working environment and the community as a whole.

He recommended that the weigh bridge be relocated to a convenient place where it will not affect anyone.

This writer and other journalists went to the offices of NSBT to get their own side of the story, but were denied entry into the premises by the security. Efforts were also made to contact officials of the institution by phone, but all proved futile. However NSBT’s side will be published when access is gained and an interview granted.

Sierra Leone News: Journalist are not Criminals… Press Freedom and Liberty of Journalists to Report

June 30, 2019

Sallieu Tejan Jalloh aka Sall Tee, The Publisher of the Times SL Newspaper, David Johnson, Editor Times SL Newspaper, Mustapha Sesay, Editor Standard Times Newspaper and Abu Bakarr Kargbo aka Father Bakish, Senior Staff Writer, Standard Times Newspaper

Practicing journalists and media houses in Sierra Leone have had to over the years greatly restrain themselves in investigating and reporting on the ills of society. Four journalists have been remanded at the Pademba Road Male Correctional Center on Friday 28th June 2019 by Magistrate Mark Ngegba of Court No.2 in Freetown.

Four journalists who are all editors, Sallieu Tejan Jalloh aka Sall Tee, The Publisher of the Times SL Newspaper, David Johnson, Editor Times SL Newspaper, Mustapha Sesay, Editor Standard Times Newspaper and Abu Bakarr Kargbo aka Father Bakish, Senior Staff Writer, Standard Times Newspaper were before Magistrate Ngegba on charges brought against them by Lawyer Mohamed Pa Momoh Fofanah through a private prosecution.

Over the years, whilst the government has introduced legislations to unshackle journalists, such as the Freedom of Information Act, a thorn in the flesh of the profession is that of the Criminal and Seditious Libel law contained in the 1965 Public Order Act that was passed into law when Sir Albert Margai as Prime Minister wanted to muzzle journalists when he sought to have a One-Party Bill passed into law by a then SLPP-dominated parliament.

In the long struggle to have the legislation expunged, the former President of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, veteran BBC journalist Umaru Fofanah during his tenure in office with his executive fought tooth and nail to have the former government of Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma expunge this odious piece of legislation that ties the hands of journalists from freely expressing their thoughts and opinions to no avail.

His successor, Kelvin Lewis, too has been fighting valiantly to have the law exorcised from the books and was able to win assurance from now President Bio when he was campaigning in 2018 that if he won the presidential election his government will expunge criminal and seditious libel from the books.

With the government’s Minister of Information and Communication having several times assured the media that the government will make good on its promise but having so far not filed the motion in parliament for ratification, journalists in Sierra Leone continue to be treated as criminals by the courts for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

It is under this draconian law that 4 journalist make an appearance on Friday 28th June, 2019 before the magistrate court sitting in Freetown on a criminal summon of libel against a Lawyer (Pa Momoh Fofanah) filed by lawyers representing him, when at the same time, the Government of Sierra Leone had established an Independent Media Commission to serve as first port of call in all matters having to do with dispute between the media and the public.

Many people see this first test of the liberty of journalists to report on a matter of public interest without fear of recrimination as a dangerous first step towards repression of press freedom and muzzling of journalists.

The press is appealing to the Government of Sierra Leone and the Judiciary to intervene in this matter and order the immediate release of our colleagues. May common sense prevail!

Sierra Leone News: Canadian Tour Operator to Use Sierra Leone as Melting Pot

June 30, 2019

In changing the story line of a tourism destination like Sierra Leone, from hoax and negative hypes, the right moves to attract the tourist generating region is through constant destination marketing using B2B strategy and approach as introduced by the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Memunatu Pratt using a tool kit known as “Tourism Governance” (TG) with smart tourism push-out engagement as it is now done.

The Managing Director who also served as VP Mr. Yves Marceau received the team, and thoroughly briefed them on their operations over the years.

Yves through these engagements was able to state that adventure travel is more than a vacation. It’s a chance to get to know your world better by putting yourself on a first-name basis with the people, places, and things that make it worth exploring. The group is small with adventure travel experts, and has been in existence for over 20 years.

They have got the way to design customer base by listening to travellers and giving them what they want: top-notch tours in top-notch places with top-notch staff at great prices, and Sierra Leone is no mistake for future exchanges in travel and tours business.

G Adventures agreed on partnering with Sierra Leone in establishing tourism based development projects that aid the profile of the destination.

Capacity building was part of the conclusions met; training the community based tourism workers is part of their portfolio for the past twenty years. This approach has yielded a phantom reward in other destinations in Africa, and these Yves believes can be transferred to Sierra Leone.

Transfer of expert to whatever projects is their mastery, especially Eco-tourism site development and management. Therefore, this ideal meeting if deliberations could be furthered as suggested by the G Adventures will make dividend.

The meeting closed with tight and firm deals, of stronger exchanges and coherently set future preparation and plans to visualise these mind-sets.

Sierra Leone News: Is Sierra Leone Serious about Free Education?

June 30, 2019

The dream of every parent the world over is to provide quality education for their children, so that by the time these children grow into adulthood, they will be able to live a decent life. This dream is almost achievable in Europe, America and other developed countries, but in developing countries such as Sierra Leone, this seemed to be far-fetched.

This is all the more reason why quality education stands fourth among the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 for the year 2030. This goal calls for ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. In Sierra Leone, a good number of children do not go to school. Not because they are sick or they do not want to go to school. In fact they do. Research shows that some of the issues that raise their ugly heads in preventing the children from going to school include but not limited to poverty, sanitation, child labour, early marriage, health issues and in some cases there are no schools to attend, and where there are, there are few teachers.

Little wonder that when the Sierra Leonean President Julius Maada Bio was elected into office, he made free quality education his flagship program. In launching the free quality pre-primary, primary and secondary school education for government and government assisted schools, President Bio pointed out that education was an investment for personal and national development and without education a nation cannot get the much-needed manpower for socio-economic advancement. While pledging his government’s commitment, he used the opportunity to call on parents and teachers to support the free education program. “My government will take legal action against parents who fail to send their children to school,” President Bio warned.

At this initial stage, the venture of the president and his government is being rocked by a myriad of challenges, paramount among which is the willingness or rather unwillingness of parents to send their children to school. In a country such as Sierra Leone where poverty is rife, most parents depend on their children to assist them in fending for the rest of the family. Farmlands have to be attended to, monies have to be earned to buy basics and in some cases, the girl child has to help the mother look after younger siblings and/or help with domestic duties from time to time. Mostly in large cities children are seen leading poor blind or crippled parents along the streets assisting them in their begging trade. Another factor that is creating a stumbling block for the children is that disabled children are not being properly cared for. In a country where disability is mostly viewed as a result of witchcraft or a curse, disabled children find it hard to access education. James Fallah-Williams is the Program Director for Practical Tools initiative. He says the free quality education program initially never even incorporate disabled children as part of the general group that needed additional practical support in mobility and access. “It didn’t even consider making sure that school structures are made appropriate and reachable for the disabled,” he noted. He added that the success of the free quality education program will be judged by the unequivocal inclusion of destitute and abused children.

In addressing some of these challenges, President Bio encouraged both local and international partners to step forward and partner with government in ensuring the success of the free quality education.

One international organisation that immediately answered the call of the president is the United Nation Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). They have consented to work with the government of Sierra Leone. The delegation from UNESCO met with the president at State House where they told him that they had been following the programs of government free and quality education since it was launched and that their visit was to engage government in discussing the way forward in supporting the free and quality education. Yao Ydo the multi-Sectoral regional director United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Education (UNESCO) also expressed his willingness in helping the government and the free quality education which is the flagship program of the government. He said that they were ready to support government to the fullest and called on the government to make science subjects.

Parents as well as the pupils themselves for which the free quality education is being provided have expressed optimism about the positive impact the free education will have on the socio-economic advancement of the country. The principal for the Government Secondary Technical School, Henry Kamara was very upbeat when asked whether he cared about the free education. He started off by commending the government and called the venture a good idea. He however asked for an upgrade of the physical facilities; school structures, furniture, libraries etc. “Government should also look into the affairs of teachers who are the driving force behind the free education,” he said.

On his part, Davidson Momoh, a JSS3 pupil of the Prince of Wales School, said the only issue they had with the free education was that they had to return the textbooks provided or pay a loss fine if they do not do so. “We are now afraid to even use the books, so we keep them without using them in order to return them when the time comes,” he said. He however said that the exercise was a good one as they would no longer be sent out of school because their fees had not been paid by their parents.

Joseph Sannoh the Chief Executive Officer for Heal Salone, a civil society activist and the publisher and proprietor of Education Microscope Newspaper on his part called on government to monitor the activities of the free education books and ensure the books are fairly distributed.

For the fourth pillar of the SDGs to be achievable in Sierra Leone, everyone must come on board; the government, the local authorities, parents, teachers, students, international community and the like. Free education for all must be everyone’s responsibility. Who cares about Bio’s free quality education? I care. You care. We all care.

This work is an SLRU mentorship project with support from Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) and funded by the UNDP. It was researched and written by Mentee Adama Barrie and Donald Theo-Harding provided the mentorship.

Sierra Leone News: Barefoot Women: No Stipend for 16 Months!

June 30, 2019

Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association Sierra Leone Konta Line- Koya Chiefdom, Port Loko District while commending the Sierra Leone People’s Party-led Government and Hon. Alex Mattia Rogers of Constituency 102 Pujehun District for their support and constant touch with them, said they have gone for 16 months without stipend.

This was made known when journalists facilitated by Hon. Alex Mattia Rogers visited the institute to get first-hand information about the institute and their challenges on Monday 24^th June 2019.

Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association Chief Solar Engineer and Founder Haja Nancy Kanu thanked President Bio and Hon. Rogers for their commitments.

As part of their constraints, Haja Kanu disclosed that for the past 16 months they have gone without stipend. This she added, they want to government to look into as they are ready to give quality training. She also spoke about lack of vehicle among others. She thanked the Education and Energy ministries for their supports.

She spoke about their huge manpower that is ready to give light in the country if the resources are provided.

According to Haja Kanu people want to discourage them but she said they are not going to relent because they want to empower rural communities.

“If I am uneducated and I am doing such a good thing, what if I were educated. We want the President to give us the support; the MPs are seeing the reality of what we are capable of doing.”

Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association Secretary General Edward Musa Anaque said among other things that the organisation is a grassroots one that belongs to rural illiterate’s women.

He said Haja Nancy Kanu was among the first batch of women to train in in India in 2007 and from 2007 to 2009 they have trained 260 women and now they have a batch of 50 which is funded by the central government of Sierra Leone that are drawn from South, East, North and North West regions of the country.

He said their training mainly focuses on practical which is called the ‘barefoot’ approached.

He continued to say they need a competent base educational curriculum for rural electrification as the government has picked up the mandate indicating that they are ready.

“All we are doing here is for the rural people and solar is part of the renewable energy”

He commended the selection process of training across the regions and said they have brought members of parliament and the chiefs on-board.

Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association started full operation in 2009 but was commission in 2012, now the team wants to decentralize as they need to train more people to take care of other areas.

The current structure the institute coast the past government about three billion Leones and it has a capacity of 50 students that will be train for four months.

Hon. Alex Mattia Rogers of Constituency 102 Pujehun District said Sierra Leone is moving towards rural electrification and he deems it feet to visit Barefoot Women Solar Engineers Association to know the level of progress they have made.

He said he is very impressed with them because he is not a stranger in that institute as he has seen what they are capable of doing and their move to empower women.

Hon. Rogers disclosed that he has sent third set of women in that institute from his constituency.

He said one among the first batch he sent went to India and now she is doing extremely well in her village in Pujehun District.

Hon. Rogers’ prayer is for the new intakes, which is funded by the government, do their best. He promised to engage other MPs and continue to talk with the government for their support as the new direction cardinal policy is to bring energy which he said is now extended to the rural communities.

One of the beneficiaries, Pakanda from Moyamba District said when they came to the institute they knew nothing but said they have learnt a lot such as colour post, tools, hydro meters among others.

She said she never knew women can learn engineering. She thanked the government and the founder of the project for taking up the bold step to empower herself and now others.

Sierra Leone News: HRCSL Engages Gold Tree on Compliance, Rights Issues

June 30, 2019

The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) on Thursday 27^th June 2019 engaged the management of Gold Tree Company in Daru, Kailahun District to ascertain the level of compliance with Business and Human Rights (BHR) standards.

Part of the work of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone is to address business and human rights issues in the country. A guideline document titled: “Guidelines for Monitoring Business and Human Rights in Sierra Leone” was developed in 2013 in partnership with the Irish Human Rights Commission and the Danish Institute for Human Rights to provide a clear and consistent roadmap for monitoring the operations of business enterprises in Sierra Leone.

The ‘Guidelines’ lay emphasis on the ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework’ of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, other international and regional human rights standards to which Sierra Leone is a party, as well as domestic policies and laws relevant to the operations of businesses in the country.

As a business entity, the operations of Gold Tree Company continues to have extensive impacts on the enjoyment of human rights of members of host communities and its workers – directly impacting on such rights like protection of the environment, rights of workers and other employment practices, rights to property relating to access and use of land (affecting food security), right to health and access to clean and safe drinking water (relating to application of chemicals and management/disposal of wastes), freedom from discrimination, rights of women and children.

The impacts can however be negative or positive.

The Oversight Commissioner for the Directorate of Monitoring and Research at the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, Dr. Gassan Abess explained that the endorsement of the Guiding Principles on BHR by the UN Human Rights Council on 16^th June 2011, provided the platform for implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework, which – for the first time – serves as a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activities.

Commissioner Abess also stated that in Sierra Leone, business activities have affected human rights through labour exploitation, discriminatory and other forms of employment practices, corruption, environmental degradation, unlawful acquisition of land, forced eviction of communities from their lands and related negative consequences.

He pointed out that protests and demonstrations by communities and workers have led to conflicts, damage to property, injuries, and sometimes death.

All of these, he went on, are encapsulated to abuse or violations of various forms of human rights. “These trends led to increase in the number of complaints to the HRCSL, relevant government institutions and other rights based organizations”. Dr. Abess mentioned.

The Deputy Director and Head of the Business and Human Rights Unit at the HRCSL, Abdulai Yolla Bangura explained in an interview that Gold Tree is one of the agri-business multinational companies operating in Sierra Leone with an oil palm plantation and a processing plant in Daru.

He said the monitoring will provide the Commission with the opportunity to engage with the company management identify gaps and proffer recommendations for remedial action.

The Acting Deputy Director and Head of the Eastern Region office of the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, Sylvester Kallon was also part of the monitoring team.

Sierra Leone News: “Government will leave no stone unturned on the road to compact eligibility” -VP Juldeh Jalloh

June 30, 2019

The Vice President of Sierra Leone Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh who is also the Board Chairman of the Millennium Challenge Coordinating Unit (MCCU) has told Ministers and other Senior Government officials that in the quest to improve on the country’s performance on the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Scorecard; Government “will leave no stone unturned on the road to compact eligibility”.

The Vice President who was accompanied by the Chief Executive Officer of MCCU, Ndeye Fatu Koroma in June 2019, visited Ministries whose roles are considered critical to the MCC Scorecard and the Sierra Leone Threshold Program (THP) Implementation.

This strategic move by the Vice President led to fruitful engagements with key Ministries such as Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and Children’s Affairs, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Water Resources and the Ministry of Lands Housing and the Environment.

In his address to Ministers and senior officials, the Vice President relayed that these visits to the Ministries were intended to send a very strong message that: 1) the Presidency takes the MCC Scorecard and the current Threshold Program implementation extremely seriously 2) there is a renewed vigour and commitment from the highest office on developing sustainable data management eco-systems and 3) a decentralized approach is essential to conveying collective responsibility to ensure that Sierra Leone passes the scorecard. He conveyed that the scorecard is a “national agenda,” and stakeholders across the spectrum should take responsibility to improve performance because it will be one of the measures of the gains that have been made under the New Direction.

The Vice President noted the pervasive challenges with data collection and storage and acknowledged that data is indispensable in the journey to promote meaningful development in Sierra Leone. To this end, he conveyed his desire to establish strategic data partnerships between the Directorate of Science, Technology and Innovation, MCCU and MDAs to find workable solutions to improve data collection in Sierra Leone.

The MCCU, CEO, Ndeye Fatu Koroma explained to each of the Ministries the performance of Sierra Leone over the years on key indicators on the MCC Scorecard. She also disclosed some projected scores on the country’s performance in this year’s MCC Scorecard that will be released in November 2019. She relayed some optimism about Sierra Leone improving its performance on the scorecard that is slated to be released in November, but noted that critical to this is timely data capture and submission.

The Ministers applauded the move by the Vice President to engage them and key staff of the Ministries on the MCC Scorecard and the Threshold Program implementation. They pledged to take prompt action to ensure that Sierra Leone is selected for a Compact this year.

Sierra Leone News: British High Commissioner Bids Farwell to President Bio

June 30, 2019

The outgoing British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Guy Warrington, has bid farewell to President Julius Maada Bio at State House.

While presenting the High Commissioner, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Kanja Sesay said that after years of hard work, Mr. Warrington was leaving Freetown to prepare for another assignment. He said over the years, the outgoing High Commissioner had served the country in a diligent manner.

Mr. Warrington, who is preparing for another assignment in Mali, said it had been an interesting three years working in Sierra Leone. He recalled taking up duties in the country during the post Ebola period during which the British Government undertook many post Ebola reconstructions, adding that that was a period in which British assistance to the country reached its highest level for a long time.

He stated that they were glad to have contributed in the electoral process that was peaceful, fair, credible and transparent and the subsequent peaceful transfer of power. He said the United Kingdom remained the biggest bilateral donor to Sierra Leone and that had been a long commitment through which the UK Government had been able to support the West African nation.

“We have been able to support the security sector in the country, particularly the RSLAF and now through the support of DfID, we are focusing on the education sector. I hope my successor will be able to continue the good job I have been doing and to further strengthen the relationship between the two countries. It was a pleasure to work with you,” he ended.

In his response, President Bio thanked the outgoing High Commissioner for his service to Sierra Leone and for further strengthening the relationship between the two countries. He said Mr. Warrington had been a great partner who had represented the UK very well in Sierra Leone during which the two countries had widened their relationship.

“We want to thank you particularly for the role you played in the aftermath of the Ebola outbreak and the elections which were very difficult moments. The British military assistance has also been another area of cooperation in which the UK has done quite a lot and we want you to continue to support the military establishment here because we have so much in common. We hope to have a similar and better relationship with your successor as we have always hoped to keep a very good relationship with the UK,” he said.

Sierra Leone News: Shekito Fires COI: ‘I Will Not Attend; But Send You My Book’

June 30, 2019

Erstwhile Deputy Minister of Information and Communications, Internal Affairs in the former APC-led administration of President Ernest Bai Koroma, Sheka Tarawallie aka Shekito says he will not honour a Commission of Inquiry (COI) invitation for him to testify before the Commission.

In the article below, Shekito explains why he will not attend the COI as invited but rather, he would send the COI his book which is now internationally acclaimed and about to be launched in Sierra Leone.

Shekito writes: What a great coincidence that it is now (after your Commission has been in operation for several months) – at a time just when my autobiographical book has been published by Troubador (UK) and is gaining popularity both inside and outside Sierra Leone and is about to be launched in-country – that you have written to me with regards testimonies “on issues pertaining to the Ministry of Information during your tenure”. A striking coincidence indeed!

But that was a digression, which normally does not come at the beginning. But these are not normal times!

I received a call on 24 June 2019 at about 15:43 from Mr. Morie Lenghor (a man I found very amiable and diligent when I was Deputy Minister of Internal affairs and he was a senior police officer) saying there were issues to be addressed at your Commission with regards the Ministry of Information (where I was previously Deputy Minister) and that he would need my address for a correspondence to be sent to me to that effect. I supplied him with the information.

At about 17:44 on the same day, a friend sent me a WhatsApp message with a letter purportedly from the Commission, bearing the letter-head of same plus my name and address. Before long, I saw the same letter in several WhatsApp groups. I only actually received your letter (signed by the Secretary to the Commission but without his or her name) at about 14:00 on 25 June 2019 and found out that indeed it was a true replica (or vice versa) of the one circulating on social media.

I found this strange and astonishing – for an institution of this nature. At least, they should have waited for me, and the others addressed, to have received the correspondence before circulating it to the public (as I would do shortly). Running the Commission of Inquiry in a town-crier fashion is not fashionable at all. An institution of this magnitude of national seriousness should be operated with some office decorum and etiquette. It can clearly be seen that the WhatsApp circulation of the letter emanated from the Commission, as all the letters were from the same file which had ‘Notice of Hearing’ written on it in ink.

However, be that as it may, and coming to your secretariat’s alerting me about this development of a hearing, I appreciate the effort at reaching me. However, since there is no specific allegation against me, I would say I find it unnecessary to attend the session or even send a representative. If indeed there were, I am sure I would have been notified with the details which would be used by my legal representative to make any submission or cross-examination – even as I know that witnesses often make written statements first before their oral testimonies. Representation can therefore not be made in a vacuum, as the present scenario is.

I would like to categorically state that my position has nothing to do with the no-attendance stance of the All Peoples Congress (APC), the now Opposition which was in power within your jurisdictional timeframe. After all, many former officials have had representations made on their behalf at your Commission. I just basically do not see the necessity when there is no particular case to answer – as per your correspondence.

The fact that the substantive Minister at the time I served as Deputy Minister is around further erodes the necessity for my attendance. This is because, as Deputy (even when Acting while the Minister could be away), you do not have the capacity or authority to make any major decision without the prior approval of the Minister – as per ‘civil service protocol’ which especially Permanent Secretaries would always strictly adhere to.

To this end, I would say the letter written to me is a waste of resources. Calling someone to attend or send a representative when he or she is neither a witness nor has any specific allegation to respond to is a most unwelcome drumbeat bordering on scaremongering, as far as I am concerned. Therefore, I would crave your indulgence not to write to me if there is nothing specific to respond to in future – a future I definitely believe would not come because I am confident of the way I conducted myself in office.

Meanwhile, I am taking liberties to send you a complimentary copy of my just-published book in which I have highlighted some of my activities in Government, which I left in March 2016. Sincerely, I already had the intention of sending a copy to the Commission, but – to be sincere still – I had planned to send it to Justice Biobele Georgewill (who perhaps due to his Nigerian background – I am sure you know the links with Sierra Leone especially in contemporary times and particularly during the war period – has been more publicly trumpeted). However, as someone with a firm belief in God’s interventions in the affairs of men, I take the correspondence from your Commission as a direction to send it to you instead (and your being a Sierra Leonean makes it really better, I admit) – while I would be happy that it is shared within the three commissions.

Please forgive the fact that I have written this letter from a layman’s point of view. Perhaps, in the process, I am speaking the minds of many more laymen, who normally are in the majority.

Thank you very much for your understanding.

Yours faithfully,

Sheka Tarawalie

(Editor’s Note: published unedited)

1...1,0401,0411,042...1,128 Page 1,041 of 1,128