Report reaching this medium last night indicates that one Ishmael Sesay of Femi Turner Drive, Goderich Village in the Western part of Freetown has escaped to an unknown destination for fear of being killed by community people after being caught in gay related activities on the 24th May 2019.
The Village Headman of Goderich Community, Mustapha Lappia said Ishmael has two friends, a British national working for London Mining Company, Edward James and Ibrahim Kamara.
He said both Ishmael and Ibrahim were watching football match at the latter’s residence when Edward James joined them. He said Ibrahim left them to buy food to a nearby community when Edward started romancing and kissing Ishmael inside the room.
The Chief said when Ibrahim returned few hours later, he met both men romancing and kissing which did not go down well with Ibrahim. He said Ibrahim immediately raised an alarm in the community and dozens of youth stormed the room.
He said both Ishmael and Edward succeeded to escape. He said Edward went with his car while Ishmael sought refuge to his elder sister.
He said Ishmael was later apprehended after the information went round that he was seeking refuge at his sister’s residence.
The irate youths according to the Chief took Ishmael to an unfinished building where he was tied. He disclosed that the angry youths started beating him mercilessly until he became unconscious. The Village Headman said the irate youths who were deployed to guard him that night were busy drinking alcohol and smoking canabis sativa.
The Chief said other youths were debating whether to kill Ishmael that night or to hand him over to the police for investigation and prosecution.
In Sierra Leone, anybody caught, charged to court and found guilty of practicing gay or lesbianism, the individual will be sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour.
The Chief said it was during the discussion whether to kill him or hand him over to the police that Ishmael succeeded to escape at midnight to an unknown destination.
A senior member of the family Mohamed Sesay said since Ishmael Sesay escaped, nobody knows his whereabout.
Mr. Sesay has expressed serious concern about his safety and security.
Meanwhile the youths have vowed to kill Ishmael Sesay if caught for practicing gay in the community contrary to the traditional, religious and national laws governing the country.
“We will not spear Ishmael Sesay’s life. We will kill him for practicing gay in our community contrary to our laws. We will set an example for others not to imitate him. It is completely forbidden for anybody to practice this act in the country,” some of the youths were quoted to have said.
Chief Executive Officer of Blue Line Limited, Mohamed Fornah
Officials of a credible company based in Sierra Leone, the Blue Line Construction and Investment Limited situated at 94 Bai Bureh Road, in the East End of Freetown, is rolling out a commendable initiative that will ease the transport constraints which school going pupils have been facing to and fro school.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Blue Line Limited, Mohamed Fornah, Sierra Leonean based in the United States of America they saw the need to give back to their country through humanitarian gestures.
“We decided to avail free bus services to school going pupils free of cost, not paying a single cent,” he disclosed.
This revelation came in the wake of an erroneous publication giving credit to Dr.Tunde Marcarthy, a business mogul, who has no hands in the provision of the free bus services. “I want the whole world to know that the offering of forty buses to convey school going children to and from school in the morning hours to the evening hours on every school day is the sole prerogative of Blue Line Construction and Investment Limited,” he underscored adding that as long as a school pupil is in uniform he or she will definitely benefit and it is open to both public and private school going pupils. He noted that the drive is geared towards complementing the Government Free Education initiative which is ongoing “The buses are not only meant for Freetown but will be rolled out to other parts in the provinces,”he furthered. He intimated that the company is responsible for all running costs.
One of the flagship initiatives of the Maada Bio led SLPP Government; Free Quality Education is presently targeting pupils in primary and secondary school making provision for non-payment of fees, benefitting from free core textbooks with a component of free feeding in the package but still to be implemented.
Many have applauded the Government for rolling out the scheme maintaining that development is enhanced by having more educated and enlightened citizens. It goes without saying that a high percentage of human capital is inextricably linked to rapid development. Attention could not be only focused on gaining academic qualifications but rather attaining education in technical and vocational enlightenment is also highly significant.
Considering the payment of exorbitant fees by parents created the unpalatable situation where we had a huge chunk of school drop outs which did not augur well as it led to involvement in various vices by the unfortunate boys and girls whose future are definitely very bleak.
Since its implementation the Free Education has been going through some challenges one of which include lack of enough classrooms to accommodate the increased number of pupils in school, lack of enough teaching materials among others.
Quickly and timely access to affordable transportation is seriously affecting pupils who live in distant places sometimes causing them not to reach school on time and even make them return home late ,not giving them enough time to study at home.
It is therefore very laudable for Blue Line Construction Company, under the capable and astute leadership of the charismatic CEO, Mohamed Fornah, for them to take the bold step to provide these forty buses which will definitely help to alleviate the constraints faced by pupils to quickly access transportation.
Fornah also pointed out that on the 21st June 2019 ten (10) buses will start to ply the routes, five (5) from/to the east and five (5) from and to the West. From East it will be Jui to Regent Road and from Lumley to Regent Road from the West end.
It must be reiterated that the 40 buses will undertake this venture and no fee will be charged.
Most parents have expressed profound gratitude to the providers underscoring that it is not only timely but a humane gesture that should be well embraced.
They further admonished school going pupils to behave themselves well and ensure that they must refrain from doing things that will destroy the free buses.
In a related development Blue Line Construction Company and Investment Limited is currently constructing eight bus stops in different locations meant for school going pupils to wait for the buses with the consideration that we are now in the rainy season.
The company is also undertaking construction of a school in Kabala and is also facilitating cleaning exercises in Koinadugu District.
Sulayman Condeh is the Managing Director of the company and he also made very salient points about the gesture.
The CEO is poised to do more in terms of development in the future.
On Wednesday 19 June 2019, His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has told the investors’ conference on the tender process for the proposed Lungi Bridge that infrastructural investments should not burden the country with huge debt.
“We believe infrastructural investments…should be financed in a way that the public and future generations are not liable for that debt. So we are not going to build a bridge or an airport for which the people of Sierra Leone are going to pay back a high-interest loan for 10, 20, or 30 years. That simply does not make economic sense,” he said.
The President emphasised that each infrastructural investment must be able to pay for itself in 10 to 20 years depending on the financing model that was used, adding that each project must also worth the cost of constructing and maintaining it over its lifespan. Therefore, he noted that each such investments should be affordable and must be funded without recourse to publicly guaranteed debts.
“We also believe that infrastructural investments must be purposeful. They must unlock tangible economic growth and improve the quality of life of the citizens. In the construction and maintenance phases, there must be real job opportunities and skills training and transfer with implications for real incomes for local Sierra Leoneans. We will insist on that for every infrastructural investment,” he said.
President Bio also told the gathering that his government had prioritised infrastructural investment decisions by asking critical questions about feasibility, sustainability, selectivity and whether it could lead to the development of other sectors of the economy like tourism and travel, mining, construction, and small-scale manufacturing.
He, however, urged that the tender process must be competitive, transparent, corruption-free, and must offer the best value for money, adding that his government would strongly warn against bribery, kickbacks, red tape, and other murky transactions and practices around infrastructural investments.
“I have therefore directed the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiatives to be particularly attentive to all the foregoing critical elements in launching the tender process for the Lungi bridge. I will closely superintend the entire process and ensure that every tender is compliant and every tender is in the best long-term interest of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans,” he added.
Chairman of Presidential Infrastructure Initiatives, Engineer Dr. John Edward Tambi, said for 58 years Sierra Leoneans had endured the challenges of crossing over to Lungi from Freetown through which lives had been lost, businesses destroyed and economic activities stunted. He said during these years, governments had come and gone with promises to construct a bridge crossing to Lungi but nothing happened.
“Today we all witness a great milestone under the leadership of President Julius Maada Bio. The New Direction Government has taken the bold and audacious task to build the bridge across Lungi. This is not a small project and we believe with God we can achieve it. I thank you all for your presence because it is a vote of confidence to the New Direction,” he said.
Lungi, which is home to the only international airport that serves Sierra Leone, is a small coastal town in Port Loko District in the Northwest Province of the country that is separated from the Capital, Freetown by a sea of about 10 nautical miles.
Statement by His Excellency, Dr Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, at the Investors’ Conference on the Tender Process for the Proposed Lungi Bridge. State House, Freetown, 19 June 2019
Honourable Ministers of Government Distinguished guests and partners in development Members of the fourth estate Fellow Citizens: Good morning and welcome to this conference. I am delighted to open this investor conference on infrastructure.
It is one of our priority areas for investment leading to economic diversification. So what I am going to do in this short statement is to start this conference off by saying how my government views infrastructural investments. We believe infrastructural investments should not burden the country with huge debt. They should be financed in a way that the public and future generations are not liable for that debt.
So we are not going to build a bridge or an airport for which the people of Sierra Leone are going to pay back a highinterest loan for 10, 20, or 30 years. That simply does not make economic sense. Each infrastructural investment must be able to pay for itself in 10 to 20 years depending on the financing model that is used. Each must also be worth the cost of constructing and maintaining it over its life span. Therefore, each infrastructure investment should be affordable and Lungi must be funded without recourse to publicly guaranteed debts. We also believe that infrastructural investments must be purposeful.
They must unlock tangible economic growth and improve the quality of life of the citizens. In the construction and maintenance phases, there must be real job opportunities and skills training and transfer with implications for real incomes for local Sierra Leoneans. We will insist on that for every infrastructural investment. We also believe that investors look at available infrastructure as a critical factor for making investment decisions and this consideration will drive each infrastructure investment decision we will make.
We also believe that infrastructure investments lead to new businesses and new businesses create more jobs, lead to new settlements or new population centres, create a need for new and more services, and increase overall economic productivity, That, can only be good for our economy. We also believe that we should prioritise infrastructural investment decisions by asking critical questions about feasibility, sustainability, selectivity (Is this investment better and much needed now that the possible alternatives?), and whether it can lead to the development of other sectors of Lungi economy– tourism and travel, mining, construction, small-scale manufacturing etc.
As a Government, we are working to ease the investment landscape right across board and we maintain a long-term view of all investments including infrastructural investments. We desire that each investment yield long term benefits. We desire that each investment trigger off economic activity and growth over the long-term. We also believe that the tender process must be competitive, transparent, corruption-free, and must offer the best value for money. We strongly discourage bribery, kickbacks, red tape, and other murky transactions and practices around infrastructural investments.
This government and this country strongly discourages corruption. So it is within this context that we are undertaking all infrastructural projects in this country. I have therefore directed the Office of Presidential Infrastructure Initiatives to be particularly attentive to all the foregoing critical elements in launching the tender process for the Lungi bridge. I will closely superintend the entire process and ensure that every tender is compliant and every tender is Lungi Tender Process 5 in the best long-term interest of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leoneans.
The Honourable Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has cautioned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to see the need for organizational restructuring and management. Dr. Jalloh cautioned the ministry for the manner it is presently administered. He described the ministry’s present condition as problematic with lots of work to be done.
He made the remarks at a seminar organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Golden Tulip- Essential Kimbima Hotel in Freetown on 17th June, 2019. He called on the new ministers and the new Director General of the ministry to do more and increase the administrative effectiveness of the ministry, and to make it become a freer environment for public access and transaction.
The Vice President informed the participants about the government’s determination to ensure new strategic shift of Sierra Leone missions, noting that the embassies and high commissions need to be reshaped and reconstructed in order to become fit for purpose.
Dr. Jalloh encouraged the Foreign Affairs Ministry to shift in policy focus and relevance. He explained shifting to mean moving from classical Africa Foreign Missions to strategic and beneficial-oriented missions for Sierra Leone.
Vice President Jalloh called on Policy Heads of the Foreign Affairs Ministry to mainstream foreign missions fit for purpose. He recommended for staffing in Sierra Leone Missions to be in line with the new trend of having a minimal of three Sierra Leonean diplomats and citizens of the host country working in Sierra Leone missions according to the strategic relevance of a mission.
He explained that scaling of missions is based on the level of engagement of a particular mission, citing that the level of engagement of the Sierra Leone Mission in New York has lots of activities compared to that of Liberia.
He added that the scaling method will reduce cost on the Government of Sierra Leone on overseas spending and increase efficiency and performance in the missions.
Regional Director for World Bank, Henry Godfrey Kerali, has called at the presidency to bid farewell to His Excellency Dr. President Julius Maada Bio, marking the end of his mission to the country.
Minister of Finance, Jacob Jusu Saffa, who presented Mr. Kerali, said as protocol demanded the Regional Director had to bid farewell to the President. He said within the one-year period, the Government especially his ministry had had a very good working relationship with Mr. Kerali, adding that they would miss his clever decisions.
Henry Kerali, who has been designated for another assignment in South Asia, said it was a great honour meeting the President to formally bid farewell and at the same time to acknowledge that the World Bank would continue to support Sierra Leone. He congratulated the Government for the successes made so far.
He said during the Bio administration Sierra Leone had received quite a significant support from the World Bank, noting that going forward the Bank would continue to provide more support to the country. He also congratulated Government for the Medium and Long Term Development Plan, saying that it was a well prepared and structured document which other African countries should take as example.
”One of the biggest achievements of this administration in the first year has been the significant increase in domestic revenue. Many African countries are struggling to get increase in domestic revenue but Sierra Leone has seen an increase, which is quite a major achievement. We will be calling you to share your experience with other countries,” he said.
On his part, President Bio said his government had enjoyed working with the outgoing Regional Director, noting that he had shown commitment and dedication to working with the team in Sierra Leone. He said the improvement of the country’s portfolio also indicated that the World Bank Director had been doing his bit.
“We are interested in looking at genuine partners who are ready to work with us. We will continue to work with the new Regional Director and the rest of the team here to accomplish the remainder of the task ahead of us. We want you to know we have enjoyed working with you and we will miss you,” he ended.
The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone joined the rest of the world to commemorate the Day of the African Child on June 17 2019, by embarking on nationwide public education in schools.
Section 7(2) (b) (i) of the HRCSL Act states that the Commission should promote respect for human rights through- ‘ public awareness and education programmes aimed at creating a culture of human rights in Sierra Leone’.
On June 16 annually, the 1976 massacre in Soweto South Africa is observed to remember the blatant violation of human rights by the military on innocent school pupils who protested against low quality education and demanded to be taught in their own language.
Hundreds of pupils were killed and thousands injured. As a result of this, the African Union used June 16 to commemorate the death of those fallen heroes and heroines and also to highlight the present situation and rights of the African child to quality education and a better life.
This year’s theme ‘ Humanitarian Action in Africa: Children Rights First’ was a great opportunity the Human Rights Commission didn’t want to miss. The Commission engaged the pupils on their rights, corresponding responsibilities, the background to the establishment of the Commission and the commemoration of the Day of the African Child and the Free and Quality Education.
The Commissioner in charge of Regional Services and Regional Deputy Directors and other staff engaged schools in their respective regions while three teams headed by Commissioners dispatched from the headquarter in Freetown targeting schools in the West, Central and East of Freetown.
Milton Magai School for the Blind, St. Anthony’s Secondary School, Remand Home Kingtom, Kellie’s Secondary School and Hosetta Abdulai in Freetown and the Western Rural District; St. Francis and UMC Secondary School in Makeni; Methodist Secondary School in Kenema were some of the schools the Commission visited.
A generous Sierra Leonean from the United States of America, Dr. Mohamed Tunde Macarthy has decided to avail free bus services as well as distributing uniforms within the realm of giving back to society in what he considers as his giving back to society.
One of the flagship initiatives of the Maada Bio led SLPP Government, Free Quality Education, is currently in full gear.
It is targeting pupils in primary and secondary school making provision for non-payment of fees, benefitting from free core textbooks with a component of free feeding in the package but still to be implemented.
Many have applauded the Government for rolling out the scheme maintaining that development is enhanced by educated and enlightened citizens. It goes without saying that a high percentage of human capital is inextricably linked to rapid development. Attention could not be only focused on gaining academic qualifications but rather attaining education in technical and vocational enlightenment is also highly significant.
Considering the payment of exorbitant fees by parents created the unpalatable situation where we had a huge chunk of school drop outs which did not augur well as it led to involvement in various vices by the unfortunate boys and girls whose future are definitely very bleak.
Since its implementation the Free Education has been going through some challenges one of which include lack of enough classrooms to accommodate the increased number of pupils in school, lack of enough teaching materials among others.
Quickly and timely access to affordable transportation is seriously affecting pupils who live in distant places sometimes causing them to reach school late and even return home late ,not giving them enough time to study at home.
As a way of complementing the efforts of Government to effectively roll out the Free Education Scheme a renowned entity Blue Line Construction Company has decided to provide free bus services for pupils attending different schools in Freetown.
This came about when a generous Sierra Leonean from the United States of America, Dr. Mohamed Tunde Macarthy decided to avail free bus services as well as distributing uniforms within the realm of giving back to society in what they considered to be their Social Corporate Responsibility.
One bus will take off from Waterloo to Syke Street from the East end part of Freetown and from Lumley to PZ from the West end. 40 buses will undertake this venture and no fee will be charged. Most parents have expressed profound gratitude to the providers underscoring that it is not only timely but a humane gesture that should be well embraced.
They further admonished school going pupils to behave themselves well and ensure that they must refrain from doing things that will destroy the free buses.
Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles
The Legal Aid Board has been honoured for presenting its national report at the opening session of the International Legal Aid Conference at the Ottawa Art Gallery in Canada on Monday, 17 June 2019.
The Legal Aid Board is among three legal aid schemes and the only scheme from the continent of Africa to present its national report at the three-day event. The other presenters were from Canada and Japan. The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, David Lametti presented his country’s national report.
The Sierra Leone national report highlights important developments which make the Legal Aid Board stand out on the continent in terms of the specialties in the Sierra Leone Jurisdiction.
Presenting the national report to over 100 legal aid experts including Chief Executive Officers from forty countries, the Executive Director of the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles told her audience that the Board is one of the lead agencies in implementing Goal 16.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals through its work in promoting access to justice in remote communities.
She said that the Board has made giant strides in expanding access to justice through the provision of primary justice services by its Paralegals in every district in the country. These take the form of Alternative Dispute Resolution through Mediation, Legal Empowerment through Community and School Outreach, Referrals and the provision of Advice and Legal Assistance to the administrators and users of the Informal Courts. ‘Through the provision of primary justice services, the Board has ensured women are not disadvantaged in cases of inheritance, maintenance, divorce and property,’ she said.
She added that the Board is the largest legal aid provider in the country. “189,708 people including non-Sierra Leoneans benefitted from the scheme in 2017 and 2018,” she stated adding: “106,655 people benefitted from the scheme in 2018 which is up 23,602 on 2017 when 83,053 people benefitted from the scheme. During the two-year period, 31,965 criminal cases were provided legal representation, 90,044 civil matters were mediated by Adjudicators and Paralegals and 67,699 benefited from legal empowerment through the Community and School Outreach.”
Ms. Carlton-Hanciles noted that the Board has forged partnership with over 300 partner organizations including civil society groups and community based organizations across the country. “This is one of our biggest strengths in terms of provision of information bordering on justice needs in the community, injustices, resources sharing and referrals,” she said.
She added that the Board works with these partners in organizing Community and School outreach to educate people on the laws and legal processes. “The topic for the event is determined by the justice needs of and challenges within the community or school,” she said.
She told the gathering that the Board is responsible for regulating legal aid provision in the country coupled with determining the quality of legal aid provided by legal aid service providers. “Section 9 (2) (b) of the Legal Aid Act 2012 provides that the Board shall ‘accredit persons or bodies to provide legal aid,” the report noted.
The Anti-Corruption Commission, ACC, has presented to His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio a second cheque of Le 7.5 billion as part of Le 16 Billion of cash so far recovered from corrupt officials.
Before his presentation in the presence of journalists and civil society members the ACC boss, Francis Ben Kaifala, told the President that since his assignment to lead the country’s anticorruption agency he had proven to be result-oriented, a vision that captured the sufferings of the people of Sierra Leone in the hands of corrupt public officials. He disclosed that his team had placed tremendous efforts on the cause and now the results were coming in.
Lawyer Kaifala said they had embarked on a three tracked approach with more focus on assets recovery, noting that with the blessings of President Bio they had been able to balance conviction with non-conviction asset recovery. He said that they had, therefore, been able to recover over sixteen billion Leones in the last twelve months.
“Today, we are handing another a cheque with additional Seven Billion Five Hundred Million Leones which the President will be able to identify what projects to invest in. We are also bringing out the ills of corruption for which we want to thank the President for the opportunity given to me and my team to lead the fight against corruption,” he said.
In his response, President Bio said he had declared corruption as a menace not only to the existence of the nation but also as a national security threat considering its negative impact on the country. He said he was trying to change the narrative about Sierra Leone and that the fight against corruption was something he would continue to pursue.
He stated that corruption was man-made that could destroy a country’s reputation and should not exist in society. He encouraged everyone to come on-board to fight corruption as a common enemy, especially at a time when he was trying to repair the country’s image around the world.
“We have to tackle corruption with every strength we have, which means it has to involve everyone. We must take the fight against corruption as seriously as we can if we are serious about providing social services to our people so we cannot allow corruption to become fashionable. We will continue to give more powers to the ACC to go after corrupt individuals,” he assured.
Deputy Minister of Finance, Dr. Patricia Lavaley, said that the event was the second attempt at collecting funds from the ACC into the consolidated revenue fund to help finance the much needed development initiatives across the country. She said the funds collected would be used to finance the new diagnostic centre in the country as mandated by President Bio.
It could be recalled that in December last year, the ACC presented its first cheque of over Le7.5 billion of recovered monies.
Intense and widespread discussions are currently ongoing relating to what is considered to be a very unfortunate incident that occurred few days ago during which Police fired tear gas canisters against supporters of the former Vice President, Alhaji Sam Sumana in Port Loko.
Chief Sam Sumana, on that fateful day, returned to the country, disembarking at the Lungi International airport after different overseas engagements and his supporters were out there to welcome him.
In Port Loko he had an intention to watch a football match when the Police immediately started firing teargas on the huge jubilant crowd that was with him.
What this medium has so far gathered from various individuals was that most people are totally against the action of the Police especially against the backdrop that it came in the wake of what has been tagged ‘recent Police excesses’ meted out on peaceful citizens which are indeed tantamount to flagrant violation of fundamental human rights.
Commenting and trying to explain their position, the Police have come out with a press release justifying the action they took. They purported that when Alhaji Sam Sumana reached Port Loko, he insisted on entering the township with a view to address the Coalition for Change (C4C) party supporters in that part of the country, and to also attend a football match between Bai Bureh Warriors and another team at the Port Loko Mini Stadium, of which, the police came to understand that he was to do the kick-off.
It was stressed, that that was without any prior notice to the Sierra Leone Police which is against the Public Order Act No. 46 of 1965.
The release added that the former Vice President was then cautioned by senior SLP officers not to participate in the aforementioned events as other anti C4C supporters had planned to hijack and disrupt the entire programme.
According to them there was already a convergence of a hostile crowd and tension was brewing emphasizing how his safety and security and that of others became of paramount concern to them.
It was also highlighted that in spite of several warnings, he refused to abide by police instructions and thereafter disembarked from his vehicle and headed towards the township on foot, followed by a hostile crowd.
“At this point, the SLP leadership again stopped and reminded him of an imminent public disorder and threat to his safety and security and that of others. Unfortunately, he did not heed to the pleas and warning of the Police but rather continued to walk to the township; thus continuing to attract more hostile crowd. As the security situation deteriorated, we fired teargas to disperse the crowd which brought the situation under control. As routine demands, his convoy was intercepted at Mile 38 Checkpoint, and then allowed safe passage to Freetown,” the Sierra Leone Police narrated.
Strongly debunking the stance of the Police, Secretary General of the Coalition for Change (C4C), the political party that Chief Sam Sumana heads, vehemently argued that as far as they are concerned their leader did nothing wrong that should amount to any breach of the law. He underscored that they are very peaceful and will always abide by that maintaining how the Police were very jittery questioning them the reason for exhibiting such when it was very clear that there was no imminent danger looming. Highpoint of his argument was when he unequivocally called for the IG to resign or for the immediate recall or sacking of the Inspector General of Police, Richard Moigbeh, for what he pointed out in no uncertain terms, to be sheer his incompetence and professional inadequacy. “The Police needs to go back to the drawing board and redefine, reorganise their strategies in order to carry out their duties professionally instead of continuing to violate the fundamental human rights of peaceful individuals,” he strongly recommended stressing that Chief Sam Sumana is entitled to his Freedom of Movement and there was no justifiable reason on the part of the Police to have prevented him from exercising it.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Sengheh Marah of the Renaissance Movement, a rights-based organisation as well as other personalities against what they say is untoward Police highhandedness and dancing to political dictates.
