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CRSG and WAOMC Support Sierra Leone’s Development Drive

By Amin Kef Sesay

A donation ceremony was held by CRSG and WAOMC on Friday 2nd July 2021 at the Mabillah Community in the Koya Chiefdom, Northwest of Sierra Leone.

This golden development support came at a time when China and Sierra Leone are celebrating 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

CRSG and WAOMC donated bags of rice and veronica buckets and paint to the community and the Sierra Leone Islamic Federation Islamic Primary School, expressing hope that they will help the community residents and pupils to overcome some of the difficulties posed by COVID-19.

China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG) since it started operations in Sierra Leone in 2007 and officially undertook the first highway engineering contract project in December, has developed into a diversified development company, which mainly focuses on road and bridge construction projects, and extends its business scope to housing construction projects, mining, and international trade. The Chinese company has been at the very heart of Sierra Leone’s infrastructural drive and has distinguished itself, particularly in the area of road construction, to the extent that it has become a household name in the country.

The CRSG undertook some of these projects including but not limited to the Lungi-Port Loko Road; the Mange-Mambolo Road; the Grafton-Regent Road; the widening of Wilkinson Road; the Bo-Kenema Highway; the Makeni-Matotoka Road; and the widening to a four-lane road of the Wellington-Masiaka Highway.

The 62 kilometers Wellington-Masiaka Highway offers Sierra Leoneans unique infrastructural opportunities with massive social, economic, and financial benefits. One of the major benefits of this project is the reduction in the travel time between Freetown and Masiaka. Before this project, traveling from Freetown to Masiaka used to be painstakingly arduous. Users spent hours to cover the distance and that adversely affected schedules and businesses. With the highway now expanded and up and running, users can spend at least an hour covering the distance. This has eased the burden and improved efficiency of traffic, work-life as well as reducing the cost of time.

CRSG is working together with the West African Operations and Management Company (WAOMC), the operating company of the Wellington-Masiaka highway authorized by the Government of Sierra Leone. WAOMC has introduced an advanced expressway operation system from China and formulated an efficient management mode based on the national conditions of Sierra Leone to better operate the first toll road in the history of Sierra Leone. Since the official opening of operation in 2017, it has consistently, steadily, and regularly provided high-quality service to drivers and the company created new kinds of jobs.

It is clear that both CRSG and WAOMC attach great importance to corporate social responsibility, especially in the event of major diseases and disasters. A clear example was seen during the Ebola outbreak in 2014 when the CRSG donated money and materials to the Government and the public; rescued people and saved properties during the landslide and mudslide disaster in Freetown in August 2017; supported the Government in reducing charges for a certain period during the COVID-19 epidemic last year, etc. Those efforts have been widely praised by the Government, people and media of Sierra Leone.

Community Fury Erupts Following Alleged Homosexual Activity: Salieu Jalloh Sought by Authorities

Salieu Jalloh.jpg

By Foday Moriba Conteh

The alarming trend of targeted physical assaults against individuals perceived to be gay continues, as exemplified by the recent case of Salieu Jalloh.

Reports reveal that Jalloh has faced intense intimidation and harassment from both family members and the community after being discovered engaging in homosexual activities with his partner, Samuel Kamara.

Consequently, the Sierra Leone Police, along with community youths, have launched a relentless search for Jalloh, who is now wanted by law enforcement.

Raised in an Islamic household, Jalloh’s actions have shocked his community, which prides itself on religious values. Both national laws and religious teachings vehemently prohibit such behavior, causing disappointment among community members who view it as a violation of their customs and traditions.

A resident of Wellington, who has known Jalloh since childhood, revealed that he had been secretive about his sexual orientation until being caught in the act with his male partner.

Investigations into Jalloh’s background indicate that he was born in 2001 in Wellington Community, Freetown, where he lived with his family until his mother’s passing in 2018.

Despite marrying a woman in 2019, Jalloh reportedly harbored a stronger attraction to men, often watching pornography featuring homosexual content in secret. His relationship with his male partner, Samuel Kamara, developed while working together as his driver, eventually leading to clandestine sexual encounters at their workplace after hours.

In a dramatic turn of events on Thursday 1st July 2021, Jalloh and Kamara were caught in the act by Jalloh’s wife, leading to a violent altercation. Salieu Jalloh and Samuel Kamara managed to escape, but Samuel Kamara was subsequently arrested by the police. Jalloh remains at large, with a substantial reward offered for information on his whereabouts.

It is believed that he has fled to Guinea with the help of a friend.

Homosexuality is severely condemned in Sierra Leone, with legal consequences and societal backlash for those involved. The community’s reaction to Jalloh’s actions reflects deeply entrenched attitudes toward same-sex relationships, with public discussion of the topic considered taboo.

It was further revealed that enraged community members stormed Salieu Jalloh’s residence based on false intelligence suggesting his return.

Despite fleeing to Guinea, Jalloh remains pursued by both the police and angry residents.

The Dynamics Of Lome -The Role Of Ambassador Omrie Golley In The Lome Peace Talks – Episode 8 (Part 1)

By Noellie Marionette-Chambertin

Ambassador Omrie Golley needed all his skills as a British trained Barrister and a committed peace activist, to navigate the heady waters of the renewed peace process that followed the dark days of January 1999, right up until the signing of the Lome Peace Accord in July 1999.

He had accepted the request to act as a legal adviser and spokesman of the RUF, knowing fully well that the Movement had a particularly brutal and negative reputation in the eyes of his fellow countrymen, and the world at large. He had to get to know the military commanders and civilians of the RUF organization, all with their own different personalities, phobias, and idiosyncracies, which did not always complement each other.

He also needed to gain the trust of the RUF Organisation, as well as to steer the sometimes very difficult position, of articulating their position, and advising them of, and on, the wider picture of Sierra Leone at peace, which was his crystal clear and unequivocal objective. Within the RUF itself, there were those who eyed Ambassador Golley with suspicion, and who did not readily welcome a stranger or outsider within their midst, and those who were very appreciative of having someone of note, who would propagate their position, and also assist them hatch a Peace Agreement for the benefit of all.

Within the wider International Community in the sub-region and the World at large, many saw in Ambassador Golley, someone who could act as an acceptable interlocutor of an organization that they needed to deal with, if there was to be any chance of peace at all.

Preparations for the Lome Peace talks were detailed, difficult, and time consuming. Ambassador Golley was tasked, first and foremost, with soliciting and acquiring the support of the main international players of the peace process, including the United Nations (UN), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS ), the Mano River Union (MRU), together with the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, and Heads of State, including the Presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Togo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, and Mali.

Ambassador Golley undertook travelling engagements to most of those countries, to confer with their leaders, from the standpoint of representing the RUF, and to underscore their commitment to the peace process.

In these tasks, Ambassador Golley was supported by the invaluable efforts of International Alert, the renowned peace building and conflict resolution institution, through one of their main executives, Dr Addai Sebo, a Ghanaian Pan Africanist, who had been instrumental in securing the whereabouts of the RUF at the earlier stages of the conflict, and had infact facilitated the initial contacts between Ambassador Golley, and his earlier organization, the National Convention for Reconstruction and Development (NCRD) with the RUF body.

Ambassador Golley was also supported in these efforts by the United Nations through their Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ambassador Francis Okelo. Ambassador Golley met with Okelo on the 22nd February 1999, in Abidjan Ivory Coast. This initial meeting between Okelo and Ambassador Golley was instrumental, in that it signaled the very first occasion that the United Nations, as the world community of nations, had engaged the RUF as an organization, in the search for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Golley also met with the Special Envoy of the Commonwealth Secretary General, Dr Moses Anafu, in Abidjan, during this period.

During subsequent trips to the sub region in March 1999, the RUF Legal Representative and Spokesman engaged sub-regional leaders in advocating a rapid commencement of peace talks between the Government of Sierra Leone and the RUF.

However before peace talks could commence, three issues had to be properly looked into an addressed. This included actioning the release of the RUF Leader, Corporal Foday Sankoh, who had been lingering in detention in Freetown on treason charges, to lead his movement in any subsequent peace conference, also to agree upon a location for the commencement of peace talks , and finally to assist the RUF, with deciding upon the composition of their delegates,  that would participate in these envisaged peace talks.

The continued detention of the RUF Leader Corporal Foday Sankoh in Freetown proved one of the thornier issues relating to the convening or commencement of any peace talks with the Government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, in early 1999. Initially the Government of Kabbah preferred to hold Sankoh in Freetown and peace talks continuing between the Government and the RUF without the RUF Leader. It became subsequently clear to the Kabbah Government,  that this idea was untenable.

Indeed Ambassador Golley, representing the RUF then, as their Legal Representative and Spokesperson publicly admonished the Kabbah Government to free Foday Sankoh so that he could, as a free person attend the consultation meeting with his commanders and representatives, in advance of proposed peace talks. The stance of the Kabbah Government subsequently changed, to allowing Sankoh to meet his Movement only on the proviso, or condition, that he returned to Freetown after this consultation, to continue with his appeal against the treason and related charges meted out against him, which had kept him in prison in Freetown. The position of the Kabbah Government regarding the return of Sankoh to prison only changed after the signing of the Lome Peace Accord in July 1999.

There were also difficulties, in agreeing upon a suitable location for the consultation process between the RUF Movement in advance of the proposed peace talks between the RUF and the Government of Sierra Leone. Kabbah had proposed that the consultation process and subsequent peace talks, be held in a British naval war ship, the HMS Norfolk, which had been visiting Sierra Leone undertaking military exercises during this period.

The RUF leadership swiftly rejected this proposal, proposing in return, that the talks be held in either Libya, Liberia, Burkina Faso or Togo. Togo was subsequently agreed upon by both sides to the upcoming RUF consultation process and peace talks as the preferred location.

In February 1999, Ambassador Golley was requested by the RUF leadership to proceed to Buedu in Eastern Sierra Leone to meet with the entire RUF body for the very first time, for the main purpose of assisting in putting together the Delegation that was to travel out of Sierra Leone to Togo,  to attend the RUF consultation process,  with Corporal Foday Sankoh, and thereafter the substantive peace talks.

Meeting the RUF leadership as a body and inside Sierra Leone,  for the very first time, filled Ambassador Golley with trepidation and hope. He believed that his personal quest to bring peace to his motherland, was entering a decisive phase. He felt that this desire for peace and his recognition by both the RUF, the local population and the international community as a worthy interlocutor for the attainment of what he hoped would, on this occasion, be a lasting and sustainable peace,  was very real and that his role was a critical.

The trip to Buedu to meet with the RUF body in early March 1999,  for the very first time, was preceded by a visit to Liberia to meet with erstwhile President Charles Taylor, to brief him, and to seek his approval and support for the peace process emerging, as Golley had done with other sub regional leaders at the time.

Meeting with Charles Taylor was also important, because travelling through Liberia into Sierra Leone, offered Ambassador Golley a more safer and secure route to meet with the RUF body in Buedu a small town in eastern Sierra Leone, on the Liberia-Sierra Leone border.

Furthermore, Ambassador Golley found Charles Taylor supportive of the ongoing peace process generally, and he Taylor, also provided Golley with adequate security, as well as encourage officials from the United Nations, stationed in Liberia, together with officials of the United States Government and ECOWAS, who accompanied  Golley to the Liberia-Sierra Leone border for his meeting with the RUF. On the 11th March 1999, Taylor was later to provide Ambassador Golley with an aircraft, to convey him to Lome, to engage with Togo’s former President Eyadema in advance of the RUF consultation talks.

The meeting between Ambassador Golley and the RUF body of officials, which was the very first time that Ambassador Golley met Sam Bockarie alias Mosquito, in person, was short, but very successful in achieving the purpose for which it had been arranged. The delegates chosen to represent the RUF were agreed upon swiftly, and he left for Monrovia at the conclusion of that meeting to continue with preparations for Lome.

Note
For further enquiries on our episodes, please contact the writer:
Noellie Marionette-Chambertin
Phone number: +447535506716
Email: noelliechambertin@mail.com

COVID-19 Cases Continue to Rise at an Alarming Rate

By Amin Kef Sesay

Sierra Leone has recorded 77 new cases of Covid-19 infections on the 1st July 2021 bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 5,852. Freetown continues to record the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, with the Western Urban Area showing an increase from a total of 3,443 on Thursday 1st July 2021.

The total number of COVID cases recorded in Western Rural Area has also gone up to 854 in just few days.

As the number of COVID infections continues to rise in Sierra Leone, especially in the capital Freetown, NaCOVERC published a statement informing the general public that “Sierra Leone is currently witnessing a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic”

Indisputably the month of June, 2021, has so far been regarded as the worst month in Sierra Leone’s COVID-19 global pandemic. About 26 percent of the 5,575 infections across the country were recorded last month,(June) or 1,428 cases.

As the biggest COVID-19 wave, compared to in May 2020 (737 cases) and January 2021 (982 cases), swept through the nation, debates among the general public over the constitutionality of obliging citizens to take the vaccine have sparked off.

Sierra Leone’s economy having already been battered by the 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa cannot afford to be shut down.  However, authorities must prevent and fight COVID-19 the same way it did with Ebola. COVID-19 deaths are rising and the health sector is poorly equipped. The country has recorded 100 Coronavirus deaths, 21 were registered in June 2021 alone.

On the other hand, in June 2021, global Coronavirus infections recorded monthly declined to about 11 million, a sharp decrease compared to in December 2020 (20 million infections) and in April 2021 (22.5 million infections). As of June 30, 2021, the world had recorded about 183 million Coronavirus cases and 0.4 million deaths.

According to NaCOVERC’s Media Update on the 1st July 2021 Sierra Leone recorded 77 Confirmed Cases, the Cumulative Deaths stood at 102 and the Total Test Conducted was 1,057. The total confirmed cases country wide was 5,652.

State Owned Enterprises Benefit from NCP Training on Corporate Good Governance

By Foday Moriba Conteh

A One-day Corporate Good Governance training for State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) on the theme: “Enhancing the Effectiveness of Your Board’s Performance” was conducted by the National Commission for Privatization in collaboration with Charterhouse Corporate Services on the 1st July 2021 at the New Brookfields hotel in Freetown:

Manager of Charterhouse Corporate Services, Peter Taplima Mansaray, in his opening address highlighted the relevance of the training saying it entails narrowing the gap between Board and Management to establish a conducive working atmosphere.

While delivering the keynote address on the theme Enhancing  The Effectiveness of Your Board’s Performance, Mustapha Sannoh stressed the importance of having such a training as it would help to clearly define the specific roles of Board and Management without any conflict of interest.

He added that in order for any institution to achieve its mandate, the Board and Management of that institution must work in consonance without having any line of demarcation.

He went on to dilate on the specific roles and responsibilities of Board and Management and encouraged both parties to ensure that they coordinate better for the good of their respective organisations.

During a PowerPoint presentation on Corporate Good Governance, the Manager of Charterhouse Corporate Services, Taplima Mansaray, underscored the importance of segregating the roles between Management and Board members to avoid having a toxic environment, adding that “as a director, one can positively or negatively influence your institution by your leadership style”.

He outlined that the purpose of good governance is to ensure efficiency with the aim of achieving Government objectives.

The session was brought to a close with group discussions and presentation of certificates.

Samura Kamara Registers His Commitment to Fight Corruption

Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation

By Amin Kef Sesay

Dr. Samura Matthew Wilson Kamara has expressed strong commitment to the fight against corruption in Sierra Leone. He was at the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) earlier on Thursday July 1, 2021 to assist in investigations regarding the alleged misappropriation of public funds for the renovation of the Sierra Leone Chancery building hosting the country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations.

Shortly after he left the ACC Dr Samura Kamara had this to say: “I remain confident in my stewardship and I’ll continue to support the fight against corruption. Regarding this probe, I will continue to offer my assistance to the ACC in its efforts to find the answers relating to the alleged missing funds.”

The former Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation further stated that: “It is only when we as a nation   confront and defeat corruption that we will develop as a country and a people.”

The front runner for the APC ticket, who is highly acclaimed for his integrity and impeccable public record spanning over three decades, reassured his supporters and ordinary Sierra Leoneans that there’s nothing to worry about and that they should remain calm and go about their normal businesses.

Dr. Kamara had distinguished himself as a public servant who held several important portfolios like the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Sierra Leone Governor, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

It was under his tenure as Foreign Affairs Minister that Sierra Leone adopted an economic diplomacy policy which invariably brought about the reforms in our foreign and diplomatic relations.

Parliament Commends Leone Stars for Qualifying to AFCON 2022

By Esther Wright

Parliament of Sierra Leone has on the1st July 2021 soundly applauded Leone Stars for qualifying to AFCON 2022 in Cameroon, Yaoundé after a daunting period of 25 years since 1996.

Hon. Alusine Kainde Alu-Conteh, Chairman of the Committee on Sports thanked Leone Stars, Executive of SLFA and President Bio for their tremendous support culminating into qualifying the country to AFCON 2022.

Speaking on the role played by Junior Bio as Ambassador of Sports, he said football is a vehicle for unity devoid of politics in any country, citing the recent jubilation in Freetown, when Leone Stars qualified to AFCON 2022 to Cameroon by defeating Benin by 1-0 in Guinea, Conakry. He was invidious in his appreciation to the Team’s Coach, John Kister and Management, Mohamed Kallon, President of SLFA, Daddy Brima, and others who have contributed in diverse ways to the current successful feat of football in the country.

He also appreciated and described the formation of a National Sports Association (NSA) as a step in the right direction aimed at improving the management of sporting disciplines in the country.

Following a standing ovation, he extended special thanks and appreciation to Leone Stars for qualifying the country to AFCON 2022.

Congratulating all, including Parliament and the Executive, he called on everyone to maintain unity in football by expressing continued support to the darling Leone Stars.

The Rt. Hon. Dr. Abass Chernor Bundu, Speaker of Parliament congratulated Leone Stars for qualification to AFCON 2022 and said he hoped to be in Cameroon to support the Team to win and bring the Cup of African Nations home for the first time.

A motion was moved and seconded by the Leaders of Government Business and the Opposition, Hon. Sahr Mathew Nyuma and Hon. Chernor Ramadan Maju Bah, that the Speaker of Parliament be in attendance at the opening matches of Leone Stars in Cameroon, early next year.

Leone Stars, Team Management, Executive of SLFA and supporters were in attendance to show solidarity to the Team for qualifying the country to AFCON 2022 in Cameroon, Yaoundé.

At Matru Jong… Agriculture Minister Expresses Commitment to Work towards Plant Health

Abu Bakar Karim, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry

By Edward Vamboi

Abu Bakar Karim, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, has on the 29th June 2021 2021 intimated stakeholders discussing the preparation of the Cassava Response Action Plan in Mattru Jong that his Ministry is fully committed to working towards plant health.

He made those remarks during a one-day stakeholder conference where University Professors, researchers, Ph.D. and masters students, farmers, and farmer organizations were discussing the review of the National Action Plan on Cassava in line with the One Health approach.

The Agriculture Minister disclosed that the initiation of the Central and West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE) was conceived after a meeting of African Agriculture Ministers in Benin in 2018.

He further recounted the many contributions of Njala University, SLAIRI, and his Ministry towards the actualization of the desire of the Government to fight the Cassava streak virus which is ravaging East Africa with few suspected cases in Central Africa.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Njala Campus and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Njala University, Professor Bashiru Koroma, implored the Minister and the WAVE Project team to work towards improving the knowledge of farmers and farmer-based organizations and also effectively use the Standards Bureau blueprints in conducting the research of this nature.

He commended the One-health approach and noted that this is the way to go.

Project lead and Country Director of WAVE Sierra Leone, Dr. Alusaine Samura, gave an overview of the Project and emphasized that there is an urgent need to effectively collaborate and design a comprehensive National Action using the One Health platform to combat an imminent public health crisis on Sierra Leone’s second staple food, Cassava.

A number of experts also made presentations on Biosecurity, One Health coordination and plant health, and the role and commitment of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in promoting the one health approach.

Madam Raymonda Johnson, Head Crop Protection Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Associate Lecturer, Crop Protection Department, School of Agriculture and Food Sciences, Njala University also disclosed that the WAVE Project anchored at Njala University will also undertake participatory surveys in Bonthe, Kenema, and Kambia with the view to identify the various varieties of cassava and the types of viruses.

Bonthe District has the highest production rate in terms of Cassava while Kenema and Kambia have been preliminarily identified to have the mosaic cassava virus.

The Mattru Jong Meeting is expected to produce a revised National Action Plan on the preparation of the Cassava National Response Action Plan in line with the One-Health Approach.

Representatives of the One-Health platform made statements re-echoing the already established national structures within the One Health platform and how a visible collaboration with other players could put the country at a vantage point to combat the raging mosaic cassava virus from the Eastern bloc.

Dr. Baluwa Koroma Dilates on Increase in Fuel Pump Price

By Amin Kef Sesay

In a press release issued on Thursday 1st July, 2021 by the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) it was revealed that the institution in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Trade & Industry and the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have agreed to adjust fuel prices with effect from Thursday 1st July, 2021.

The release highlighted that fuel prices in Sierra Leone are adjusted on a monthly basis and principally driven by international factors coupled with the fact that Sierra Leone imports finished products at prices determined at the global level, adding that the landed costs of all petroleum products recorded a shift in the 5% trigger mechanism translating into a market price of Le9, 886.66 and Le9, 790.85 for diesel and petrol respectively.

It was revealed that the petroleum products prices for July 2021 will be adjusted as follows: Petrol from Le8, 500 to Le9, 500, Diesel from Le8, 500 to Le9, 500, Kerosene from Le8, 500 to Le9, 500 and Fuel Oil from Le8, 500 to Le9, 500.

“The Government and Oil Operators will continue to reform the downstream petroleum sector with transparency and fairness including regular monthly pricing review based on the movement in the Platts and foreign exchange rates,” the release concluded.

Following the release of the new prices, the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA) held a press conference on Wednesday 30th July 2021 at the Ministry of Information and Communications Conference Hall at Youyi Building in Freetown bordering on the Sierra Leone downstream oil sector.

The Executive Chairman of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency (PRA), Dr. Brima Baluwa Koroma informed the gathering that Sierra Leone consumes of 1.1 million liters of petroleum products per day but the country only stores 40% of what is used per day.

He said that Government had intervened in the past by injecting about Le 66 Billion and Le17.43 Billion before this time, adding that in totality Government gave up to about Le132.11 Billion to stabilize the pump price.

Dr. Koroma disclosed that because of low fuel price in Sierra Leone, relatively below the regional average, it is obvious that the Government was subsidizing in favour of neighboring countries and other large corporate companies, stating that the low pump price in Sierra Leone attracts abnormally higher sales volume which threatens the budgeted import volume by Oil Marketing Companies which he said also leads to frequent replenishment.

In another development, the Ministry of Trade and Industry held a meeting with transport stakeholders  on Wednesday 30th June, 2021 during which the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Edward Hinga Sandy revealed an increase in pump prices of petroleum products due to the increase of Platt prices, made worse by the global COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

Minister Sandy stated that the increase will be from Eight Thousand Five Hundred Leones (Le 8500) to Nine Thousand Five Hundred Leones (Le 9500), which is a 12% increase from where it stood.

Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon, revealed that a point-to-point fare will be increased on an average of Le 200/Le300 within towns and Le5000 to and from the provinces. He implored commercial vehicle owners and the drivers’ union to cooperate with the two Ministries and Government as a whole by adhering to the stipulated fare costs.

Joint Military & Police Raid Renders 800 Youths Unemployed

By Foday Moriba Conteh

It was reported that during a joint military and Police operation, mining equipment worth billions of Leones were allegedly destroyed in Baama Wandor Chiefdom in the  Kenema District during an incident that took place at the Macque River on the 21st June 2021.

District Divers Union Chairman and the Regional Chairman Eastern Region covering Kenema, Kono and Kailahun, Alhaji Conteh aka AC who is one of the victims explained that mining is the largest employment sector in Baama Wandor Chiefdom further lamenting that the operation left over 800 workers devastated. “The joint operation came with heavy firing, burning down of our machines and other mining equipment,” he bemoaned

He stated the some of the machines that were burnt included two Air Compression (Air Lift) costing no less than $4,000 and the 16 machines which are  dredges costing Le 250,000,000, others Le150,000,000/ Le180,000,000 and the least was Le 130,000,000.

The District Divers Union Chairman alleged that on the 21st June over five trucks of armed men went to Baama claiming that they were there to remove the Ghanaian miners from that site but to their surprise they forcefully removed Sierra Leoneans instead of the foreigners.

Baama stakeholders who are largely engaged in mining strongly condemned the alleged action of the Government to burn down their machines among other equipment.

“I am perplexed that a Government would allow other people to destroy registered businesses in this kind way with no reason,” AC said.

AC added that the action of the Government has left them with nothing and brought them and their families back to zero.

Musa Saccoh said they were expecting the Government to engage them or even seize their machines rather than put fire on them.

He noted that they now find it difficult to address the problems of their homes and their school going children further maintaining that the Government has completely put them out of business

Musa informed that the machines that were affected were eighteen (18) in number and each of them cost about two hundred and Fifty million Leones (Le 250,000.000).

Brima Thorly, a community stakeholder also spoke on the damage, saying that the township depends on mining and that has been the case since diamond was discovered in the country.

He furthered that the action of the Government should be condemned in the strongest term though they spent their resources and time for SLPP to win the 2018 elections

“If that is the only reward President Julius Maada Bio could give us, we don’t have the power to fight him but to leave our case to God,” Sulaiman Sannie Deen, Secretary General of the Mining Committee of both Gurama Mende and Wandoh Chiefdom stated.

The National Mineral Agency (NMA) Compliance Mines Officer, Alfred Hai said the matter was above them and that their office cannot comment as the order was from State House.

He noted further that though he was not around during the raid but was informed that it was conducted by a joint team was from Freetown and not from Kenema.

This claim was also justified by the Sierra Leone Police Officer in Charge (OC) of Baama, Insp. Samuel Gevao.

OC Gevao stated that he was informed that senior military and police officers were part of the team that came to destroy and that as an officer of that rank he had little or nothing to do.

He also dilated on their relationship with the community people especially stakeholders who are assisting them in many ways.

Other community elders also gave testimonies on how badly they were affected by the destruction, the gun firing and tear gas.

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