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Cities’ Collaborative COVID-19 Responses Vital to Mitigate Impacts -Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr 

By Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr 

95% of COVID-19 cases are reported in urban areas. That puts cities on the frontlines of a global public health crisis that is widening the gap between those with the comfort and safety of a home and those forced to leave their homes behind.

Dire budget shortfalls and lost revenue — up to 65 percent for African cities and 15-25 percent globally — will curtail the ability of cities to deliver critical services and economic opportunity to all their residents in 2021, especially those who need it the most.

Even before COVID-19 hit, my city of Freetown faced a reckoning. More than a third of residents – many rural migrants – lived in informal settlements where disease is common and clean water rare. Then came the global pandemic.

COVID-19 case rates in Freetown have been relatively low compared to other cities but infection prevention measures have wreaked havoc on our economy, where 70 percent of residents work informally.

In the face of a deadly pandemic, these residents kept Freetown functioning: unblocking drains to prevent flooding, cleaning streets and managing our waste.

Now many of my city’s residents are going hungry and losing their income, with 75% of households in the informal settlements living on less than $1 per day.

As Mayor of Freetown, it is my responsibility to take care of them in the same way that they took care of their city at the height of the crisis.

To do this, I am working with donor partners and Sierra Leone’s diaspora and residents to provide supplementary food to people who are quarantined in informal settlements. Similarly, I am training people from informal settlements in urban farming to ensure access to healthy food

I also worked with the Government and other partners to repurpose an under-utilised military training facility space into a care center to support COVID-19 patients who cannot self-isolate often because they are rural migrants living in overcrowded housing.

Other Mayors around the world have similarly stepped up for their migrant communities during COVID-19.

Consider Mayor Garcetti in Los Angeles who delivered cash assistance to undocumented migrants excluded from federal relief or Mayor Rees in the British city of Bristol and Mayor Khan in London who housed asylum seekers and migrants with no recourse to public funds. Or take the case of Kampala Mayor Lukwago who distributed food himself to non-nationals impacted by lockdown measures, despite bans from the central Government.

We do this work because it represents the very essence of our job as Mayors – to protect our residents and provide them with the tools needed for safe, healthy, and productive livelihoods. But cities’ needs far exceed their available resources.

Without direct access to financial relief, my city and countless others will fall short of the responsibility to protect our most marginalized residents and miss out on the benefits of an inclusive recovery.

The Global Cities Fund for Inclusive Pandemic Response is the Mayors Migration Council’s response to the unmet needs of cities as they support migrants and displaced people during COVID-19.

By granting city Governments directly, this $1 million fund will help build precedents of “fiscal feasibility” in municipal Governments of low-to-middle income countries that are often disregarded by donors with low risk tolerance, despite being best placed to address challenges like COVID-19 urgently and effectively.

This support will allow my city to expand our waste management by helping 240 youth establish 40 sustainable waste-management micro-enterprises that in turn provide waste collection services for households across Freetown’s low-income informal settlements.

The project will provide jobs and long-term livelihoods for rural migrants, improve the city’s public health and sanitation, and serve those who are most vulnerable.

But helping five cities isn’t enough. Over 2,550 cities are affected by COVID-19 worldwide and they need financial support.

I call on the international community and national Governments to build on the momentum of the Global Cities Fund and support cities with the resources they need in order to do their job better, faster, and at scale.

I ask international actors focused on migration and displacement to work with me and my colleagues at the Mayors Migration Council to provide at least 22 cities in low to middle-income countries with the financial support they need to realize smart and inclusive projects centering migrants and refugees by the end of 2022: 22 for 2022.

This is just the first step in recognizing cities as equal Government partners. We’re excited for international actors and national Governments to work with us – not around us – and hopeful that our future collaboration will help cities emerge as dynamic centers of opportunity for all.

 

Pres. Bio Graces Swearing-in Ceremony of Pres. Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana

By Theresa Kef Sesay

In Accra, Ghana, on Thursday 7 January 2021 His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio  joined other colleague Heads of State in attendance at the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Dankwa Addo Akufo-Addo.

“I further solemnly swear that should I at any time break this oath of office I shall submit myself to the laws of the Republic of Ghana and suffer the penalty for it. So, help me God,” President Akufo-Addo stated.

In his second inaugural statement, he thanked his colleague Heads of State for their attendance, which he referred to as an expression of solidarity. He called on the people of Ghana to participate in governance as citizens and not as spectators. The President also laid out his vision and priority areas for his second term in office.

The Chief Justice of the Republic of Ghana, Justice Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, administered the oath of office to the President and Vice President Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

The swearing-in ceremony marked the start of the second term into office of President Akufo-Addo following the declaration by the Ghana Electoral Commission as winner of the presidential election of Monday 7 December 2020.

NP-SL Ltd: A Successful Business Entity, Positively Contributing to Socio-Economic Development

By Amin Kef Sesay

The National Petroleum Sierra Leone Limited (NP-SL Ltd), it has been confirmed, is a successful enterprise that is hugely contributing to the socio-economic development of this nation.

This assertion could be justified when cognizance is taken of the company’s serious deepening of the country’s Local Content Policy as vividly evident in giving exceptional preference to employing indigenes contrary to bringing in foreign expatriates to execute certain tasks. This laid down policy that is strictly implemented has created room for the employment of Sierra Leoneans who have the requisite qualifications and skills giving them the opportunity to take care of personal responsibilities.

“I cannot find words to express how delighted I am as I can proudly say that NP-SL has changed my life completely since the company employed me,” one of the workers at NP Cotton Tree joyfully intimated The Calabash when this medium went out on a fact finding mission.

“As far as I have assessed in this country it is only NP-SL Ltd that has such a pragmatic policy of maintaining a policy that gives job preferential treatments to Sierra Leoneans and I have great respect for the indigenous company,” Raymond Cole, a Social Commentator eulogized.

With the introduction of NP Smart Card, which has gone viral, the Card can be credited with money and the amount of money utilized to buy fuel is debited after every transaction. With the use of NP Smart Card, customers are saved the hassle of having to always move with physical cash in their possession in order to purchase fuel and indeed there are times when one may not have time to rush to the bank to make withdrawals. Customers, who are holders and users of NP Smart Card, are at the vantage position to properly budget, through the amount that is contained in the card to buy fuel, during a considerable period of time, say a week or a month. Indeed, NP Smart Card has become trending.

In order to ensure that their customers derive value for money, it was thought prudent on the part of Shareholders and Management to make use of state of the art and highly modernized calibrated pumping machines which were installed at the company’s different Filling Stations capable of pumping the exact quantity of fuel, be it petrol or diesel, that a particular customer requested for.

This fine move by the company has helped instilled confidence among customers that they are really dealing with a very transparent business entity and getting what they are paying for. This singular business strategy has got many glued to a petroleum company that is considered to be marketing the best of petroleum products which include petrol, diesel, gas and high grade lubricants, one of which is the most sought out Castrol oil, said to be very good for the proper functioning of engines.

The company also markets NP Gas which is a cooking device that is manufactured in different cylinder sizes and sold at the company’s Filling Stations across the country. It can be easily refilled with gas, is said to be non-hazardous to the health of individuals and easy to operate. Its performance has been rated high and many are indeed going for it.

One yardstick that could be used to assess the potency and vibrancy of a company is how well it is entrenched or established. With regards NP-SL Ltd, one can actually see that the company, over the years, has grown by leaps and bounds as seen in its opening of branches in neighbouring Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and The Gambia. All these NP branches, within the sub-region, are functioning very efficiently and contributing immensely towards the socio-economic development of those host countries. Through their operations, the company is paying taxes to the various Governments and indirectly boosting the revenue bases of those countries to roll out different development programs.

An admirable quality that NP-SL Ltd has been exhibiting throughout the years is the proper implementation of the country’s Local Content Policy. This policy is geared towards giving preferential treatment to indigenes or making use of local ingredients , in the form of human and material resources, instead of depending on those that are acquired through importation.

The company has the laid down policy of giving preferential employment consideration to indigenes instead of relying on expatriates.  As long as Sierra Leoneans have the requisite qualifications and skills they are first considered for various vacant positions in the company. The greatest advantage is that the policy has made it possible for indigenes to be gainfully employed and live improved standards of living.

From all that have been said so far, it could be argued with all amount of certainty that NP-SL Ltd is indeed a highly successful and very competitive petroleum company that continues to stand tall within the business landscape of this country. And from the look of things it is poised to reach further higher heights.

NCRA Where is our National ID Card? -Citizens Demand

By Amin Kef Sesay

The vast majority of Sierra Leonean have been expressing indignation over the undue and unfathomed delay on the part of the institution that is mandated to issue out Identity Cards, the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), to do so, saying it is now long overdue for such to have commenced.

These dissatisfied citizens have squarely lay the blame on the Director General of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, maintaining that he has so far proven that he is unequal to the task furthering that if that is the case then he should no longer hold that position.

“We have been following his strides closely and from what we know he started on a sound footing but along the line it became noticeable that he is not, and by extension the institution, is not doing much to ensure that tangible results are seen or realized,” a cross-section of them lamented adding that he may have all the requisite academic qualifications but what is important is to solidly deliver to the delight of many. They claimed that what is so frustrating is the fact that it is now almost five years running since the Authority was enacted and given the mandate to perform.

“Some of us are mindful of the fact that the Government and some of its donor partners have injected huge chunks of money in order to give the NCRA the financial muscle to deliver but lamentably we are yet to see them do so,” one of them sadly informed this medium highlighting that the NCRA has kept sealed lips over the issue rather than informing the citizenry about what the status quo is.

Another stated that what is so painful is the fact that to access certain facilities one must produce a National Identification Card and if he or she does not have such then he or she will be denied those facilities unless otherwise discretion is used to reach an agreeable understanding. For example, to open a bank account an individual must present a National ID Card or a Passport and indeed it is really disgusting when such are not available.

“I was really embarrassed at one point in time especially when I went to collect some amount of money that was remitted to me and wanting to access it I was requested to produce a National ID Card which I didn’t have and had to go the extra mile to link the sender and the Foreign Exchange Bureau before I was given the money,” a middle aged lady bemoaned underscoring that it is really shameful as a nation for the State not to be in the position to issue National ID Cards to its citizens when at this point in time we should be talking of decentralizing the activities of the NCRA.

A Social Commentator noted that Sierra Leone, being a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) , its citizens have the right of free movement within the bloc without necessarily having passports but rather Non-Citizen Identification Cards.

He stated that as at now when the NCRA is seemingly dysfunctional, being unable to issue Identification Cards, such free movement is done otherwise maintaining that it is very embarrassing, defeating one of the purposes why the ECOWAS was established which is free movement of persons and goods.

“The NCRA cannot pull wool over our eyes by using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for its incompetence simply because they had ample time, even before the outbreak, to have set up all the necessary infrastructure or architecture to commence the issuance of National ID Cards and so it is one excuse that cannot be tenable,” a Development Studies Lecturer averred arguing that it seems that inefficiency is at play.

In this country, the right to national identity is enshrined in the 1991 constitution and is a fundamental human right tied to other rights and entitlement to some services provided by Government. An Integrated National Civil Registration System, as established by law in the National Civil Registration Act of 2016, provides for the issuance of multi-purpose National e-Identity Cards that can be used by Citizens and Non-Citizen residents in all areas where identity verification is required.

Some have said that there had been a lot of excuses given by the Director General of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, without seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a particular school of thought which holds the view that the NCRA DG had been putting premium on Verification of Personal Details, which they think is long overdue even before the corona virus struck.

That exercise, they said, involves a lot of money and procurement processes, furthering that considering the fact that there are 17 NCRA offices in the 16 Administrative districts, that exercise must have been accomplished and from there move the process forward.

Indeed, capacity building is very much important for effective service delivery in any institution but when it is frequently done it might raise eyebrows. Based on what that particular school of thought stated the NCRA do conduct frequent trainings  highlighting that such are not feasible, creating no meaningful impacts and sometimes very costly, all said to be from the tax payers’ monies.

The United Nations guidelines on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) stipulate that Civil Registration Systems need to be organized such that the registration covers the entire country and every citizen and non-citizen resident in that country. Sierra Leone, in trying to meet the UN Guidelines, the Parliament passed an act in June 2016 to create the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA).

The mandate of NCRA, according to the 2016 Act, is to register all citizens and non-citizens resident in Sierra Leone. In addition, NCRA is to register all vital events (including Births, Deaths, Marriages, Adoptions, Nullities and Separations) on a Continuous, Permanent, Compulsory and Universal basis at the chiefdom and ward levels across the country.

As stipulated in its Act, to use the data to generate a National Identification Number (NIN) for every citizen and non-citizen resident in Sierra Leone and to issue the National Identity Card.

However, since its inception after the enactment of the June 2016 Act the NCRA has little to show in terms of the fulfilment of its mandate.

For example, one of the objectives for which the Authority was established is to develop and maintain an accurate electronic database of the population of Sierra Leone.

Lamentably, it is now nearly five years down the line since the NCRA Act was established and it is nearly three years since the current administration took charge to steer the NCRA to achieve its objectives by carrying out the stipulated functions but there has been abysmal outcomes despite the provision of funds by the Government of Sierra Leone and Development Partners.

In terms of developing and maintaining an accurate electronic database of the population of Sierra Leone, the NCRA does not have an accurate electronic database of the entire population of Sierra Leone and therefore cannot issue National Identification Numbers to every citizen and resident in Sierra Leone despite the huge amount of money pumped by donors and Government into the institution.

Ultimately, the NCRA cannot give the citizens and residents of this country the much needed National Identity Card on which majority of the population’s livelihood depends.

Majority of the citizens are now really pissed off with the inertia on the part of the NCRA with some of them saying in as much as members of staff of that institution are paid out of taxpayers’ monies they must be seen to be delivering according to their stipulated mandate.

NGOs Frown At FGM In Sierra Leone     …Urges Government To Abolish FGM

Some of the young girls initiated in Bo recently

By Lansana Munda

Some Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) operating in Sierra Leone including Forum Against Harmful Practices (FAHP) and Equity Now have expressed their frustrations and disappointments over the continuous initiation of young girls by Soweis  in the bondo bush against their wishes. The NGOs have started lobbying senior government officials and Members of Parliament for the abolition of the Bondo society or Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the country.

The government has legalize the Bondo practice in the country for girls above eighteen years. Government sees the abolition as a political tool that the women will use against them during elections. And fifty two percent of the population in Sierra Leone are women which makes it very difficult for government to adhere to the demands of NGOs.

The laws of the country makes it punishable for any Sowei to initiate a girl below eighteen years.

Sierra Leone does not have any law that prohibits and purnishes the practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) or Bondo.

Women and girls who have not been initiated are frowned upon and prohibited from taken part in community functions. This practice is carried out by traditional cutters called Soweis, who controls lots of power in the country’s social and cultural functions.

Report of women and girls being kidnapped and forcefully initiated are common in the country especially in the provinces, which has not gone down well with NGOs and human rights activists.

A senior member of the Soweis Madam Fatmata Daramy told this medium that it is mandatory for girls to be initiated into the Bondo society. She said any girl who refuses to be initiated will not be allowed to participate in any public forum.

“She will not command respect. Her colleagues will mock her and men do not normally go in for them and they will end up being prostitute which has negative consequences on their lives. So to avoid all these embarrassments it is a must that girls agree to be initiated,” Md. Daramy said.

She pointed out that the Soweis are only mandated to initiate girls into the Bondo society.

She pointed out that it is also mandatory for the eldest daughter of the Sowei woman to replace her mother into the Sowei society when she dies.

She said if the daughter refuses to adhere to the traditions, that individual will live a miserable life. She pointed out that the Soweis have some spiritual powers that will call the lady spiritually to follow the foot steps of her mother.

She stressed that once the mother has been initiated as a Sowei, her eldest daughter will immediately replace her after her demise. She said because some girls don’t want to follow the traditions, they end up becoming miserable people in the communities.

Another senior Sowei woman, Aminata Lahai disclosed that some five hundred and fifty young girls were initiated in Bo district, South of Sierra Leone early last month, which has been described as the highest in the country. Because of this development, she said some NGOs are vigorously lobbying government officials and Parliamentarians to enact a law that will abolish this Bondo business.

Meanwhile, Equity Now and Forum Against Harmful Practices have called on the government through the relevant ministries to permanently placed a ban on FGM by enacting a comprehensive anti FGM law and protect women and girls who are uncut from intimidation and abuse.

The Executive Director of Equity Now, Dr. Rashida Minah emphasized what young girls are going through in the hands of the Soweis. She said they will intensify their campaign for the attention of government with a view to put a stop to this.

 

Legal Aid Board: Five Years Down the Line

By Amin Kef Sesay

The Legal Aid Board had nine staff at inception in May 2015. These include five Legal Aid Counsels and three clerks. The Counsels include the Executive Director, Ms. Fatmata Claire Carlton-Hanciles and her assistant the Legal Aid Manager, Ivan Ansumana Sesay now a Justice of the Appeals Court.

The Board did not have the ‘luxury’ of a consultant (Local or foreign) to provide the much needed expertise in the setting up of the scheme and oversee its formative years. This could be attributed to the fact that there are few legal aid schemes in the region to tap from at the time.

Also and this is the most compelling reason, the Executive Director brought to the job a wealth of experience having served as Principal Defender at the UN backed International Tribunal, The Special Court for Sierra Leone where all the accused persons she was responsible for benefited from a legal aid scheme of some sort.

The weight of expectation on the Board was very high right from inception in May 2015. This was brought to the fore at the first workshop organized for parliamentarians on 8 July 2015. The workshop also sought to canvass the support of parliamentarians to increase funding to the Board.

The Board was put on the defensive right from the outset, as it turned out that the MPs were interested in knowing when the Board will establish a presence in their constituencies to ease the pressure from their constituents who need financial assistance with accessing justice. The MPs were unhappy at the fact that the Board had not come up with a plan to establish a presence beyond the Western Area even though, in their view those upcountry needed the scheme more.

It is equally important to note that there were voices who held a contrary view on this subject matter. Some key partners and donors warned against being in a hurry to extend operations beyond the Western Area. They argued that the Board is new and therefore needed time to learn and mobilize resources before establishing offices upcountry.

To set the stage for future expansion, the Board signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with key institutions in the justice sector in June 2015, namely, the Sierra Leone Police, Sierra Leone Correctional Service and the Sierra Leone Bar Association.

It also forged a partnership with key organizations namely, the Sierra Leone Labour Congress, the Sierra Leone Petty Traders Association and the Sierra Leone Motor Drivers and General Workers Union. These organizations constitute the largest client base of the Board.

To cater for the increase in clients in the Western Area, the Board contracted 25 lawyers from the Sierra Leone Bar Association on the 12 October 2015 to provide legal representation to fifty indigent accused persons. The current Legal Aid Manager, Cecilia Tucker was among the lawyers contracted by the Board. She concluded her cases in less than three weeks.

At the same preparations for expanding the scheme upcountry was also gaining pace. In August 2016 the Board recruited and deployed staff (Legal Aid Counsels, Administrative and Finance Assistants and Paralegals) in Makeni, Port Loko, Koidu, Bo and Kenema.

Also, with support from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the Board recruited 33 Paralegals in the last quarter of 2016 and deployed them in all the fourteen districts in the country at the time in January 2017. Each district had at least two Paralegals. This development brought about a dramatic increase in the visibility of the Board around the country.

The new Paralegals hit the ground running. This is due to the fact that they had lived in their respective districts for no less than two uninterrupted years prior to their recruitment. Since the Board did not have the money to rent offices in six of the 14 districts, the Paralegals had to work from home until such a time when the stakeholders in those districts provided them with an office space. Thankfully, within a relatively short time, the Paralegals were offered office space in these districts.

The Board was offered an office space in the Old Council Building by the Kambia District Council, the office in Kabala was offered by the Koinadugu District Council, Matru Jong Office was hosted by an NGO, the Magburaka Office was hosted by the Justice of the Peace Office and the Bonthe Office was hosted by the Ministry of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs.

The Paralegals were quick to establish themselves in their respective districts and in no time their offices became the first port of call for those accessing the Police, Local and Informal/Traditional Courts. This saw people reporting matters first to the Paralegals who will then refer them to the Police, Local or Informal/Traditional Courts as the case may be. The Paralegals also ensured among other functions that the fines were not above those stipulated in the Local Court Act 2011 and moreover people were not detained illegally by the Police, Local and Informal Courts.

Prior to the deployment of the paralegals, it was not uncommon for Police, Local and Informal Court Administrators to recover money owed to micro-credit schemes and money lenders by illegally detaining debtors as a means of coercing them into repaying these debts.  Also, mediation provided by the Paralegals became very popular among the people because they do not have to pay for such a service. Moreover, it is quicker, transparent and informed by the laws of the country.

The Administrators of the Informal/Traditional Courts were made to understand that they can only hear and determine matters such as witchcraft, woman palaver (call name), land matters for areas outside the Western Area, family disputes, customary marriages, minor disputes between cattle herders and crop farmers, fines for use of abusive language and obscenities (cashe) meant to maintain peace and discipline within the community and debts matters involving small amount of money.

As the Board became more impactful and the demand for its services continued to grow, it started establishing satellite offices called Community Advisory Bureaus (CAB) in Freetown in February 2017. Today, the Board has opened 25 Bureaus most of them in Freetown.

The initiative is aimed at empowering communities to take ownership of their justice needs through the provision of primary justice services. The Bureaus are run by volunteers drawn from various facets of the community including women, youth and retirees.  The office space for the Bureau is provided by the community. The Legal Aid Board provides oversight, training, handles civil matters referred to it by the Bureaus and provides limited support for stationery as and when funds are available.

The Bureaus have achieved quite a lot in promoting peaceful coexistence by mediating community level disputes, marital, family, tenancy, minor disputes, referring matters to the appropriate justice institutions. They also provide basic information on civil and criminal matters to those accessing the justice system.

The Board is currently the largest legal aid organization in the country by virtue of the fact that it has 18 full-time Legal Aid Counsels, 56 full-time Paralegals and six volunteers of the National Youth Service from the National Youth Commission.

Also, with support from the MOTT Foundation in August 2019, the Board established offices in the district headquarter towns of Karene and Falaba, Mile 91 in Tonkolili, Matru Jong in Bonthe District; Lokomassama in Port Loko District; Tongo in Kenema District; Kayima in Kono District; Moriba Town in Moyamba District and Bumpe in Bo District.

These bring to 23 the total number of cities and towns in which the Board has an office in the country. This makes the Board one of the most visible government agencies in the country.

A total of 384,488 people including foreign nationals have benefitted from the scheme from its inception in May 2015 to September 2020. There has been a steady increase in the number of beneficiaries over the years as follows: 24,768 beneficiaries in 2015/16, 83,053 in 2017, 106,655 in 2018, 112,841 in 2019 and 57,171 from Jan – September 2020.

The Board has succeeded in taking access to justice to the doorstep of indigent persons in the country. It comes as no surprise therefore that it has become the first port of call for people who have been abused particularly those in remote communities when accessing justice.

On the international front the Board has carved a niche in the provision of primary justice services through the work of its Paralegals in remote communities which have limited access to the police and the criminal justice system. This includes the innovative use of technology such as whatsApp in the provision of legal aid services. The medium is used to share information, support to and supervision of Paralegals particularly in their dealings with the Local Courts where lawyers are not allowed to make representation.

The medium is also used to provide support to Paralegals as they monitor the Local and Informal/Traditional Courts to ensure they hear and determine matters within their remit, provide advice and legal assistance to Local and Informal Court Administrators, traditional chiefs and inhabitants of chiefdoms, referring matters to the Police, Local Court, Informal Court or the Legal Aid Board as the case may be.

They also provide assistance to the Paralegals in their dealings with the police and in the provision of legal assistance to suspects and trial inmates in Correctional Centers around the country.

While the Board has been learning from international legal aid schemes around the world, they too have been learning from the Board on the work of its paralegals in the provision of primary justice services in remote communities.  The Board has made significant presentations on the provision of primary legal aid services in remote communities with limited access to the criminal justice system at the invitation of the International Legal Aid Group (ILAG) in Canada, South Africa and Argentina, World Justice Forum in the Netherlands and UNODC in Senegal.

In recognition of its work, the Board was one of a few legal aid schemes in Africa which was featured in the ‘Handbook on Ensuring Quality Legal Aid Services in Criminal Justice Processes’ by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

In spite of these successes, the Board is not without challenges and I will share the two most pressing ones: a) The Board has a total of 56 Paralegals. This is far below the minimum requirement provided in the Legal Aid Act 2012. Section 14 (2) of the Act provides that:  ‘The Board shall appoint at least one Paralegal to each chiefdom.’ With 190 chiefdoms in the country, the Board would need to recruit an additional 134 paralegals to meet this requirement and b) The Board has 18 Legal Aid Counsels on its staff.

This is way below the minimum number of lawyers needed by the Board. With the exception of Kono, lawyers in other parts of the country cover at least two districts. The Board will need at least eight more lawyers in order to meet the minimum requirement of at least one lawyer per district.

 

Female Activist  Changes Perceptions about Female Genital Mutilation

By Mary Kabay

Female Genital Mutilation is tradition that has been embedded in the Sierra Leonean cultural way of life for quite a considerable period of time but because of mounting campaigns by certain activists this traditional practice is somehow declining in most communities within the country.

One person who has been commended for enhancing the campaign and taking it to another level is, Rugiatu Neneh Turay, who has been and still continues to be vociferous in terms of changing the mindsets of those who believe that FGM should be a must and not challenged.

In one of her campaign drives, Rugiatu Turay, sets up the film screen and projector in the dusty meeting center of Magbanabon village about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Matotoka Town in the north of Sierra Leone.

She was there to screen a documentary about female genital mutilation (FGM), commonly known as “cutting” or Bondo in the region.

As night falls, around a hundred men, women and children from the village seat themselves for the screening under the community center’s thatched roof.

Many in the audience scream in shock at a scene detailing the cutting, which is normally done without anesthetic using knives, razor blades or even pieces of glass.

Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of FGM in Africa. According to UNICEF figures from 2017, the practice has been performed on an estimated 86% of women and girls in the country. FGM involves the partial or total removal of the female genital organs, such as the clitoris or labia.

Besides severe bleeding, FGM can cause a variety of health issues from infections and cysts to infertility and complications in childbirth.

Among those in Magbanabon watching the documentary were ‘Soweis’, elderly women who carry out the circumcision as part of girls’ initiation into the Bondo society, a secret women’s society with an entrenched role in the county’s tribal and political life.

Some Soweis scream at the cutting scene, others look away, placing their heads in their hands to avoid the graphic footage.

After the screening, Turay sounded out the community’s views on what they had seen and offered men and women the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the way forward.

Turay is one of Sierra Leone’s most well-known anti-FGM campaigners. She founded the grassroots anti-FGM group, the Amazonian Initiative Movement in 2002, is a former Deputy Minister of Social Welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs and in 2020 won a German human rights prize, the Theodor Haecker award, for her work.

Above all, she has a reputation for talking to all of those involved in cutting, including the Soweis, parents, girls and village chiefs.

“One of the things you always have to do as a campaigner is to make sure you are honest to yourself, speak frankly and give respect to people,” Turay intimated. “You can see that they look at me as any one of them. I behave like them.”

Magbanabon Town Chief PaKapri Kargbo, who attended the documentary screening, said he appreciates Turay’s message.

“She didn’t threaten us,” he said instead she “simply explained what we didn’t know in the past.”

But he questioned what comes next for the Soweis, who depend on the ritual cutting for their livelihoods.

Girls’ families supply the Soweis with food, clothing, cloth, jewelry and money during the initiation period and still give them occasional gifts long after that.

“If our people eventually agree with her ideas, what would the repercussion be or what would be done for the Soweis?” Kargbo asked.

Turay is keenly aware that fighting FGM also means finding alternative sources of income for the S oweis.

Later in the week, Turay meets with a group of Soweis who have promised to stop practicing FGM during a special Bondo initiation she organized in 2019 that didn’t involve any cutting.

The Bondo initiation rituals, which confer womanhood on girls, often occur in isolated forested areas referred to as a Bondo bush. As well as being cut, young girls are taught ritual dances and chants and how to confront spirits, as well as learning how to do domestic chores and be prepared for a husband.

“Now that I have experienced Turay’s campaign and the effects it is having on me and my peers, there’s no reason to return to our old habits,” one of the Soweis said. “Some of us are now training in tailoring [through Turay’s organization] and I consider that more beneficial than what we were engaged in.”

To break to cycle of FGM, Turay wants to create alternative Bondo rituals to cutting.

“The challenge is to eliminate female genital mutilation but not the Bondo culture, which plays an important role in society,” Turay intimated.

Around 100 girls took part in Turay’s first “No Blade, No Blood, No Pain” Bondo. One of them was Ramatu S. Bangura, who was 19 at the time.

Bangura had previously refused to take part in the Bondo bush because she didn’t want to endure FGM. This led to enormous teasing from her friends at school and in her community for not being an initiate, she said.

But she jumped at the chance to be part of Turay’s special Bondo, “because they are not dealing with blood.”

“The same people who used to mock at me now think that we are the same because I’m now a member of the Bondo society.”

Aminata M. Kamara, who lives in the Port Loko District in Sierra Leone’s north, also took part. She is outspoken in what she sees as the advantages of not having endured FGM.

“Most of our female parents went through that society,” she explained. “Some of them weren’t able to give birth anymore. Some of their husbands left them because they were not able to enjoy their sex life anymore, because they had removed their clitoris.”

“Any man that I have sex with, that man will really enjoy me. And as time goes on, when I get my own pregnancy, I’ll be able to give birth easily.”

NCRA in the Spotlight for Inability to Issue ID Cards

By Amin Kef Sesay

Many Sierra Leoneans and others have been expressing disgust over the delay on the part of the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) to issue Identity Cards (IDs) to citizens and non-citizens for the past three years running.

Such a frustration is really understandable within the context that in order to access certain facilities an individual must produce an Identification Card, otherwise he or she will be denied such unless otherwise discretion is used to reach an agreeable understanding . For example, to open a bank account an individual must present a National ID Card or a Passport and indeed it is really disgusting when such are not available.

In this country, the right to national identity is enshrined in the 1991 constitution and is a fundamental human right tied to other rights and entitlement to some services provided by Government. An Integrated National Civil Registration System, as established by law in the National Civil Registration Act of 2016, provides for the issuance of multi-purpose National e-Identity Cards that can be used by Citizens and non-Citizen residents in all areas where identity verification is required.

Some have said that there had been a lot of excuses given by the Director General of NCRA, Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, without seeing any light at the end of the tunnel.

There is a particular school of thought which holds the view that the NCRA DG had been putting more premium on Verification of personal Details, which they think is long overdue even before the corona virus struck.

That exercise, they said, involves a lot of money and procurements, furthering that considering the fact that there are 17 NCRA offices in the 16 Administrative districts, that exercise must have been accomplished and move the process forward.

Indeed, capacity building is very much important for effective service delivery in any institution but when it is frequently done it might raise eyebrows. Based on what that particular school of thought has decried the NCRA do conduct frequent trainings  highlighting that such are not feasible, creating no meaningful impacts and sometimes very costly, all said to be from the tax payers’ monies.

The United Nations guidelines on Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS) stipulate that Civil Registration Systems need to be organized such that the registration covers the entire country and every citizen and non-citizen resident in that country. Sierra Leone, in trying to meet the UN Guidelines, the Parliament passed an act in June 2016 to create the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA).

The mandate of NCRA, according to the 2016 Act, is to register all citizens and non-citizens resident in Sierra Leone. In addition, NCRA is to register all vital events (including Births, Deaths, Marriages, Adoptions, Nullities and Separations) on a Continuous, Permanent, Compulsory and Universal basis at the chiefdom and ward levels across the country.  As stipulated in its Act, to use the data to generate a National Identification Number (NIN) for every citizen and non-citizen resident in Sierra Leone and to issue the National Identity Card.

However, since its inception after the enactment of the June 2016 Act the NCRA has little to show in terms of the fulfilment of its mandate.

For example, one of the objectives for which the Authority was established is to develop and maintain an accurate electronic database of the population of Sierra Leone.

Lamentably, it is now nearly five years since the NCR Act was established and it is nearly three years since the current administration took charge to steer the NCRA to achieve its objectives by carrying out the stipulated functions but there has been abysmal outcomes despite the provision of funds by the Government of Sierra Leone and Development Partners.

In terms of developing and maintaining an accurate electronic database of the population of Sierra Leone, the NCRA does not have an accurate electronic database of the entire population of Sierra Leone and therefore cannot issue National Identification Numbers to every citizen and resident in Sierra Leone despite the huge amount of money pumped by donors and Government into the institution.

Ultimately, the NCRA cannot give the citizens and residents of this country the much needed National Identity Card on which majority of the population’s livelihood depends.

Critics are saying it is time for the NCRA to wake up and do the needy in order to step up and commence the issuance of ID Cards to citizens and non-citizens.

SLCB Commended for Availing Cash during Festive Season 

By Amin Kef Sesay

The Sierra Leone Commercial Bank Limited (SLCB) has once more demonstrated competency within the banking sector in the country as it commendably and admirably prioritized and enhanced customer satisfaction during the festive season when there was a shortage of the Leone currency.

As a seasoned commercial bank, having experienced bankers, SLCB continues to firmly demonstrate its leadership qualities within the banking sector by swiftly responding to address the needs of its customers especially at the time of serious financial crisis just like the one that occurred during the festive season even as the problem still lingers.

Regardless of the fact that the bank is operating in a competitive business environment, however, the SLCB was able to adequately satisfy its customers by giving out up to five million Leones to any individual who wants to make a withdrawal, provided he or she has more than that amount in his or her account.

The bank has so far received praises and commendations from the majority of its customers especially top customers spoken to in the country. According to them, they were able to know that the “People’s Bank” in the country is SLCB.

“We are really satisfied with the operations of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank which is a clear indication that it is people-centred and has a capable managerial team at the helm of affairs,” they furthered.

They highlighted that SLCB’s ATM Machine was up and running 24hours with cash availability during the festive season adding how customers were able to use SLCB electronics products such as mobile wallet banking, small world, money gram etc.

SLCB’s performance in the past five years borders on its commitment to excellent service, investment in human capital, exemplary corporate governance and innovation.

 

5 Year Old Kadijah Saccoh to be Laid to Rest

Kadijah Saccoh.jpg
five (5) year old Sierra Leonean child, Kadijah Saccoh

By Amin Kef Sesay

The five (5) year old Sierra Leonean child, Kadijah Saccoh, who was allegedly raped and murdered, has now been handed over to the late girl’s father by the State. She will be laid to rest on the 17th January 2021 in Freetown, according to family sources. The family members are therefore extending invitation to all Sierra Leoneans, with daughters, to attend the funeral stating that free T-Shirts will be given out. According to them, there is the need to send a message to rapists that if they rape and murder children then the country will come after them.

Kadijah Saccoh was born on the 29th March 2015 and was murdered on the 17th June 2021.  Tentatively, the location where people should converge is the National Stadium Parking Lot but if any changes are made the family members stated that they will let the public know. They expressed thanks to the President and the First Lady for the efforts they have been making to combat rape.

It will be recalled that the case of 5-year-old Kadijah Saccoh, who was raped and killed in June, allegedly by a family member in Sierra Leone, produced outrage and protests and escalated the debate about how to stop the crisis of rape and ongoing violence against women.

“My daughter’s story is very, very sad because in my country, rape has become acceptable in a family setting,” Kadijah’s father, Abubakarr Saccoh said in an interview.

President Julius Maada Bio in 2019 declared rape and sexual violence a national emergency. At the time, the country had more than 8,500 reported cases of sexual and gender-based violence per year, but observers believe thousands of additional cases go unreported.

“Each month, hundreds of cases of rape and sexual assaults are being reported in this country. These despicable crimes of sexual violence are being committed against our women, children and even babies,” Bio said during a news conference in Freetown in February 2019. “Some of the fatalities are as young as 3 months old. Seventy percent of survivors of this traumatic experience are under the age [of] 15.”

Since then, the country has made strides, including strengthening its Sexual Offenses Act to allow for a maximum punishment of life in prison for someone who rapes a child. It also created a Sexual Offenses Division of the High Court to make sure sexual assault cases are prosecuted swiftly.

Still, advocates say the problem persists.

Since the declaration by the president, the country established a call center to report sexual crimes, but lawyers representing clients who have suffered gender-based violence (GBV) say the center also should be open for other forms of violence against girls and women, such as domestic abuse.

Four people, including Kadijah’s cousin, who was suspected of committing the crime, are still standing trial in a court of law. If convicted of rape of a minor, the perpetrators could face life in prison following legislation introduced last year.

The matter has now been committed to the High Court.

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