By Ralph Simeon Sesay
ralphsimeonsesay@yahoo.com 076336213/030317197
Sierra Leone’s first Assistant Inspector General of Police in post war Sierra Leone Police, retired AIG, Madam Kadi Fakondoh, has, for the first time, spoken to the media since her abrupt retirement from office in 2007 by the then APC Government.
The iron lady gave a comprehensive interview to SLBC’s Hawa Barrie during the day marking International Women’s Day. She is one of Sierra Leone’s leading women who have made historical marks in the field of security and global peace building.
The retired AIG spoke on a number of issues ranging from her distinguished role in pushing for women empowerment in the Sierra Leone Police Force, closing the wide gap that was existing between male and female at the top management level of the force, creation of the domestic violence and Professional standards departments in the Sierra Leone Police, amongst others.
It will be recalled that, as the first female Senior Police Officer after the war and the subsequent restructuring of the Force, Madam Kadi Fakondoh developed special interest for the protection of women who were much vulnerable and disadvantaged as a result of the eleven (11) years brutal war. Law Enforcement agencies, especially the Sierra Leone Police, were faced with the challenges of lacking the wherewithal to investigate sexual and gender based violence.
Madam Fakondo was able to reason at that critical period of the country’s history –coming out from a gruesome rebel war –for the establishment of a structure to deal with the sensitive issue of domestic violence and rape. This was what led to the creation of a pilot phase of the domestic violence unit in Kissy, East of Freetown.
As the first Female Chief Police Officer (CPO), AIG Fakondoh had to deal with a crime prone policing community largely inhabited with ex-combatants. AIG Fakondoh’s policing priorities were able to extend to the protection of women ravaged by the war. She was able to effectively blend routine Police operations and specialized investigations amidst the absence of laws on SGBV, lack of equipment and specialized training for police officers in the investigation of SGBV related offences.
It was therefore no doubt that her experiences and models were very critical in the formation of the Family Support Unit in the post war restructuring reform under the British born Keith Biddle.
Due to the huge success, the Sierra Leone Police recorded as a result of the establishment of the FSU, AIG Fakondoh was consulted by the United Nations Development Program to give a helping hand to the establishment of the Child Protection Unit of the Liberia National Police Force.
The history of the Sierra Leone Police, especially as it relates to the empowerment of women, would never be complete if one fails to mention her role in developing the Accelerated Promotion Scheme for women, which later provided the basis for the massive recruitment of Female Police Graduates into the Force with clearly defined supervisory model.
The rationale was to visit educational institutions and convince women graduates to join the force on an accelerated promotion scheme. The policy had provided for an exit strategy after these women would have attained the position of Assistant Superintendent of Police. They were supposed, according to the policy, to rigorously rotate thorough the different departments in the Sierra Leone Police, backed up with a comprehensive report on their performance by their immediate supervisors. Is this the case today?
The former AIG also mentioned in her interview that she is very much disappointed that the Sierra Leone Police has not lived up to the expectations of the Change Management Program. She noted that professionalism, which was a hallmark of the change and post war restructuring, has seriously eroded with time.
Madam Fakondoh specifically noted that Police officers are no longer engaged in beat patrols, which used to define policing in the country.
The Change Management program have called for a Community led Policing wherein Police officers would come very close to the communities they police with a view to define their policing priorities. The Local Policing partnership boards were to serve as platforms to design policing privities in the Strategic Development of the Police.
The image of the Sierra Leone Police, according to Madam Fakondoh, has been continuously dented and that the force is currently facing an image problem especially created by the Traffic Department of the Police.
The former AIG Continued that even though the force has very good, decent and professional officers, the activities of traffic officers in major streets in the country is casting a shadow on such attributes. She expressed regret that the Force, despite having very brilliant policies emanating from the post war restructuring process, have failed to use them in recent times in the day to day management of the organization.
The force, according to her, needs to provide adequate information to its citizens in the course of carrying out their policing functions. This is lacking and has greatly militated against the professionalism of the force.
She concluded by noting that as she traverses the length and breadth of the world to prepare peace keepers for international peace keeping assignments she has been continually applauded by various nationals for her exemplary achievements while in the Sierra Leone Police and also the United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
She urged women in the force to carry themselves well and maintain their integrity with a view to effectively continue to compete with their male counterparts in every aspect of policing. AIG Fakondoh noted that she has the conviction that the women in the Police would emulate her.
The iron lady however interestingly failed to comment on the circumstances that led to her abrupt retirement from the Sierra Leone Police by the erstwhile APC government, noting that she has decided to put everything behind her back and move on.