By Allieu S. Tunkara
Sierra Leone is still a post-conflict state and any government at any particular time is obliged to pursue measures for healing and reconciliation. So be it for the New Direction Government of President Julius Maada Bio. Events that occurred before and after the 2018 elections put under test Sierra Leone’s aspirations for peace and security.
The transition from the ruling APC (All People’s Congress) to the then opposition SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) now in governance is one the most troublesome episodes the country has never seen. The security threats that loomed over the state made the swearing in ceremony of President Bio the most bizzare.
State House which is the normal and ceremonial place to swear in a President was abandoned. President Bio’s swearing-in ceremony took place at the Raddison Blu Hotel in Freetown. Men in the streets and academics argued that the post-elections threats could be linked not only to the cut-throat competition by the main rival parties (APC and SLPP) but also the leadership style exhibited by the APC while in governance.
Some studies indicate that south-easterners were largely marginalised during APC rule. Governance Transition Team (GTT) of April, 2018 captured the perceived marginalisation of a majority of Sierra Leoneans. The report noted that: ‘Despite its rhetoric about inclusive governance, former government of President Koroma pursued a policy of tribalism and regionalism in its recruitment and promotion of personnel at State House, in government agencies and commissions and in diplomatic postings.’
The report further noted that ethnically favoured appointments constituted roughly 71 per cent of all senior and middle-level appointments and postings to the country’s foreign missions made by former President Koroma’s government. Ethnic favouritism was also reflected in the APC’s award of government contracts, scholarships, commercial bank loans, and regional distribution of development projects with the neglect of Kenema and Kono districts in terms of roads infrastructure being the most glaring.
It was in the midst of these prevailing circumstances that the New Direction took over state governance. In its early years of its leadership, New Direction Government was seen by many as a government of retribution and reprisals. The allegations came when dozens of staff lost their jobs at State House, National Telecommunications Commission, Statistics Sierra Leone and Sierra Leone Maritime Administration among others.
The massive loss of jobs was seen by many as a form of revenge.
But, government officials have always said most of those relieved of their duties were not properly appointed in their offices. Their employment model was not in line with legally accepted procedures. None of the appointees, government officials said, could produce an appointment letter when asked to do so.
Government spokesmen also made it clear that most of those whose services are terminated were contract staff, and had paid them their financial entitlements (ex-gratia). Apart from the allegations of rampant dismissals, the New Direction Government was also accused of other forms of maladministration that do not augur well with opposition parties especially the main opposition, APC.
The seeming disagreements between the ruling party and the main opposition present Sierra Leone as a conflicting state. Threats and conflicts are not uncommon anywhere officials of the two opposition parties meet.
The threats usually took place in official places including the law-making institution, parliament. SLPP and APC have fought twice in parliament over the controversial appointment of the speaker of parliament and the allegedly forceful and surreptitious passage of three major bills in parliament.
Development experts have advanced sound arguments that meaningful development would never take place in a society riddled with conflict.
In a bid to reduce tension, government initiated the Bintumani Conference 111 in 2019 as a platform for reconciliation and peace among the various political parties. The main opposition which is the key target for the peace conference never showed up.
Thus, the conference’s main objective was defeated, and conflicts and threats continue. In what appears a desperate move for peace, New Direction Government is working on plans to set up a National Commission for peace for a peaceful Sierra Leone.
Reconciliation and restorative justice is at the heart of the peace commission. After Sierra Leone’s brutal conflict (1991-2002), a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up to investigate the causes of conflict and proffer recommendations to prevent the recurrence of another one. The Commission came up with a report in 2004 and recommended reconciliation and restorative justice.
The commission recognises that reconciliation evolves from restorative justice. A system based on restorative justice focuses on restoring relations among victims and perpetrators. It also notes that helping to restore relations among the various actors is a long-term process that entails a number of measures.
Reconciliation, it says, begins by creating the conditions for peace. This implicitly means that the state and other stakeholders must work towards the prevention of a new conflict. That prevention is contingent on a number factors: creating the platform for participation in governance, improvement of socio-economic living conditions of the people, good governance, strong and functional oversight institutions and the implementation of a reparations programme. The commission believes that the leadership of Sierra Leone must make more effort to promote and consolidate reconciliation at the national level since reconciliation is a long-term project.
Reconciliation at the community level is also not ruled out. Community reconciliation, the report says, entails restoring relations among opposing groups at the local level. Such reconciliation is fostered by understanding and sharing experiences and creating conditions for community acceptance of the particular wrong or wrongs done.
Sierra Leone’s move reconciliation after an all-out conflict is very much akin to that of the United States after the civil disorders in the summer of 1967. It was not an easy moment in the United States as blacks were fighting to take back their rights.
The summer brought racial disorders to American cities, and with them shock, fear and bewilderment to the nation. The worst came during a two-week period in July first in Newark and then in Detroit.
Each set off a chain of reaction in neighbouring communities. On July 28 of the same year, the President of the United States set up a commission and directed them to answer three basic questions:
What happened? Why did it happen? and What can be done to prevent it from happening again?
To adequately respond to these questions, the commission undertook a broad range of studies and investigations by visiting riot cities, heard witnesses and sought counsel from experts across the country.
Today, despite minimal threats and other challenges to security, the United States remains one of the most peaceful states in the community of nations. Former President Ernest Bai and Current President Julius Maada Bio have called for peace and reconciliation in the country. It is hoped that the call would be responded to by Sierra Leoneans for real peace to prevail.
However, government and the main opposition must demonstrate the political will.