By Ragan M. Conteh
The former Member of Parliament (MP) who has served for two consecutive terms as Leader of Government Business, Hon Ibrahim Bundu, has disclosed that the chieftaincy election delay is not only a recipe for a setback in rural development, but also a recipe for conflicts and eventual anarchy.
The former MP was a leading contributor and participant in establishing the Chieftaincy Act of 2009, which stipulates the “Processes and Procedures of Crowning or Replacing Paramount Chiefs”.
Therefore, he appeared unchallenged when he defined chieftaincy as ‘the bedrock of governance’ in countries where democracy is being practiced.
The former MP was emphatic maintaining that anything that tends to undermine said processes and procedures has the likelihood of negatively impacting the country’s National Development Plans.
He made a particular reference to the section that describes Paramount Chiefs as custodians of the localities they govern, and how any vacancy should not exceed a year after the demise of a substantive Paramount Chief.
‘Let me refer you to the prevailing situation in Sanda Magbolonthor, one of the chiefdoms in Constituency 067 in Kareneh District, North West Region.’
He said since the Chief passed away in 2016, ‘there has not been any substantive Paramount Chief in that Chiefdom.’
Hon Bundu furthered that instead of conducting an election, the then All People’s Congress (APC) party led government appointed a Regent Chief who was immediately relieved and replaced by the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) regime ‘instead of fast-tracking the process of electing a substantive Paramount Chief’.
The MP said the apparent unwillingness of governments to obey this provision is much more visible in Port Loko District, which can only boast of at most three substantive Paramount Chiefs out of 13 chiefdoms.
Hon Bundu said the problem is even worse in the newly de-amalgamated chiefdoms where there are instances of Caretaker Chiefs being imported and imposed on people regardless of whether or not the customs and traditions of the chiefdom in question are being followed.
He pointed out that in Romendy Chiefdom, another newly de-amalgamated chiefdom in Kareneh District, there is a case in which the elected Paramount Chief was refrained from governing his subjects even after the staff/sceptre was officially handed over to him.
Similarly, in Maforki Chiefdom in the Port Loko District, the Regent Chief, who had almost completed the traditions for becoming a Chief, was kicked out and subsequently replaced ‘by someone who ought not to have any access to the ceremonial bush.’
It was against that backdrop that the former MP and leader of both Majority Party and Government Business insisted that ‘those who make the laws must not be seen as law breakers of the very laws.’
Hon Ibrahim Bundu said he was baffled to know that similar provisions of the law pertaining MPs and Ward Councillors are not being promptly honoured, to wit, there should always be an election for the replacement of either of the aforementioned categories within three months.
‘Breaking of the law in the Processes and Procedures to replace a Paramount Chief within the stipulated period of one year is a major setback to the development of communities.
‘It is a situation that is scary as it has the potential to paralyse the cherished customs and traditions of chieftaincy in the country.
‘There is also the corresponding fear for a total breakdown in law and order in rural settings as more and more Caretaker Chiefs are being handpicked by successive governments to man the affairs of chiefdoms.
‘The point is that most of these Caretaker or Regent Chiefs have very little or absolutely no knowledge of the customs and traditions of the respective chiefdoms they are now to govern,’ he warned.
The former MP therefore climaxed with an appeal for government to ensure that this issue is addressed without further delay as the nation is now gearing towards the 2023 General Elections.