Peace and security is still under threat in Sierra Leone despite a number of Bintumani conferences that have taken place over the years owing to the lack of political will.
The latest of the Bintumani conferences was the peace dialogue brokered by the Commonwealth, AU and ECOWAS which culminated into a communiqué containing several resolutions that if implemented will end the post-election stalemate and get back Sierra Leone to normalcy.
This conference is referred to as Bintumani-4 as three Bintumanis have taken place. Resolution-3 provides for the establishment of a tripartite committee to look into irregularities of June 24, 2023 multi-tier elections. Similarly, Resolution-4 urges government to discontinue politically motivated court cases, release political detainees and resettle victims of political violence.
The ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) were the main participants in the dialogue as members of the diplomatic community were mere facilitators of peace to Sierra Leone. As they appended their signatures out of their free volition, the two parties are expected to go by the resolutions so that errors of the past could be rectified.
But, things did not go as expected as the key signatory to the peace communiqué seems not willing to abide by the resolutions let alone cooperate with the Elections Investigation Committee (EIC). Despite communiqué obligations, government has discontinued none of the politically motivated court cases, released no political prisoner and resettled no victim of political violence as demanded by the communiqué.
In fact, more cases have sprung up with more arrest and detention of opposition politicians particularly APC members thus raising questions of deep questions about government’s commitment to the communiqué.
November 27, 2023 was supposed to mark the commencement of the election probe, but according to APC sources, government officials never showed up making it difficult for business to transact. Government officials capitalised on November-26 event during which police and military facilities were attacked and ransacked by unidentified gun men. Since that event, government officials have been dragging their feet over the EIC to a point that the committee should have died naturally.
Reliable sources also have intimated this press that SLPP is resisting the election probe so much that it does not tolerate an election audit which forms the main basis of the investigation. But commitment shown by the diplomatic community and development partners has brought new hope.
British High Commissioner, Lisa Chesney was on the Chief Minister’s neck about the election probe insisting that the November-26 event must not overshadow the work of the committee. She therefore urged the Chief Minister to speed up the investigation so that the work does not exceed the time limit. Lisa’s view was shared by the American Ambassador, David Hunt who admonished government not to walk away from the dialogue despite the current political situation after Sunday’s attacks.
The United States, ECOWAS and even AU also encouraged government to cooperate with the tripartite committee to look into the irregularities.
However, the two resolutions appear to be a thorn in the flesh of SLPP politicians owing to their legal implications. Government appears highly suspicious of a reverse of the June polls if Resolution-3 is complied with. Resolution-4 will also place criminal responsibility on them and will not escape prosecutions in the near future.
The only way out is to whittle down the election probe by way of non-compliance with the resolutions although they had signed with the people of Sierra Leone asking why does government sign without implementing. Government’s failure to honour communique obligations brings to mind the 2018 Bintumani-Three Conference summoned by government after the country was nearly torn apart weeks after President Bio took over state governance.
Thugs and sometimes Machete-wielding youth were all over Freetown causing mayhem and the country was fast degenerating into anarchy. Political intimidation, killings, indiscriminate arrest, detention without trials, pillage, wanton destruction of life and property, oppression and terror tactics and the creation of a police state hallmarked the Bio regime in its early days of the state governance project.
Having seen much of the terror, the people had no option but to respond to the violence and threats lending credence to the notion that ‘to any action, there must be an opposite and equal reaction. The poor security situation forced Bio to proclaim a Bintumani-Three conference that was well attended by the top cream of society except APC executives and their members who were on the wrong end of what they called a new form of state-sponsored violence.
The conference saw a outpour of views, opinions, comments, criticisms and admonitions to government. Among them was former President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association who admonished government to strengthen the pillars of peace by stopping the intimidation, unlawful dismissals and undermine of institutions that provide peace.
Then leader of the National Grand Coalition, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella was also a key participant. The two-day conference ended and the participants went back to their offices with hope that there would never be a repetition of violence, but the promise was never a water-tight one.
Few days after the conference, more violence took over the streets than ever before with the security forces having much of a slice of their own in the ensuing conflicts. Lack of investment, Joblessness, abject poverty, crime and disorder as well as unbearable economic hardship are hallmarks of a country plagued by political tension and instability.
Hit hard by the economic crunch, the people would take to the streets to send a loud and compelling message to government that they were no longer ready to put up with such a tough situation.
But, the people got gunned down at any time they came out to vent out their grievance with August 10, 2022 being the most notorious as 31 people including six police officers were fatally injured. By its nature, the protest was a response to a cost-of-living crisis, but the police and the army saw it as an overt attempt to unseat President Julius Maada Bio. Although they were not charged with treason, most of those arrested were treated as people plotting to take over state power through the use of force and violence.
Complaints were widespread that those arrested were held in harsh conditions in most of the police stations across the country with detention facilities in Freetown being the worst. Those held in a notorious detention camp called Bengzhi got some of the worst forms of degrading punishment with reports of sexual violence not uncommon.
Detention above legal limits was also a norm: Sierra Leone’s Constitution prescribed 10 days as maximum detention period for capital offences and three days for minor or other crimes. But, these provisions were never complied with.
Even women who took to the streets against tough times were not spared. They spent days in police cells after being arrested for riot-related offences. The spate of brutality and thuggery continued during and after the election.
A number of civilians succumbed to the barrel of the gun in most of the protests staged especially the immediate period of the post-election stalemate with September 11 being the latest.
Seven people, according to official sources, were reportedly fatally injured although unofficial sources rejected the casualty figure. Sierra Leoneans were taken aback by the spate of killings as Bio had promised before the elections that he would not kill again and that the political space is wide open for everyone.
But, this promise was not kept, but there can still be peace without a Bintumani conference provided there is a living political will.