-To War Widows
-Victims of Sexual Violence
By Ralph Sesay
The National Commission for Social Action has, in a press release, disclosed that the Government of President Bio has agreed to allocate Le 11.4 billion in the 2018 Fiscal Year towards reparation support for 8,045 war widows and victims of sexual violence.
This allocation, according to the release, will cover payment of rehabilitation grants and other project activities, and this will be effected in three installments. The first will be paid into the NACSA account in August 2018, the second in September, 2018 and the third in October 2018, respectively.
It will be recalled that the payment of reparations was a key recommendation of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). It was a postwar arrangement meant to alleviate the negative social and economic impacts of the 11 years civil war on war widows and victims of sexual violence.
Our international partners and the United Nations have previously supported NACSA in completing payments of reparations for three other categories. That is, amputees, other war wounded and child victims.
The release concluded that even though the Government of Sierra Leone had previously agreed to cover payments of reparation grants for war widows and victims of sexual violence, payments, they noted, had stalled over the last several years due to funding constraints.
The Government of President Bio has been able to meet such an important obligation through the prudent management of the country’s finances.
On Monday 30th July,2018, at a tripartite meeting involving the Ministry of Finance, the Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board and NACSA, the government has agreed to pay the said amount.
Nightwatch spoke to several victims who have long been languishing due to the inability on the part of government to fulfill this sacred responsibility to our war widows and victims of sexual violence. Many victims have died while some have taken to street begging and prostitution.
Pa Morie Jusu, an amputee residing at Grafton and a father of two other amputees, was full of joy for President Bio and his team upon hearing that they will be paid their reparation benefits.
Many Sierra Leoneans have lauded the move by government to prioritize such an issue amidst such a challenging period in our economy.