Every so often culprits are sentenced to death by hanging which has not been done for the past 20 years or so. It has been a farcical, ridiculous, tantalising sentence to the naïve public.
The stumbling block in carrying out the hanging is pegged on the Rome Statute that was signed by a previous government which is morally binding in spite of our sovereignty.
The conundrum as far as the public is concerned is why the sentencing to death should continue instead of sentencing to life imprisonment which is real. The anguish of the son of former President J.S. Momoh at his sentencing to death may not be unconnected to the misconception that the sentence may be carried out as pronounced. Treaties are usually signed without the concurrence of the electorate who may be opposed to them. The fact is that our leaders usually go with the crowd as it were, which is why Sierra Leone has to join over 140 countries in signing the Rome Treaty instead of maintaining the death penalty with the rest of the minority of nations.
The Bible has apparently conflicting passages on the issue of death penalty. It is up to the believer to choose which option suits him or her. In Numbers 35:16-18 it is written; “The murderer shall be put to death. Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death”. In Genesis 9:6 it is written; “Whoever sheds the blood of mam by man shall his blood be shed; for God made man in his image”.
Our President may take solace in the passage in Exodus 20:13 that states; “You shall not kill”. Let it be known however that unlike the English language that is the most international language, the Hebrew language is terse and did not add “human beings” to the commandment.
If this commandment is the take of the President he should be aware that it is not in sync with the mood of the majority of Sierra Leoneans. In a vox pop on the nation’s broadcasting station over 70 percent of the respondents were in favour of the death penalty. In a real democracy one would have expected President Bio to administer the death penalty rather than to accede to the whims and caprices of Amnesty International and the rest of the world who would not vote for him anyway. Is killing of murderers not taking place in the United States of all places? A listening government listens to its electorate rather than seeking cheap popularity from the diaspora.
During the rule of Dr. Siaka Stevens there were hangings for the Mammy Yoko and Wellington Street murders, and murders were unknown for decades after those hangings. The murderers are executed and their bodies displayed outside the Pandemba Road Prisons. Our incumbent President however is attempting to prove himself more righteous than the Pope.
Talking about human rights, it should be considered that the victims of murder too are entitled to human rights; a factor that has been glossed over by the advocates of death penalty abolition. It can be most galling for relatives and friends of victims as freed murderers go about the streets boasting of their deeds.
President Bio will pay the price of listening to the voices of Amnesty International rather than his own electorate. What a choice!
The Rome Statute should be removed from the law books to stop the deceit.