As ICC (International Criminal Court) flag flies at the facilities of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone (RSCSL), top government officials spend sleepless nights pondering who would be handed over to the court in few months.
Officials in the Internal Affairs and Defence ministries whose agents are alleged to have carried out most of the killings in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown and other parts upcountry remain worried and jittery about their future.
The agents and their supervisors, according RSCSL’s principle, would have to answer critical questions about who pulled the trigger without proper and sufficient reason during public order situations.
Unlike the defunct Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) which adopted the ‘greatest responsibility’ principle also known in criminal law as vicarious liability, RSCSL, by its nature, would apply both: the court will hold accountable commanders and subordinates who carried out various killings from 2018 to 2024.
If the sacked Deputy Minister, Lahai Lawrence Leema who allegedly issued the orders to kill is brought to justice, those who did the actual killings also would be roped in. No one would be spared this time.
The right to refuse unlawful orders is well recognised by the law as a superior order is no bar to prosecution.
It is in due respect and recognition of the legal maxim that the former Internal Affairs Minister may be invited by the court to shed light on the actions of his subordinate at the main correctional facility on Pa Demba Road in Freetown.
Minister of Internal Affairs is in charge of the police and prisons and same time a member of the Defence and Police Councils, and therefore must properly account for the lives lost at the correctional centre on 29th April, 2020.
Top government officials in the Defence Ministry also would be required to appear at the Residual Court to explain the alleged involvement of soldiers in various shooting sprees in different parts of the country.
Energy Ministry officers including the minister whose decision to forcefully remove a 6kva thermal plant from Makeni city in the Northern region left about 20 people dead according to a parliamentarian representing one of the constituencies there.
It was also in July 2020, that EDSA (Electricity Supply and Distribution Authority) officers trooped to Makeni to relocate an electricity machine to Lungi town which hosts the country’s only international airport.
A popular argument however holds that the machine could be peacefully removed if government was ready to improve the energy situation in the country especially when the stakeholders are properly consulted and sensitised ahead and consent sought.
Others would also argue that the machine is a public property and government had the right to relocate it anywhere and any part of the country although it was meant for the people of Makeni city.
Fisheries Ministry officials whose ban on fishing left several people dead in Tombo fishing community are also in pensive mood as they worry when their turn will come. The fishing ban, according to the Fisheries Ministry, was to control Corona Virus on the high seas while bars, pubs and night clubs remain open all night long.
Hardly a night passes by without heavy drinking, dancing and profuse sweating in such entertainment centres, but government never imposed any ban on them, a move that caused fishermen to take to the streets as their livelihood was under threat.
The hope for peace and security in a community where the people are deprived of the means of livelihood is farcical and far-fetched.
The affected people must bounce back to assert their right, and police response led to loss of lives for which officials may be humbled in the court. Former Chief Justice, Babatunde Edwards, a man who many said led the worst judiciary in the country.
Justice Edwards’s one-month ban on trials owing to a suspected case of Corona Virus within the prison yard led to a protest within prison that left 31 people dead including a prison officer although unofficial sources indicated a higher figure.
It was also a heated argument in legal and academic circles that the former head of the judiciary had no right to put justice on hold for just an unconfirmed case of Corona.
The Chief Judge’s action delayed justice and justice delayed was justice denied to the inmates.
Kept incommunicado, the inmates have been doubly punished, and protest is the only language of the oppressed. But, the inmates however were brutally cracked down, an action that will not go uninvestigated.
What about other agencies whose officials conspired to undermine democracy, law and order in the protection of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party.
Among these agencies, according to independent public views, were the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) and the political Parties Regulation Commission (PPRC) By embarking on several illegal practices that resulted into the declaration of President Julius Maada Bio winner of the elections.
It was a bitter pill for the people of Sierra Leone swallowed as their will was allegedly stolen by the power holders on June 27, 2023 in the presence of foreign diplomats, international and local election observers.
The Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh was at the helm of the alleged election rigging and theft of votes in collusion with senior government officials especially ministers.
By declaring the incumbent, winner of the June Polls before even some of the votes could be verified, tabulated and tallied, Konneh isolated Sierra Leone from the community of free and civilised nations.
He also flouted the Public Elections Act of 2022 which obliges the ECSL boss to hold free, fair and credible elections.
He also placed the country’s peace, security and quietness at stake as a counter move from the people was evident and imminent.
The election boss also treated the election observers and members of the international community with contempt especially when it was clear that the votes were in favour of a candidate of his own choice.
In what appeared a desperate move to achieve the alleged election rigging objective, Konneh did not do it alone but with the help of other high profile government officials particularly the judiciary and the security forces.
It was Babatunde Edwards who swore President Bio despite credible reports by credible election observers that the votes were stolen.
UN, EU, Commonwealth, Carter Center, AU, ECOWAS, G7+ and other election observation missions took exception to the election results owing to what they referred to as “statistical inconsistencies” and “mathematical improbabilities.”
Rigging of elections, according to Professor Nick Cheeseman, did not come in a day but the product of a long-term plan, so be it for Sierra Leone where the authorities laid a solid foundation for several years to derail democracy.
The foundation for the alleged rigging started when 10 APC law makers were removed from parliament in May 2019 through verdicts handed down by two high court judges.
Many said the move was outside the law and was a direct affront to the rule of law as well as democratic good governance in Sierra.
The Public Elections Act, 2022 provides for a rerun election where a petition is upheld by the court.
It was a different case for PAOPA government whose Clerk of Parliament, Paran Umar Tarawally arbitrarily swore in the SLPP runners-up so that they could have majority in parliament to overrun opposition politicians.
Having the majority of seats on their side, SLPP members championed the enactment of several bad laws in parliament particularly those bordering on the elections as seen in the Public elections, Political Parties Regulations, Local Government and the demonic Proportional Representation (PR) system which deprived the electorates of the right to choose their own candidates.
The Supreme Court also stood with the ruling party when the matter was challenged by two opposition politicians.
The brilliant arguments of Dr Abdulai Osman Conteh, one of Africa’s most respected lawyers did not create a turn around. Dr Conteh was saddened by the verdict saying it was a sad day for the rule of law in Sierra Leone.
How he wished for another court that is superior to the Supreme Court to exist elsewhere. Under the PR law, it is the party and not the people that choose parliamentarians.
The main opposition party was also on the wrong side of several judicial actions owing to delays in holding their National Delegates Conference to have a flag-bearer.
After a long struggle, the APC was finally given the green light by the high court to go ahead with the convention, but a court injunction also became a big hurdle to the internal democratic process of the party.
The delegates’ conference, according to reliable sources, however materialised after persistent appeals by the international community to the PAOPA government.
Reliable sources within APC have also intimated this press that key APC politicians colluded with officials of the ruling party to topple the people’s will. They will surely face the law when the court sits.
The media platforms are replete with messages that videos and photos of those who collected bribes to derail the people’s will are in the hands of the international community.
Holding rogue politicians and monsters of democracy accountable is a key recommendation of the Carter Centre, a US-based organisation specialised in observing and reporting on elections in various parts of the world.
As the list continues, PPRC officials also allegedly played significant role in tightening the democratic space for opposition political parties by enforcing the law based on double standards.
PPRC, according to opposition politicians, is known for imposing fines on opposition political parties for minor infractions of the law while ruling political parties enjoy a field day.
The parties regulation agency, during the elections, banned political rallies in the name of peace and stability, but could not stop SLPP supporters from taking over the streets after the results were called.
SLPP’s ecstatic march in the city left a trail of destruction of APC banners and portraits including that of the opposition leader, Dr Samura Kamara.
Kamara’s portraits became a key target for destruction throughout the country with law enforcement agencies turning a blind eye owing to fear of reprisals from the PAOPA regime.
It continued on to the day of voting day with Sierra Leoneans going to the polls amid guns, water tanks and teargas canisters.
Little wonder that the election results were discredited by all observers local or international owing to significant irregularities.
The local election observer group, NEW (National Elections Watch) also failed to recognise and accept the results announced by ECSL.
Relying on the PRVT (Process, Results Verification for Transparency), NEW boss, Marcella Samba Sesay said no candidate got the 55% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.
The PRVT was first used in the East African country of Kenya in the mid-1970s before spreading to other countries on the continent.
The method was also adopted for several elections in Sierra Leone including 2023 to ensure that they are elections are free, fair and credible.
Security forces, according to 2023 EU report, were also co-opted into the struggle to win the election at all cost and against all odds since they possessed the might.
The EU report catalogued instances in which the forces of law and order have repeatedly opened fire at opposition politicians, supporters and sympathisers to keep them away from the electoral process for which they will pay a costly price.
The law comes first in every human affairs, it is the command of the sovereign, a means of social control and restraining others.
It is the fulcrum around which the survival and stability of the state revolves and international justice system is stronger that local laws.
No one including a sitting President Enjoys immunity under international justice system as all are equal before the law.
Equally, finance is the lifeblood of any viable political institution; it is used to seek the people’s welfare particularly public sector workers. Currently, PAOPA government is in the red finding it difficult to weather the storm.
Investigation carried out by this press has shown that most public sector workers are on a go-slow as they do not report for duty at the right time although WAKA FINE buses are there.
Youyi building which houses almost all ministries of government seems to have relegated to a ghost town as it has lost the hustle and bustle for which it is known for years back.
Enough money is not in government coffers as the international community has held back its resources owing to alleged election rigging and theft of votes.
The United States failed to offer the $750m MCC (Millenium Challenge Corporation) compact to Sierra Leone which the country had qualified, but failed under the free-and-fair election benchmark.
MCC is a US initiative that encourages countries to adopt democratic good governance principles, and sound pass marks lead to grant amounting into hundred millions of dollars.
Since Sierra Leone failed to hold a transparent electoral process, there is no question that donor support would stop immediately.
Sierra Leone also lost $250m which the World Bank promised to offer had there been credible and acceptable electoral outcome.
United Kingdom is also taking similar line of action as it cuts off cooperation with the current government until democracy is restored.
EU which has been a key development partner for Sierra Leone too has held back their resources until the election results are investigated for the truth to prevail. An Election probe is underway with recommendations expected in June, this year.
A rerun recommendation is the most sought after by the main opposition, and it is clear that without it, the struggle continues while PAOPA government crumbles from within.
