Many have enquired if Lahai Lawrence Leema is a rough diamond or thorn in the flesh of Sierra Leoneans, although an answer is yet to come. Leema’s recent threats of crushing anyone standing in their way to the June elections should not be taken with a pinch of salt.
Leema is ‘PAOPANIC’ than Bio himself; he stays true to the ‘PAOPA’ ideology than any other SLPP member. ‘PAOPA’ represents force and coercion in acquiring and exercising power.
It is persistent, consistent and insistent in getting result. The ways of the ‘PAOPA’ disciples are extreme and their message compelling and appealing. They have always used ‘the full force of the law’ phraseology to suppress, oppress and brutalise.
The prevailing circumstances clearly showcase Leema’s potential to carry out what he says, and ways must be found to neutralise his threats. In his capacity as Deputy Internal Affairs Minister, such threat should not come from him at a moment Sierra Leone heads for crucial and decisive elections.
He is expected to be peaceful, law abiding and defensive of the people’s basic rights, and not to lord it over them. The Internal Affairs Ministry is key to any governance system. It is in charge of homeland security which is anchored on peace of the state and safety of all and sundry.
The Minister of Internal Affairs is the second most powerful man in the Police Council, the highest decision and policy making body of the Sierra Leone Police. He is also key member of the Defence Council, the highest and most important organ of the army. In the absence of the Minister, his deputy steps into his shoes. The deputy minister has the potential and temerity to do what he says, and must not be underrated.
Leema started his bad ways before SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) came to power in April 2018. His attacks on SLBC (Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation) staff are still in recorded history. On the eve of the 2018 elections, Leema physically assaulted journalists at the country’s state broadcaster to avenge a perceived blackmail of President Julius Maada Bio, then opposition leader.
Embarking on such primitive action, Leema presented himself as one who does not know what democracy means. Democracy is about freedom: freedom to do or say anything as long as it is within legal confines.
Since he appeared as one who has run out of ideas, he used the fist to get his way. The magistrate to whom Leema’s case was located stopped halfway through. He acquitted and discharged him not on legal grounds but on grounds of indisposition. The magistrate said in open court that he was indisposed to continue the case against Leema.
The court’s compassion let Leema off the hook with hope that he would change his ways, but he still continued his ways. A litany of allegations from Sierra Leoneans holds that Leema is lethal.
He was clearly implicated in the Pa Demba Road prison massacre of April, 2020. In an audio widely circulated on media platforms, former SLPP Women’s Leader, Fatmata Sewaneh said she and Leema were at the scene of the brutal killings over what they called an attempted jail break.
Many Sierra Leoneans tried figuring out what the duo were doing there at that time. Popular arguments held that they strayed beyond the parameters of their legally recognised mandate.
Their duty stops within their institutions and nothing else as the two officials are not prison officers. The number of deaths at the prison yard is too high, and they will not go un-investigated even if it takes too long. The killings have however never restrained Leema who many called the ‘killer minister.’
Leema is also accused of carrying out secret killings in the post-August 10, 2022 demonstrations. Many protesters crumbled under the barrel of the gun on his orders, and some with his bare hands. He also allegedly committed arson.
Leema was accused of burning down civilian facilities, and shelling bullets on non-military targets. He allegedly gunned and burned down an APC ‘Ataya’ Base at Calaba Town in Freetown during the demonstrations.
He even threatened to embark on more atrocities if the protest continued. Sources indicated that he still continued to kill even when the protests died down.
The incident in which Leema’s guard fired and fractured one of the residents at Brookfields community in Freetown is still fresh in people’s minds. The case was taken to court, but the ruling also favoured him. It appears as if the judiciary had granted him licence not to do what is right but to do what is wrong. Leema’s interferences into the work of the police and security forces is also visible.
The minister usurped the functions and powers of the commandant at the Police Academy when he announced the names of those who should be recruited in the police force. Leema also acted as the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) when he addressed police officers on deployment on a peace-keeping mission in Somalia.
Such powers belong to the IGP and not him. But, it is the result of having a puppet police chief. By all standards, the sacked IGP, Ambrose Sovula is a bull in a China shop. Sovula, by all standards, is not qualified as village police post commander let alone a local unit commander.
Therefore, appointing him as IG represents the biggest insult to the people of Sierra Leone. Most of Leema’s illegal interferences into police work occurred under Sovula’s watch. IG Fayia Sellu is a bit better off as he curtails Leema’s direct orders to the police. Leema’s actions and utterances portray him as one who has just been parachuted into Sierra Leone’s political landscape.
Sierra Leone is a democracy and not an autocracy where there are no social, legal and political structures to restrain the powerful. By his actions Leema is projecting power beyond reckoning and threatening the peace of the state.
He has one hope and that hope is to win 2018 elections through intimidation and terror tactics. Sierra Leoneans have vowed to silence his guns through the ballot box.