Uncompromising loyalty to politicians by police and the army has brewed questions about the future of the 2023 elections.The questions which have emanated from strongholds of opposition parties are related to several incidents that beclouded recent bye-elections in the country.
The parliamentary bye-elections at Constituency 110 in the Western Rural district has been cited as a major reference point.
In the bye-election, election materials especially ballot boxes were destroyed in police presence by alleged SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) thugs.A notorious SLPP thug widely known as ‘ARATA’ was alleged to have masterminded the violence.
Although thuggery is prohibited by law, the thugs they were never got at by police.They enjoyed the protection of government, and thuggery boomerangs.In all other bye-elections, similar incidents occurred.
In Tonko Limba Chiefdom in Kambia district, a bye-election turned violent leading to physical injuries and destruction of property.
In Koinadugu district, a parliamentary bye-election was also engulfed by violence.The most interesting factor for all the violence during elections, the police hardly arrest or investigate anybody especially when the violence is caused by supporters of the ruling party.
Despite the autonomy enjoyed by the two forces under the law, that is the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991, they found it difficult to dispense their sacred duty.
Heads of the Police and armed forces (Inspector-General of Police and Chief of Defence Staff) are appointed by the President who also retains the power to dismiss them at will.
The two forces are the two principal law enforcement agencies the people of Sierra Leone rely on for peaceful and credible elections.The police provide internal security while the army guard and secure national borders.
Although the police enjoy police primacy in internal security, the army complement police effort in public disorders.The army and the police share common security principles that bind them as one family.
The synergy of the two forces was bolstered by the Military Aid to Civil Power, a policy that was approved by the National Security Council in late 2000.
The Sierra Leone Police is created by a constitutional provision found in section 155 of the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1965. The Inspector-General Police is established as head of the police force.
“There shall be a police service of Sierra Leone, the head of which shall be the Inspector-General of Police,” the constitution reads in part.
Police council, the highest decision-making body of the police, is headed by the Vice-President.Although the operational command and control of the force is vested in the hands of the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Council provides political and policy direction for the police force.
It draws broad policy guidelines to assist the Inspector-General of Police in the day-to-day administration of the force.The law prohibits a citizen from raising any police force.
The constitution says: “No person shall raise a police force except by or under the authority of an Act of parliament.”
Almost invariably, the army is also established by a constitutional provision found in Section 165.
The section says: “There shall be the armed forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone which shall consist of the Army, the Navy and the Air force…,”
From the time the army was established, its main duty is to guard and secure the Republic of Sierra Leone, and to preserve the safety and territorial integrity of the state.
The army, under the law, should also participate in the country’s development, safeguard the people’s achievements and to protect the constitution.
To coordinate its operations, policies and other related functions, the state puts in place a defence council chaired by the President.The most beautiful provisions in the law are the provisions that politically neutralise the army and the police.
The provision which says: “no member of the police force shall hold political office as Vice President, minister….”
The provision also goes for the army.It is therefore safe to say that members of the two forces cannot take part in politics while they actively serve the forces.The cornerstone for those provisions is to ensure an effective and efficient state security apparatus.
The law holds that the two forces would become effective only when they are politically neutral.Despite provisions in the supreme law that strive to build apolitical forces, the objective is hardly realised owing to the absence of provisions that guarantee the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police and that of the Chief of Defence Staff.
At any time, the President retains the power to fire at will, either the Inspector-General or the Chief of Defence Staff.
It is the absence of the protective provision that renders the police and armed forces vulnerable in the hands of politicians.
A party which rules at the moment controls the security agencies.
In most cases, they would not hesitate to obey any order that comes from government just to fend off their positions.
In the process of executing orders from the ruling party, the people and opposition politicians are at the wrong end of either police or military brutality.
Numerous instances abound in which the police and the army have obeyed and respected government orders and policies despite their illegality.
In 2018, Sierra Leone has seen a situation in which police officers bowed to the orders of a clerk of parliament to get opposition parliamentarians out of the well of parliament.Sierra Leone is also witness to a situation in which the police arrested supporters of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) most times on orders from above (politicians).
It happened in the north-east headquaters of Makeni where police arrested local authorities after fatally injuring youths there.The deaths came about when youths blocked an EDSA (Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority) order to remove a thermal plant from their town.
The youths’ resistance to the order was neither a question of maverick nor a question of lawlessness, but a question of preventing power outages.Makeni was a stiller town after trigger-happy policemen pulled the trigger.
Government seems to be in complicity with the security forces as none had been held to account.Sierra Leone is also a witness to a situation in which police recruitment was greatly influenced by notable politicians.Police high command would not diffuse the political influence owing to the fear of political reprisals.
As the principal agencies of state security continue to assume a powerless and subservient role in the face of politicians, they portray an image of how the forces look like in the war pre-war period.
Post Conflict security sector reform aims at building a culture of accountability in security forces.
Building accountable security institutions is a sine qua non in peace-building project.The military and the police play critical roles as security providers and as the most visible state apparatus in post-Conflict countries.
It goes without saying that the two forces would occupy a proud place in the country’s democracy only when they enjoy complete independence from politicians.