By Ralph Sesay
The Security players in Sierra Leone almost a decade after independence has been characterized with politicisation, corruption, unprofessionalism and lack of transparency and accountability to its people. The country’s 1978 One-Party constitution had provided for the inclusion of the heads of the military and the Police into politics as members of the Legislature. Recruitment into the forces was mainly political through quotas unevenly distributed across the country.
The country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission among other things had stated that the heavy handedness and human rights abuses committed by the forces on the instructions of Politicians were some of the causes of the war.
With the end of the war in 2000, post war restructuring targeted a complete reformation of our security sector by overhauling the whole structure of the two main forces and creating a national security architecture with a civilian oversight highly interconnected and interdependent in the provision of security services for the state.
The 2001 National Central Security Intelligence Act was passed into law and created the National Security Coordinating Group (NSCG) headed by the President and has membership from the Ministry of Finance, Defence, the Inspector General of Police and the head of the Military.
The two forces also received robust reforms in the areas of trainings both nationally and internationally on human rights and other ethical issues. Accountability and transparency departments were created to enhance the execution of professional services that could be assessed by the people, civil society, the media and other players.
These reforms superintended by foreign expatriates paid from British tax payers monies were meant to stand the test of time .This is largely because ,the reforms had also developed policy guidelines which should serve as blueprints reference and continuous improvements.
Former President Kabbah gave the British Government a free hand to the post war restructuring process to a point that the Department for International Development (DFID) contracted team that had undertaken the restructuring process had singlehandedly appointed Brima Acha Kamara a Limba from Binkolo, the homeland of the APC as the first and longest serving Inspector General of Police a decision which was largely unpopular within SLPP circles.
Things collapsed immediately the APC took power in 2007.Very highly trained and educated Military and Police Officers who had received advanced International Command Courses in specialist disciplines were laid off, and some marginalized due to their perceived tribes or political allegiances. Policies on recruitments, promotions, and transfers, international trainings were bastardized to make way for party faithfuls.
This watered down the morale and professionalism that had characterized our security forces just after the post war restructuring period. It was very obvious that before the APC left power in 2018 the once Force for Good and our military had almost returned back to their old ways. The efforts of the British people and their hard earned taxes in creating very professional, transparent and highly accountable Police and Military forces went down the drains.
Politicians are now dictating the pace over the management of both forces. All the internal force policies have been set aside, recruitment, postings and transfers are now dictated by what the powers that be want.
It was our expectation that things will change under the New Direction that has promised change and had campaigned on the promise that it will no longer be business as usual .The first one hundred days is no different with regards the politicisation of the army and the Police forces. We have seen numerous transfers here and there in both forces. Certain personnel have been instantly promoted in both forces to be able to take up new postings etc.
Also, with the pretext to eliminate officers that are perceived to be APC there are several on-going investigations relating to arms and ammunition and the rest. These actions stand to justify the earlier position of the SLPP which had doubted the current military high command of the Military.
It is against this backdrop that one would safely conclude that successive Governments have not played their roles which could have been to sustain the efforts made by the British and other international players to make our forces highly apolitical, professional and non-partisan. They are only paying lip service to the de-politicization of security forces.