The incident of January 13th 2025 that saw the seizure of one of Sierra Leone’s Embassy vehicles by Guinean security in Conakry is not just alarming; it is an embarrassment and a disgrace to the state of Sierra Leone and its Government. The said vehicle was reportedly stopped and searched by the Guinean security personnel on an apparent tip-off, otherwise, the Guinean security personnel wouldn’t have behaved in such an undiplomatic manner as to stop and search a diplomatic vehicle for no just cause. Something needs to be investigated further beyond just the expose by the Guineans of huge quantities of cocaine concealed in parcels and physical cash said to be in the tune of One Hundred Thousand United States Dollars.
Where was that cache of drugs from? Who gave them to the Embassy driver and to who was the drug and cash destined for? This incident, resembling a Hollywood crime film bursting an episode, the Guineans must have been following and tracking the dealings of the Sierra Leone Embassy staff including the Ambassador, his deputy, Head of Chancery, the Press Attaché, etc. to have reached a conclusion that either collectively or singly with a master-mind instructor in Freetown probably sitting very high in Government something sinister was being done that is a threat to their national security and that undermines the diplomatic relations between the two countries. They may have decided to hit at a time least expected because they may have had loads of information.
Perhaps, the arrest and deportation from Guinea of hundreds of Sierra Leoneans from the slum areas of the capital, Conakry, can be associated with this seeming narco conveyor belt running from Freetown to Conakry spearheaded by Sierra Leoneans and now, the country’s Embassy and diplomatic status have been enmeshed in the scandal. It could be that the Guineans must have tracked the distribution, and sale of prohibited drugs within the Sierra Leonean community that may have reached their investigations and estimation of probability closer to the country’s Diplomatic Mission. They may have therefore tracked and acted with precision to ensure the exactitude of their suspicion and they have turned out to be correct.
Although Sierra Leone’s Government is making vague efforts at image laundry and trying to repair the caustic effect of this drug and cash seizure on the country in the eyes of the international community, merely recalling the country’s Ambassador, Alimamy Bangura for a so-called further investigation is of no significance because as usual, nothing tangible of citizens’ interest will come out other than to quietly kill the matter and bury it.
The question now is, is Sierra Leone being metamorphosed into a Narco-State, like it is known Guinea-Bissau? Is it now the business of the Government; now that it has involved a high-ranking Government official, to protect the manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs such as Cocaine and Kush? In October, 2024 a Kush and other substance manufacturing outfit was raided by the community people of Upper Allen Town, after what appeared to have been a wrong mixture of chemicals caused the emission of intoxication fumes and smell that affected dozens of pupils of a nearby school.
Reports have it that the Inspector-General of Police and other top-ranking police officers came to the scene to rescue to operators after the people had gone berserk in fury and wanted to burn the complex. Reports have it that huge sums of cash in Leones and foreign currencies were seen being removed from the compound include containers believed to be carrying the substance. Since then, nothing has been heard about that incident.
Recently in this month of January just before the Sierra Leone Embassy drug scandal blew out, police at Mile 38 were shown on video across social media platforms displaying parcels of wrapped substances they claim could be drugs being transported into Freetown. Government and ordinary have in some ways displayed displeasures over the negative effects of drugs, especially Kush on the youths of the country, but it appears as if they are tired and exhausted about it because, instead of reducing or curbing the rampancy of drug availability and intake in the country, it has been worsened with an apparent suspicion that those supposed to be guiding and guarding and protecting against these harmful drugs are the very ones providing sanctuary, guidance, guard and protection for its manufacture, distribution, sale and use and now, the exportation of these dangerous drugs. A clear case in point on this scenario, is the 17th January 2025 report of a Dakar-based newspaper, ’Le Public’ of five Sierra Leoneans being arrested at the Dakar Airport with a huge consignment of drugs. Sierra Leone appears to be a Narco transshipment hub.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in a reaction to this scandal issued a press release on January 16, 2025, confirming the immediate recall of Ambassador Alimamy Bangura to Freetown for a detailed briefing. In his attempted vague clarification of the incident, Foreign Affairs Minister Timothy Kabba said: “The vehicle arrested is a utility vehicle of the Embassy and not the official vehicle of the Ambassador. The Government of Sierra Leone has urgently re-called the Sierra Leone Ambassador to Guinea to provide a full account of the incident.”
However, another official of the Government of Sierra Leone, Myk Berewa conceded that the incident, is bound to “reflect poorly on the image of Sierra Leone” assuring that Government is determined to ensure that all individuals implicated, regardless of their positions, are brought to justice. The integrity of our diplomatic operations must be preserved.”
A political Science Lecturer at Fourah Bay College has said that this scandal, by all indications, will significantly strain the historically strong relationship between Sierra Leone and Guinea. He pointed out: “Misusing a diplomatic vehicle for illegal activities raises serious concerns about the oversight of diplomatic missions.”
This incident, no doubt, has sparked outrage both nationally and internationally. Legal Experts are warning of “serious ramifications for Sierra Leone’s international reputation” if the matter is not handled decisively. The Legal Experts have confirmed that the use of a diplomatic channel for drug trafficking activities highlights the risks of systemic failure and the need for stricter oversight.
Minister Kabba assured the public of the government’s commitment to addressing this crisis transparently, “this is a serious matter that demands our full attention. We will cooperate with Guinean authorities to ensure justice is served and that Sierra Leone’s reputation is protected.”
Outraged by the incident, a senior member of the opposition APC Party and a flagbearer hopeful, Dr, Richard Conteh has demanded transparency from the Government over the diplomatic drug scandal, noting that the alleged drug trafficking scandal “is deeply troubling and raises serious concerns about the conduct of our diplomatic representatives.”
Dr. Conteh pointed out that: “This situation echoes the growing concern over the rising drug culture, including the infamous Kush pandemic within Sierra Leone, which has plagued our society and jeopardized our youth and communities. We therefore demand transparency in the investigations and call on Government to ensure that all those found culpable are dealt with most stringently consistent with the relevant provisions in our statutes. It is crucial that we restore Sierra Leone’s dignity, integrity, and credibility both domestically and internationally. Only transparency, justice, and decisive action can salvage the reputation of our beloved nation and ensure that such reprehensible acts do not continue to undermine the progress and unity that seems to have eluded us as a country over the years.”
The Government should come out very clear from this with answers that should be able to satisfy the myriad of doubts as against the facts of the matter about this drug issue and the cash. There is a talk of a second person arrested by the Guinean security which is being kept mute. The public will like to know the identity of that individual and what was his mission in that diplomatic vehicle. What is of more concern is the truth and nothing about the truth in this whole matter which has put shame to Sierra Leoneans as the news get reported around the globe by major news mediums. This disgraceful episode now puts Sierra Leoneans and holders of Sierra Leonean passports and identifications at risk of embarrassments wherever they may be in the world now that it appears established that the State of Sierra Leone has been transformed into a narco transshipment hub with her diplomatic missions also playing significant roles in the disguised transshipment processes. Sierra Leoneans hope the ensuing investigation will go deeper and its net spread wider in a process that cares not about who or what someone is, as long as the investigation leads to that individual or group. There must be no sacred cows in this and no orders from above must be seen to protecting any one.
But most Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad are very much skeptical whether this Paopaist government that is used to doing the wrong things with impunity will want to care about what negative effects this scandal could have on citizens and the image of the country. They know that the police and if called in, the Anti-Corruption Commission will just do a reengineering of the laws to let principal culprits off the hook so as to bring in lesser and non-essential elements to bear the brunt. The people would be watching keenly as the scenes in this embarrassing drama unfolds to see whether the truth and the real drug dealers in this drama would be administratively protected and safeguarded.
So much of much needed government resources have been invested in what President Julius Maada Bio and his team of political administrators have deemed as “a rebranding of the damaged image of Sierra Leone” in the eyes of the community of nations. What that meant has never been made clear to Sierra Leoneans except to trumpeting of populist sentimentalisms of could have happened to the country irrespective of the SLPP or President Bio being in power. But what is now becoming apparent in this entire charade is what has been proven by the country’s diplomatic body in neighboring Republic of Guinea; which presupposes that some sorts of illegal activities have been conducted in surreptitious precision during the course of the President’s diplomatic overtures. Could it be that happenings at the level of the presidency may have attracted this cacophony of diplomatic rumble such that it has become filed day for the both small and big boys of the system? Government must fish those rogue elements out! When this Government undertakes this investigation with clean hands that sufficiently does away with any iota of doubts, then citizens, at home and abroad will join in to work for a rebrand since they would have known the culprits in their diabolic attempts to put a knife to what was appearing to be a rebranded Sierra Leone that has moved away from the shadow of its putrid past. Sierra Leone should not and must not be a Narco State or a Narco transshipment hub.