Civil Society group CHRDI and eminent citizens take SLPP Government to task for violating academic freedom and crippling the University of Sierra Leone

The only civil society group in Sierra Leone that has not been corrupted, compromised or tribalized by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Government , the Campaign For Human Rights and Development International ( CHRDI) and eminent citizens, have condemned the SLPP Government for unlawful political interference into the University of Sierra Leone.

We present below the self-explanatory press releases and statements

PROFESSOR PETER DUMBUYA

Peter Dumbuya

Counsel Abdul M Fatoma, disregard for the provisions of the Universities Act, 2021 is stunning. That no one with standing has challenged in the court of law the Minister’s dissolution of the USL’S Court, created by an act of Parliament, is even more worrisome!

These are perilous times indeed. Ministers cannot arrogate themselves powers that belong to Parliament or another branch of government. To do so undermines the separation of powers inherent in the Constitution!

Andrew Mansaray

Dis contry ya all tin na by power oooooo… rule of law na writing not acting oooooo.

John Leigh : Former Sierra Leone Ambassador to the U.S

I have long contended that no matter the level of education for which an individual is officially certificated, the conduct of some of them is largely directed by their underlying corrupt cultures. SL is a country full of individuals with all kinds of degrees, yet the trend since Independence in 1961 has been backward slopping and does not reflect the purported education shown on printed certificates. We are a primitive nation of devious characters who lead us to chronic failures.

John Thombo-Bangura : Eminent Sierra Leonean

The good professor’s expose’ on the goings-on at the once most reverred “Mount Olympus” is one of the country’s most openly kept secrets. Nothing new here. It gives credence to the adage that describes how many have gone “Through the University Without The University Going Through Them”. It is a sad state of affairs, I have to admit. Then, it was a contrivance to perpetuate the most favoured including the bastion of “Creoldom”. The transgression and malaise has now infected the foundations of the University-its Faculty. No surprises here. People like us saw it coming. Well, if the much vaunted “Salt” is now openly known to have “Lost Its Taste”…”Whereof Can The Earth Be Salted”. Sad state of affairs, my reverred Ambassador. The seeds of this national disgrace have its antecedents sown decades ago. It is only now revealing the scope of its dispersal, influence, rot and deleterious effects way beyond the country’s once respected University. Yet you wonder how incompetence is the newest, most favoured and sought after badge of honour in our country. Saaaad. You know, Kashor Wellington was my mentor back in Boston when I arrived in the States decades ago. He (Kashor Wellington) described Sierra Leone as the “Only Country on God’s Given Earth Where Good Men Don’t Thrive”. His is, without question, an unbiased definition

of a “Kirkistrocacy”. Go figure. To be honest, I do often get tired of discussing issues about my country. Yes, I have reached that

point.