There is no doubt that the attack and atrocities at Mile 91 were reprehensible, disgraceful and damaging to the reputation of the Sierra Leone Police Force, if indeed they committed it. But facts have now emerged that it was not a police operation. . I condemn the attack with all the adjectives at my command.
It would have been shameful if our Police did it because , then, our Police would have still been behaving below expectation. A lot of money, resources and logistical support have been poured into the Police, which should have by now made them a very disciplined force. .
However , I am pretty sure that not all of our men in blue supported the attack and the atrocities committed by their colleague officers. It is in fact a major doubt whether it was a Police operation. I am sure that the hooligans who raided Mile 91 have left the top brass and good officers wiping eggs off their faces in shame. In attacking the monstrous behavior of those who committed atrocities at Mile 91, the question is : Should we generalize and blame the whole Sierra Leone Police ? Will it be right to dismiss our whole police force as indisciplined , unprofessional and abusive ? Whom do we hold most accountable for what happened at Mile 91 ?
Both Presidents Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Ernest Koroma committed a lot of resources and logistics into training a good officers corps and building the capacity of the Sierra Leone Police Force. As a matter of fact, Sierra Leone has some of the best educated and most efficiently trained police officers in Africa today. Our Police officers have gone to different countries on peacekeeping and training missions and have excelled themselves.
In fact, when I was Minister Plenipotentiary to the UN, I was honored to be the Sierra Leone diplomatic representative who received the badges the UN gave our officers for their gallant and outstanding performances during UN Peacekeeping duties. I received them from the hands of the then Secretary General to the UN, H.E. Ban Ki Moon on behalf of the nation.
Thus, it is not good for our Police to be behaving in ways that will tempt people to generalize that the Sierra Leone Police Force is rotten. Yes, what the officers did was reprehensible and should be condemned in the strongest terms available. But because of the resources and training they have received, no police officer should be behaving so unseemly in Sierra Leone in this day and age.
What ails the Sierra Leone Police Force ?
The latest problems seem to be that President Bio is about to politicize our police and military forces and throw into the drains all the resources and time that had been spent by previous governments to train our forces and build their capacity. Until we get all the facts, both State House and the officers who perpetrated the acts should be the culprits to be blamed most for what happened.
Remember that the LUC at Mile 91, Superintendent Sesay condemned the action of his colleagues and he has been suspended as a result of orders from above for trying to be a responsible citizen and a good cop. . He said that he had no knowledge of the so-called police operation and boldly stated that the officers were acting on orders from State House. This should give us a cue that not all the Police were aware and therefore the whole Sierra Leone Police Force should not be vilified for what happened.
The persons to hold accountable are President Bio and his war-like hawks at State House who ordered the operation and the specific officers that carried out the instructions as well as Superintendent Sheku Kamara , who is endorsing the action. . Bio has a dangerous agenda to divide the country and spark war and the attack on Mile 91 was staged in furtherance of the diabolical agenda of the President.
President Bio has made it a habit not to say anything or condemn atrocities committed by his rowdy SLPP supporters and security officers. He has to do that because it will be much hypocritical for him, the master-planner, to condemn these acts. President Bio has maintained complete silence throughout the spate of human rights abuses and atrocities his supporters and officers have been committing since he came to power.
My greatest fear is that President Bio might politicize the Police and the Army and turn them into tools of oppression and violation of human rights. It was a dangerous mistake to have given power to a human rights abuser like President Bio.
I hope the Inspector General of Police, Richard Moigbe, who is a well-educated man and a trained police officer will refuse to be manipulated by this abusive and suppressive government .I hope our police force will not allow this SLPP Government noted for human rights abuses to overturn everything it had gained in terms of discipline, good policing and reputation over the past 20 years.
I know that the Police still have rough edges to be chiseled but they had been trying to rebrand and carve a new name as a well-trained and disciplined force . Suddenly, they have started going back to their old ways under this SLPP Government . I hope the Police will slam the brakes on the wrong direction they are about to be led by the SLPP.
Both Presidents Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Ernest Koroma committed a lot of resources and logistics into training a good officers corps and building the capacity of the Sierra Leone Police Force. As a matter of fact, Sierra Leone has some of the best educated and most efficiently trained police officers in Africa today. Our Police officers have gone to different countries on peacekeeping and training missions and have excelled themselves.
In fact, when I was Minister Plenipotentiary to the UN, I was honored to be the Sierra Leone diplomatic representative who received the badges the UN gave our officers for their gallant and outstanding performances during UN Peacekeeping duties. I received them from the hands of the then Secretary General to the UN, H.E. Ban Ki Moon on behalf of the nation.
Thus, it is not good for our Police to be behaving in ways that will tempt people to generalize that the Sierra Leone Police Force is rotten. Yes, what the officers did was reprehensible and should be condemned in the strongest terms available. But because of the resources and training they have received, no police officer should be behaving so unseemly in Sierra Leone in this day and age.
What ails the Sierra Leone Police Force ?
The latest problems seem to be that President Bio is about to politicize our police and military forces and throw into the drains all the resources and time that had been spent by previous governments to train our forces and build their capacity. Until we get all the facts, both State House and the officers who perpetrated the acts should be the culprits to be blamed most for what happened.
Remember that the LUC at Mile 91, Superintendent Sesay condemned the action of his colleagues and he has been suspended as a result of orders from above for trying to be a responsible citizen and a good cop. . He said that he had no knowledge of the so-called police operation and boldly stated that the officers were acting on orders from State House. This should give us a cue that not all the Police were aware and therefore the whole Sierra Leone Police Force should not be vilified for what happened.
The persons to hold accountable are President Bio and his war-like hawks at State House who ordered the operation and the specific officers that carried out the instructions as well as Superintendent Sheku Kamara , who is endorsing the action. . Bio has a dangerous agenda to divide the country and spark war and the attack on Mile 91 was staged in furtherance of the diabolical agenda of the President.
President Bio has made it a habit not to say anything or condemn atrocities committed by his rowdy SLPP supporters and security officers. He has to do that because it will be much hypocritical for him, the master-planner, to condemn these acts. President Bio has maintained complete silence throughout the spate of human rights abuses and atrocities his supporters and officers have been committing since he came to power.
My greatest fear is that President Bio might politicize the Police and the Army and turn them into tools of oppression and violation of human rights. It was a dangerous mistake to have given power to a human rights abuser like President Bio.
I hope the Inspector General of Police, Richard Moigbe, who is a well-educated man and a trained police officer will refuse to be manipulated by this abusive and suppressive government .I hope our police force will not allow this SLPP Government noted for human rights abuses to overturn everything it had gained in terms of discipline, good policing and reputation over the past 20 years.
I know that the Police still have rough edges to be chiseled but they had been trying to rebrand and carve a new name as a well-trained and disciplined force . Suddenly, they have started going back to their old ways under this SLPP Government . I hope the Police will slam the brakes on the wrong direction they are about to be led by the SLPP.
