Who is to police the police?

Rumor does not come by itself. It must have occurred somewhere and subsequently peddled by someone from one place to another. Thus for every rumour there must be some element of truth; the high spate of armed robbery and the issue of gun-renting to hardcore criminals is no longer a rumour to the Sierra Leonean public and it is now a common headline in our local tabloids.

When news of police involvement in armed robbery in Lungi and other parts of the country started reaching the Sierra Leonean public, many questions were raised, chiefly, who is to police the people of Sierra Leone? But today, it seems as if that armed robbery issue has metamorphosed into a well established syndicate where some unscrupulous members of Police Force are said to be involved in gun-renting. Who is to police the police is a puzzling question which has not been answered by any Sierra Leonean, not even the Acting Inspector General of Police, Morie Lengor can answer it.

The Police Force is the last resort of security apparatus in this country which people turned to in terms of any insecurity. The gun-renting deal by some ill-motivated police officers can be likened to the story of Ikemefuna in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart. When the fifteen year old lad was given as an ultimatum to the people of Mbaino in order to avert war by the Umuofia people, Ikemefuna was under the custody and protection of Okonkwo. Unfortunately for the boy it was this Okonkwo who ends the boy’s fate by sharing him with a machette.

What transpires in Achebe’s work is an exact replica of the Sierra Leonean situation between the police and the people they claim to serve. Whom do we run to when the police are actively immersed in arms deal with hardcore criminals?

There are times when shady things happen in the darkest of night, some are with the blind opinion that they will never reveal themselves. It has been reveal in both the Quran and bible that whatever is in the dark must surely come to light someday. If the police have now joined the bandwagon of armed robbery, let them be cautious that the Special Court for Sierra Leone was not meant for only the RUF/AFRC; and though the Court has recently completed its mandate, its legacy is still in our midst to try those who think they can commit crime against their own people with impunity, they would and are indeed having their own day in court.

As a matter of fact, any government that cannot provide adequate security for its people is a failed government. In as much as we are on the move to cajole investors to come and invest, we must also clean up our backyard from these human-rodents that are pestering the lives of vulnerable Sierra Leoneans. If we don’t put our security apparatus in order investors would surely shun Sierra Leone. Our ability to police ourselves would go a long way in determining the development prospect of this Nation. 

Who is to police the police if the police themselves are said to be fueling armed robbery and renting guns to criminals for the infinitesimal amount of Le 100.000. What a shame!

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