Politics and national responsibility – Where do we stand as Sierra Leoneans?

As a sovereign nation, we have signed different pacts and entered into various bi-lateral and multi-lateral agreements all in the name of aligning with the International community so that we too could be seen as serious about working with other development partners. This is not new and it did not start with the Ernest Koroma-led APC government. As far back as 1961, shortly after our independence, our nation has been a member of various International organizations. Our membership of the UN; the Organization of Africa Unity (OAU); the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS); the Mano River Union (MRU); and the signing of the ACP –EC partnership agreement in June 2000; the 10 year Memorandum of Understanding signed between DFID and the government of Sierra Leone in 2002 and the FAO –EU partnership agreement in 2005, to name a few, did not happen by accident; and certainly not suggested by the APC party alone. All of these partnerships and agreements went through and were endorsed by our parliament. (Photo: Brima M Turay, author)

There has been a recent cry from particularly the opposition SLPP over the importation of arms by the Sierra Leone government to equip the National Police and other defense sectors. I can see why this would be an issue for the opposition considering the fact that the general and parliamentary elections are around the corner. A few days ago, the head of the Somalian rebel faction has warned the nation of Sierra Leone not to send Peacekeeping personnel to that region; threatening to annihilate such army if it is ever sent over there. Some Sierra Leoneans have raised concerns about a similar threat made by Charles Taylor against Momoh’s APC in 1991 and Taylor made good on his threats and promises, all to the detriment of our nation. This should be a matter of serious concern and we understand why it should be – but want we also understand is that the Republic of Sierra Leone; and indeed, the APC government, has a responsibility to protect the nation and establish the enabling environment for safety and security around the country.

The Foday Sankoh/Charles Taylor rebel attacks on our sovereign nation succeeded not because our army was not well-trained; but because the said army was ill-equipped. The army at that time was complaining that the AK 47 rifles they were using were manufactured in the 60s and therefore not sophisticated enough to stand against Foday Sankoh’s Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs), General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMGs); the Berettas; Rocket launchers and the likes. Why was that? Let me share with you part of the reason for that:

Approximately 11% of our national income was being allocated for defense purposes at that time but the government was diverting those funds to other national priorities claiming that we were a peaceful nation and therefore must not be worried about buying sophisticated weaponry for our national defense. It was therefore very easy that when the rebel war broke out in 1991 the rebels succeeded in occupying major towns and cities around the country, including the rich diamond and gold mining areas. This was because we were not prepared for those attacks and certainly not equipped enough to contain them. Our Army and SSD personnel were well trained at the time. Some of them went through the prestigious Sandhust Military Academy in Britain; some trained in Cuba and in other Military and police academies in other parts of the world. But as we came to experience, training alone was not enough to fight the rebel war. We need equipments and logistics, which we lacked at the time. Part of the reasons why our National police was not able to curb the prevalent armed robberies in the country shortly after the APC came to power was because we lacked the necessary equipments and logistics. The government had to invoke the Military Aid to Civil Power (MACP) in order to address that situation. Therefore, anything this present APC government does is in direct response to previous patterns of lack and neglect and to insure that there is no repetition of such lack and neglect.

We sent Peacekeeping troops to the struggling nation of Sudan and the opposition cried foul and condemned the act; stating that we are not strong enough to defend our territorial integrity therefore we could not possibly defend that of Sudan. We sent money to Haiti after the devastating earthquake and the opposition called it “A waste of our national resources”. The same opposition would not complain about, or condemn the fact that many Nigerians and other nationals in the ECOMOG forces lost their lives in the name of defending us from the vicious rebels of Foday Sankoh and Charles Taylor. Why is that? Is it because they were in power at the time? When are we ever going to be seen as a nation that is willing to participate in the international front if the opposition is busy condemning everything we do? Michael Schulenburg, the Executive Representative for the UN Peace-building Mission in Sierra Leone who was recently recalled, and his SLPP operatives would have you believe that the recent importation of arms by the APC government is an attempt to keep President Koroma in power in the event that he loses the elections. Somehow, Schulenburg is not thoroughly well-informed about the political trend in the country beyond his selfish desires to have the SLPP in power so that he could help plunder this nation of its resources at the detriment of the average Sierra Leonean.

The United States, Russia, Iran, China and other developed nations are busy selling arms and ammunitions to nations in Africa and other parts of the world – some of which were used to carry out the most gruesome and atrocious crimes in the region but, somehow, Schulenburg and the SLPP would not see it as a threat to the security of the African region but would see the importation of arms by the APC as a threat to Sierra Leone’s national security. This is completely absurd and it speaks to how less the opposition and their international operatives care about the national security of Sierra Leone over personal gains.

We have a right, as a sovereign nation, to import arms and ammunition at any time we deem it necessary and strategic for our defense and for our peace and security. We can no longer sit by and allow some rag tag local militia or a few undisciplined members of our credible army, acting upon the machinations of the opposition, to disrupt our hard-earned peace. As a government, it is the APC’s responsibility to cover all the bases and not take any chances this time around. If this is what Schulenburg and the SLPP call a “Threat to our National Security”, so be it; because we know that the greatest threat to our “National Security” is leaving our police and army ill-equipped to the mercy of a determined opposition to take power by all means necessary.

Brima Michael Turay, Phoenix, Arizona

079-16-09-02 / 602-413-9373

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