Youth Coalitions support government’s $5m arms
The National Youth Coalition in collaboration with Sierra Leone Civil Rights Coalition held a press conference in support of government action to buy weapons for the police and the army for the defense of the state and people of Sierra Leone.
According to the President of National Youth Coalition, the Sierra Leone government has the right to purchase arms to protect the nation and people. He added that after conducting thorough investigations, they have come to the realization that the arms purchased have nothing to do with the coming presidential, parliamentary and local government elections. “We believe the government has the intention to defend its national security and equip its military on a peacekeeping mission in Sudan and an expected mission in Somalia,” says Mr. Ishmael Al-Sankoh Conteh.
He said the two Coalitions wants to see the police being trained on using crowd control gears like water cannons, rubber bullets, batons, shields, and other minimum force gears and techniques as we draw closer to the November 17th polls.
“We in the National Youth Coalition strongly condemn violence and we don’t want to see politicians using their propaganda machines to politicizing the ongoing development process, thereby creating a recipe for chaos,” the NYC President said, and further note that as young people, they want to see very peaceful, free, fair and transparent elections in November.
Salieu Betus Kargbo of the Sierra Leone Civil Rights Coalition said crowds can get very violent leaving the police with no option than to use minimum force to quell a disturbance. He said they trusted the police so much in carryout their professional duties, and added that the use of guns and live bullets must be a last resort and only after every other maneuver has been tried without success.
“The issue of false propaganda is very worrisome because properties have been destroyed over the years and there have been injuries and other forms of victimization and embarrassment perpetrated by those working for their selfish interest,” Mr. Kargbo said.
It can be recalled that a Press Release from State House vehemently clarified the controversy and the dire need for the purchase of arms and ammunition, running into US$5million. The release explained some of the processes which were undergone through by State actors in the arms purchase meant specifically for the Operational Security Division (OSD) of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP).
According to government final decision on the arms purchased, the SLP went through a procurement process at a meeting in December 2010, taking into consideration the rapid expansion of the country’s police force.
A private company, Amylam Sierra Leone Ltd, won the bid for the arms purchase in February 2011, and that gave the green light for the arms arriving in January 2012. It was agreed that payment for the weapon should be made between 2010 and 2012 fiscal year. “Sierra Leone government, State House, therefore wants all to know that the arrangement for the arms was done two (2) years ago and not meant for deployment in any election process.
Sierra Leone Police Charter 1998 states that government must ensure SLP be resourcefully equipped and financed properly. Meanwhile, the SLP in the presence of international observers have transferred some weapons to RSLAF to be used in peace mission in Somalia. This transfer was done in line with an agreement between SLP and RSLAF after the security force realized that the arms were huge in quantum.
By Fadda Bakish
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