Let us go back to Malen

I was in the Bo magistrate court recently when the Sahn Malen inductees, Hon, Siaka Musa Sama and others were sent to the High Court of Sierra Leone after Magistrate Fidawi told them the decision on their matter.

Sama and others are among the many other Malen residents who keep questioning and challenging the procedure which the giant Socfin Agricultural Company (SAC) used to acquire thousands of acres of land for decades-fifty years.

Siaka Sama, particularly, has been known to be spearheading the Malen people’s resistance to what they refer to gross cheating and exploitation of the chiefdom people many of whom have lost their land to Socfin for pittances and are, consequently, discontented and advocating for a reversal of the entire land lease agreement to satisfy all parties.

While they were advocating for their God-given right, Sama and others were arrested for allegedly violating the laws of this country. But is that the best way to settle the Malen deadlock? Or is the company feeling complacent and safe while operating among dissident people.

I am not oblivious of the self-evident fact the company has provided jobs for many people in Malen and its environs and that it has initiated a whole lot of development programs in the chiefdom, but there is still the inescapable fact that many people are aggrieved and they in a considerable number. Why not listen to them? Why not revisit the agreement to provide a more conducive working environment for the company? It would be wise for government to review the land lease agreement to appease the disgruntled land owners.

The Malen land impasse should not be swept under the carpet; it deserves attention in the best interest of sustainable peace in that chiefdom located in Pujehun District, South of Sierra Leone.

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