It may be legal, but is it expedient?
The decision of the APC government to set up an inquiry into the deaths of former Inspector-General of Police Bamabay Kamara, Salami Coker, Colonel Kahutah Dumbuya and others while in custody in Pademba road prisons in December 1992 continues to provoke public interest and debate. The African Champion newspaper reports from a survey that it has conducted countrywide indicates “massive support for the inquiry.†But as of Monday June 7 the early response to a questionnaire from the more reliable Awoko newspaper indicates a slightly larger proportion of people saying that it was not a wise move. Both the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the Minister of information who made the initial announcement had earlier said the inquiry was simply to establish facts about the reasons for the trial if any and the disposal of the bodies of the remains of the victims. They were emphatic that it was not a witch hunt. Not that anyone believed them. Just the other morning the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General was on the SLBC’s tea break programme where he announced that that there would be a coroner, a prosecutor and a judge and that those found guilty would be prosecuted. So what was the reason for the initial attempt to hoodwink the public about pressure from family members? The minister was himself a member, a legal expert at that, of the National Advisory Council to the NPRC; would he be prepared to appear before the commission and indicate what his reaction was to the killings? I thought he sounded too sanctimonious in the SLBC interview.
We were told that what was being planned now was the legal procedure that must be carried out. There was no longer any attempt to hide behind the façade of the government being under pressure from the families of the victims. While no one would deny the legality of what the APC government plans to do the question that is being asked is, IS IT EXPEDIENT? Is what is about to be done now in the best interest of the country? Would it help to consolidate the peace process and promote cohesiveness? It is for that reason that the erstwhile chairmen of the TRC, the Civil Society Organisations, the Campaign for Good Governance and similar groups have expressed reservations about the entire procedure. We are familiar with the obstinacy of the APC when it sets out on a course, even if it is a collision course. Do all these groups belong to the SLPP, or are they fellow-travelers, or on the contrary people whose primary interest is the future of the country? Valcarcel’s repeated question in the SLBC tea break interview about a matter that the Coordinator of the Campaign for Good Governance had made categorically clear may suggest a bias or tilt to the government side. Why did he not grill the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General in like manner? The APC will succeed in convincing only its adherents that the victims of their vindictive witch hunt are not specifically John Benjamin Julius Maada Bio. I doubt whether they are even interested in collective responsibility as long as they can thwart the political ambitions of those two, especially the latter.
On a separate note, I admire and applaud President Ernest Bai Koroma’s plan to improve the infrastructure of the country, especially the road network. Where I disagree with those who continue to shout about fulfilling an election pledge is that none and I mean none of the roads that have been commissioned are an original Ernst projects. How could anyone attribute the completion of the Masiaka to Bo highway to this government, or the proposed hillside bypass road or the Lumley to Toke, the Rogbere junction to Pamelap roads? As long as there continues to be a deliberate silence on the role of the SLPP in the projects we will continue to make our contribution known.
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