Freetown Thursday August 18, 2022
By Josephine Koroma and Phileas Jusu
The Inter Religious Council (IRC) in collaboration with Council of Churches in Sierra Leone (CCSL) Thursday engaged all political parties in Sierra Leone in a frank political dialogue following the August 10 riots in Freetown and other places in the north.
The Freetown Catholic Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles who is President of Inter Religious Council, said at the Freetown CCSL Hall gathering, that religious leaders have a duty to preach peace because peace is a valuable commodity which political parties and all citizens must embrace.
“We in the Inter Religious Council are there on your behalf. We take decisions based on national interest. It is a privilege we enjoy because when we address congregations, we are treated with great respect”, he said, recalling how the Inter Religious Council negotiated peace with the Revolutionary United Front during Sierra Leone’s civil strife (1991-2002). As a result, he said, even the international community looks forward to the IRC as moral guarantors.
“We’ve called to engage you in light of the events of 10th August”, the Catholic Bishop told the heads of political parties. He said he was disturbed that in a recent meeting, the big parties – APC and SLPP – sent low key representation. Yet, he said, when something goes wrong in the country, people ask “where was the Inter Religious Council”. He reported that in that meeting, the Inter Religious Council drafted a way forward agreement which the political parties did not adhere to. “But we religious leaders do not get tired of doing our job. We want violence-free elections at all levels – that’s the reason for today’s meeting”, he said. He was dismayed that there was too much negativity among Sierra Leoneans about the political process.
Earlier, Sheikh Ibrahim Barrie, an IRC executive, set the tone for a frank dialogue by asking for tolerance and sincerity. He admonished all to treat each other as brothers and sisters first before seeing themselves as politicians and assured them of a level playing ground.
Bishop J Achibald Cole preached on the theme “Beware Lest We Forget” from Deuteronomy 6:12. where he said as a nation Sierra Leone should not forget the mistakes of the past. He said violence has never been and will never be the answer to the country’s problems.
“Those who forget the mistakes of the past are destined to repeat the same mistakes”. He emphasized that forgetfulness causes the debtor to think he is the creditor. Hence, he said forgetfulness can be very dangerous. He reminded all that ultimate power belongs to God. Any other power is junior power including the power of political leadership.
Sheik Rahim Barrie encouraged political parties to go back to the core values of God because at the end of it all “we all will be answerable to God for our actions.”
Political party representatives expressed concerns on the way forward in ensuring stability and peace in Sierra Leone. Each party representative present outlined their party’s position regarding the status quo in the country.
Chairman, National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Sheriff Barrie said government should involve all in governance in order to get rid of violence.
Tamba Sandy of the Coalition for Change (C for C) party pointed out that lack of communication from the ruling government is part of the big problem.
Honourable Abdul Kargbo interim Secretary General of the All People’s Congress ( APC), Outlined incidents of ‘injustice’ done to their party members since they lost power in 2018 elections, ranging from the removal of APC members of parliament to the arrest of party supporters in which the APC has not taken any violent step; “yet our party has been accused of being sponsors of the violent insurrection in the country even when we have issued a press release disassociating ourselves from violence and calling on our party supporters to be peaceful.”
RUFP National Secretary Alice Pyne refuted some of the claims of the APC Secretary General claiming that the APC is not as peaceful as the secretary claimed, citing the case of Adebayor, the Holland resident political inciter who uses social media to incite youths, rain invectives on national and religious leaders in the name of the APC. But sadly, she said, the APC had not done enough to distance itself from Adebayor who claims to speak for the APC. Pyne expressed her dismay that after the 1991-2002 civil war, governments in and out have ignored addressing the causes of the war as recommended in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report even though the indicators for the war are clearly evident in the country today. She outrightly condemned the August 10 rioters who killed security personnel and said it was foolhardy of them not to have expected a backlash from the police and military.
Jonathan Sandy of NURP observed that lack of political cooperation and trust for government institutions is a big challenge.
Many other political party representatives contributed to the frank talk session and together with the Inter-Religious Council, the gathering put together a way-forward recommendations among which were the following:
That there was need to review the 1991 constitution; improve on civic education; that the security sector should be proactive in preventing violence; that there was need for national peace dialogue by political parties among others.
Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Receives Council of Churches in Sierra Leone on Centenary Celebrations, Recognises Their Role in Peace-building State House, Freetown, Thursday
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