By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
Between Chinua Achebe’s belief that, “Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform” and Wole Soyinka’s “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny”; I find parallel dialectics to what is now happening in Sierra Leone.
In my One Dropian dropping of 22 July 2021 I noted that, “What I think might lead to any Armageddon-like event, or events, in Sierra Leone might be an attempt, or attempts, to right many perceived political wrongs and gross injustices which have been meted out to hundreds of citizens by the [Sierra Leone People’s Party] SLPP government. There are certain issues that are still unresolved and nobody has been held responsible for their happenings. The alleged killings at Tonko Limba; Makeni; Tombo, and the Pademba Road Correctional Centre are still unresolved. As Wole Soyinka notes in his book, The Man Died, “Even in totalitarian states, the time comes when past ‘errors’ are admitted, high-placed criminals unmasked and victims rehabilitated, mostly posthumously!” But the SLPP government has repeatedly failed to establish any form of independent inquiry where relatives of those who were killed could find closure…”
So, I’m surprised at those who are surprised at the surprisingly surprised commissioning and launching of a Report by the Bombali District Human Rights Committee titled: “Study On Youth Disenfranchisement And Protest In Sierra Leone: Response And Recommendation.” This Report reads like the Preface of Soyinka’s “The Man Died” but with a sort of a Sierra Leonean adaptation.
From a literary eye, the Report appears to be a kind of potpourri of Franz Kafka’s novella “Die Verwandlung” (“The Metamorphosis”), and Frantz Fanon’s book “The Wretched of the Earth” with a little colouration of the opening pages of Amos Tutuola’s novel: “The Palm Wine Drinkard”. Reading it, slowly, produces a sort of Kafkaesque effect as the realism of gross injustices gives you the self-doubting feeling of reading fantasy. And when you comprehend the dehumanizing manner in which the security forces quelled down the incidents in Tonko Limba, Tombo, and the Pademba Road Correctional Centre; Fanon’s comes to mind.
And what is frighteningly frightful about the frightfulness of most citizens residing in the North and Western Area is their belief that political wrongs and gross injustices are being meted out on them simply because they are not supporters or sympathisers of the SLPP. This belief is being echoed by the Member of Parliament for Constituency 37, Katherine Zainab Tarawali, in Bombali District. It is reported that during the launching of the Report at the Makeni City Hall, on Magburaka Road, Hon. Tarawali noted that, “Makeni is bleeding; we are not happy. We should not die just because we did not vote for the SLPP. We are tired of being humiliated….” This shows that Sierra Leone is teasingly sitting on a keg of dynamite with her children playfully playing with firecrackers nearby!
And for all intents and purposes, the “Executive Summary” of the Report reminds me of the first chapter of Tutuola’s “The Palm Wine Drinkard”. The same urgency with which Tutuola tries to tell his story is the same urgency the Report’s consultant, Valnora Edwin, tries to bring out the crux of the matter. Without any delay, we are informed that, “This study covered the incidents in Tombo and the Pademba Road Correctional Centre in the Western Area, Tonko Limba in Kambia District and Makeni in the Bombali District. The findings after the one-on-one interviews and focused group discussions shows a common thread that youths feel neglected, marginalised, condemned as trouble makers. There is a need for them to be seen, heard and recognised. Engaging in protest is a right and the analysis does not condone violence protests. When it becomes violent, there must be a proportionate response on the side of the security forces, however, protests must not be seen as a crime but as a democratic right of citizens to exercise their freedom of expression….”
That whetting of appetite for what is to come comes in the “Background” section of the Report. Here we are told that, “….The causes of the riots and protests largely centred on access to basic socio-economic services….[But] Unfortunately, the response of the security forces (both the police and the military) to these riots resulted in the death[s] of a number of citizens. The worrying trend has been the delays in establishing independent investigations….[As] Families of the deceased are still yearning for justice; for those responsible to [be] brought to justice, for institutions to take responsibility for the lapses or otherwise that resulted in the deaths of citizens some of whom were not involved in the protest[s]….” Here again Soyinka’s preface in his Prison Notes, “The Man Died”, comes to mind. For hundreds of citizens, they are still waiting for the time when “past errors” committed by the country’s security forces would be “admitted”, and “high-placed criminals unmasked and victims rehabilitated, mostly posthumously”.
But the SLPP government is still clay-footing on these issues for reasons best known to State authorities. In Kambia it was found out that, “a boy around the age of fourteen whose house had been set on fire according to reports had attempted putting out the flames and was hit by one of the bullets allegedly from one of the security personnel of the CEC [Chief Electoral Commissioner]…. Family members confirmed that following the incident they are yet to receive an apology or compensation from any state authority. This incident affected two other young men who over two years after the incident, are still seeking support to access proper medical care for gunshot wounds….”
Also in Tombo it is reported that, “a mother of one of the victims…claimed her son called Abubakarr Kamara, aged 24, was on the way to see her when he was caught in the cross fire. It was disturbing that to date not a single authority– from the police, the council or from central government– has engaged them as victims who lost family members caught up in the cross fire….Abubakarr Kamara who was among the four youths who lost their lives from gunshot wounds during that incident was described as the breadwinner of his family….Unfortunately to date, a formal investigation resulting in the deaths of the four youths from gunshot wounds is yet to be commissioned.”
And in Makeni the situation is so grim that the realism of the incident reads like fantasy. The Report notes that, “Gunshots and teargas [were] used by the security forces yet no one has taken responsibility for the deaths of the 6 individuals who died of gunshot wounds…. Allegation… that petrol bombs were used by the youths… was denied by youth groups… Eyewitnesses do state that youths were [only] throwing stones at security forces. …Nearly a year on, the families of those that died still feel aggrieved about the treatment of the corpses and…the lack of accountability and justice…”
And in the face of all these gross injustices our Civil Society activists, our Religious Leaders, and other so-called “Moral Guarantors” are keeping “silent in the face of tyranny” (to quote Soyinka). They are forgetting that “Every generation must recognize and embrace the task it is peculiarly designed by history and by providence to perform”, in the words of Achebe. Yet, they are still silent like tombs feigning forgetfulness of Fanon’s November 1956 “Letter Of Resignation To The Resident Minister” in which he stated that, “There comes a time when silence becomes dishonesty….”
But it seems to me that those who are responsible for these gross injustices and political wrongs are Godly Gods in the eyes of the ruling elites. But in the interest of justice and accountability; let their Godliness be Un-Goded!
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