By Joseph K. Ngobeh
In two of the sessions of the 67th Session of the Commission of the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations headquarters in New York, on 13th and 14th March 2023, Margaret Davies (a sacked and disgraced worker of Sierra Leone’s Rokel Commercial Bank- RCBank) narrated her story of alleged sexual harassment to the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the World Bank respectively.
Margaret Davies is no stranger to Sierra Leone and to the Rokel Commercial Bank (RCBank) where she worked under the directive of her former Managing Director, Dr Ekundayo Walton Gilpin. But she was sacked.
Needless to say, before Margaret Davies gave her biased and less-than-truth story to innocent, unassuming and reputable bodies like the CSW and IDLO, the fact is, she is a very uncontrollable, lawless and desperate woman with a mission to damage the reputation, credibility and potential of an innocent man – Dr Ekundayo Walton Gilpin.
She (so-called victim) admitted to her respective audiences that sexual harassment is never easy to talk about, but that she was “sharing [her] story to raise awareness particularly so when people from all around the world converged to discuss the status of women and most importantly to provide comfort and support to those who have experienced it”.
She noted that: “as the theme for this year’s CSW talks about ‘using Innovation and Technology in Achieving Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment,’sexual harassment is one of the challenges women are faced with in the digital world.
But before coming to what she actually misinformed the august international bodies about, it must be clearly understood that Margaret Davies had brought an alleged case of sexual harassment against her boss, Dr Gilpin, a little over one year ago. The circumstances around her allegation were not only cloudy, circumspect, intolerable, desperate and incredible, but they were also proven to be false, malicious and a desperate attempt to smear the character and blackmail a hard-working Sierra Leonean bank managerwho has contributed immensely to making sense of Sierra Leone’s staggering economy.
In her speech, she narrated her experience of alleged sexual harassment involving her former boss at the Rokel Commercial Bank, which is owned by the Government of Sierra Leone, stating the challenges she had faced as afemale victim of ‘alleged’ sexual harassment in the workplace.
She spoke on the psychosocial, medical and economic effects of sexual harassment (affecting not only Sierra Leone but globally and which most governments are seriously dealing with).She ‘regrettably’ noted that while most governments worldwide were seen as partners in the fight against all forms of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), including sexual harassment, “the state apparatuses in Sierra Leone” appeared to be condoning sexual harassment.
It must be clearly understood that Margaret Davies’ case against the RCBank MD on the one hand had been thoroughly investigated. A Special Investigative Committee (SIC) comprising of very senior Sierra Leoneans of impeccable character including women spent almost three months looking and discussing the pros and cons of her allegation. At the end of the day, the verdict of the Special Investigative Committee concluded that it was an open and shut case. Dr Gilpin was vindicated and Margaret Davies saw this as an opportunity to blame Sierra Leone – the country of her birth.
Be that as it may, it must be understood that Margaret Davies owes more to Sierra Leone than Sierra Leone owes her. Taking her mistaken fight to the international community and dragging the Sierra Leone Government along will not change the verdict handed-down by the panel of erudite and experienced senior Sierra Leoneans.
Even the President of Sierra Leone, H.E Dr Julius Maada Bio is informed on this and he gave the go- ahead to Dr Gilpin to continue his work as it was evident that the allegations had been proven to be nothing but a farce and a deliberate and desperate attempt by Margaret Davies to tarnish Dr Gilpin’s character, reputation and credibility and blackmail him in the process. She must also be told that dragging the name of a sovereign state into a personal matter that had been addressed domestically will only make her more unpopular than she is already is. But this could be Margaret Davies’ way of seeking asylum abroad.
Given this background, she emphasized to the above-mentioned bodies that sexual harassment was now an urgent issue that must be addressed and prioritized by a multi-sectorial response with an evidence-based approach before it becomes a pandemic.(But, as stated earlier, serious government’s like Sierra Leone’s are enacting laws to combat this menace.)
Margaret Davies in her haste and determination to drag Dr Gilpin’s name into dirt failed woefully in her submission to inform her audiences that the current President of Sierra Leone, H.E Dr. Julius Maada Bio’s priority is safeguarding the lives and social involvement of women and girls across the country, including the privileges and rights of the woman called Margaret Davies.
It was precisely because of such incidences that President Bio, two years into office, established a novelty Model Sexual Crimes Court, which so far has handed down sentences to offenders found guilty and there is general satisfaction from many quarters.
In the words of Margaret Davies, the Sierra Leone Government “agrees to renew our commitment to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment;while we also strongly condemn sexual and other workplace harassment by working together to create a society where women can be given equal opportunity. Therefore, in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment in the digital age, we must (as a priority) educate ourselves about the impact of sexual harassment and the steps we can take to prevent it.”
The above is one of the most sensible statements Margaret Davies made to the above-mentioned international community bodies.
It was also very sensible of her to “admonish all (people) to come together to create a safe working environment by supporting vulnerable women who are suffering in silence as womencannot maximize their full potential when men in positions of authority are harassing them and they [women] cannot speak out for fear of retaliation.”
She also urged all (people) to “develop a culture of listening to victims and support survivors for those who have experienced it are better placed to contribute to gender policies”.
Also sensible is that, Margaret Davies informed her audiences that, “There is only one way to fight workplace sexual ‘terrorists’ and that is by working with local partners and listening to victims (because he who feels it knows it better) to create a culture of respect for women and equality and a world where every woman is safe.”
She called on international organizations, civil societies, and other human rights groups to collaborate and stop being selective in the fight against all forms of GBV. She stressed that in doing so, perpetrators of sexual harassment would be held accountable for their actions and victims and/or survivors would be provided support and resources. Throughout her speech, she reiterated that women deserve equal opportunity and participation in the workplace to maximize their full potential.
But on the other hand, Margaret Davies must be told to her face that her unsuccessful and malicious fight against her former boss to paint him in a colour and picture which do not fit him is also an issue she will answer before a court of law.
As a junior lawyer, she knows that no one is above the law and that her continuous haranguing of the RCBank Managing Director, Dr Walton Gilpin, will only end in a building on a one way street – Law Court, where she will regret all her false and ridiculous allegations against someone who tried his best to make her important, loved, respected and vindicated of all wrong doings while she served at the RCBank.
But more importantly, the Sierra Leone Government headed by President Dr Julius Maada Bio is cognizant of the fact that the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2030 is to be met, and victims/survivors of SGBV should be given attention and the resources to speak up and recount their story without fear of reprisals and state’s complicity.
As stated earlier, in order to achieve this, President Bio set up the Model Sexual Crimes Court which is a no-nonsense arbitrator of sexual harassment crimes where Margaret Davies should have taken her case rather than bore important and busy people with a domestic issue which her own people adjudged was a farce and an attempt to blackmail a man of reputable and impeccable character. Had she not also incensed her colleagues to raise dust over her allegation? That also came to naught!