March 8, 2013
- Today is International Women's Day - a day dedicated
to the celebration of women. This year's theme "A
promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence
against women" should serve as a reminder, nay warning,
to the Ernest Bai Koroma set up that what is
put on paper and documents safe-guarding the lives and
rights of women must be put into practice. Ernest Bai
Koroma has taken his smoke and mirrors antics to new high as he
declares today, International Women's Day a national holiday!!!
Today March 8 is
International Women's Day and all governments,
organisations and like minded people all over the world
interested in the welfare of women would today once more
galvanise all the resources at their command to
highlight the failures of the past and what is now
needed to protect the integrity and dignity of women.
This year's theme - "A promise is a promise: Time for
action to end violence against women" is an apt reminder
to the government in Sierra Leone that all those words
from government functionaries about how they care for
the women of Sierra Leone must now pass the lips of
lying politicians, must go beyond files and files of
promised action that was never meant to be implemented
but was designed for the eyes and ears of the
international community.
The theme rings so true
in Sierra Leone where we have a common saying that
"Promise nar debt" meaning that when one makes a promise
that promise should be regarded as a debt that must be
paid in full. In simple terms a promise in the true
Sierra Leone context is an obligation, an action plan
that must be carried out to the letter and in full.
We would therefore now
call on the Ernest Bai Koroma administration to put stop
all the smoke and mirrors act of
protecting the rights
of women and take action that would send a clear message
that it cares about the rights of the women of Sierra
Leone, we mean all women within the borders of the country.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
in a message on this day says - "This year on International Women’s Day, we
convert our outrage into action. We declare that
we will prosecute crimes against women – and
never allow women to be subjected to punishments
for the abuses they have suffered. We renew our
pledge to combat this global health menace
wherever it may lurk – in homes and businesses,
in war zones and placid countries, and in the
minds of people who allow violence to continue."
Is Ernest Bai Koroma listening? We think not.
The Executive Director of UN
Women
Michelle Bachelet
had this rather moving bit in her own message - "Nowhere are
disparities and barriers
greater than in rural
areas for women and
girls. Rural women and
girls comprise one in
four people worldwide.
They work long hours
with little or no pay
and produce a large
proportion of the food
grown, especially in
subsistence agriculture.
They are farmers,
entrepreneurs and
leaders, and their
contributions sustain
their families,
communities, nations and
all of us. Yet they face
some of the worst inequities in access to social
services and land and other productive assets.Women’s full and
equal participation in
the political and
economic arena is
fundamental to democracy
and justice, which
people are demanding.
Other messages on this day could
be found here.
Again, we need to
remind the government that women and girls were easy
targets during the war when violence against them was
used as a weapon of war in an orgy of rape, murder and
mindless violence. Ten years after the war
was officially declared over in 2002, there's every
evidence in Sierra Leone that the government is not
moved by violence against women thereby sending a
message to perpetrators that in Sierra Leone such acts
could well have the blessings of the government.
We still have the case
of one Abdul Mustapha who, together with a female friend got
murdered and the house in which they were killed set alight in an attack that
has baffled many in Sierra Leone. The police, it could
be recalled, was stated to have instituted an
investigation headed by the current Inspector General
Francis Munu. Nothing else has been heard about the
progress of that investigation fuelling speculations
that the dastardly act could have had the blessings of
State House. Up to this day, there has been no statement
from the President on the matter, nor has the public
got any assurance that such murders would not be
tolerated anymore. In another similar murderous incident
a top retired police chief and his wife were brutally
murdered in Freetown and up to this time, there's been
no word from either the police or the President whose
main duty is to protect lives and property of all living
within the borders of Sierra Leone.
There's the case of the
women who were in the offices of the main opposition
SLPP and were attacked in broad daylight by
ruling APC
party operatives as well as elements of the armed wing
of the APC, the paramilitary OSD, a creation of the
Siaka Stevens era that has survived up to this day even
though there are documents recommending that the OSD be
disbanded and fit elements absorbed into the regular
police force. When the government set up the Justice
Bankole
Thompson Commission to look into the matter, his report
was treated with derision by the government with the
then spokesman of President Koroma interpreting the
findings and actually stating that Justice Thompson had
stated "there was no rape of the SLPP women".
Another inquiry, the
Shears-Moses Commission charged with looking into
political and other forms of violence since 2009 by the
government recommended that a bodyguard of the President
on
Idrissa Kamara aka Leatherboot,
who was clearly identified during the violence
perpetrated against the opposition SLPP political party
recommended that he be sacked was treated with contempt
by the government. Nothing was done and he is still
wearing tax payers arms and ammunition and wearing the
colours of the country's law enforcement agencies.
It was this same
spokesman, this time as a government deputy minister who after the OSD had shot a female protester
to death, glibly stated in one of the many outlets set
up by President Koroma that the woman Musu Conteh was
killed by an SLPP sniper, a statement viewed with grave
concern by the
Human Rights Commission of Sierra
Leone (HRCSL)
which investigated the Bumbuna incident during which the
woman was deliberately targeted and shot by the OSD.
Other women in Bumbuna were subjected to massive
violations of their privacy, security and
integrity. Even before the SLHRC set into motion its
investigations, Ernest Bai Koroma, in an attempt to
stifle such a move came out with a statement that it
would be setting up a panel/inquest to look into the
killing of Musu Conteh as well as other extrajudicial
killings carried out by the OSD whose personnel are
never punished for the various allegations levelled
against them.
Those who gave evidence
spoke of the action of one armed OSD policeman, wearing
the colours of the state machinery carrying weapons paid
for by the suffering tax payer and who, among others
carried out terrible acts against the women of Bumbuna
and not a word of condemnation from President Koroma.
Details of the Bumbuna
investigations clearly show just how uncaring Ernest Bai
Koroma and his gang are when it comes to the welfare of
the ordinary Sierra Leonean woman.
The government, in an
apparent effort to fool Sierra Leoneans and the
international community after protests over the mindless
violence perpetrated against perceived enemies of the
President set up the Shears-Moses Commission which among
other things recommended that a bodyguard of the
President one Idrissa Kamara also known as Leatherboot
be sacked for his part in the violence. It was reported
that he left State
House where he was on duty and as the report shows,
without due authority joined the vicious band of
attackers that had besieged the offices of the
opposition. Several videos of the incident were posted
online which showed this man actively involved in
perpetrating violence against all those found within the
precincts of the SLPP building. No action has been taken
by Ernest Bai Koroma who would want his present
visitors, including
Cherie Blair the partner of the
former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair to believe that he
cares about the rights of women within the borders of
Sierra Leone.
We say to
Cherie Blair and others of the
high-level UN team led by UNIDO Chief,
Sierra Leonean Dr Kandeh Yumkellah visiting Sierra Leone - your host
Ernest Bai Koroma does not care about
the rights, integrity and safety of women within the
borders of Sierra Leone. All the women he cares about
are those with APC party connections or those with whom
he has one sort of connection/relationship or the other. President
Ernest Bai Koroma shows no duty of care to the majority
of women in Sierra Leone who do not have the right
connections to his party and government circles. We would urge Cherie
Blair to have a chat with women's groups and others
concerned about the welfare of women and what would
emerge would be a horror show played out in real time
and involving women - disadvantaged and driven to
despair by a government that cares less about their
welfare.
And kindly believe us
when we tell you that the Ernest Bai Koroma government
has declared today a national holiday, yes - a national
holiday in observance of International Women's Day in an
attempt to show just how serious he takes the issues of
women. A hollow ploy as this day had been observed under
his watch since 2008 and it is not lost on many that the
magician has done this to impress the wife of former UK
Prime Minister Tony Blair, the one and only Cherie Blair
who is in town!!!!
It seems strange, very odd that
the national holiday declaration has not been carried by
the usual Ernest Bai Koroma gbatolite brigade, nor have
the outlets thought it fit to write a thing or two about
the delegation which had arrived in Sierra Leone since
6th March and which includes
Cherie Blair, the
wife of former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. Strange and
odd, very odd.
This is sickening!!!!
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