The Sierra Leone Network on Small Arms has ended a one day consultative meeting with traditional leaders in Pujehun and Kenema Districts at the Kenema district council hall along Maxwell Khobe Street in Kenema city.
The meeting was funded by the foundation for Security Development in Africa (FOSDA) and Education for Development (ibis) on the theme : The role of traditional rulers I enhancing human security in post conflict Sierra Leone.
The consultative meeting is an integral part of the West Africa Human Rights and Democratisation (WAHRD) project that SLANSA is implementing in Sierra Leone, which among other things, aims at interfacing and dialoguing with traditional rulers on pertinent issues of human rights and human security.
In his opening remarks the chairman of the meeting who is also the Provincial secretary east Mr. Samuel Kenneth Bryma thanked participants for making themselves available for the meeting wherein they will contribute greatly to issues that is not only good for them but the entire country. He said Sierra Leone has gone through a decade of civil war and the issue of small arms is very important adding that it has been disclosed in their Tuesday provincial security meeting that there are still small arms flowing into the country. Mr. Bryma said there are a lot of human violations even before the war, during the war and after the war. He appealed to all to do everything possible in making the country totally arms free so that the country will enjoy peace and development. Giving an objective of the workshop the programme officer Abu – Bakar Sheriff said the meeting is aim at identifying the roles and responsibilities of Traditional rulers and the implementation of legal framework that impact on the human rights and security of their subjects. He also that with the role of every stakeholders properly identified they will go a long way in achieving total peace and development in the nation.
In her statement the Associate Director Foundation for Security and Development in Africa Ghana, Madam Afi Yakubu described the meeting as very important because it is a place of information and learning. She said the role the civil society has played in Ghana in democracy needed to be share with counterpart countries. The absence of war does not mean peace and we cannot achieve total peace without the active participation of our traditional rulers.
In his keynote address Joseph Kamara of UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) office in Kenema said the issue of small arms and light weapons is an enemy of democracy. Adding that democracy can guarantee human development and peace and our traditional rulers are part of democracy. Talking about the role of traditional rulers he said as a peace broker they are in place to inform the appropriate quarters of happenings within their communities. Traditional rulers themselves are civil society activists, human right activists and community base activists. Democracy is a concept that borders around sensitization; the traditional rulers must be part of all activities in their communities.
Giving an overview of the workshop madam Florella Hazeley of SLANSA said SLANSA facilitates civil society organisations to coordinate activities in the campaign against the illicit proliferation of small arms in the country and the sub region. The effective control of small arms is one of global pre-requisite for peace building and sustainable development. SLANSA recognises the need to adopt an integrative approach in the realisation of human security largely by mainstreaming the concepts of human rights and good governance in the achievement of human security which includes the rule of law, the defence of human rights, good management of conflict, food, health and employment security. She said the meeting stands as a foundation for the way forward in rebuilding the authority and legitimacy of traditional rulers.
The paramount chief of Dama chiefdom in the Kenema district Alhaji Sandi Momoh Fowai also make meaningful contribution.
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