The current spate of armed robbery in especially Freetown is enough to make any one feel unsafe. That the robbers can embark on such daring raids as to attack the home of a police Local Unit Commander is shocking. That they can gun down a police officer on patrol is galling. That they can break into a shop as heavily fortified as Sam King Services means no business house is safe. And talking about businesses not being safe will only make the already bad unemployment situation even worse. Investors will think twice to come here if at all. And at a time when the current government has made the drive for investment in the country a far higher priority than any previous government that I know of, this can spell doom for one of the world’s poorest countries.
In my not-too-short life in this country, I cannot recall any such daring rampant terrorising of the masses in peace time and that is not related to politics. Not even when robbers raided the home of the former Inspector General of Police Keith Biddle did it look this menacing. They have attacked a high number of homes and killed innocent people including at least one foreign businessman. The police are yet to release a crime statistics in a bid to be accountable to the public. This is a piece of information that should be released regularly since we are now living in under an Open Governance system. Now it would seem success is a crime with criminals on the prowl. Those who have the guns cannot protect us. And we cannot be allowed access to own a gun ourselves to protect ourselves.
Then came the president’s address on Tuesday in which he spelled out new measures to curb the armed robbery danger. That President Ernest Bai Koroma himself had to speak out on the issue makes nonsense of the Internal Affairs Ministry. I would have expected tough talking and acting to have come from the Office of National Security? As for the police, all of this begs the question as to where, if anywhere, is its leadership. In the last one month, the president has had to invoke, not once but twice, the Military Aid to Civilian Power (MAC – P) provision. It that does not indict the Inspector General of Police, nothing else does. And in all that Acha Kamara ensconces himself in his usual happy-go-lucky fashion without bringing about a solution to this menace. When he is criticised, he attributes it to “detractors”. What that means! This is an issue of life and death and someone charged with the responsibility must take action.
Like President Koroma alluded to it, the current sinister spate of armed robbery has the proclivity of making criminality reign in our society. In civilised societies the Inspector General would have resigned following the apparent failure to curb the menacing spate of armed robbery; more so even for the twice-in-one-month invocation of the MAC- P concept. What that simply means is that the military has had to be called in because the police have failed.
Agreed that ours is not a society where people resign from office even when they prove to be inept, if the Inspector General of Police was appointed, why has he not been sacked? There is so much low morale in the police these days that it is clear its top does not and cannot function. Can’t it be cut off for God’s and the people’s sakes? The people’s life and property are being toyed with by gangs who reach anywhere and anyhow and at any time.
Middle- and junior-ranking police officers one meets have an absolutely low morale or even none at all. And this must not be allowed to continue. Was it not this same IG who was quoted in a local newspaper as saying that armed robbers are friends with President Ernest Bai Koroma? And I was surprised that there was no disclaimer to that either from the Police Council or from State House. That is apparently coming to hound us all as hapless and helpless citizens.
Ordinary police officers who are at the receiving end of the actions of armed robbers are in the lurch. Their salary is low, their insurance is almost nonexistent and with them their morale. Do we expect them to die for us and leave the families to suffer? This, coupled with a police leadership that does not inspire is a recipe for the apparent ineptitude that has plagued the police force. If there is not a shake-up at the top, we will hop in the dark crawling to call for help where none is guaranteed to come forth. Most police stations do not have arms. So when you call them, it will be like asking Satan to enter a church, a mosque or a synagogue. A faux pas!
With the apparent failure by the police to curb the armed robbery situation, and the people implicitly left to defend themselves, I would encourage the re-emergence of community watch. You know, when the Sierra Leone Army let us down by either being inert or compromising us, there emerged the Civil Defence Force. And no matter what one may hold against them, the Tamaborors, the Kamajors and Kbethis did tremendously well for us as a nation at a time we needed them most.
Communities should form themselves into a neighbourhood watch and defend themselves against robbers. But in all this, the core of the problem must also be addressed. There is so much poverty in the country due to the increasing number of jobless young people that if something is not done urgently these robbers will be left in a catch 22 situation – to die of hunger or go on an orgy of armed robbery and get killed or jailed in the process. More effort should be made to cub address these core issues. And it should bring the ideas of all political opinions. At this time, the opposition should not wish for the government to fail. Otherwise all of us will.
By Umaru Fofana
In my not-too-short life in this country, I cannot recall any such daring rampant terrorising of the masses in peace time and that is not related to politics. Not even when robbers raided the home of the former Inspector General of Police Keith Biddle did it look this menacing. They have attacked a high number of homes and killed innocent people including at least one foreign businessman. The police are yet to release a crime statistics in a bid to be accountable to the public. This is a piece of information that should be released regularly since we are now living in under an Open Governance system. Now it would seem success is a crime with criminals on the prowl. Those who have the guns cannot protect us. And we cannot be allowed access to own a gun ourselves to protect ourselves.
Then came the president’s address on Tuesday in which he spelled out new measures to curb the armed robbery danger. That President Ernest Bai Koroma himself had to speak out on the issue makes nonsense of the Internal Affairs Ministry. I would have expected tough talking and acting to have come from the Office of National Security? As for the police, all of this begs the question as to where, if anywhere, is its leadership. In the last one month, the president has had to invoke, not once but twice, the Military Aid to Civilian Power (MAC – P) provision. It that does not indict the Inspector General of Police, nothing else does. And in all that Acha Kamara ensconces himself in his usual happy-go-lucky fashion without bringing about a solution to this menace. When he is criticised, he attributes it to “detractors”. What that means! This is an issue of life and death and someone charged with the responsibility must take action.
Like President Koroma alluded to it, the current sinister spate of armed robbery has the proclivity of making criminality reign in our society. In civilised societies the Inspector General would have resigned following the apparent failure to curb the menacing spate of armed robbery; more so even for the twice-in-one-month invocation of the MAC- P concept. What that simply means is that the military has had to be called in because the police have failed.
Agreed that ours is not a society where people resign from office even when they prove to be inept, if the Inspector General of Police was appointed, why has he not been sacked? There is so much low morale in the police these days that it is clear its top does not and cannot function. Can’t it be cut off for God’s and the people’s sakes? The people’s life and property are being toyed with by gangs who reach anywhere and anyhow and at any time.
Middle- and junior-ranking police officers one meets have an absolutely low morale or even none at all. And this must not be allowed to continue. Was it not this same IG who was quoted in a local newspaper as saying that armed robbers are friends with President Ernest Bai Koroma? And I was surprised that there was no disclaimer to that either from the Police Council or from State House. That is apparently coming to hound us all as hapless and helpless citizens.
Ordinary police officers who are at the receiving end of the actions of armed robbers are in the lurch. Their salary is low, their insurance is almost nonexistent and with them their morale. Do we expect them to die for us and leave the families to suffer? This, coupled with a police leadership that does not inspire is a recipe for the apparent ineptitude that has plagued the police force. If there is not a shake-up at the top, we will hop in the dark crawling to call for help where none is guaranteed to come forth. Most police stations do not have arms. So when you call them, it will be like asking Satan to enter a church, a mosque or a synagogue. A faux pas!
With the apparent failure by the police to curb the armed robbery situation, and the people implicitly left to defend themselves, I would encourage the re-emergence of community watch. You know, when the Sierra Leone Army let us down by either being inert or compromising us, there emerged the Civil Defence Force. And no matter what one may hold against them, the Tamaborors, the Kamajors and Kbethis did tremendously well for us as a nation at a time we needed them most.
Communities should form themselves into a neighbourhood watch and defend themselves against robbers. But in all this, the core of the problem must also be addressed. There is so much poverty in the country due to the increasing number of jobless young people that if something is not done urgently these robbers will be left in a catch 22 situation – to die of hunger or go on an orgy of armed robbery and get killed or jailed in the process. More effort should be made to cub address these core issues. And it should bring the ideas of all political opinions. At this time, the opposition should not wish for the government to fail. Otherwise all of us will.
By Umaru Fofana