By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
On Saturday the conference on peace and national cohesion, better known as Bintumani III, ended at the Bintumani International Conference centre in Freetown. The conference is part of President Julius Maada Bio’s dream of having a Peace and National Cohesion Commission established in Sierra Leone.
The overall goal is to unite a country that is sharply divided along political party, regional and ethnic lines.
The build up to the conference was almost over shadowed by threats of boycott by the country’s major opposition parties: the All Peoples Congress (APC), the Coalition for Change (C4C), and the National Grand Coalition (NGC).
However, the blow was softened when the NGC made a U-turn, few hours to the opening of the conference, and decided to atted.
On the opening day, various stakeholder groups presented their position paper on what they wanted to see in the peace commission. This saw the Women’s Forum, Children’s Forum Network, and other civil society organizations as well as people with disability, the inter religious council and the council of Paramount Chiefs all present their positions in a fully packed hall.
The common theme that resonated through all the presentations was the need to have a diverse and independent commission that will represent the interest of all Sierra Leoneans.
During the opening day, Special Representative from the UN Secretary General Mohammad Ibn Chambas spoke on the need to resolve the political tension in the country by focusing on the right solutions.
“I will therefore encourage all of you, during these three days of discussion, to focus on reaching agreements on how current grievances can best be addressed through sustained dialogue, as well as on agreeing the key elements of a peace building architecture that prioritizes conflict prevention and encompasses all stakeholders,” he said.
But, as expected, the major highlight of the day was President Julius Maada Bio’s speech to declare the conference open. He spoke on the need to have a sincere dialogue on issues related to peace in the country.
“To me reflecting with honesty and total candor on the past and present and tasking ourselves with institutionalizing practices and processes that ensure fairness, equity and justice is no doubt the exigency of our time,” the president said.
Bio called out the media and civil society on the importance of their role in promoting peace and cohesion.
“The media and civil society must not foster disinformation and hate. Press freedom is not freedom to sow strife and discord. Press freedom should engage our civic discourse for the development and not the division of our nation,” he said.
After his speech the first session of the conference started almost immediately, featuring the Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce, UN Women, UNDP and ECOWAS. Representatives of these groups discussed the Sustainable Development Goals and their connection to peace and development.
In spite of the boycott by his party, Alhaji Alpha Kanu, the former standard bearer aspirant of the main opposition APC, attended the conference and moderated a session in his own personal capacity. In his remark at the start of the session, he said: “I am from the All Peoples Congress, even though I am not here on their behalf. I came here on my own free volition. I came here because I believe in what the government is doing.”
Kanu moderated a session on the second day of the conference, where the panel discussed the ‘Nexus between development and peace building - the past, present and future.’
The session before his was moderated by another leading opposition figure, former presidential candidate of the NGC, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella. He hosted representatives from Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana who shared their experiences threading similar path Sierra Leone went through. The session focused on how these countries built similar peace infrastructures over time and what Sierra Leone can learn from them.
Kenya and Rwanda had the most compelling lessons for Sierra Leone to learn from, considering they went through periods akin to the eleven years blood bath Sierra Leone went through. Kenya had a brutal post-election violence between 2007-2008 which claimed hundreds of lives and left several thousands internally displaced.
The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is perhaps the most reported event in the last decade on the African continent. The almost four-month long war left almost a million dead and more injured or displaced.
The representative from Kenya, Hassan Mohamed, Chief Executive Officer of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission of Kenya, said it’s important for Sierra Leone to know that setting up peace infrastructure takes time.
“It takes time for the commission to mature. We formed ours in 2009 and we have been building up ever since,” he said.
The Rwandan representative made a similar point on the need to give the process time. Fidel Ndayisaba, Executive Secretary of the National Unity and
Reconciliation Commission of Rwanda, said it took Rwanda a long time, from the end of the genocide, to get to where they are today in terms of peace.
“As you know, we have taken 25 years to build peace in our country. We had the genocide in 1994 and since then our work started,” he said.
During the opening day, Dr Isata Mahoi who was speaking on behalf of civil society organizations, also spoke on the need to strengthen other institutions whiles the peace commission grows in to a full fledge infrastructure.
“Existing institutions should be capacitated to ensure political mediation in the meantime, because setting up of a good peace infrastructure takes time and it is expensive,” she said.
The final day of the conference saw Paramount chiefs renew their call for a special house of representatives exclusively for their membership.
Paramount Chief Alhaji Konoh Bundoh II of Gurama-Kono Chiefdom in Kono District raised the issue on behalf of his colleagues. He later told Politico on the sidelines of the discussions that the political interference in to their work has mostly divided them and undermined their authority as traditional rulers.
“Politics makes us become impotent. It puts us in variance with our subjects. Because they see us align with the party in power and your subjects who are in the opposition see you as an enemy,” he said.
Dr Yumkella also added his views on the matter, noting the importance of traditional rulers in the democratic set up of the state.
“We have spoken on how important the chiefs are to peace. Maybe we need a thing like this to be part of our governance, so [that] any law that comes they will not be worried to support any party over the other,” he said
Femi Claudius Cole, the Chairperson and Leader of Unity Party moderated the final session of the conference. That session, which focused on what the country wants for peace, featured representatives from the Tricycle union, Market women association, youths, persons with disability and the private sector.
Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh closed the conference by officially receiving the communique that was developed over the three days of the conference. In his remarks, he noted the level of inclusivity that the conference had achieved and assured that government would ensure everyone’s voice counts in the implementation of the outcome.
“I see an intellectual face to this conference. I see a civic face to this conference. I see a political face to this conference and, above all, I see a grassroots face to this conference,” the VP said.
The communique has not been released to the public yet, but some of the key recommendations include the need for inclusivity, diversity and independence of the proposed peace commission.
In the coming weeks or months, the cabinet is expected to discuss the document and if the discussions are found to be fruitful, it will be taken to parliament for the establishment of the Peace and National Cohesion Commission.
© 2019 Politico Online
