Edward Conteh, amputee president addressing his colleagues
Speech marking 15 anniversary of the 9 January 1999 mayhem
By Edward Conteh, President of the Sierra Leone
War Wounded and Amputee Association
My fellow victims and well wishers, I welcome you here today as we converge yet again to remind ourselves of the carnage and brutality we suffered on this day 15 years ago.
We were not born like this, as everyone knows. We had arms and limbs and we could fend for ourselves and had happy families. But on the 6 of January 1999 hell was let loose and the devils came into Freetown and inflicted amputation, rape and other sadistic behaviour, on us.
Most people in the country, including those in government, have forgotten this day like they have forgotten about us. But can we the victims forget this day? NO! I repeat, NO! We cannot forget this day because we live with the scars and we suffer the neglect. When I say WE I speak for thousands of us and our families and other dependants who are all across the country, suffering even for food and medication.
We have been marginalised by the state because the government does not care about us. Since this carnage was inflicted on us, more than half our colleagues have died in complete neglect and frustration. The 45% of us that still continue to suffer in this wicked world have had our numbers inflated by wicked people. Road accident victims have been added to our numbers through corrupt means. Leprosy victims and even victims of motorcycle accidents have all been added to the list of War Victims to benefit from our programme. Those fake war victims and those who criminally added their names to our numbers are as evil as the rebels who amputated our arms and limbs and sexually violated our women.
My fellow victims, we all know that we are not liked by the majority of Sierra Leoneans. Instead of sympathising with our plight, they see us as pests who irritate them. We should therefore take to task those who are responsible for our calamity.
The Le 6,000,000 given to each of us last year, as one-off reparation payment, is an insult to us and a shame to the government. How can Le 6 million take care of our children's schooling, our medical bills and other welfare needs for the rest of our lives? How? And the Le 6 million was backlog for the last 15 years that we suffered and waited for our pension. How can the government be so callous towards its own citizens! Or do they want us all to die? We hereby renew our call for reparation to be paid to us in accordance with the Lome Peace Accord. We will use all constitutional means available to us to realise this. May God bless all those who continue to support us, especially Mama Elisa. I salute you all for your patience. God bless you.
(C) Politico Online 06/01/14
