By Matthew Kanu
A three-day conference on religious tolerance in Sierra Leone has ended in the northern town of Makeni.
Organised by the University of Makeni (UNIMAK), the conference brought together 45 Muslim and Christian leaders.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Rev Fr. Dr Joseph Alimamy Turay said Muslims and Christians did remarkably well in bringing peace to Sierra Leone which he said showed "we are united as a country". He said the two faiths had put Sierra Leone first regardless of their religious persuasions, stressing the roles they played to ensure peaceful elections since the return of democracy in 1996.
Speaking in an interview Treasurer of the Interreligious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) and lecturer at the conference, Alhaji Professor Abdul Babatunde Karim said a conference of such a nature was long overdue.
He lauded the efforts of the IRCSL which he said "intervened in mediating some minor intolerance. This is a wakeup call to celebrate religious tolerance but should not be taken for granted he said “.
Prof Karim said that some people out of "blind loyalty" had the tendency to spark religious conflict citing the incident in Mambolo in Kambia district where a church was burned, and the Patton Street incident in Freetown in which some Muslim women wearing the hijab were taunted leading to clashes.
“We should think of avoiding religious intolerance and maintain the tolerance we are now enjoying" he said and urged faith-based organisations, the government and civil society to be more proactive and accept one another regardless of faith. "Our focus now is to strengthen what brings us together rather than engage in activities that divide us in Sierra Leone" he said.
The Chancellor of UNIMAK, Rev. Fr. Natalio Panganelli said the university was honoured to have organised the conference "to cooperate in the building of a better and peaceful society".
He said it was necessary to first understand the situation in the country if it wanted to change for the better. "We are happy to note that our country is one of the best in Africa for religious tolerance at the same time we have the responsibility to check the use of our resources as citizens of our country if we are to progress in order to have a better future for all and to keep our country free from religious intolerance" he added.
(C) Politico 06/05/14
