By Mabinty M.Kamara
Report by the Special Investigations Committee set by President Julius Maada Bio to investigate the August 10 protest’s organisers, planners, Funders and most importantly to make recommendations for action that would prevent a recurrence of the violent August 10 protest has indicated that the protest was politically motivated .
The committee also noted that from interviews conducted across the country, the protest was blamed on the current economic situation in the country which it stated was exploited by politicians.
"All the areas visited by the committee, there was an insistent complaint of economic hardship and food insecurity. Although the situation is not akin to Sierra Leone, there are indications that they may have genuinely contributed to the August 10 incident with rogue politicians exploiting the reality for their political advantage," the report said.
Presenting the report last week to President Julius Maada Bio, the Committee Chairperson lawyer Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai said that they visited all the areas where the violence erupted that day such as Port Loko, Lunsar, Kamakwe, Binkolo and some parts of the Urban and rural parts of the Western area.
He added that they also visited areas where the incidents did not occur such as Bo, Kenema and Kono and that other previous reports were also reviewed which informed the committee report.
He added that the Security sector which is key was relatively prepared, more reactive than proactive and that they were high handed before, during and after the protests.
He added that the Security sector was challenged by logistics and manpower.
Lawyer Abdulai noted that Sierra Leone is politically divided along regional lines as demonstrated in the voting patterns over the years with the two major political parties the Sierra Leone Peoples party and the All Peoples Party (APC) having their strongholds in the South East and the North- West respectively.
He noted that the incidents occurred in the perceived strongholds of the APC party and that the messages across were that the current president must go. This according to the report could not have been coincidental. “This is also reinforced by the timing and spontaneity of the protest starting at around 6 am to 900 hours in all the affected areas," he stated.
He added that stakeholders in the affected areas provided names of politicians who aided the protest and that the videos and transcripts were provided to the effect.
"There were also indications that the protests were politically motivated, and they were well planned, organised and coordinated in an organised manner," he stated.
He also noted youth unemployment which according to UNDP development index stands at 60 percent is greatly affecting livelihood, as well as taxes and increasing social menace such as drug abuse.
Also, he noted that they learned during investigation that the social interaction between the government and the people for the latter to channel their grievances and frustrations are limited.
He added that this is a recipe for creating insecurity in the country.
The Chairman commended the role of the media in information dissemination but singled out radio stations in the east end of Freetown who according to residents were fanning the flames of violence.
The committee proffered a number of recommendations for government actions.
After the Violent August 10 protest in 2022 which led to the death of 6 police officers and 26 civilians, the government set up the committee to look into the situation after public outcry for the perpetrators to be brought to book.
Copyright (c) 2023 Politico (17/04/23)
