CORRECTIONAL DEPARTMENT RELEASES REPORT ON APRIL JAIL RIOT
It will take a while for people to really come to terms with the whole story behind the riot by prisoners at the country’s main Correctional Centre on Pademba road in Freetown. For particularly those living close to the facility, it was a moment of overwhelming trepidation as the crackle of gunfire and billowing black smoke filled the air on that Wednesday morning.
After our security forces suppressed what the most potent threat to national security since the end of the war, government ordered an investigations into the cause of the mayhem. With other sectors like the Office of National Security (ONS) yet to release their findings, the management of the Correctional Centre has presented its own report. It makes an interesting read.
Sections of the report claim an incitement-laden shared audio message and the fear of COVID - 19 infections amongst inmates following the discovery of one infected inmate, engendered the violence within the walls of the jail. Also we now know some of the inmates died as a result of gunshot or the use of blunt objects. Well we want to highlight some issues surrounding the management style at Pademba Correctional Centre itself and its nexus to events of that fateful day.
The place has always been called a maximum facility but in practice we don’t think so. The system was structured in a way that forbade the entry of prohibited items but what we’ve witnessed over the years is a well-designed permeability network run by some crooked correctional officers that ensures inmates access mobile phones, money, marijuana and other drugs.
How could have the imprisoned men (possibly high on drugs as well), used phones to listen to misguided messages that propelled them into an orgy of bludgeoning of rival gang members to death or coming into direct line of fire from the security forces that stormed the place to restore order?
The use of CCTV and bodycam in all our correctional facilities should be prioritized in any pending security reform initiatives. Also improved living conditions for inmates and curbing acts of pilfering of their supplies should be considered as well.
A mass enlistment exercise was underway before the pandemic got it put on hold. This is where we suggest thorough screening going down to community level when the recruitment resumes. For now we wait to hear what other parties investigating the riot will report. Public perception of the conduct of correctional officers has never been a good one.
TWENTY BILLION LEONES FOR CORRECTIONAL SERVICES TO REBUILD WHAT?
We finally got to hear something a little comprehensive from the Correctional Services since the attempted Prison Break about what actually happened within the walls of Pademba road jail yard on that day – April 29. Let’s cut a long story short because much of what the leadership of the Correctional Services told the media the other day was already in the public domain. In fact we still can’t understand why it took them so long to speak out.
Now we know they have asked for TWENTY BILLION LEONES to rebuild the facility. We haven’t seen the details of what they intend doing with such a huge chunk of our taxes but we guess that they would like to build nice offices and replace locks to the cells and those kinds of things. We can’t really argue with that but we have a few suggestions to make as to how you spend that money just in case JJ Blood signs the check without any fuss.
1. You can go ahead and build your offices but how come you became so careless about the security of the facility from immediately outside the walls? It was only after that attempted break that soldiers quickly scrambled two watch towers just opposite Winners Chapel. In the last few days market stalls built near those watch towers were demolished by police. We are sure the correctional services had anything to with that demolition. So spend some of this money dealing with that. You call it MAXIMUM SECURITY.
2. Spend some of that money buying uniforms, especially boots for your officers. Just look at their uniforms and tell us what you think. Also visit their living quarters and tell us why you expect moral to be high among your workers. Again, we believe some of them are very reckless with those housing units.
3. Please provide some lunch for those officers that accompany detainees to court on a daily basis. Some of them constantly ask for money from the relatives of people kept in those dirty holding facilities of the Law Courts building all the time. Just give them a sense of pride otherwise the possibility exists for them to traffic things in and out of that place.
4. Please also spend some of that money on the food and medical care of the inmates. The quality of the food there is bad. We know that. We are not asking for burgers from Crown Bakery but please we are talking about human rights here.
5. Please complete that your new correctional facility project at Songo that King Messi talked about throughout his presidency but failed to deliver. We heard a lot about “RELOCATING PADEMBA ROAD PRISION.” Two years after King Messi withdrew to his Seat of Power in Makeni, the jail yard is at the same location. Was that in his handing over note?
TIME FOR PPRC TO SCRUTIZE OUR PARTIES
Local elections are some two years away and we expect the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) to begin the process of working with the parties registered with the Commission. We cannot tell now whether new ones could emerge or those that participated in the 2018 elections would still be around. And we cannot hide the fact that in the polls two years ago, some political parties were not up to scratch when it came to meeting all the requirements needed by PPRC.
The Commission was quite generous to a good number of them, as they had no properly run offices or credible executive representation beyond Freetown. Some never gave allowances to those that offered their services. We would advise that they look at the structure of some these parties that the last time revolved around only one figure for the most part. Structures were non- existent and we remain skeptical about their seriousness in the democratic space.
The PPRC boss Abdulai Bangura must get his team to thoroughly scrutinize some of our parties to save the electorate from being confused and cheated by parties that exist only in name. We will not accept any brief case parties being certified to put their names on the ballot. In fact we want them to know that no GOODLUCK JONATHAN money is coming here for the foreseeable future.
HEAVY DUTY TRUCKS IGNORE BAN AND USE JUI-REGENT ROAD
When the Chinese contractors completed work on the Jui-Regent road in 2014, very bold signposts were erected along the route prohibiting use of the road by trucks weighing more than 10 tons or vehicles carrying sand, wood and stones. Trailer trucks and heavy machinery must keep off, so it was sanctioned to be.
All those trucks banned from that busy route linking east and west Freetown are not complying with the regulations anymore.
At night well-organized scenes unfold at the various Police checkpoints; the loaded trucks would queue and wait for ‘final instructions’ before they are allowed to continue their journey. It came as a surprise to hear an official of the Sierra Leone Road Safety Corps admit that fatal accidents along the route have increased in recent times blaming some on heavy trucks. He was gracious enough to acknowledge that the truck drivers are flouting the order but never explained what they would do to ensure compliance.
Perhaps he never wanted to offend IG Sovula’s men. And so the lives of people will continue to be risked as a result of palms being greased. The road itself is favored by commuters and motorists as a more convenient alternative to travel from Adonkia to Waterloo in a comparatively shorter time. At Grafton checkpoint the sight of one of the signposts almost uprooted and leaning back and nearly swallowed up by tall grass, could not give a better picture of abandonment and rejection of the very message it carries.
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