By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Clashes over land between residents of Kamasoko and Kamawornie villages in the Sela Limba Chiefdom, Kamakwie in the northern district of Bombali have left ten people injured.
Abu Conteh, an indigene of Kamawornie village, told Politico that violence between the two villages broke out when Lamin Samura,the headman of Kamawornie village along with some residents of Kamasoko village went to work on a piece of land which some students in the Kamawornie village had already identified to do some work.
Conteh further explained that the students resisted the Kamasoko people whom, he claimed, had “hired some mercenaries to clash with them [the students].The mercenaries were armed with machetes, cutlasses, sticks and other offensive weapons”.
He explained that when the violence subsided ten people were injured and were responding to medical treatment at the Kamakwie Government Hospital while police had made several arrests.
The two villages,Kamasoko and Kamawornie, lie some 11 miles from Kamakwie, the chiefdom headquarter town where the Paramount Chief,Kandeh Luseni III resides.
Kamawornie village came into existence over 80 years ago when some residents of Kamasoko village broke away and established Kamawornie village, which Mr Conteh said had “achieved progress in terms of wealth and development”.
He added that “since its establishment, the Kamawornie people used to recognise Kamasoko leadership to which they paid homage. The relationship between the two villages has been cordial for several years until the people of Kamawornie decided not to cooperate with the leadership as they seek to establish a community that is independent of Kamasoko leadership”.
Sources said the strained relationship between the two villages, which continues to cause frequent minor conflicts, was attributed to the non-recognition of the Kamasoko leadership by the people of Kama wornie,as well as the order issued by the Kamasoko authorities for herdsmen to take their cattle to the Kamawornie land for grazing.
Issa Kargbo, also an indigene of Kama wornie village, confirmed that the conflict between the two villages had left ten people seriously injured and eight suspects now in police custody. Among those arrested, Issa said, six were from Kamasoko village and two from Kama wornie village.
He further explained that the arrest was executed by police officers attached to the Kamakwie station and they later referred the matter to the Makeni police station for further investigation.
“All eight suspects are now standing trial at the Makeni magistrates’ court with strict bail conditions,” Issa said but expressed disappointment at the strict bail conditions, which he said, had made it difficult to bail some of his people involved in the land clash.
“To secure bail for any of the suspects, one must produce a house plan indicating that the house is situated in Makeni town, Sierra Leone’s northern headquarter town,” he lamented.
The land in question, Issa claimed, belonged to the Kargbo and Bangura families of Kamasoko village until an elder of one of the two land holding families left Kamasoko and settled at Kamawornie for a very long time.
“Residents of Kamawornie were respectful of the leadership of the Kamasoko, but over the years the tradition changed after elders of that old arrangement between the two villages had all passed away,” Issa further explained, adding that the new generation of youths “no longer wanted to recognise the Kamasoko headman, Sorie Tenneba as their leader”.
He said “the situation was the main cause of the strained relationship marked by frequent skirmishes between the two villages”. He told Politico that that strained relations sparked up the conflict when the Kamasoko people destroyed the plantation belonging to the Kamawornie people.
He alleged that before the conflict broke out he had “met PC Kandeh Luseni several times for a peaceful and permanent settlement of the matter between the two villages but to no avail”.
Meanwhile, when contacted on the claims made against the authorities in the chiefdom, Chiefdom Speaker of Sela Limba, Momodu James Kamara,said in fact the land dispute was actually between Karmokoh Sinneh and Karmokoh Lamin, both of Kamawornie village.
He said he got the complaint from Karmokoh Sinneh,last week, against Karmokoh Lamin whom the complainant alleged had destroyed some beds made by pupils of the Roman Catholic Primary School in Kamawornie village.
The speaker said he summoned both parties to his place to find a way out of the problem.
“Before the date for the investigation I heard about a clash between the people of Kamasoko and Kamawornie villages,” he told Politico on the phone, adding that he was not at the scene but a team of police officers, in the company of a certain Lieutenant Bangura,one of the military officers deployed in Kamakwie for the Ebola eradication campaign, had gone to the scene of crime.
“When the police officers returned, Lieutenant Bangura informed me that gunshots were heard during the conflict and that some arrests were made,” the speaker said.
Politico contacted the Local Unit Commander in Kamakwie in respect of the clashes and he confirmed that there was violence and that some arrests were made and the accused charged to court. The LUC, Supt Francis Koroma however refused to give any further details, noting that the matter was being heard in court.
(C) Politico 07/07/15
