By Chernor Alimamy Kamara, Ibrahim Sorie Fofanah &Alpha Abu
In an address to the nation in the wake of the widespread Kush problem in the country, President Julius Maada Bio has not only declared a national public health emergency on the illegal and debilitating substance ,but has warned people involved in its production, trafficking and illicit trading saying “Your Time is up”.
The President in the address on 4th April, 2024, spoke of measures he has personally ordered such as setting up of a National Task Force on Drugs and Substance Abuse (NaTFDSA) that will be responsible for implementing a five- part Strategy for a Drug-Free Future.
He said the Task Force will focus on raising awareness campaigns, promoting healthy alternatives, and deterring drug use. He also stated that the government will establish accessible treatment centres in every district, adequately staffed with trained professionals to offer care and support to people suffering from drug addiction.
NaTFDSA will provide comprehensive recovery services, such as counseling, skills training, and reintegration programmes. Government is to dismantle the drug supply chain through investigations, arrests, and prosecutions, and the president acknowledged that partnering with communities will be crucial in the fight against kush.
“This Strategy will encompass all sectors of society and will be replicated at the chiefdom, township and district levels,” he said.
Given the national emergency on drug and substance abuse, he emphasized that a Presidential Advisory Team will supervise the National Task Force in the quest to eradicate kush and other lethal drugs in communities.
He disclosed that in the coming days and weeks, the National Task Force will dialogue with the public about its core mandate and objectives, encouraging citizens and residents in Sierra Leone to fully embrace the fight against kush.
President Bio used his address to express delight at the higher enrolment in schools particularly of the girl-child “than at any other time in the history of this country,” and improvement in the health sector.
He said the government has reduced the maternal mortality rate by 61% and expanded health care coverage to the people and assured of continued modest investments in infrastructural development, such as energy access, transportation networks and internet coverage.
The Head of State pointed out that Sierra Leone can only continue to make progress in a stable and healthy environment. The toll kush continues to inflict on especially the youth population has galvanized various sectors in society into action.
National Union of Sierra Leone Students (NUSS) on 4th April, called a Press Conference at Fourah Bay College (FBC) to address the kush problem, where the FBC Students Union President, Alfred M. Sesay explained to the media that a sizeable number of college students are using the drug, as well as Tramadol and Ecstasy.
“We the students that are supposed to educate other people are abusing drugs,” Sesay went on.
He suggested that students should be at the forefront in the fight against the harmful drug, calling on students’ leaders to go out and speak on the said issue at ghettos and other suspected areas where it is sold.
“Kush has become an alarming thing,” the SU President of the Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU), Abdul Malik Sawaneh in his own statement explained to Journalists.
Sawaneh said peer group influence is a key contributing factor for kush intake and suggested that sensitization about the harmful effects of kush from primary to senior secondary schooling be initiated and intensified. He also spoke about soliciting greater community involvement in the fight.
Ibrahim Tunkara, from the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM) described the kush menace as appalling and devastating and called on the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) to intensify their crackdown on kush importers and retailers.
One of the guest speakers, Journalist Mohamed Jaward Nyallay praised the students union for organizing an event to address the issue of kush, saying the fight should not be a one-way approach but rather a multifaceted one, and spoke of how young people are finding more inventive illegal substances like ecstasy. “This is the next pandemic that we should be watching out for,” Nyallay said, and called on authorities to be wary and be on the lookout.
Inspector-General of Police, William Fayia Sellu at a broadly represented Town Hall meeting on kush held in Freetown on 2nd April said he had instructed all regional commanders to be raiding drug sellers and users at their respective regions, saying, "If any regional commander fails to do so, he will have to face punitive measures’’.
He said they have arrested two 40 feet sea cargo containers, and that one of them has been confirmed to contain illegal drugs
Sellu an individual named Umaru Kargbo living in Holland shipped the said containers into the country, and that seven people who went to the Quay to clear them, have been arrested.
Sellu stressed there should be a no- bail policy for persons arrested for kush and other drugs. "There should be no sacred cow in the fight against kush," he emphasised.
Three Police officers, he said, are standing before the court for engaging in the consumption of illegal drugs, such as kush, emphasising that they have stepped up in the fight and rely on the citizens for support.
Though there has been unison in efforts to address the spread of kush use, concerns have also been raised regarding actions directed at addicts.
Amnesty International Sierra Leone Chapter in a Press Statement expressed concern at the shaving of the heads of victims of kush arrested by the Police and communities.
“We are equally appalled by the manner in which dead and unidentified youths were buried’’, and cited a particular social media video that showed the dead bodies of thirty-two unidentified youths being buried in a mass grave which amnesty says “is a cause for concern as it displays gross disrespect for the dead’’.
The group says autopsy reports to verify whether the cause of death was due to drug abuse, are yet to be seen.
“Victims of drug abuse are also subjected to beatings, dehumanization and stigmatization in their communities’’, Amnesty says, and recommended that “Government should use a human rights-based approach in addressing drug abuse and related issues’’.
The Press Secretary in the Office of the President had in a government press briefing not long ago condemned the forceful shaving of the heads of drug users, saying it’s an infringement on their human rights.
Politico however made unsuccessful attempts to reach the Executive Director of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Andrew Jaiah Kaikai.
Copyright © 2024 Politico Online (08/04/24)
