By Francis Murray
Organizers of the first ever prison beauty pageant in Sierra Leone have announced plans to roll out a mediation programme as part of efforts to integrate former inmates who were granted presidential clemency in honor of the New Year.
Three out of the over 500 convicts released on New Year’s eve participated in the Miss Correctional 2019, and one of them was the winner of the pageant.
The three girls are yet to return home since their release.
Murtala Mohamed Kamara, Chief Executive Officer of Salone Jamboree, one of the organizations behind the pageant, said mediation was an integral part of the process of integration for the girls, hence the need to facilitate such a process.
Kamara was speaking on Wednesday at a presser convened by the Legal Aid Board, another major player in the organization of the pageant.
At the press conference, the campaigners also reiterated their resolve to fulfil commitments made to the pageant contestants, which is to provide them financial support and guidance to start a new life when they are released.
“When we were organizing this beauty contest, we made a commitment not to just abandon those who’ll make it to the list of Presidential Clemency, and today is a fulfilment of that commitment,” Kamara said.
Kamara added that the former inmates would be very instrumental in the fight against crime across the country by serving as ambassadors of peace and involving in community engagements.
‘‘One of the things we intend doing is to make them peace ambassadors who’ll help to reduce crime in society based on the lessons they’ve learnt in the correctional centers through community engagements,” he stated, adding that for this to succeed, the former inmates will have to be accepted back in society. Kamara said this therefore called for mediation between the former inmates and the families of the victims of the crimes that led them into the correction centers.
While appealing to the families to forgive in the interest of peace and tranquility, Kamara also appealed to the general public to welcome the girls with open arms and not to ostracize them or point fingers at them.
Fatmata Clare Calton-Hanciles, Executive Director of the Legal Aid Board, thanked all those who contributed to the release of the girls, from the President and Vice President, to the organizers of the pageant and those who supported it.
‘‘To pardon someone who has gone through trial and has been convicted and given another chance to start life again involves concerted efforts from many quarters,” Hanciles told journalists.
“These inmates have received enough motivation to go back to their societies and add meaning to their lives,” she added.
The Sierra Leone Legal Aid Board was formed in 2012 with the responsibility to provide free legal aid services for the poor, including legal representation, advise, assistance, legal and community based outreach, alternative dispute resolution, etc.
Paralegals from the Board represented some of the inmates in the correctional facilities across the country, including the former inmates.
Hanciles noted that some of the cases, including one of the released pageant contestants, involved domestic violence as the girl was forced to marry at an early age and against her will. The legal activist therefore warned parents who are in the habit of forcing their child children into early marriage to desist from such a practice.
Sia Kembe, the winner of Miss Correctional 2019 and one of the released inmates, thanked President Bio and all those who contributed to ensuring their freedom. Kembe also apologised to the nation for her crime, which led her into prison.
‘‘I want to thank the President and the organizers of the event who contributed to my release,” she said, calling on other inmates not to lose hope for the possibility of freedom.
Kembe, who is 20 years old, said she would want to go back to school. She therefore pleaded for support to attain this dream.
Janet Sandy, another former inmate, said she felt like she was in heaven with her release.
She said she had given up hope of ever regaining her freedom.
The organization of the Miss Correctional was headed by the Gender and Equal Opportunity Unit of the Sierra Leone Correctional Services. Aminata Turay, head of the unit, also hailed the partners who provided it the support to convene a successful pageant. She called for continued support towards reforming inmates.
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