By Nasratu Kargbo & Chernor Alimamy Kamara
A good number of people who sat to the Police enlistment examination at the Hastings Police Training School last Saturday have expressed dissatisfaction over what they claimed was “poor coordination” of the process.
Speaking to Politico they complained of facing difficulties locating their centres and even their names.
Emerging from large crowds of young men and women who were purring over many papers pinned to walls at the Hastings Police Training School, outside east Freetown, Mohamed Kamara attributed the delay for start of the exam, to the stated problems.
Kamara explained that some candidates came to the training school which was also a centre for the exams, only to realise that they were supposed to be at other centres that had been established in schools in the central and west of Freetown.
Fatmata Kamara another candidate said there were too many papers with list of names on the walls, making it difficult for one to go through them especially under “such a tense atmosphere”. But she also blamed some of the candidates for not coming early enough to go through the lists that had been displayed for over a week.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Alieu Jalloh who also is also Commandant of the Police Training School admitted candidates locating the centres was indeed a big challenge.
He said Hastings training school was to have taken in five hundred but realised the number of people present was below the designated figure and had to take in those already stranded who should have been in other centres but could not make it because of the time and distance. He believed the same scenario could have played out in other exam centres in the Western Area.
With the examination in progress, Jalloh dispel any notion of malpractice, saying they could have proper view of the expansive hall. The subjects sat to were Mathematics, English, General Paper and Observation. Jalloh also told Politico that candidates must be between ages 18-35.
Earlier at the weekly police press briefing on Thursday 10th March, 2022, the Director of Human Resource in the Sierra Leone Police, Assistant Inspector General Patrick Johnson said Kenema, Bo, Makeni, Port Loko and the Western Area were the places designated for the exam. ‘’We were well prepared and we want to thank owners of schools for working with us and providing the space which otherwise would have been a huge challenge for the SLP (Sierra Leone Police) to accommodate all this 20,000 applicants that have taken the exams,’’ he said.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. Ambrose Sovula said that due to the growing profile of the police, the demand for enlistment was on the increase. ‘’Every family member wants to associate themselves with the Sierra Leone Police, because the opportunities are almost becoming second to none,’’ he said. He said SLP was becoming attractive and that they have personnel who are not graduates but are expert in their own field and have travelled the world over to do the work of the police.
The IGP said that there are limited spaces in the police, with more university graduates now, and mentioned of students now doing internship there. He said the long held view of the police as a place for dropouts has changed. He admonished people to send their best children to the police so they can do better policing.
He emphasized the role of journalists in information dissemination that could be of help to the police, and advised bloggers to be careful with what they write on social media, saying some could create panic.
Over 30,000 people applied for the police but the number was downsized to 20,000, the largest number ever to have sat to a police entry exam. Only 2,000 successful candidates are expected to be recruited according to the SLP heads.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (14/03/22)
