By Hajaratu Kalokoh
An injunction on the elections for the student leadership of the Law Department at Fourah Bay College (FBC) sparked violence on Wednesday at the college’s campus on Mount Aureole.
The students were demanding that the elections, which had been scheduled for the day, be held as planned.
The college’s administration and the general Student Union had postponed the vote due to alleged constitutional violations by some of the candidates.
The protest degenerated into physical assault against innocent students.
Politico got hold of a video footage which was circulated on social media in which a year 3 student at the Social Work Department alleged that he was beaten by associates of Mohamed Wurie Bah, one of the presidential candidates. The alleged victim claimed that the group which attacked him were moving with Mr Bah at the Amphitheater and that he was assaulted by them when he tried to film the riots.
Bah denied the allegations.
“The accusation was a set-up. I am not responsible. I know nothing about it. Let him bring forth any evidence,” he told Politico.
A press release from the Defense Minister of the Student Union said they would be submitting names of suspects behind Wednesday’s violence.
“We already have names of suspects and we will ensure we engage the necessary authorities to deal with these people appropriately in accordance with the law,” the statement signed by Defense Minister, Mamoud Bah stated.
Student union elections in colleges across Sierra Leone are characterized by divisions along “ideological” lines, notably involving the so-called Black and White groups.
The college administration has failed over the years to punish students who are responsible for perpetrating these incidences of violence.
There is no indication that anyone was arrested after Wednesday’s protest, despite the presence of Police on the campus.
The spokesman for the Sierra Leone Police did not respond to our call for a comment on the issue.
There are three candidates vying for the presidency in the election.
James Fortune, another candidate, called on the administration to deal with all those who are found to be involved in Wednesday’s violence,
“My own stance is that the university administration should actually take a stand and ensure a clear signal that violence is not the way. If we have concerns, as students we can write it down but to say we have students perpetrating violence and without addressing that we rush towards (conducting) elections, is actually not sending a good signal,’’ said Mr Fortune.
The Student Union body had called on the administration to disqualify the candidates whom it said were in violation of its constitution.
A separate statement from the office of the Attorney General of Union said the injunction was necessary because two of the aspirants were not eligible, as per the Union’s constitution, noting that freshmen and final year students were not eligible to run for any position on campus.
“Since this constitution ban freshmen and final year students from contesting any election on campus, it will be therefore unconstitutional to allow James Fortune and Mohamed Wurie Bah to contest for the presidency of the law department,” the statement signed by Alpha Umar Bah, the Attorney General, said.
The university administration also issued a notice the same day endorsing the call for cancellation of the elections by the Union.
Following the incident, the college administration also met with all three candidates and later announced Friday, January 31 as the new date for the elections.
“The election was postponed because we are trying to put things in place. We have to listen to some objections made by students and we have clarified the objection, the main reason [for which] it was postponed. We have clarified them in front of them and they have agreed in front of the police that we are going to hold the election come Friday,” Warden of Student, Rev. Canon Buck, told Politico after the meeting.
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