By Hajaratu Kalokoh
The Sierra Leone government has announced an indefinite ban on all students’ union activities at the Fourah Bay College (FBC) following an outbreak of violence on Tuesday.
The violence broke out during a debate by candidates contesting the presidency for the union.
Supporters of the rival candidates pelted stones at each other and engaged in a running battle with the police who helplessly fired multiple rounds of tear gas to disperse the rioting students.
The debate was the last major activity before the election slated for Friday June 28.
“All Fourah Bay College students union activities are banned with immediate effect,” a statement from the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education declared hours after the incident.
It added: “The administration of Fourah Bay College should institute an investigation into the cause (s) of the violence, identify actors and perpetrators of the violence and report to the Ministry of Technical and Higher Education on or before July 2nd 2019 for further action.”
The Education ministry also requested the Sierra Leone police to deploy at strategic locations on the college's campus to provide security for staff, students and its assets.
This is the second time this particular election process has been postponed, due to violence or threat of violence.
Violence in students politics has become a common place in Sierra Leone, particularly at FBC. Two of the last three annual elections have been cancelled because of violence during campaigns.
Consequently, the college has gone six years without a Student Union body, and it is the only constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone without one.
There are three presidential candidates in this year’s Students Union Presidential race: Mohamed Kabba, Mohamed Wurie Bah and Eunice Naffi Mustapha.
Two of the candidates are known to be aligned with the two political ideologies on campus. Bah is recognized with the White camp, whiles Mustapha is recognized with the Black camp. They are both the top runners in the race.
An eyewitness who prefers anonymity told Politico that the debate was on the verge of concluding when Mustapha moved towards her opponent during her final address.
“She moved from her position whiles delivering her concluding statement towards a section of students who are thought to belong to the White camp,” the witness said, adding that during that process one member of the White camp threw a sachet of water towards the direction of the black camp who retaliated by throwing a piece of paper back. And then “suddenly the black camp started throwing stones towards the white camp supporters.”
A second account by another eyewitness (name withheld) went that the three candidates were given the opportunity to read out their manifesto. Whiles Eunice was about to answer to a question that was asked by the audience, a group of students from the White camp threw a sachet of water at the other camp, leading to the intervention of the police.
A nurse at the campus hospital told Politico that they treated and dismissed eight students for injuries sustained as a result of the riot.
FBC administration officials declined to comment on the latest fracas.
Munda Lebbie, Deputy Registrar of the college, only told Politico that he was not on campus and had no idea when it happened.
“But I did follow-up of the debate through radio and I am still gathering information to know what exactly happened that led to the violence,” he added.
The Police on the scene refused to speak to journalists on the situation surrounding the violence. A police officer referred Politico to Police Headquarters.
© 2019 Politico Online
