By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The Sierra Leone Red Cross Kenema Branch has distanced itself from calls for a nationwide strike over an ongoing dispute between the national leadership and the Western Area branch.
Chairman of the volunteers in Kenema, Momoh Vandi, said their branch doesn’t support the Western Area branch in their decision because they thought the strike was designed to sabotage the image of the organization.
The strike action by the Western Area branch was provoked by anger among the volunteers over the way the management of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society (SLRCS) treated them after they were attacked on September 8 by an angry mob during an international football match between Sierra Leone and Liberia. Some of the volunteers sustained injuries and an ambulance belonging to the humanitarian organization was damaged by the irate football fans who accused the Red Cross volunteers of harboring a footballer they wanted to manhandle.
The Western Area branch was headed by Unisa Carew, who was reportedly suspended for the way he handled the matter. The Red Cross management accused Carew of masterminding the strike action.
Vandi said the action of the Western Area branch was damaging the image of the organization and he holds Carew personally responsible for it.
“If it was in the interest of volunteerism and approval of the national governing body that stands to benefit the entire volunteers, Carew would have made a nationwide tour to sound the responses from various branch volunteers,” he said.
“We in Kenema branch have exonerated ourselves from any indiscipline and reckless behavior that will damage the Red Cross of this country since the society is above everybody,” he added.
Vandi was speaking to Politico shortly after a meeting of Red Cross volunteers that was held in Kenema, where the decision to condemn the Western Area was reached.
Vandi is not the only one who condemned the strike action. The Branch Manager in the district, Jonathan Kangoma said the decision by the Western Area branch to write a complaint letter to the global federation had the potential to destroy the reputation of the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society.
He said: “The strike action being trumpeted by the Western Area branch manager is to destroy the good [image] of all volunteers and the country, because the action to write to the federation and other international partners of the Red Cross to inform them about things that you’re the root cause of, because it is against the current authorities, shows that he (Carew) is not only damaging the Red Cross, but the nation.”
“Because the Sierra Leone Red Cross Society is representing the image of the country, we will not sit by to support or see few people destroy the society,” Kangoma added.
The Eastern region governing representative, Sylvester Sidie Kallon, said they have joined with other regional branches to put together a position paper on the ongoing situation.
“All regional representatives and managers have come out with a position paper condemning any strike action and their volunteers are working closely with their management, especially Kenema where the volunteers are on farming over eight acres of land with no problem,” Kallon said.
© 2019 Politico Online
