By Prince J Musa in Kenema
The police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) in the Eastern region is investigating three people for participating in a public demonstration thereby breaching the Public Order Act.
All three people were arrested by police last weekend. They had since been granted bail. Two of them are staff of the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA); Gareth J. Saffa, an engineer working for the agency in Kailahun District and Mohamed Surbeihun Brima Biaka, also an engineer stationed at its Kenema office.
The third suspect is Peter Gogra, a supposed beneficiary of a NaCSA cash transfer scheme.
They were arrested on the 11th June by the Assistant Inspector General of Police East, Thomas Mustapha Lahai, along Blama Road in Kenema for unlawful assembly, Police spokesman in Kenema, Prince J. Kamara, said.
According to reports, the public demonstration had been organized by a group of beneficiaries who intended it as a “thank you” gesture for the visiting Chief Minister, Professor David Francis.
But, according to the police, some people took the opportunity to protest against NaCSA over some disagreement with some authorities within the institution.
The Police spokesman, Kamara, said before a stakeholders’ meeting on the dispute for the NaCSA cash transfer, police got intelligence that some people had planned to protest against certain authorities. He said that police investigation revealed that the three men gathered people in two vehicles claiming that they were petty traders who wanted to thank the NaCSA Commissioner for the latest cash transfer scheme, noting that the gathering was against the COVID-19 regulations.
NaCSA’s emergency cash transfer scheme for businesses has proven controversial in the district, with allegations of corruption and political bias rocking the entire process.
The scheme has caused sharp division within the ranks of the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in the district, with one side accusing the other of leaving its own side out of the list of beneficiaries.
Under the scheme 29, 000 traders across the country will each receive just over Le 1.3 million as a one off payment to cushion the economic effect of the pandemic.
The police say while people have the right to express their grievances, they expect them to do so within the law.
“Any issue on cash transfer and other issues should be channeled to the appropriate authorities, but police will not tolerate lawlessness and indiscipline,” Kamara said.
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