By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
Police at the Mano River Division in Jendema have warned of a potential for security breach in the border region owing to ‘low police strength’ on the Sierra Leonean side.
Jendema is the main Sierra Leonean town at the Mano River Border, and the only official crossing points between Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The police say in addition to low personnel strength, lack of vehicles also inhibits their movement, thereby making it difficult, if not impossible, to monitor the largely porous 77 miles (123km) border line.
Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police Guy Patrick Chicco Lansana-Bussu, the Crime Officer at the Mano River Division, told Politico that even though the border is relatively calm and quiet, the potential for a security breach exist largely because the number of personnel they have doesn’t match the task at hand.
Jendema is one of two main border crossing points linking Sierra Leone to its two neighbors: Liberia and Guinea.
The Jendema end links the country to Liberia through the Bo-Waterside on the other side of the border. They are connected by the Mano River Bridge which stands on top of the Mano River. This border point is a major business route for citizens of both countries as well as other nationals.
The Mano River Division covers five major communities: from Jendema, where the police unit is based, towards the western part of the border town, lies the community of Sulima in Sorogbeima Chiefdom, a largely fishing community. This comprise a total of 19 miles.
Eastwards from Jendema, lies Makpele Chiefdom, which is 27 miles from the border town.
In Makpele, there is a crossing point in the Gasaland community which is 7 miles from Zimi, the chiefdom headquarters town.
Nine miles from Zimi is Gbaa, a farming community which is popular with Liberian business people who fancy Sierra Leonean produce.
And then there is Wonde, a community in a forested 15 miles from Zimi.
According to the police, there are about 50 crossing points in total in the region. Only five of them are officially manned.
“Even the ones that are officially manned, the strength is very much low,” said ASP Bussu, who declined to comment on the exact number of his men.
“Deploying two police officers to a crossing point is not enough. And if the border is porous then it is a security threats to the state, to me that is how I view it,” he stressed.
To add to its problem, the Mano River Division has no vehicle. ASP Bussu said the only vehicle they have had been off the road for over six months due to mechanical faults.
“How can we operate in such a situation?” he lamented.
The lack of enough personnel on Sierra Leone’s side of the border is not new. In the wake of the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak, the government came under strong criticism for not treating border security seriously enough, which was blamed for allowing the spread of the viral disease at that end.
In the current situation, the only respite for the police is the monthly joint patrols they have been conducting alongside the military.
“Even though the border is porous, the police and the military have been doing monthly joint security patrol from one end to the other within our areas of responsibility. This is how we have been able to detect strength and even combat crime,” ASP Bussu said.
In addition to the collaboration with the military, the Police have also initiated closer relationship with the community people, to make their job easier, he said.
He said on several occasions they have successfully intercepted smugglers based on tips from community people.
“All the stakeholders within our operational areas are very much corporative: the youths, Drivers Union, Bike Riders Union. Even when they have their members trafficking drugs, they have always exposed them to the police,” noted ASP Bussu
(c) 2019 Politico Online
