By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The United Nations special representative in West Africa, Mohamed Ibn Chambas has urged political parties to take responsibility in discussing the way forward to consolidate peace in Sierra Leone.
“Government and actors on all levels, including political parties have a shared responsibility in ensuring that multiple grievances are addressed in a proper manner and that conflicts are resolved peacefully,” Chambas said on the opening ceremony of the national conference on peace.
Ibn Chambas, who is the representative for the UN Secretary General in West Africa and the Sahel, was the guest of honour at the conference which kicks-started on Thursday with an elaborate ceremony at the Bintumani Conference Center at Aberdeen.
The National Dialogue Forum on Democratic Consolidation for Peace and National Cohesion, dubbed Bintumani III, is part of efforts to reunite a country sharply divided along political, ethnic and regional lines. The Sierra Leone government says it is a lead up to the formation of a peace commission, which is a proposal of President Julius Maada Bio.
Bio’s assumption of the presidency was the culmination of a divisive electoral process in 2018. His government’s approach to governance, especially his zero tolerance strategy towards corruption, has helped heightened tension, as the opposition has interpreted it as a targeted move against its members.
A special presidential committee set up by a newly sworn-in President Bio – Government Transition Team (GTT) – set the stage for the current state of political tension with a report that alleged massive corruption under Bio’s predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma. The GTT’s recommendations informed the formation of a Commission of Enquiry which is currently ongoing.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has also been pursuing former officials for various alleged corruption acts. While the government say all these are necessary to set the country on a sustainable growth path, the APC believes it’s all a witch-hunt.
The ensuing divide has been expressed at all levels of government, especially in parliament. APC is currently boycotting the National Electoral Commission which it accuses of being bias towards the governing Sierra Leone Peoples Party. And the opposition has also snubbed the Commission hearings.
All these have raised concerns both locally and internationally, about the future of the country’s fledgling democracy.
According to Ibn Chambas, there are similar concerns at the level of the United Nations. He called on all sides to settle these disputes amicably and swiftly.
“Political tensions are perhaps natural at the time of elections. But if they are not addressed quickly in an appropriate manner once the elections are over, they risk becoming an obstacle to national development…” he said.
But the major opposition political parties have either boycotted the conference or are attending it with division. The Coalition for Change (C4C) and the APC, the two largest opposition parties in parliament, are not attending it. The National Grand Coalition (NGC), changed its mind at the last minutes to attend it, after heavily criticising the lack of inclusivity during the preparation process.
In the course of the next three days, representatives from different shades of life are laying out their position on what they will want to achieve from the talks and how the peace commission should operate.
The UN representative encouraged participants to focus on issues that will help address the immediate challenges affecting the peace of the country.
“I will therefore encourage all of you, during these three days of discussion, to focus on reaching agreements on how current grievances can best be addressed through sustained dialogue, as well as on agreeing the key elements of a peace building architecture that prioritise conflict prevention and encompasses all stakeholders,” he said.
President Julius Maada Bio, in his statement, urged participants to engage with sincerity and stressed the need for sanitizing the civic space. Bio singled out the media and civil society, urging them to take more responsibility in the democratic journey of the country.
“To me reflecting with honesty and total candour on the past and present and tasking ourselves with institutionalising practices and processes that ensure fairness, equity and justice is no doubt the exigency of our time,” the president said.
“The media and civil society must not foster disinformation and hate. Press freedom is not freedom to sow strife and discord. Press freedom should engage our civic discourse for the development and not the division of our nation,” he added.
Bio is regarded as the architect of two previous versions of similar peace talks [Bintumani I and II] during and towards the end of the civil war, which were also held at the same location at the Bintumani Hotel.
“Both Binutmani I and II were consultative conferences. A broad range of stakeholders convened to present their views and expectations and to make informed decisions about the shared directions and destiny of our nation,” Bio said.
“I believed then and I still believe now that providing a space for discussions enables government to hear out the various voices and sentiments of ordinary citizens across the nation,” he added.
© 2019 Politico Online
