President Koroma says no trial for 1992 executions

President Ernest Bai Koroma “has assured” families of 29 people summarily tried and executed in December 1992 following the military takeover by the National Provisional Ruling Council that their grievances will be looked into. He however said that his government would not put anyone on trial for the killings. According to a State House press release, the president told the families who visited him in his office that his government “will ensure closure to the secrecy surrounding the untimely death of their loved ones”. Among those killed were a former Inspector General of Police, James Bambay Kamara and some military officers including Col Yahyah Kanu and Major Kawota Dumbuya. Koroma promised that he would soon invite the aggrieved bereaved families to give a more definitive position on the way forward. He however said thus: “We are not going to open up anything, we’re not going to put anybody on trial, but we are going to ensure that the facts of the incident are known, and that as a government it is fair that we give you an opportunity to know the facts, and when you’re au fait with the facts, it is now left with you as a family to either forgive and forget, and move forward with your lives.” The bereaved families, who called themselves 29 Memorial Foundation for Peace and Development, say they want justice. The president told them that he understood the accusation of betrayal against the government for not looking into the matter. He said that when the matter was first brought up last year, he did not think the timing expedient because of the approaching elections saying it would have been given a political undertone. “I cannot give you any definitive answer in terms of time at this moment, but I want to assure you that during the course of my second term, we will definitely ensure that this matter is laid to rest finally,” he told them. President Koroma said his government would take a “second look” at the issue of an inquest into the matter adding: “anything that will consolidate the peace, anything that will work towards ensuring that the issues that affect Sierra Leoneans are addressed, we will work on it.” President of the 29 Memorial Foundation, James Bambay Kamara Jr. said that they were yet to ascertain the facts and reasons for the killings. “It is in pursuance of these facts and reasons that we the relatives of the 29 victims have decided to come together and exercise our constitutional rights in asking the government of Sierra Leone to set up an inquest that will look into the death of our beloved ones.” Kamara vowed saying, “It is our resolve that we will not rest until justice is done and seen to be done”. He went on that “We may not have the financial might to fight, but we certainly do have the human resource and the willpower to fight for our constitutional right to know what happened to our loved ones, some 20 years ago; why today we do not have them around...No one should underestimate our desire for the truth”. (C) Politico Online 31/01/13