By Saio Marrah
The Minister of Social Welfare, Baindu Dassama, has said the arrest of the 24 children during the 10th August violent protest was a result of bad parenting.
She made this assertion at the Ministry of Information and Communications weekly press briefing hall in Freetown on Tuesday 30th August 2022, while giving an update about the decision by the government to release the children before the start of the new school year.
She said since the handing over of all the children from the custody of the Sierra Leone Police to her ministry on the 18th of August this year, they have been well taken care of at the Don Bonsco Fambul home.
According to her, the ministry had started case management of all the 24 children, and have all been registered and assessed.
She said:” from the assessment, it is evident that these children were used and some were caught in this (protest) because of bad parenting.”
She, therefore, admonished parents to see their children as their future and if they are being trained well, they could be the future president of the country even if they are from poor backgrounds, making reference to President Julius Maada Bio, who she said walked barefooted to school.
“Let parents look after their children,” she advised.
She also encouraged parents by saying “Let them be free to talk to you. When they are free to talk to you, they don’t hide anything from you.”
She said among the 24 children, 17 were boys and seven girls of which 11 were from Freetown, eight were from Makeni, and five were from Lungi.
Dassama said as of now, the parents of the children have not turned up, but they got their addresses from the children.
Even though she could not determine the exact date for their release, but said after an engagement with the Sierra Leone Police and other partners, they will decide on how they will be released.
Damassa confirmed that: “protection agencies engaged the ministry of social welfare and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to advocate for the release of the 24 children on the premise that the ones who organised and led the violence should be held accountable for the outcome of the violence.”
Dassama also noted that the protection partners described the use of children in the violence as against the rights of the child.
She also highlighted the premium the government has given to the well-being of children by making sure 22 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is allocated to the Free Quality Education programme, but that some people have not taken advantage of it.
According to her, if those children were being sent to approved schools, their parents would have been in permanent torment.
According to the Chief Social Service Officer, Mariatu Bangura, during their visit to the various parents, they expressed surprise at the arrest of their children but were happy that their children were being looked after by the social welfare ministry.
According to her, the parents called for continuous engagement with the ministry.
She also said they have been counselling the children and educating them on conflict prevention among other things so that when they go back to their parents, they will serve as ambassadors of a peaceful society.
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