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LET'S GO TO THE SLAUGHTER HOUSE

Tue, 27 Aug 2019 17:55:02 +0100

When I arrived in Kailahun for a consulting work, I knew there was something else I needed to do for me and my younger colleague, JoJo, before I left this ancient town, named in honor of a Kissi warrior chief, Kai Londo. Kailahun means Kai's town.

"JoJo, let's go to the Slaughter House." I said.

This was a test. I wanted to know if JoJo knew about the Slaughter House. She is younger and a witness only to the end battles of our decade-long civil war.

"Where is that and why?" She asked.

In her question was the answer I was seeking. JoJo, like many Sierra Leoneans her age, knows nothing about the Kailahun Slaughter House.

"That is exactly why you have to see it." I told JoJo. She was curious and restless. I was calm and determined not to give her any information before our destination.

After a short drive with JoJo still determined to know what the Slaughter House is beforehand, we parked in front of an old, unfinished building, with fading yellow & red paints - signs that its owner had better dreams for a luxurious family home before it became what we now know as a Slaughter House. The owner could not have imagined his/her dream family home would become synonymous with a slaughter house.

Even as dilapidated as the house now stands, it is not ordinarily identifiable as the Slaughter House. Attached to the skeleton of what was to be a second floor is a makeshift carpenter shop and what seems like wooden hangers for goods, possibly second-hand clothes. I contained my dismay at what was becoming of a structure that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) specifically recommended as a memorial site and walked with JoJo to the side entrance.

During our civil war (1991-2002), anyone taken through that entrance who was not a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel, would have come out either dead or barely alive. It was a Slaughter House not for cattle, but for human beings tortured and butchered by fellow human beings.

By the time I was done telling the story, JoJo was frozen at one of the doors leading to a torture chamber; her legs consumed by the tall grasses now covering the compound. JoJo is a Sierra Leonean beauty queen, but here at the Slaughter House, her legs failed her. She could not advance any further - she was standing on what should be hollowed ground.

I went in. I wanted to listen to the cries of those tortured and hear the last breaths of those who died there, pleading for mercy. I was pleading for mercy too - for us - who have forgotten what took place there and the other 98 torture and mass grave sites identified by the TRC. We may not be guilty of torture or murder, but we are culpable for ignoring our past in the present.

My fear is that by not knowing where we have been, there we shall go again. This is why I insist that JoJo and other young Sierra Leoneans see these sites of memory, learn about our past, and perhaps promise, never again. Our elders taught us that if we don't know where we are going, we should at least remember where we came from.

FGM IS NOT OUR CULTURE

Tue, 21 May 2019 18:41:41 +0100

There is nothing special about bondo bush. It is a place where old people fidget with little girls vaginas. If you want to teach girls culture send them to school. Again, we don't need any bush cultural barracks. FMG is harmful to little girls and an anachronistic cultural practice. Our inability to accept that and change is indicative of a general developmental stagnation and unprogressiveness in our society.

You should stop senzationalising bondo bush. There is no cultural training happening there...none of the girls put through this harmful tradition graduate with any grand cultural enlightenment other than unnecessary scars, if they are lucky to survive the knives of often intoxicated grannies.

Children can sing and dance Mende or Limba songs in regular classrooms.

Artists In Residency

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 14:47:52 +0100

I am one of this year's Africa Center Artists in Residency. I will use this opportunity to work on a new manuscript reexamining the Sierra Leone Hut Tax War. I am delighted and looking forward this process. I also look forward to spending some time in Brazil, looking at the history of people of African descent there.

There is more in you than you think|Joseph Kaifala| TedxYouth@Kingtom

Wed, 10 Oct 2018 12:44:34 +0100

March 23, 2018: A New Sierra Leone

Fri, 23 Mar 2018 11:23:48 +0100

On March 23, 1991, the Revolutionary United Front, led by a former military corporal, Foday Sankoh invaded Sierra Leone, igniting a brutal civil war that lasted a decade. I have written this book 27 years later as Sierra Leoneans go to the polls on March 7th to elect a new leader.

I hope the experiences I have shared in this memoir (#ADAMALUI) will remind us of where we have been as a society and compel us to always choose a peaceful, democratic path. Moreover, since the end of the Sierra Leonean civil war, I have been fortunate to live as a global citizen. May these experiences serve as a guide for those who have chosen the tedious path of straightening the rough edges of the world and seeking the world peace we so badly need.

I sincerely believe that we can achieve a world devoid of extreme violence, but we have to work for it. It saddens me that so many places are still involved in wanton violence and 65.6 million people around the world have been forced from their homes. We cannot continue to preach "never again" while we take no concrete action in Syria and watch the Rahingya people die.

I was raised a Christian and a Muslim in a country where both religions coexist peacefully. I have often said that in Sierra Leone every Moses has a Mohammed cousin. God, if he is God, can wage his own war if he so desires. We are not his messengers of death.

Ultimately, my aim of writing this memoir has been as Viktor Frankl described his own endeavor: to convey to the reader by way of a concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any condition, even the most miserable ones. I hope I have succeeded.

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The Agony of Freetown Mudslide Victims

Thu, 21 Dec 2017 10:43:54 +0100

Photo: Umaru Fofana

In Sierra Leone, victim always languish in their victimization. From our civil war victims to ebola survivors and orphans, the Freetown mudslide victims should have known that in this country their suffering is purely their burden. When the funds are raised and the immediate tragedy ends, our government is not in the habit of caring for those for whom its coffer is filled by those who care.

It was the hope of the Freetown mudslide victims that after condemnations concerning the mismanagement of ebola funds, their situation would have turned out differently, but they have now realized, like other victims in this country, that their government does not care.

Millions of dollars were raised on behalf of these mudslide victims. A crumb from that sum might not have solved all their problems, but it may have prevented the homelessness many now face – including school children whose future is at risk.

What country have we become? A place where government cruelty is tolerable? Citizens act as though it does not matter that their unfortunate compatriots are thrown into the streets, not for lack of resources, for resources there were plenty (even our Red Cross donated to State House), but for a deliberate government inaction. Soon we will be celebrating Christmas, the birthday of a man many hold so dearly in this country, but behold what we do to the least among us!

Joseph Kaifala, ESQ., is the Director of Joseph Kaifala Consulting (SL) Ltd. and founder of the Jeneba Project, Inc.

Presidential Power to Remove Vice President is Undemocratic

Sat, 09 Dec 2017 18:05:37 +0100

Among the odd constitutional changes recommended by the Sierra Leone Constitutional Review Committee is the undemocratic idea of constitutionalizing the power of a president to remove her/his vice president without due process. Including this provision in the future constitution will enshrine the recent unconstitutional decision of our president to remove his vice president because of issues arising within their party, hors the power of parliament to impeach.

The president and the vice president are voted by the people, and only the people, through their elected representatives, should hold the power to remove either one of them. Our present constitution (1991) is clear on impeachment procedures applicable to the president and his vice.

The president and the vice president are voted on the same ticket, one awaiting should the other ever become incompetent to fulfill the duties of the Office of the President. The president and his party have the power to appoint a new vice president, with parliamentary confirmation, should a sitting president be removed from office. It is therefore unconstitutional and undemocratic to grant a president equally voted by the people, unilateral power to fire her/his vice. To constitutionalize such authority will be retrogressive and catastrophic for future governance. It will transmit in-party bickerings to national politics.
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Joseph Kaifala, ESQ. is the Director of Joseph Kaifala Consulting (SL) Ltd. and founder of the Jeneba Project. He holds a JD and Certificate in International and Comparative Law.

Understanding the ECOWAS Court Ruling Against the Government of Sierra Leone in the Sam Sumana Case

Fri, 08 Dec 2017 17:02:23 +0100

The response of the Government of Sierra Leone through its Attorney General to the ECOWAS Court has always been an adamant adherence to the incompetent position that the court had no jurisdiction in the case of the petitioner, former Vice President Sam Sumana, against his former administration. In order to understand the ruling against the Government of Sierra Leone, I begin by dismissing the position, as the court earlier did, that a court established by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has no competence over claims of individual human rights violations brought against member states. Article 3(4) of the Supplementary Protocol A/SP.1/01/05, amending Protocol A/P1/7/91 states that the court has jurisdiction to determine cases of human rights violation that occur in member states. The provision is as clear as a harmattan day.

Mr. Sumana’s claims pertained to violations of his due process right by the Government of Sierra Leone by his arbitrary removal from office. According to International Human Rights Law norm, the petitioner should have exhausted all national legal means of redress before submitting claims to the court, which in this case was denied. While acknowledging the right of the president to remove a party member from office for actions contrary to the party constitution, a removal in breach of the Constitution of Sierra Leone (1991), it held that removing the vice president while his right of appeal was subsisting amounted to a breach of his right to fair hearing.

The ECOWAS Court, like many international courts with human rights jurisdiction, has a mandate to refer to other competent international human rights instruments and norms. In this instant, the Sumana ruling weighed heavily on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right, an African Union treaty applicable to Sierra Leone. The court held that Mr. Sumana’s removal violated his due process right in contravention of Article 7 of the charter. Referring to Article 13 of the Charter, which states that “Every citizen shall have the right to participate freely in the government of his country, either directly or through freely chosen representatives in accordance with the provisions of the law,” the court held that the right of individuals to participate in the government of their country is a recognized and enforceable human rights.

For these violations, the petitioner had asked the court for $130m in damages and an additional $75m for anxiety, psychological trauma, deterioration in health, and embarrassment caused by his removal and loss of income. He also sought his reinstatement as the elected vice president of Sierra Leone. However, the court did not grant these damages, citing deference to national jurisdiction, but ordered instead that the government of Sierra Leone pays all remunerations, prerequisite of office and other entitlement due to the vice president from the day of his removal from office to the day when his constitutional tenure of office is expected to end.

The pinnacle of the indignity of the violations against the vice president was the embarrassing refusal by the Government of Sierra Leone to honor the court by appearing in its defense. ECOWAS was instrumental in the restoration of the democracy we enjoy in Sierra Leone. The least we can do is respect its legal instrument for advancing Freedom, democracy, and justice in West Africa. The government must now respect the court’s holding and restore our standing as bona fide members of the ECOWAS community.

Joseph Kaifala, ESQ. is the Director of Joseph Kaifala Consulting (SL) Ltd. and founder of the Jeneba Project Inc. He holds a JD and Certificate in International and Comparative Law. He is a member of the Renaissance Movement (SL).

Sierra Leone: A Putrid System Breeds Maggots

Sun, 27 Aug 2017 11:52:00 +0100

In the past week, I have witnessed with horror and outrage as individuals, businesses, NGOs, Plenipotentiaries, foreign heads of state, and even our own local government ministries make direct donations of cash, cheques, and supplies to the president and vice president for victims of the recent flood and mudslide in Freetown. These donations, amounting to millions of dollars, are made under no concrete instruments of accountability. C’est a dire, these donations are not for the victims; they are made to ensure that “di pa” knows the donor exists. That is the very foundation of cronyism, clientelism, and corruption. Otherwise, why is a humanitarian organization or a local ministry donating to the president or vice president? Folks are fundraising for the local Red Cross and it is busy making donations to State House. I guess the president and vice president would have to go and do what the Red Cross does.

What is more appalling is that the entire country seems oblivious to this conflict of interest and patronization of leadership. A couple of weeks ago, a few government officials were suspended for their roles in the embezzlement of Hajj Funds intended to provide scholarships to low income Muslims wishing to go on a pilgrimage. Separation of church and state is something I have preached before, but we seem to ignore that too.

But if we do not care about the grand corruptions, where do we get off complaining about Joe Ayampi from an unaffected area registering as a victim to receive crumbs from our tapalapa of corruption? Please remove the beam from your eyes before complaining about the speck in your brother’s eyes. Flomo is chopping; let Gobah chop! A putrid system breeds maggots, that is why our country remains a carcass of what it could be. Tumbu dae krawl pan tumbu. We die as we live.

SProWNET Offers A Reliable Anchor for Southern Women and Girls

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 18:51:51 +0100

From a distance one could hear the sangbes, accompanied by a segula and the soothing voice of a female Mende singer, the sort of griots I grew up hearing in the town squares of my Southeastern villages. But I was faraway from the villages of my childhood, where dust clouds rose from the feet of dancing women, and their waist, adorned with beads, moved like the spinning threads of a kondi gula. I was in the west of Freetown, and for a moment, a conference room in the luxurious Radisson Blu Hotel, also known as Mammy Yoko, had been transformed into one of the village squares of Bo, Bonthe, Moyamba, Pujehun. How else could it have been, when it was indeed a pre-launch gathering of the newly established Southern Province Women’s Network (SProWNET). They were far from their individual Southern villages, but for one night alone in Freetown, they were home.

When I entered the room, I was immediately reminded of one of those cheesy punch lines I learned in America: paramount chiefs, a minister, an honorable, a justice, doctors and civil servants walk into a room. You see, it would have been hilarious if this were a punch line to something funny, but it is no joking matter. This was the caliber of women gathered for the SProWNET pre-launch, and I was humbled to have been there.

As a humanitarian worker, I am used to the desolate faces of Sierra Leonean women and girls on the pages of aid magazines, illustrating one misery or another, ranging from rape, teenage pregnancy, child marriage and maternal mortality, to crude violence against women and abject poverty. Just a couple of weeks ago, I visited Moyamba District with Naasu Fofanah, the effervescent commandante of these Amazonians of SproWNET, and witnessed the appalling atmosphere in which many of our women and girls live. The story is true for other regions of the country. The urgent drive to address some of the pressing needs of Southern women, especially, and women nationally, is a mission that will challenge this Amazonian force, but if there is any force to reckon with right now in Sierra Leone, the ladies of SproWNET are a reliable anchor for women and girls.

It was a joyful occasion with a somber undertone, and unlike other occasions in Sierra Leone where pot-belly boys in tight pants file behind the microphone, this was a ladies affair, and those of us who were honored with an invitation simply sat and paid attention. The Honorable Member of Parliament, Madam Verinoca Kadi Sesay spoke with the dignity and grace of a strong female leader. She condemned the culture of fear and intimidation of women in politics, and admonished Sierra Leoneans that women can be a “powerful instrument of development” when given a chance to lead. She encouraged her sisters to be themselves and resist shaming. Those interested in politics must remain “steadfast and consistent.” She said women in politics face intimidation, violence, financial constraints, and other barriers, and added that with a little support from their sisters, they can do well.

Also present was Haja Fatmata Maama Koroma-Kajua VI, one of the most remarkable paramount chiefs of this country. She was elected in 2002 with a whopping 138 votes. The runner-up, a man, received a meager twelve. This is one of the greatest endorsements of a female leader, ever, in this country. But it was with the humility of a genuine public servant that she told her sisters to always focus on what they want. She emphasized a pragmatic approach toward men in the struggle for women’s right. What she conveyed was that women’s rights are not anti-men!

Ms. Fofanah, for whom this was both a celebration and a good-bye (she is on her way to America where she will be the first West African recipient of an Executive Masters Scholarship at NYU). Responding to the perception that they are elites far removed from the poverty of their people, she said: “We are not elites. I have experienced poverty. I don’t want to be poor anymore.” It is a response I have heard from many who have transcended the obstacles thrown at women and girls in this country—those who survive the multitude of patriarchal booby-traps placed in their path. There are those who mistake triumph for elitism. For clarity, elitism is an attitude, not a status. I will call no one elitist who says we can no longer stand-by and watch our children get impregnated, raped, and violated. This is the determination of SProWNET—women whose purpose is to empower their sisters and daughters.

The inimitable commandante of SProWNET also warned against partisanship and encouraged her members to diversify their political leverages. The advocacy of SproWNet began in that very conference room when Ms. Fofanah made a fierce call on Justice xxx and the government to provide more resources for the Family Support Unit—a division of the Sierra Leone Police with a mandate to investigate rape and other forms of violence against girls. Ms. Fofanah lambasted the minuscule support provided for a vital organization such as FSU. When she was done, the night ended with more rhythm and dance. The women left cognizant of the humongous task ahead, but invigorated by a collective drive to say, enough!