By: Audrey Raymonda John
Constant training awakens the brain and that translates to high standard of performance and effective service delivery.
The Sierra Leone Police thrives on multi-agency collaboration in achieving its core mandate of crime prevention and detection, among others. Of recent, it (SLP) forged a mutually beneficial and collaborative partnership with the European Union and that had culminated to support for the SLP’s vision.
As part of their support to the Sierra Leone Police, the European Union funded a three-day training on “EUROPEAN PRACTICES ON COUNTERING DISINFORMATION WHILE PROMOTING HUMAN RIGHTS”
The training which commenced on Tuesday 12th to Friday 14th October, 2022, attracted personnel from the Cyber Unit, Media and Public Relations Department, Integrated Intelligence Service, Forces Intelligence and Security Unit, and the Central Intelligence and Security Unit.
At the event marking the end of the training, the EU Deputy Head of Delegation, Juan Antonio Frutos, thanked the Inspector General of Police, Mr. William Fayia Sellu for the cooperation and ensuring that the training was achieved by the provision of the required and a conducive training facility. He stressed the importance of the training to security personnel, and noted that, ‘respect for human rights, freedom of speech and security, is part of the values we share’.
The EU Representative assured the SLP that they will continue to support personnel’s capacity, so as as to improve on their effective service delivery, track and trace disinformation issues, investigate and prosecute perpetrators. He concluded by showering praises on the participants for their exemplary and impressive performance during the training. He called on them to replicate the knowledge gained in the workplace.
As representative of the Inspector General, the Director of Training – AIG Sylvester Koroma conveyed apologies for the unavoidable absence of the IGP and delivered his expressed gratitude to the EU for the training – a core value of the SLP.
On his part, AIG Koroma thanked the EU, its Representative and the trainers, for such a timely, appropriate and laudable moment in the SLP’s history; noting, that the training came at a better time that it was most needed by the SLP. He appealed to the EU and Trainers to make available the course content of the training package to the Training Directorate, so that it could be replicated to local content and used for future training in the SLP.
On a final note, the Director of Training reiterated that the participants must count themselves lucky to have been chosen to attend the training and called on them to be worthy ambassadors to cascade the knowledge gained to other colleagues who were not opportune to attend the course.
The Director of the Integrated Intelligence Services – AIG Thomas M. Lahai also expressed similar sentiments and promised to explore more opportunities for the capacitation of personnel, in line with the vision of the Inspector General of Police.
Lieutenant Colonel Sidique of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces moved the vote of thanks
Distribution of certificates to participants climaxed the ceremony.
IT WAS A SCENE FROM A HORROR MOVIE DOCTOR
-ALIE KABBAH TESTIFIES IN CHANCERY TRIAL
By Hafsatu Z Bangura
PW 18 Dr. Alie Kabba former Ambassador and permanent representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations in New York, Before which he was the minister of foreign affairs and International Cooperation has on Friday 14th October testified that the first time he entered the new York chancery building, it was a like a scene from a horror movie.
He made this testimony before presiding judge Justice Adrian Fisher of the high Court no.1 in Freetown in the ongoing trial of the state versus Dr Samura Kamara and others.
Dr Alie Kabbah said the head of chancery Saidu Nyallo refused giving him access to inspect the building, and at the time he was previewed to inspect the building he described it as a scene from a horror movie with the first and second floor dripping with water as a result of leaving the roof open throughout winter, he said water was dripping throughout.
Saidu Nallo he said was head of chancery, the second third and fourth he had no working relationship with.
He arrived in August to present his credentials and officially started work on 5th September 2019.
Dr. Kandeh Foday Bassie Kamara he said was the financial attache at the said mission by the time he arrived for duty.
Led in evidence by …he explained that in 2019 he immediately conveyed a meeting with the diplomatic staff with the chancery project among the briefing notes but didn’t see the head of chancery Mr. Nallo the first accused.
Before his arrival, Mr. Nallo had assured him through memos to the director general of the ministry of foreign affairs that the project would have been completed and ready for opening by President Bio during the UNGA that same year.
When the bio came in, he said they inherited the problem of lack of payment for the project. Based on those memos, the then minister of finance Jacod Jusu Saffa had been convassed to see the project and himself and help facilitate funding and safe the country from an embarrassment because Mr. Nallo had informed him about a potential law suit by the contractor against the government.
500,000 dollars he said was sent by the finance minister as an obligation of the state. That was the beginning of his engagement in new York with the chancery project. He said while as minister of foreign affairs, he consistently made all efforts to make sure funds were flowing for the completion of the project. But to his disappointment before the end of his tenure there he visited the said chancery project and found the project far from being ready for commissioning by President Bio as planned.
The unfinished walls and partitions he said had thrash all over which from his layman’s assessment was not on the verge of completion.
He immediately called for a meeting with the contractor where the latter instead of talking about the completion, was rather requesting for more money. he said he made it clear that more money had come in for the project and requested for clear work plan and timeline.
During the meeting,…introduced a woman as the architect of the project who was latter proven to rather being an interior designer and no license for her to operate as an architect. He said he also discovered the contractor had no competence and professional records according to the data business bureau and the office of the contractor was his house.
The wife of the contractor he said was also often in their meetings.
Haven realized the project was not near completion, he summoned a meeting with the chancery’s diplomatic to wrap up the project.
Asked if he ever looked at the contract? He said himself and deputies made several requests for the contract document but kept receiving excuses from the head of chancery that the document was bulky. But later on, he managed to see some pages of the said contract somewhere other than the head of chancery. He said he saw provisions for an architect and how payments should be done with the architect who should authenticate it.
He said he had deputies for legal affairs and political affairs
Prior to April 2021, he said it was the head of chancery and the contractor dealing with the project and preventing him as head of mission from accessing the building by padlocking the premises throughout the period.
It was like scene from a horror movie the first time the building was opened to him with the roof dripping water and wet walls. It was his understanding before his transfer there, that the the contractor was going to do an additional 5th and 6th floor. He said he never took a paper to cabinet for such additional floors costing government 1.9 million dollars the reason there was no roof leaving everything that had been done to be destroyed after which the contractor agreed to do a cleanup at his own cost.
The evidence in Chief was suspended at around 14:50 and the matter adjourned to Monday 17th October.
