By: Mohamed Jalloh
The Election Conflict Prevention and Mediation Group has convened the 16 tribal heads in the western area and religious leaders in a bid to promote social cohesion and community dialogue in the post-election environment on Wednesday 2 August 2023 at the newly built city hall.
The mediation group which comprises of Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL), Campaign For Human Rights and Development Initiatives (CHRDI) Inter Religious Council and Eminent Women was very active in the pre-election period, by way of pacifying violent prone communities and spreading the message of peace to political parties and their supporters and leaders.
Abdul Fatoma, the Director of CHRDI said during the period preceding the June 24th 2023 pre-election period they were able to engage major stakeholders including the security sector, youths, market women, Elections Management Bodies and traditional leadership for peace to prevail in the country.
Mr Fatoma did not mince the fact that there is palpable tension in the country because some people did not accept the outcome of the elections but went on to urge the aggrieved party that elections are over and the focus must be on national development.
The Director of CHRDI stated that it is very difficult to promote national cohesion without engaging key stakeholders such as the traditional heads and the religious leaders as according to him the entire Sierra Leone is represented through the 16 tribal heads and religiously, almost every Sierra Leonean is a Muslim or Christian.
He underscored the importance of respecting the institution of paramount chief and traditional leaders because they wield tremendous power in preventing violence in communities, but however went further to note that the authority of traditional leaders is gradually waning in communities and ways must be devised for restoration of their authority.
“Our non-violence strategy worked very well to forestall violence during pre-election and we won’t relent in the post-election period that is why we are engaging both tribal heads and religious leaders”, he noted.
Madam Ebun James a representative from Eminent Women said Sierra Leone is a small country but a resilient nation and emphasized on the need for traditional and religious leaders to be abreast of issues happening in their different communities.
She reminded the gathering of having to put up with the consequences if they neglect the negative social happenings impeding progress in communities and at the same time has the potential to create violence in the country.
Madam James appealed to religious and tribal heads to be truthful and at the same time they must listen to other people to understand the issues.
“Unless you have a good and thorough understanding of the issues, you won’t be able to tackle them”, she warned.
Madam James revealed how in 2012 they utilised their congregations who know about the issues to help them shape their insights so as to bring the former president Koroma and the current president Julius Maada Bio together for reconciliation.
We went back and forth, there were challenges in the process, but at least they were able to speak to each other interpersonally”, she disclosed.
She urged the conveners of the meeting to organize such an important gathering of key stakeholders regularly as according to her, such engagements aimed at fostering national cohesion should not be a one-off meeting.
Madam James hammered home the fact that no political party can match the number of religious followers and members in all tribal groups which is a clear testament of the power and influence they command in the country.
“If you are here with a bias mind you won`t be able to see the light, so let us dialogue with an honest and open mind and resolute our minds on achieving workable things within a timeline”, She concluded.
Kalilu Totangi, the chairman National Council for Civic Education and Development (NaCCED) said as a civic education council they have been very proactive in reaching out to different stakeholders to promote national cohesion.
Mr Totangi said when citizens are left out without been properly engaged, there exist the possibility for misunderstanding to take effect, as according to him, they will fill the information vacuum with their own narrative.
He said most of the times, issues erupt between families but such issues are exacerbated during electioneering period.
Mr Totangi urged the ruling party to desist from labelling the opposition as unimportant and at the same time prevailed on the opposition to nurture a sense of responsibility to not only their party but the country as a whole.
He appealed to religious and tribal leaders not to undermine the credibility of state institutions but to pay attention and help in restoring trust to these institutions by always speaking the truth.
Sheik Ibrahim Barrie, the representative of the inter-religious council (IRC) said the organization is not a typical Civil Society Organisation because they don’t engage in mega phone work but further acknowledge the fact that they are an organization with a difference.
Sheik Barrie reveals that the IRC was among the moral guarantors that brought peace to Sierra Leone and the IRC must play its role to maintain harmony and peaceful co-existence at all times.
The Secretary General of IRC stated that they also advocate and mobilize and further defend human rights and the rule of law, good governance and went further to note that they also campaign against things that religion don’t like such as the abortion bill that was proposed in parliament.
“We also campaign against child abuse, gender violence and early child marriage and violence, that is why we played a very important role during the electioneering period by preaching peaceful co-existence”, he disclosed.
According to Sheik Barrie, the IRC also conducts training workshops, seminars and further participates in international conferences as a way of buying experience to continuously engage in peacebuilding.
“Even during the post-election tension we are meeting with stakeholders to salvage the situation”, he stated.
He said during the periods of the Ebola and Corona outbreaks no one wants to listen to politicians but the IRC went out and talk to their religious followers to maintain the peace.
Chief S.O Gbekie, the chairman of the council of tribal heads commended the organisers for the timeliness of the meeting as according to him there is an uneasy calm precipitated by the refusal of a major political party to occupy there parliamentary and local council seats.
He said as tribal heads, it is their responsibility to talk to those without trust in public institutions to restore their confidence in these institutions and to accept the role played by tribal and traditional heads.
Chief Gbekie underscored the importance of re-introducing civic education in schools because many young people don’t know their traditional leaders and noted the restoration of tribal leaders` authority on issues relating to justice.
He said they as tribal heads are covered by law and nobody must close their doors on them and went further in urging the election conflict prevention group to be organizing such meetings regularly.