On Tuesday 31st January 2023, the British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Her Excellency Lisa Chesney, accompanied by Madam Henrietta Wheal, the International Liaison Officer – National Crime Agency, paid a courtesy call on the Inspector General of Police, Mr. William Fayia Sellu, at his George Street office, in Freetown.
The rationale of her visit was to discuss the SLP’s preparedness for the forthcoming multi-tier elections, threat assessment across the length and breadth of the country, and the Institution’s cooperation and collaboration mechanism with other international organizations, among others.
Responding to the issues raised, Mr. William Fayia Sellu extensively threw light on the support received from various development partners in enhancing the performance of the SLP. He highlighted the role of the Strategic Capacity Group, in the area of capacitating personnel on Electoral Security and Management, which started with the training of twelve Master Trainers, who in turn trained sixty Trainers in November 2022. And most recently, another set of 120 officers from specialized units and departments within the SLP were trained. This training will be cascaded to all personnel in the SLP, the IGP noted.
The IGP further maintained that the SLP had developed an election-specific training manual and a pocketbook, containing the SLP’s Code of Conduct for public elections. He added that apart from cascading the training to all personnel in the SLP, the training will also be rolled out to other security sector personnel, as they will be assisting the SLP to police the electioneering process.
On the issue of threat assessment, Mr. Sellu informed the British High Commissioner that the Integrated Election Programme jointly owned by the Security Sector has just conducted a threat assessment across the country to guide the deployment of assets during the elections.
He further touched on the one thousand Police Recruits currently undergoing training and the expected one thousand that will also be proceeding for training at the end of February, to bolster the numerical strength of the Police.
Furthering on the issue of threat assessment, the IGP briefed the British High Commissioner on the intra-party violence in the ongoing lower-level elections of the All People’s Congress (APC). The IGP was however quick to note that political parties had been severally engaged to act within the confines of the law.
“We have an election handbook which will be shared with the multiplier forces. The SLP will work with the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC), to develop a code of conduct for political parties, for the smooth running of the electioneering process”, he said.
The Inspector General of Police also spoke on the recent emergence of a criminal entity called Q-Net. He described Q-Net as a criminal enterprise, and that an operation has been mounted to phase out such criminal activities in the country. Q-Net operatives will be arrested and charged in court. The SLP will continue to monitor their activities in the country.
Mr. Sellu assured the British High Commissioner that the security sector is fully prepared to police the forthcoming elections and that every Sierra Leonean is advised to keep his/her behaviour within tolerable limits.
In conclusion, the British High Commissioner thanked the IGP for his diligent service delivery and revealed that plans are underway for a training programme to be organized by the British people for the Sierra Leone Police.
SLP MEDIA TEAM
