Kabbah addresses Kamajors in Bo.
by Yusuf Alghali

Following his arrival in Bo on Wednesday 6th August, 2003 for his third provincial cabinet meeting, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah held a three hour long meeting with former members of the southern regional Civil Defence Forces CDF or Kamajors at the Bo Government School Hall. The move was in an effort to address what appears to be a growing misunderstanding among ex-CDF fighters about the Special Court's indictment of the erstwhile CDF Coordinator, Chief Sam Hinga Norman and two other high-ranking CDF members.

In his brief introduction, the President made reference to widespread newspaper reports alleging that a group of Kamajors were intent on disrupting the Bo cabinet meeting for what they perceive as the President's or his government's inaction in the face of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal's continued incarceration of the chief.

However, President Kabbah appealed to the Kamajors to express their grievances and concerns constructively so that they, together with government, could sit down and address the issues properly.

According to a list of submissions put forward by CDF representative Arthur Koroma, the indictment of three senior Kamajors for crimes against humanity is a very grave development. They submitted that the charges themselves had placed a severe stigma on a group of patriotic people, whose only crime was to have selflessly fought in defence of freedom and democracy in Sierra Leone. “This is not only about Hinga Norman,” he said, “it is about the future of thousands of other Kamajors who fought for the salvation of this country.”

Touching on other issues, CDF spokesman Koroma expressed disappointment over what they thought to be government's reneging on an earlier promise to not only issue medallions and certificates to Kamajors, but to also erect fitting monuments in honour and recognition of their selfless sacrifices made in defence of their motherland. He further recalled that government had once promised to provide special reintegration packages for the benefit of demobilised CDF initiators.

Responding, President Kabbah maintained that his administration had always paid attention to Kamajor issues, to the extent that in 1997, some even accused government of lavishing public funds on the CDF. He emphasised the important role played by the CDF during the years of civil conflict adding We have not forgotten them.

He went on to explain that government had once contemplated the idea of developing the CDF countrywide into a territorial defence force, but revealed that the UK government, a chief ally and supporter of Sierra Leone, kicked against the idea, describing it as a dangerous and divisive scheme that would not succeed. However, he said those eligible ex-Kamajors who opted to join the national army were given the opportunity to do so, after a special defence committee had recommended the abolition of the CDF.

Commenting specifically on his relationship with Chief Hinga Norman, the President stated that chief Norman had always been his friend and pointed out that even though he has been indicted, his last held post as Minister of Internal Affairs has to date not been filled substantively. For instance, the Head of State also intimated that he had once encouraged Chief Norman to accept the position of High Commissioner to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, an offer which he said the latter turned down.

On the proposed CDF monuments, medals and certificates of recognition, President Kabbah indicated that a series of very serious discrepancies in the estimates submitted to government by contractors had caused the delay in their procurement.

One such discrepancy he cited had to do with the conflicting numbers of CDF personnel deserving awards and what number of certificates to print and where. He said an earlier estimate submitted for the printing of certificates indicated that there were some ninety thousand (90,000) Kamajors across the country. He said this was later changed to eight thousand (8000) Kamajors only. He further explained that while the government printer was prepared to print the certificates locally and free of cost, some stockholders wanted to have the certificates printed abroad at very astronomical and prohibitive costs.

In addition, the President lamented that the estimated costs of erecting the monument had also kept on rising erratically some from as low as Le. 4,600,000 to Le 10,000,000 and above. “This kind of discrepancy does not augur well for sound financial management,” the President remarked. However, he displayed samples of ten thousand medals already procured as proof of government's commitment, but regretted that government had not yet been able to set a suitable date and venue for the award ceremony.

At the President's request, the Executive Secretary, National Committee for Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration NCDDR, Dr. Francis Kaikai, assured CDF initiators that the NCDDR still had in store a set of relevant programmes for the benefit demobilised CDF initiators. He said initiators might take prompt advantage of those packages before the NCDDR folds up its activities for ex-combatants in December of this year.

Meanwhile, the third provincial cabinet got underway Thursday 7th August at the Bo Town Council Chambers. The cabinet meeting was followed by an open forum which included Paramount Chiefs, local government functionaries, ordinary people from all walks of life where development projects for the southern region where introduced by ministers for discussions. In all fifteen ministers presented their plans for the region and each of these plans was thoroughly discussed by the gathering. At the end of the debate government produced a draft resolution embodying all the cabinet had discussed and including matters debated at the open forum. The resolution, after its adoption became known as the Bo Declaration (Click here for Bo Declaration). The event also saw the President formally presenting the State Lottery Jackpot Winning Prize cheque to Mr. Moses Kainyande.

Also on Thursday, Vice President Berewa and other cabinet ministers inspected projects within the region while President Kabbah joined the Muslim community in Bo for Friday prayers at the Bo central mosque.

A luncheon was hosted by UNAMSIL's Bangladeshi contigent in Bo to which the President, Vice President and Ministers were invited. Later in the evening Bo town became alive with traditional dancing which was climaxed by a special performance in honour of President Kabbah at his Bo reservation lodge.

-End-