President Opens Rogbaneh Police Station in Makeni
Report compiled By Yusuf Alghali

On Friday June 13th 2003, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah formally opened the Rogbaneh and Kamakwie police stations and also launched the police community partnership board as part of his official activities that followed the Makeni cabinet meeting. The construction of the two police stations, were sponsored by DFID under its Community Reintegration Programme (CRP).

In his statement, President Kabbah said he had always wanted a police force that would command the respect of the people and become a force for good. It was for this reason, he said, that he had solicited assistance from the British government and the Commonwealth, which sent a team of consultants led by Mr Keith Biddle to advise on the way forward in modernizing the national police. It was as a result of the good work of the team that Mr. Keith Biddle was offered the position of Inspector-General of Police, he noted.

Mr. Keith Biddle, the President added, did a remarkable job by restructuring the police and building a very competent team at the top. He therefore called on the people of Sierra Leone continue to support the new Inspector-General of Police, Brima Acha Kamara as well as all those who work directly work under and take instructions from him so that he would be able to perform his functions efficiently and effectively.

The President was happy to note that most of the suggestions outlined in the policing charter he authored in 1998, regarding the transformation of the police force from the authoritarian and repressive force it had been, into a modern, effective, respectable, accountable, locally managed, well equipped, professionally trained and dynamically led police force, had been accomplished. With police presence throughout the country, he said, the military will now concentrate its strength on its traditional role of protecting the country's territorial borders.

"We are now a nation at peace, and we must do everything to maintain our hard-won peace by co-operating with the new well-trained police and other government ministries, departments and agencies", the President remarked.

He congratulated the police in Makeni for their determination to uphold their constitutional role of maintaining law and order not only in this part of the country but anywhere else their services were needed. He called on the people of Makeni, to value their local police and work with them to reduce crime. "The safety and security of our communities must be viewed as a partnership," he stressed.

He applauded the extent of public participation so evident in the town as well as the launching of the new local partnership board. But he also called for the launching of a Neighborhood Watch Programme for effective community policing appealed directly to the local youths to help the police by forming Crime Prevention Panels and taking part in education programmes designed to stamp out drug abuse and other social menaces.

While thanking the Department for International development DFID for the boosting the police as part of its community Reintegration Project, the President also congratulated the contractors, MODCON, for employing the skills of demobilized ex-combatants in rebuilding the police station. He thus called on the police to take good care of the police stations and make sure that it is well maintained at all times, adding: "This is the best way to express thanks to DFID".

President Kabbah observed that this was the first police station to be opened by the new Inspector-General of Police, pointing out that his predecessor Keith Biddle had transformed the Police into a force for good and that it was now the job of Brima Acha Kamara and his team to sustain and or improve upon that achievement in order to maintain public confidence.

Earlier, in his introductory remarks, Minister of Internal Affairs George Banda-Thomas said for the police to be able to discharge its functions, it should have "the right structures, professional and skilled officers and leaders who are capable of running the force". He said the construction of the police stations was a demonstration of government's commitment to provide security for the people.

Speaking in what he described as his maiden public function since his official appointment, the new Inspector General of Police Brima Acha Kamara first commended the President for his sustained interest in the development of the Sierra Leone force. While calling for a positive change of attitude in the force, Mr. Kamara noted that his predecessor Keith Biddle did a very great work, but admitted that the problem of corruption in the force still remained. He assured all and sundry that, as a team, they would work together to rid the force of the menace.

He said whereas Mr. Biddle's watchword was "a force for good" his new slogan for the police is "No turning back".

The DFID representative, who spoke on behalf of the British government, described the occasion as symbolic since it coincided with the new inspector general's first week in office. He informed the large crowd gathered outside the new Rogbaneh station that under the Community Reintegration Project, DFID has constructed some twenty police stations in the north.

CLICK HERE FOR THE COMPLETE PHOTO ALBUM OF THE EVENT