PRESIDENT KABBAH BRIEFS SLPP IN LONDON
by- Sorie Fofana, Information Attaché in London

President Alhaji Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has presented a comprehensive picture of the situation back home, when he addressed members of the Sierra Leone People's Party's (SLPP) United Kingdom and Ireland Branch at his hotel suite in London on Sunday July 20th 2003.

The Head of State noted that the security situation was very stable and assured his audience that with the mechanisms now in place there was no cause for alarm.

President Kabbah said that the problem in Liberia would not, in any way, affect the security arrangement in our country.

He further disclosed that Liberian soldiers fleeing the crisis in their country, to seek refuge in Sierra Leone, were being properly screened and disarmed before being let into the country.

On the Special Court, the President said that it was established by the United Nations in agreement with the government of Sierra Leone and with the approval of Parliament.

President Kabbah reiterated that even as Head of State, he did not have the power and authority to tell the court what to do or what not to do.

The Head of State observed that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to end the culture of impunity in our country if people responsible for serious human rights violations were not made to go through the due process of the law.

With specific reference to the former National Coordinator of the Civil Defence Force, Chief Sam Hinga Norman, the Head of State observed that the Special Court did not arrest him for his conduct as a government Minister but rather on allegations of serious human rights violations.

President Kabbah described Chief Norman as his friend but promised that he would not interfere with the normal course of justice just for the sake of a political pal.

On the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the President said that they had done a good job by trying to bring people together after ten years of carnage and destruction.

The head of state also briefed members of the SLPP on the outcome of the international Petroleum Bid Round announced on July 14th 2003 in Freetown.

He said that the committee headed by Vice- President Solomon Berewa had decided to award blocks to three major multinational companies to start the first phase of exploration with definitive seismic programmes.

In response, the Chairman of the SLPP UK and Ireland Branch, Samuel Jonjo, thanked President Kabbah for making himself available and accessible to his people and to listen to them through what he described as traditional channels of communications.
He condemned those masqueraders in the party who now use the arrest of Chief Norman to spread negative propaganda about the party and the government.

Present at the meeting were, among others, the National Secretary General of the SLPP, Dr. Prince Harding, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alhaji Momodu Koroma, the Minister of Education, Dr. Alpha Wurie, the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Alhaji Sulaiman Tejan Jalloh and his deputy James Allie.