ANB-BIA SUPPLEMENT

ISSUE/EDITION Nr 320 - 15/03/1997

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE

Sierra Leone

Religious leaders and the peace process

by Alpha R. Jalloh, Sierra Leone, January 1997

THEME = PEACE

INTRODUCTION

Archbishop Joseph Henry Ganda is Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Freetown and Bo. He says that religious leaders have a role to play to ensure openness and accountability in government

Speaking in a panel discussion on the state-owned Sierra Leone Broadcasting TV service, Archbishop Ganda attributed the high rate of corruption in Sierra Leone, to lack of patriotism. He reminded Members of Parliament that they are responsible to the people. He also pointed out that the people, on the other hand, must fulfil their civic duties. Archbishop Ganda says that the recent signing of the peace accord between the government and the Revolutionary United Front, after five years of incessant fighting, is a great achievement. The President of the Methodist Conference in Sierra Leone, Pasteur C.V.Peacock who also took part in the discussion, said that a few people in senior positions, only think of enriching themselves. During Mass celebrated at the Sacred Heart Cathedral, Freetown, Archbishop Ganda stressed the need for religious leaders to actively take part in supporting peace and strengthening reconciliation, during this post-war era. He congratulated President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, who also attended the Mass, for his success in striking a peace deal with the rebels. The Archbishop subsequently toured the interior of the country, to assess damage done to church infrastructures and facilities. He went to Mokanji and Moyamb - towns in the south which are among the worst affected in the country. He also visited Serabu his birth place and discovered that his house had been completely looted. At Bumpeh, he told the Catholic community that he was shocked by the destruction he saw. He encouraged the people to take part in community development, exhorting them to put their differences aside and live in peace and harmony.

Rebuilding a nation

The war has destroyed one third of the country, causing a section of the population to be displaced. The economy has been put back considerably, thus causing untold hardship and misery. After five years of continuous fighting, with neither side winning, both the government and the rebels have decided to drop their guns and rebuild Sierra Leone. The leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Colonel Foday Seibana Sankoh, says that he is ready to join hands in rebuilding the country. Representatives of the government and the RUF, are meeting in Freetown, to work out modalities for disarming and placing in camps, all the fighters. Foday Sankoh says the RUF will be changed into a political party. This means he intends to slug it out with Tejan Kabbah in the next presidential elections (due in five years). Rebels have started making use of the general amnesty granted by the government. They are surrendering to government troops deployed in strategic positions. For the first time in five years, residents in Freetown who hail from the provinces were able to travel to their home towns to celebrate Christmas and New Year without been attacked. Gibril Koroma is a journalist on the Expo Times newspaper. He witnessed the signing of the peace Agreement in Côte d'Ivoire. He says that Sankoh warned Tejan Kabbah: "If corruption and oppression continue to prevail, the RUF will be forced to take up arms again and fight!

END

CONTENTS | ANB-BIA HOMEPAGE

PeaceLink 1997 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement