SIERRA LEONE’S 59th INDEPENDENCE ANNIVERSARY: RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS IN COVID 19

by Fatima Wahab Babih

Mama Salone wishes the land that we love

a blessed 59th Independence Anniversary!!

In the current COVID 19-ridden world in which people, in many other parts of the world, are sick and dying in terrifying numbers (over 50,000 in the United States and over 200,000 worldwide); even the people who are alive and not sick are terrified of contracting the disease, Sierra Leone can be seen as one of the few countries that are relatively blessed for not being as hard hit with sickness and death from COVID 19 as so many others in this global pandemic.

According to the Sierra Leone government, the country has so far, recorded four (4) deaths, and ninety-nine (99) confirmed cases at this point.

As these numbers of confirmed cases and deaths rise slowly but steadily, the President, Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio, along with his family continues self-isolation, which started last week because one of the bodyguards at the presidential lodge tested positive for COVID 19. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is weary, as to where this is headed and how the poor and disadvantaged will be treated during and through this pandemic.

Since the country recorded its first case at the end of March, a lot of financial and material assistance has been pouring into Sierra Leone from outside, including from China, even though the country is not (yet) a high prevalence COVID 19 country. The World Bank also approved a $7.5 million International Development Association (IDA) grant for Sierra Leone on April 2, 2020. The grant, which the Bank refers to as “a project”  is said to be used to “support the government of Sierra Leone in strengthening the health system and preparedness in response to the global pandemic of COVID-19” (World Bank, 2020). Being a grant, this World Bank fund is not a loan to be repaid and should help the government in filling the financial gaps for what it needs to do to protect its people. Providing basic necessities for the people during lockdown should be on top of the government’s to-do-list in this endeavor.

A partial lockdown has been in effect for nearly three weeks now and is said to continue until further notice. In his Independence Day address to the nation this morning, the President cautioned the people of Sierra Leone:

These are not normal times in our country and in the world at large. The ravaging Coronavirus has overwhelmed nations and left over two hundred thousand dead in its trail. This pandemic has changed societies, unsettled notions of unilateralism, and left economies in shambles.

Indeed, the people of Sierra Leone are quite familiar with times that “are not normal times,” which has been most of the time in nearly 60 years of “Independence.” Most recently, the country went through a decade long rebel war in the 1990s, natural and health disasters followed, including mudslides and Ebola. But what has been a constant disaster in Sierra Leone is extreme poverty, illiteracy, and lack of development and prospects for the youth, mainly due to chronic corruption and political elitism.

What the people of Sierra Leone are not familiar with and have yet to experience is the compassion from a political elite, that is in control of all the resources that could sustain the people. Salone politicians are good at giving the talk but not as good at walking the talk. For instance, in the previous lockdown, from April 4 to 6, which was a complete three (3) days lockdown, the people were neither supplied with food nor supposed to leave their homes, to find food or drinking water. This is a  difficult feat for the majority of households that live day-by-day and hand-to-mouth. The least the government could have done was provide some basic necessities, which is quite doable, even if only through the contributions of the political elite.

Of course, members of the political elite, who have all the sustenance and amenities at their disposal during the previous full lockdown, did not hesitate to give orders to the police and military to beat up people who were outside their homes during the 3 days lockdown. It resulted not only in hunger for a large proportion of the population but direct violence meted by the police and military on the people all around the country.

In the capital, Freetown, for instance, police and military officers were seen on video clips confiscating the rubber containers from young people who went out to fetch clean drinking water that was flowing from their wealthy neighbors’ busted pipes. Not only were those households deprived of getting drinking water for that day or week, but they were also further set back economically as they would have to purchase replacements for those containers the officers seized after beating them up.

President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone

Further in his Independence Day address, the President said,

Fellow Citizens, let me remind all of us that the task ahead is arduous. Now is the time for every patriotic Sierra Leonean to unconditionally contribute his or her fair effort for Sierra Leone. Patriotism is not about standing up only for people with whom you share the same political loyalties, ethnicity, or region. It is about embracing and caring about people who hold different views, and who belong to different ethnicities and different regions. It is about standing up for the ideal that your country’s call in its hour of need is supreme.

Indeed, the President is right that the collective will and effort of ALL the people  to heed to the “country’s call in its hour of need is supreme.” But as the ordinary citizens endeavor to heed to this call by staying at home, washing their hands and maintaining social distancing, some questions come to mind: Is the President’s address meant only for the ordinary citizens and not for the political elite? If not, will this call reach the political elite to make unconditional contributions to show compassion and protect the human rights of every woman, man, and child in the country?

Protecting and respecting human rights during these not-so-normal-times puts the onus on the political elite, as the keepers of the country’s wealth and caretakers of its resources, to ensure that every man, woman and child does not go to bed hungry; is treated for an illness related or not to COVID 19; is safe from direct violence from law enforcement and others; lives with the feeling of safety knowing there is a government in charge that cares and shows compassion for the populace.

The brutality on the people during a lockdown is unnecessary and the fact that it occurs shows the political elite, who holds the key to the food pantry, the medical cabinet, etc., is not contributing its “fair effort for Sierra Leone,” as the President is encouraging. As the people of Sierra Leone, like people all around the world, fight the reality of COVID 19, they should not have the added burden to fight for their human rights and should not be subjected to overt or covert violence.

The Future Leaders of Salone

The future generation is WATCHING you!

The political elite of Salone must realize that it owes a debt to the future generation of citizens and leaders of this nation. The actions and inactions of today’s political elite will either guarantee a prosperous or disastrous future for the next generation.

President Maada Bio’s government, which calls itself  “the New Direction,” should know that the future generation sits on its shoulders. It will not be a “New Direction” if the political elite of this government is not making its “unconditional contribution” to ensure the safety, security and prosperity of the people and future generations. That would make his government, in Mama Salone’s view, “A New Direction to a Worst Destination.”

Will President Maada Bio’s political elite fail the people as its predecessors of nearly 60 years have failed them? COVID 19 is a perfect test for this question!

The Salone political elite must remember what our late erudite Madiba said, When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become an outlaw (Nelson Mandela).

The people of Sierra Leone are peaceful and law-abiding people, they believe in living a life free of the violence of hunger, illiteracy, and government brutality. The government must, therefore, endeavor not to give the people cause to fight an added battle for their human rights to sustenance; depriving citizens of their basic needs as they go through lockdowns during this pandemic, is a sure way of creating outlaws in the country, unnecessarily.

Blessed 59th & Long Live Sierra Leone!!

May God Bless and Protect the People!!

Sources:

Sierra Leone Partial Lockdown And Curfew.

Sierra Leone Government COVID 19 Update.

Sierra Leone coronavirus: president quarantines after guard tests positive

Sierra Leone to Receive $7.5 Million for COVID-19 Response.