The Special Parliamentary Committee set up to investigate the Makeni generator impasse has wrapped up a 3-day intensive engagement with people from all walks of life on what went amiss that led to the death and destruction of property in Makeni on the 17th and 18th July 2020.
The mission spanned from Monday 24th to 26th August, 2020. The special committee composed of two representatives from the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), 2 from the All People’s Congress Party (APC) and one from the National Grand Coalition (NGC), the Coalition for Change (C4C), and one independent candidate with Paramount Chief Sahr Yongai Kontanda Briwah as the Chairman and also representing Paramount Chief Members of Parliament.
Giving a brief update to the Media after the 3 days engagement in Makeni, the Chairman for the Special Committee, Honorable Paramount Chief member of Parliament; Sahr Yongai Kontanda Briwah said that the committee was set up to investigate the violence that took place in Makeni on the 17th and 18th July, 2020. He explained that they came with a special mandate to find out whether the central and local governments took the appropriate action that they were supposed to take that would have prevented that unfortunate incident from happening. He added that they were also asked to look into the action of the youth to resist the generator relocation and to establish if that action was justifiable or not.
The last mandate is he said was to know whether the security forces inclusive the OSD, the Sierra Leone Police and Military personnel whether their action was also justifiable, appropriate and proportionate. On the security forces, he said keen attention was paid to the method and level of force used to quell the situation.
He retorted that they will also focus largely on the lessons not just the people of Makeni but the entire country have learnt from the incident. Based on the findings, he disclosed that they will proffer recommendations to the Government on especially how to avert such an incident from reoccurring in the future.
During their 3 days engagements in Makeni, the Paramount Chief said that they engaged youth and youth groups, the Police hierarchy in Makeni, officials of EGTC, traditional and local authorities and media practitioners among others. But the military could not make it but they will be engaged in Freetown as well as other officials who could not make it to Makeni.
According to the chairman, the committee comprises all political party representatives which makes it very independent body credible enough to present impartial findings at the end of the day. He said what they are doing was in the interest of the people because what happened in Makeni does not only concern Makeni but the entire country.
The Chair lamented that such violence threatens the peace and quietness of this country and it has the potential to scare away potential investors. He noted that the people lost during the impasse were quite unnecessary and preventable.
Though he said the finding were too earlier to be disclosed, preliminary findings show that the youth were misinformed and some leaders from certain quarters failed to take the appropriate actions they were supposed to.
By Umu Thoronka in Makeni
