Access Sierra Leone Project

*Our National Psyche*
_Abraham John_

It is uncommon to see a people so desirous and happy for Armageddon and brimstone to befall their country other than Sierra Leone.

J.D Hargreaves, one of Sierra Leone's Colonial Historians, presented Sierra Leone as a country deeply divided. We often tend to shy away from this grim reality. Our inter-marriages and religious tolerance have not helped us in our diversity management. The TRC Report also confirmed the deep cleavage in Sierra Leone as a factor that created the enabling environment.

Diversity management should be informed by laws and policies is one way to go for Sierra Leone. A few years back, I was on a Board for a research on diversity management in Sierra Leone led by Mr. Andrew Lavalie. I hold a view that the report or research should be reviewed in the light of the present circumstances.

Press Release
CGG CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO SUSTAIN REFORMS AND IMPROVE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY BY IMPROVING FUNDING TO THE JUDICIARY.

Freetown 1st August 2016

Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) in its project tilted Accountable Governance for Justice and Security (ACCESSSL) welcomes the practical strides by the Judiciary to ensure access to justice and rebuilding citizens’ confidence in the justice system. CGG recognizes and wishes to restate that the judicial arm of Government depends on broad public support to fulfill its core governmental mandate.

CGG applauds the move by the Judiciary to have a presence, with sitting magistrates in every district as forward looking. This must be sustained because the lack thereof has serious ramifications for continued delays and clearing of backlog cases and no doubt impacts negatively on the realization of other governance outcomes and equitable development.

The recent drives towards promoting Civil Society/ Judiciary Relationships led by CGG and its partners have proved innovative in Sierra Leone and are in line with sustaining the rise in popular expectations and interests of citizens in the courts and the broader justice system. CGG continues to work with the Judiciary to expand public participation in reform initiatives and improved transparency and accountability of the judiciary. To this end, we believe the establishment of a court-user forum and creation of Public Relations Front Desks in all courts across the country is imperative to a fully functioning Judiciary. These would help provide first hand feedback to the public and allow for enquiries and obtaining information regarding dates of adjournments and hearings. Given the legal authority of the Judiciary and the complexity of court operations, both the Court User Forum and the Public Relations Front desk would be building blocks for improving citizens’ trust.

CGG notes that these reform initiatives and collaboration with various actors are critical to improving overall governance and public confidence. However it recognizes the increasing difficulty caused by the Judiciary’s lack of funding to implement and sustain these changes. We are aware that initiatives and programmes such as the implementation of the Local Courts Act 2011, accommodation and office space for Judges and Magistrates are still unfunded by the Government thereby undermining access to justice.

It is in this regard, that CGG calls on the Government of Sierra Leone through the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development to improve the overall allocation and funding ceiling to the Judiciary (which is a critical arm of Government) in order to improve implementation of reform initiatives.

We note further that the long term solution to address the lack of funding is to allocate a fixed percentage of the budget to the Judiciary as an arm of Government. CGG wishes to restate that this call is timely as we prepare for the 2017 budget cycle, particularly following the Judiciary’s recently released strategic plan. As we congratulate the Judiciary for heeding our call for a comprehensive plan, we emphasize that reforms can only be realistic and sustainable with the availability of the requisite funds to drive the process.

We therefore call on all stakeholders including His Excellency the President, Parliamentarians, Civil Society Organizations, Development Partners, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Justice Sector Coordination Office etc, to work assiduously in ensuring that the Judiciary is sufficiently funded in the 2017 Financial Year and subsequent years.

The Accountable Governance for Justice and Security Project ( AccessSL) is supported by Partners Global with funds from US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL).

For more information, please contact
Valnora Edwin [email protected] Tel +23276620700 or
Marcella Samba-Sesay on [email protected],
Tel + 232 76 984 590.
Email: [email protected]

Policy Experts and Public Officials in Justice, Judiciary Police,Correctional Center and Tech Developers.

Sierra Leone News: In the fight against ebola… CGG, ONS engage Kambia on Security relationship

Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) and the Office of National Security (ONS) has embarked on a joint initiative to enhance civil-security relationship in the fight against ebola in border communities.
On Monday, CGG and ONS had an awareness raising and training with a cross section of security personnel, community leaders and locals at the old National Revenue Authority (NRA) building in Kambia district northern Sierra Leone
During the discourse, participants highlighted the harsh realities, challenges they are faced with and also mapped out the way forward in ensuring that their community is rid of ebola and other related security threat.
After the deliberations, CGG Programme Manager Marcella Samba-Sesay noted that it is good that the ONS is here to have a first hand information about what’s happening in this border community.
However, she said “there are particular issues which are key interest to us, especially so the deployment of police officers across the border areas.”
Mrs. Samba-Sesay said, “It is [heartrending] to know that there are only four police personnel’s deployed in this area.”
“The representation of all the other government institutions could be felt except that of the police and they are the ones who have primacy in this area.”
However, “this is a concern to us; we have good relationship with the Sierra Leone Police and this is an issue we are going to have to look into.”
She stressed, “This engagement won’t stop here,” noting that on behalf of her Director Valnora Edwin “we intend to work on these recommendation you’ve [proffered], since the key pillars we are working on are justice, security and human rights.”
“You can recall after the war during the post conflict reconstruction we went through out the country building civil military relationship, however this has been lacking over the years and they intend to build it again.”
While donating food and other items to aid in the fight against ebola, Mrs. Samba-Sesay said this does not mean our border officials are lacking food or starving, however, the gesture connotes that “in the fight against ebola integrity is better than being well fed.”
She advised them not to allow their ego for self-benefit to compromise their standard operating procedures and integrity because if they compromise their duties and allow ebola infected to cross through our borders, it is going to boomerang back to us, and our communities.
The CGG Programme Director also highlighted that they must pay special attention to the plastic buckets because they’ve observed that the buckets have started disappearing. “Even when ebola ends we are recommending that these buckets remain because proper sanitation and health is still a serious concern.” She appealed, “Please! Let these buckets do not disappear these buckets must go to the various border entering points so that whenever someone is crossing our border in or out they must wash their hands.”
She noted that the thermometers presented to them are to ensure that the temperature check continues noting “we must not rest until ebola recedes to zero.”
In his presentation on security sector civil relationship, the Director of Provincial and Border Security Department, Office of National Security (ONS), John Rogers highlighted the various security sector institutions and their functions.
However, he noted that these institutions are faced with numerous challenges such as negative public perceptions about their modus operandi Gaps in information flow and limited resources support to programmes. However, the Office of National Security Director Research and Planning, Francis Keili explained about standard operating procedures and the management of joint check points.
Wednesday March 04, 2015

Making the RAI 2013 implementable

Making the RAI implementable

Assessing Sierra Leone's readiness to implement the Right to Access Information Law 2013- Systems Audit: Presentation of Findings

By Mr Theo Nicol Deputy Minister Information and Communication