By Ibrahim Karim Bangura (Tanko)
Peace building is a long-term process of encouraging people to dialogue, to repairing relationships, and to reforming institutions.
For positive change to last, everyone affected by a destructive conflict has to be involved in the process of building peace.
Transforming relationships are key to putting an end to violence. And that means understanding and dealing with why people are fighting in the first place, and finding ways of moving things forward. This is true whether the conflict is within communities, between societies, or within a main opposition political party or between the state and ordinary people.
In practical terms, peace building can look like any one of hundreds of different actions. It can be the bringing of different groups together to discuss the root causes and issues of state building, or it can be using film and media to help people understand the viewpoints of others, especially the majority that are unhappy with a governance system of leadership.
It might be providing support to formal processes of negotiation between governments and armed groups, political groups or ensuring marginalized groups to have a say.
Peace is built when we break down stereotypes and when different groups work together with a same goal.
On Friday, 19-01-2024 the Ministry of Justice together with the Ministry of Information and Civic Education have told journalists at Guma Building in Freetown regarding the November, 26th 2023 unrest at Wilberforce barracks and Murray town barracks in Freetown and in other areas in the country which crises are labeled as “attempted failed coup.”
Speaking to the media, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mohamed-Lamin Tarawally Esq., has revealed that Forty-six (46) alleged persons have been charged to court and they are currently facing trials ranging from treason, subversion, mutiny, aiding and abating of the enemies and more.
He added that treason allegation matters are subject to bail condition based on the wisdom and decision of the judge and they are high court cases.
However, he admitted that some matters were first referred to the Magistrate Court. The Attorney-General, nevertheless, confirmed that the former President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, was charged on four (4) counts (i.e. treason and others) but, he was granted bail based on medical grounds and the matter would come up again in March 6-02-2024.
“Prior to his appointment, Minister Tarawally served as the Solicitor-General of Sierra Leone, being the principal assistant to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice in determining the legal position of the state, overseeing all civil and criminal proceedings on behalf of the state,” he said.
In the similar response, the Minister of Information and Civic Education (MIC), Chernor Bah, had also told the public that their government was ready to build peace bridges both local and international due to the undesirable peace at the moment in the country.
He added that ex-president Koroma was granted bail and was allowed to leave for Nigeria for ‘tentative stay’ citing reasoning on the grounds of humanitarian empathy.
Meanwhile, Minister Chernor Bah, failed to appraise the public the numbers of escaped prisoners who have returned to the Sierra Leone Correctional Service Center (SLCC).
Conversely, the Economic Community of West Africa States, has recently issued a letter of appreciations to the People of Sierra Leone for their relentless effort and courage over the ugly situation.
“We express our profound gratitude to the authorities of Sierra Leone for granting permission to the former President, His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, to travel out of Sierra Leone on medical and health grounds.
“ECOWAS commends the humanitarian gesture that stands to serve the greater interest of Sierra Leone and the ECOWAS region. ECOWAS renews its commitment to supporting the government and the people of Sierra Leone in their effort to foster peace and security as well as to deepen democracy and good governance,” they affirmed.
In an interview with some critical minded Sierra Leoneans at home and abroad, they said the SLPP incumbent government and the opposition APC must simply work together in a bid to stopping fighting and putting a permanent end to violence.
It is a truism that patient, persistent work to find creative solutions to conflict is needed to build a sustainable peace.
Reconciliation strategies and use of resources work help to truly understand conflicts.
They [mediators] must create connections between the different conflicting groups involved, and most importantly, ensure the people are directly involved by conflict resolution mechanisms.
Even though, the number of violent conflicts has increased dramatically since 2018 due to bad governance in Sierra Leone and beyond, according to the views of many political analysts, the world urgently needs to respond to crisis situations differently.
Violence affects everyone. Wars prevent communities from developing , it stops children going to school and makes it harder for people to access healthcare services.
Poverty then drives more conflict to exist, and the cycle continues.
Around the world a quarter of all people live in countries affected by conflicts and violence.
Over 5 million people alive today have been forced to flee their homes due to conflicts. In the case of Sierra Leone, this is the highest it’s been since the end of the eleven years civil war in the country.
Conflicts drive 80% of all humanitarian needs.
It is predicted that half of Sierra Leoneans are poorest and will be living in conflict-affected places if conflict prevention is not timely done in the country.