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Sierra Leone: Tongo Needs Military Deployment
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Concord Times (Freetown)
3 July 2008
Posted to the web 3 July 2008
Mohamed Vandi
Kenema
At a mediation forum organized by the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) in Tongo on Tuesday for rival members of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), calls were made for military deployment to the town.
SLPP chairman in Zone 14, James Mbagu and the Peoples Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) councillorship aspirant for ward 41 in Constituency 14, Sahr James pleaded with PPRC to speedily facilitate the intervention of the military in the present political conflict in the Lower Bambara chiefdom of Kenema District.
Mbagu said due to the present political tension in the chiefdom, the election day in Tongo will only be peaceful if the military is deployed in the area.
"We want peace. The last conflict left several houses destroyed and valuable property stolen by thieves. There is still tension among political parties and therefore to enhance free and fair elections, we want the PPRC to facilitate the deployment of the army throughout the region," he said.
Sahr James said the police could not withstand the last political violence in Tongo and thereby called for the army to support the police so that peace will reign on elections day.
"We don't want further confrontation in our locality. During the war, we suffered so much and up till now, most people have not recovered what they lost. We want development and not war," he said.
Responding to the plea, Local Unit Commander (LUC), Tongo Division, Superintendent Aiah Komba, assured the people that the army will soon be deployed in the chiefdom.
He admitted that the need for the deployment arose after the last incident in Tongo and it has been approved that the military would be deployed in the locality.
PPRC Eastern Region Officer James Bockarie said his team was in Tongo to mediate over the conflict that took place between SLPP and APC members.
He expressed dissatisfaction at the continuous violence in the chiefdom as it creates a negative picture about the area.
During the consultation, SLPP's Hon. Francis Konuwa of Constituency 14 denied the allegation that he made negative proclamation about Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana.
"This town is ours. We need to forget about political differences and think about bringing development that will upgrade the standard of the chiefdom," he said.
Paramount chief Alimamy Farma said though as a traditional leader, he will support any government of the day but denied threatening any sub-chief to vote for the party they do not support.
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However, the resolve between Hon. Konuwa and paramount chief Farma was settled.
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