It was April, a normal normal Easter Celebration, the time is 3 pm. The Kingtom Community in uncharacteristic haste experienced a hungry fire that left many police officers homeless. It was a wild hustle and bustle as the area was gripped by the claws of apprehension. Even for children, some were perhaps shedding tears of blood.

No one saw this tragedy coming as the sky is always calm before a mighty thunderstorm. It was as if the world had gone mad to render families of serving police officers without a place to call home. Bandset is among the Police resident’s quarters in Kingtom. It’s strategically located in the heart of the country’s capital Freetown.

Constable Hawanatu Koroma, a mother of four states that “The former inspector General of police, Sovula, promised to reconstruct the houses till he was replaced, we are now looking up to the new Inspector General of Police Fayia Sellu. When he took office, he went round the barracks and also visited us. He said he will look into our situation and get back to us. I want to thank him for the facilitation of the construction of a new Toilet facility for us. However, our current dwelling is still not conducive and I am finding it difficult to stay with my children in a single make shift structure. We cannot raise money amongst ourselves to put up new structures because we don’t have the resources and the land is owned by the government. We are experiencing mosquito bites, the place is open and there is no control but I thank I have a place to lay my head. I am appealing to the IG and other humanitarian organizations to help rebuild our houses.”

One of the Police officers who wishes to be anonymous encapsulates that “Many Journalists have come here and go. We have granted several interviews but it seems our situation still fell on deaf ears. I believe they know we are serving the people of this country every day and night. There is nothing much to say.” He emphasized.

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Victims of this tragic incident still feel abandoned since April 2021 as many could not find a conducive place to call home despite serving the government of Sierra Leone. They still have fresh memories of the sad incidents that distorted their lives. Over time, some of these memories have become an indelible imprint on the minds of the affected dwellers.

That year, the Easter celebration was sad, like a funeral and many police officers wept as properties worth thousand of New Leones were lost. One of the Victims Olive Boima, wife of a Police officer vividly recalls the tragic incident

“That April morning, I was at home, preparing food for the family at the police quarters where we stayed in Bandset. My husband is a policeman and he and all the other men had gone for work. My son was also out with friends.

I suddenly heard my sister-in-law, who stayed in a neighbouring house, telling her daughter to quickly get out of the house because of the smoke. There was indeed smoke coming out of one of the apartments near mine.

I cannot describe how fast that fire was spreading. In front of my eyes, it spread to my sister-in-law’s apartment and in just a few moments it reached my block. I escaped with only the clothes I was wearing. I stood outside, opposite my house on Hennessy Street, shedding tears as I watched my house turn to ashes.

I give glory to the Almighty because my life was saved. The youths in our community were very swift to come to our aid. They used water from the station tanks in our area to put out the fire before the fire force arrived, and they helped prevent the fire from spreading to other apartments nearby.

But imagine: everything I have worked for destroyed in a single day. It wasn’t only about money and belongings, but the documents. We lost our national identity cards, birth certificates, academic certifications, marriage certificate, passports… it costs money and long processes and procedures to get these documents.

The Inspector-General of the Sierra Leone Police and other officers visited us afterwards and gave us Le 1,442, ($75) each as a form of compensation. We also received rice, oil, and other food supplies from the National Security Office and NGOs.

The Inspector-General and his team identified the Kingtom police canteen, where marriages and birthday parties used to be held, as a place to temporarily accommodate the fire victims. They partitioned it into single rooms.

We are very thankful for the timely intervention of the police hierarchy, but it is not enough. We are still living in the canteen and though it is better than sleeping in the open, it is not conducive for dwelling. I used to have a self-contained house with bathrooms and other facilities, but now it is a single makeshift room.

The major challenge is the lack of privacy. I had to make the painful decision of sending my son to live with my sister because we just have a single room with no chairs, tables, or even access to enough water. I couldn’t have my son staying in such conditions. Since then, I’ve noticed a drastic drop in my son’s school performance. My sister does not have the time to monitor him, but I do not have a choice.

I believe the police have done what they could, so we are calling on the government and international organisations to help us and quickly construct our houses to save us from this plight. My husband and his friends were out on that particular day serving the government and the people of this country. Now that adversity has befallen us, we need their timely support to motivate us.”