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The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL) on Wednesday 19th March 2025 conducted a Mini Public Hearing Mosavie Community in Mattru Jong, Bonthe District.
Following a fallout between a mining company known as FOISON Mining Company and the community people in relation to promises made to the people by the said company which the people say have not been fulfilled.
The team led by the Vice Chairperson, Victor Idrissa Lansana Esq engaged the Paramount Chief (PC), Alhaji AB Sheriff, and his council of chiefs as the local leaders to hear their perspective on the stalemate between the community and the company.
The PC disclosed that FOISON took over Sierra Rutile just over 7 months ago and had offered to give as a gesture to the community the sum of NLe500,000 in order to construct a health center even before the company could start operations.
The PC also informed the team that the people have been making other demands for roads, water wells, schools, etc but that the company has not yet met those demands since it is a new company.
He said some community members decided against his advice to use the Poro Society to scare off the Chinese people at the company site and then attacked the company, stealing huge sums of money and some company property. The police had to come in to restore calm and did some arrests, the Paramount Chief concluded.
Furthermore, the Commission decided to hold a Mini Public Hearing to allow the anxious community people to vent their concerns over the issue. The people, led by their town chief disclosed that the FOISON company had promised them the following: a health center, roads, water wells, electricity, and scholarships for their children. They said that these promises have not been fulfilled by the company and that the community remains deprived especially with the non-availability of drinking water.
During the hearing, community stakeholders further revealed that their land was first taken and utilized by Sierra Rutile for 27 years without any development or compensation to the people and that now FOISON has taken over the same land with signs of the same underdevelopment as the last 27years under Sierra Rutile. The people claimed that they had never seen any mining concession license with FOISON to do mining on their land.
In addition previous engagements were made with Bo regional police division made by HRCSL’s southern regional office, the Vice Chairperson and team moved down to Bo and engaged the resident judge, Justice Francis Banks Kamara, J., and the Magistrate, Landonet Macauley to explore a possibility of admitting to bail the accused persons whom we learned had already spent about a month in police custody before been charged to court.
Senior Management of FOISON Mining Company was not available to be engaged at their operational site but the Commission has written a letter to summon them in a bid to hear their own side of the story and help resolve the critical issues in respect of this matter.
