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Senior representative from Sierra Leone Drivers Union, (SLDU) Mohamed Kandeh has accused the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) force of interfering in their forthcoming elections supposed to have been held on Saturday, 5th October, 2024.
Mr. Kandeh also urged the outgoing President, Alpha Amadu Bah to desist and disassociate himself from the said elections.
Kandeh made these appeals during a radio interview on Friday, 4th October, 2024. He further accused the SLP of defying and disrespecting a Supreme Court Order which he noted, tantamount to contempt of court.
According to him, the court had ordered that the election of the Sierra Leone Drivers Union was to hold on Monday, 1st October, 2024, but owing to the interference of the SLP the said election was postponed and canceled.
He said the Office of National Security (ONS) also nullified the said election and ordered that it be conducted by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ECSL) which, according to Kandeh, was a blatant disregard of the Union’s Constitution. The election, he said were supposed to be conducted by the Union itself as it had been happening before this time.
According to Kandeh, the blatant interferences of these key government institutions such as the ONS, SLP and the ECSL as the order-of-the-day now in non-government related body electioneering processes in the country, is a likelihood of political interference. He therefore accused the Sierra Leone Police especially the Inspector-General, – William Fayia Sellieu as working unjustly against the judicial system of Sierra Leone.
The SLP is supposed to complement the work of the judiciary, but the force is doing contrarily, Kandeh maintained.
By law, Kandeh went on, the Inspector General of Police should be brought to court for questioning for the unwarranted interference in a trade union election.
“Over the years, the SLP has been meddling and interfering in the activities of private institutions with impunity,” Kandeh charged, noting that by doing so, the SLP has been undermining the democratic process in the country and by extension infringing on citizens’ fundamental human rights. SLDU is registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and supposed to regulate its own affairs, the Drivers Union Senior representative affirmed.
He maintained that the business of the police should only be limited to maintaining law and order in the event of a threat to fundamental peace and the movement of persons during the election.
“It is very disheartening that over the years, the SLP has been meddling in the affairs of private institutions under the guise of orders from above, which has been damaging the fabric in our society,” Kandeh further charged, drawing as a case in point the Sierra Leone Bar Association election in Kenema, which he maintained, showed the SLP openly interfering with the elections which he said, has eroded and destroyed the credibility of the force, as “a force for good” thereby giving room for more questions than answers as to the outcome of that election.
He also drew another instance of direct police interference in the Bar Association fracas by mentioning that when the aggrieved party of erudite lawyer, Augustine Sorie Sengbeh Marah Lawyer Serry Kamal held their press conference at the Brookfields Hotel, the SILP, Kandeh further maintained, were there again brutally manhandling members of the aggrieved party with reckless abandon.
“This is not how it to be. The police should be seen to be apolitical, transparent and – fair in their dealings with the public, not be seen as being attack-dogs of any political system,” Kandeh posited, pointing out that the police are paid from taxpayers money and not from the pockets of political heads of institutions or any government official. They are servants of the people principally set up to protect lives and properties and maintain internal decorum.
Members of the Sierra Leone Driver’s Union have disclosed to this press their outright dissatisfaction over the conduct of the SLP in particular and the ONS in taking the decision that the ECSL conducts their election in, blatant breach of their on constitution.
They maintain that over the years, they have been conducting their elections peacefully and transparently without any rancor.
“We are scared of the ECSL conducting our election because the outcome of the election will not be reflective of the will of majority of the SLDU membership,” a senior SLDU member from Shell Lorry Park stated.
Mr kandeh your former president is the one that cause all this how can he appoint his own Fullah brother as his successor living other tribe that are not Fullah and besides this union is not a Fullah union but meant for all sierra Leoneans and let me say this the police are not to be blame for this they are there to protect lives and property and are doing all to compliment the union so stop the blame game.Let the election be conducted by the ECSL not you bunches of rouges.