As political tension increases in Sierra Leone around election results, human rights violations, and the struggle for political power, issues of human rights violations have taken center stage, with many people living in self-exile due to political intimidation. Since the inception of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party’s rule, there have been many complaints against the government to national and international organizations. When the government took power, many people deemed connected to the western and northern regions were unlawfully dismissed from their jobs, based on the government’s belief that they were connected to the opposition party, the All People’s Congress Party. Some were even unlawfully detained in prison, while others were chased out of the country with death threats. In many instances, the media conducted investigations into human rights violations, including political intimidation, death threats, unlawful detention, and more. Recently, the media investigated a police officer’s case, PC 19536, Ibrahim Paul Kamara, who was diligently serving as a police officer for the government of Sierra Leone, adhering to police employment terms, references, and regulations. According to the investigation, he was believed to be a member of the opposition solely because his last name, Kamara, is from the northern region, which many politicians from this government religiously believe belongs to the All People’s Congress Party. Because of this belief, Mr. Kamara became a target and was politically harassed to the point of death by his superiors and other government officials, including Lahai Lawrence Leema, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, who accused Mr. Kamara of being a spy for the opposition and a loyalist to the previous government, which was composed of the All People’s Congress Party, now in opposition. On the contrary, police officers are not politicians; they are mandated to be loyal and perform their duties decently for any government in power, regardless of the region, tribe, or party composition of that government. Mr. Kamara was assigned to the Sierra Leone Maximum Correctional Center at Pademba Road. Our investigation revealed that Deputy Minister Lahai Lawrence Leema had an encounter with Mr. Kamara while he was on duty at the Sierra Leone Correctional Center. This encounter stemmed from unlawful and inappropriate instructions given by the Deputy Minister to his fellow officers on duty, instructions that fell outside the mandate of police officers and security guards at the Maximum Correctional Center. The directive was for them to assist him in achieving his purpose at the correctional center. At that time, Mr. Kamara, whom the deputy minister and other government authorities accused of being a loyalist to the opposition, was on duty and had noticed the plans. However, our investigation reveals that, since the Deputy Minister and her accomplices were unable to succeed in their plans, which led to the gruesome killings of some inmates and other officers who were on duty, Mr. Kamara became wanted by the Minister of Internal Affairs and the government. The Minister briefed the government about Mr. Kamara’s presence at the Maximum Correctional Center, twisting the entire issue and alleging Mr. Kamara to be one of the perpetrators who committed the act of killing inmates and some officers. Moving forward with the investigation, this media outlet made all efforts to reach Mr. Kamara, but all attempts proved futile. When contacted, a few relatives of Mr. Kamara responded to our media team that they were unable to know his whereabouts and that he could not be reached or contacted since the fateful day he left home out of fear of being killed by politicians and their supporters. There is no means of contacting him, and we are yet to see him, said the family. As the investigation continues, we will publish more information on the matter once we have new details revealed
