Let The Punishment Fit The Crime, But Don’t Mistake The Law for Justice.
Although politics in Sierra Leone today is undergoing some form of altered consciousness, thanks to the tribal, regional and base instincts that sometimes strangulate our collective will for national development, it is refreshing to see the occasional good deed sprouting under the weight of such national apathy. One news item making the rounds on social and some main stream media is about how Sierra Leone’s Chief Minister, Dr David Moinina Sengeh recently “paid fines to the tune of NLE 111,700 for 47 inmates incarcerated in the Pujehun Correctional Centre, for various petty offences” (AYVnew.com). According to AYV, Dr Sengeh said “I observed that the 1914 built prison was beyond capacity. It is crowded with people who were only there because they are poor- they couldn’t pay the fines they were given at conviction”.
Under usual or normal circumstances, such a human gesture would receive rapturous ovation and lauded to the heavens. It is the kind of goodwill gesture that would earn someone the key to or freedom of a village, town or city. Some people even get honorary membership to the higher echelons of that community. I won’t be surprised if a song is dedicated to the Chief Minister, with the potential to make it to Sierra Leone’s version of Top of the Pops platinum chart list. Sadly the circumstance are neither usual nor normal these days. However, as with everything Sierra Leone nowadays, Dr Sengeh’s gesture has come in for some serious criticism. One chief critic is Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, the former Anti-Corruption Czar (2010-2016), Attorney –General and Minister of Justice (2016-2018). JFK as he is popularly known, apparently acknowledged the gesture on humanitarian grounds, but takes a dim view on matters of principle.
Are criticisms of Dr Sengeh justified?
In a social media post on X, JFK stated that “payment of fines for prison inmates, by the Chief Minister, even with the best of intentions, is in error of judgement. Sentencing was because of crimes committed and not poverty. The payment unknowingly promotes impunity. Better to have enabled the Legal Aid, to do the needful”. As expected, JFK’s criticism/observation drew responses from various people with various persuasions. Umaru Napoleon Koroma, the National Secretary General,-SLPP questioned JFK with “what is wrong with someone paying for them”? Napoleon likens the situation to a family member “paying fines to get their loved ones released from prison”. Who would argue with that?
However, these are not “family members” and Dr Sengeh is not a family member. He is The Chief Minister of the ruling SLPP government. If a family member had paid for them, would they have invited AYV and the media to witness such a family gesture? Would they have brought the cameras from home, boast to the world about their family secret? In similar circumstances in some countries, family members employ the media to protest against injustices, though. Was that the case here? No. Nevertheless, is Dr Sengeh criticised because of who he is or for his position? Would he had received such criticism if he were just an ordinary family guy trying to help the brethren?
Irrespective of the various criticisms, Dr Sengeh reportedly mentioned that his gesture “will help reduce the overcrowding in the Pujehun District Correctional Centre which was constructed to originally house seventy-six inmates. Was this the driving force behind Dr. Sengeh’s gesture? If so, and at face value, why would anyone blame him for trying to help alleviate the perils of his fellow countrymen? Dr Sengeh said in one of his responses on X, “I am providing the resources to a foundation who’ll pay for them. Now those 47 are my brothers, yes. Young people from my community” Cheers. So, what happened to the concept being your brother’s keeper? Is that not a central theme in all religions? Is that not what Kini David is doing? I’m just asking.
So, Why the criticisms?
I was reading the thread from commentators, critics and supporters alike but had to abandon it, because some resorted to trading insults. We know that insults are the last refuge of the incompetent. It is easy to conclude that the barrage of criticism is deeply manifested along the political divide. If “those 47 are my brothers, yes. Young people from my community”, some have questioned “why Pujehun” and “not Kono, Bombali etc.” Since “a journey of one million miles starts with a step”, would the Chief Minister make this a national drive and drown out the critics, who believe that just like the correctional facility in Pujehun, the situation is the same nationwide? Some people who have criticised the Chief Minister, in spite of the best of intentions, believe that he could redeem himself by taking this approach nationwide and avoid the tag of OIMBY( only in my backyard).
No one is expecting the Minister to go round paying off fines for criminals like a drunken sailor. I am convinced that when Dr. Sengeh went into the Correctional facility, he did not go there for the sole purpose of paying off the fines of these “criminals”. There is every possibility that his gesture could have been unplanned and borne out of a natural reaction that is grounded in empathy and humanity. Growing up in Kono in the good old days, I remember when diamond miners would enter a bar to celebrate a diamond sale by buying drinks for everyone in the bar at the time. Sometimes, it was not even the Star Beer, Heineken or Campari talking. Just sheer kindness. This was especially so, if they had just sold (gbantha) a piece of diamond. The analogy might be far-fetched but both share similar human tendencies: “to do good deeds to others”.
So, what does Dr Sengeh’s gesture mean for the law, justice and the wider community?
Dr Sengeh believes that those incarcerations for the failure or inability to pay fines ranging from NLE 100, 200. 300 etc. for crimes such as loitering and other relatively minor offences were disproportionate. While some would see Dr Sengeh’s gesture as an act of mercy, thereby cushioning the view that “justice without mercy is cruelty”, others would like to remind him that “crime does not and should not pay”. JFK, who presided over the inception of the Legal Aid Board has suggested this route as an impartial and widely beneficial way to help in this situation. As we know, legal Aid, as the term implies is to provide basic aid to those who could not afford the cost of legal fees or access to help for legal issues.
In a society where some can and some cannot afford basic legal representation because of income disparities, justice in such societies becomes invariably unjust. Injustice to one is injustice to all. Access to Justice should never be determined by the depth of one’s pocket but on merit as a civil right. “Equal justice under law is not just a phrase, it is a fundamental principle.” That is why people like JFK believe that the legal aid route is the best way to achieve the very essence of the Chief Minister’s message and gesture without any hint of selectivity. By implication, it means that the intention and message from the Chief Minister are well meaning. However, it is the execution of the above that is suspect; as some have described it as “populist”. Will Dr Sengeh be going round the country paying the fines of all those who cannot afford it? No. But will a strengthened Legal Aid process address such inequality to all, on a national level? Hmmmm, possibly, relatively Yes, if executed well. President Bio once said that it is time to hand over power to the younger generation. Has he been talking to Ibrahim Traore and Bassirou Diomaye Faye of Burkina Faso and Senegal respectively, lately? Check your in tray Chief Minister.
Interestingly, and in spite of the criticisms and patronage, has the gesture from the Chief Minister drawn attention to a perennial problem that has plagued our “prisons” since independence? The conditions of overcrowding, poor sanitation, and health of inmates have long been synonymous with our correctional centres. Even the term “correctional centre” is a recent replacement of “prison”. No one is saying that our correctional centres should be the Bintumanis and Golden Beach hotels of this world. Nevertheless, the requirement for basic humane standards should be mandatory. Having said that, was Dr Sengeh’s “kindliness” an unintended rebuke of our penal system? Is this therefore, a tacit acknowledgement of not only disproportionate justice, but also the use of a sledgehammer to crack a nut? Does this mean that criminality is the result of poverty? If so, what does the Minister intend to do about it?
On the other hand, cynics and connoisseurs of morality would wonder why such relatively petty crimes always get the full force of the law. They say that justice is blind, but it is only blind when it looks past the victims of crime. We know that crime does not pay, but the law is not meant to only punish, but also protect, and rehabilitate. Sometimes, the only true punishment for the crime is forgiveness. Sometimes. Some people wonder why is it, that it mostly the small fish that get reeled in while the big fishes swim across the ocean with apparent impunity? Even though many attribute Sierra Leone’s economic malaise to the crimes of the “big alayjos”, a quick look from the archives of successive Commissions of Inquiry in the last two decades would tell their own story. Do you remember when the ACC paraded a school teacher for public ridicule in Freetown for fraud? When justice is served, peace is restored.
In spite of the criticism, we hope that there is some goodness to come out of Dr Sengeh’s remarkable gesture. Whether it is populist, attention seeking, popularity contest or placing his irons in the fire, the hope is that he would look at the big picture and generate the big conversation. As a nation, we might have lost the propensity to see the good in others, thanks to extreme partisan antagonism. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope that collectively, we’ll listen in action, from the big conversation. I also hope that in tackling crime and overcrowding in “prisons”, we don’t forget to look at the causes of crime also. For now, let us clap for others until it’s our turn.
Don’t forget to turn the lights off when you leave the room.
By Abdulai Mansaray
