The impunity expressed by drug dealers in the Sugar Loaf community in the mountain village of Regent is reminiscent of the arrogance that is displayed by those who operate based on orders from above and can do or say anything to anyone that will end up as “buff” case. This mentality, this impunity, that is, knowledge that you will not be held accountable for your actions and their consequences, has and continues to affect the rule of law in Sierra Leone.
This attitude as we all know is not only restricted to drug dealers as it finds its counterparts in members of the police force, those hired to work against public corruption, those running or managing our public elections, even way up to the chief executive of the state.
All around this great country there are those who think and openly boast that they are above the law and that when caught in the dragnet it is only a matter of fact and time that they will be set free while those not so well connected get the book of law thrown at them and sent to long jail sentences. Yes, the law is blind. It has some people that it fails to see, while on the other hand it seems to see quite a lot of others whose crimes and actions when compared to those it doesn’t see are a drop in the ocean.
It has come to the attention of concerned members of the public that also includes the many foreign interests in our country that while the Inspector General of Police and members of the Police Wives Association, the Army Wives Cooperative and many other stakeholders are currently on a nationwide sensitisation campaign aimed at informing the youth and others involved in the smoking of kush and on the adverse effects of smoking kush, some members of the police and those of the court system are busy undermining their efforts while not only granting impunity to those who have been importing, smuggling, supplying and selling the banned narcotic drug but also puts the lives of those who are in the very forefront of the fight, the community people, in danger of either being hurt or injured and possibly murdered by these people who are confident that their crimes are “buff case” because nothing will ever come out of them because they have very strong and credible connections and ties to the powers that be.
In the Sugar Loaf community for example despite letters from concerned community people and the headman concerning drug dealers running amok in the tiny city enclave, their letters to the powers that be tallying their experiences with drug dealers especially the notorious “Mama G”, their advocacy has fallen on deaf ears as nothing has been done to assuage their plight with members of the police force looking too complicit in this affair.
It is the perception of the public and from many drug dealers we spoke to that many ranking people in the police force, the armed forces and all state security personnel are all making a great living from the sale of kush and other narcotics while the youth and the society are suffering from all the fallouts that emanate from drug addiction including but not limited to sores that won’t heal, prostitution for female addicts, getting involved in stealing by male addicts, selling of one’s treasured and valued possessions, loss of desire to take care of one’s appearance, neglect of work and other obligations to family and friends. There are many cartels and ghettoes across Freetown supplied and operated by members of the security sector who for some reason are still collecting their salaries at the expense of taxpayers.
Therefore after we have seen an effective fight against kush in the city of Freetown, the harassed drug peddlers have doubled down their strategy and are moving into smaller communities like Sugar Loaf in Regent where there is less focus or less possibility of police raids. These dealers we have been informed received daily intel on when, who, and from where raiding teams will be coming from and are long gone before the police gets there. Also, we know of patrol trucks and officers walking the beat making daily or regular pit stops at drug dens collecting small sums of money from drug dealers to look the other way. Those who are addicted to the substance get their daily fixes from the dealers and suppliers who are only too willing to oblige for the boys in blue.
The neglect that the people of Regent are feeling when it comes to addressing their plight in their fight against kush and with arrogant people like “Mama G” and other dealers with such nicknames is a symptom of a much larger problem.
The police should address this by doubling up their efforts whenever and wherever these drug dealers double down to. But when you have people like “Mama G” and others who can boast about their connections in high places in the police and powers that be that protect them and can give them their arrested drugs and money from police lockup then the Sierra Leone Police’s fight against kush will not succeed and the accusation that maybe even further high up the police should also clean their house will never stop doing the rounds. The longer the police fail to act against such brazen impunity and get such people to court system then the longer the kush problem prevails.
Another issue that allowing for all kush dealers to sell their drugs in the open is that these dealers have gullible yet violent young men in their ghettoes that are too willing to attack and assault whistle blowers and other community stakeholders they call snitches. The refrain here is “all snitches must die”, which they mean to the letter. For failing to act and or being seen to be taking action against drug dealers the police are endangering the lives of people who just want to see their communities freed from the grips of drug dealers and their children and loved ones and friends freed from being addicted to kush and other drugs.
This deliberate neglect from the force’s top brass will go a long way to bring the police’s fight against kush in disrepute and demoralizes the faith and trust the people and community have in the police to do their job and hopefully rid their communities and lives of the damning effects of kush and other drug addictions.
The IGP William Fayai Sellu and his subordinates and all those involved in the fight against kush have their work cut out for them.
We believe that they are equal to the task from past successes, but only if no stones are left unturned, and sacred cows are proven to be unholy.
By: FORUM NEWS STAFF REPORTER
