>I will have no problem if Mr. Kabba makes an explicit statement that
>he has abandoned the peace process and now openly commited to
>removing the junta by force. That at least will indicate in clear
>terms where he stands, and based on that we can begin to look
>seriously into the long term effects of that decision; his position
>within the international and regional contexts, and most importantly,
>the impact on our national interests.
>
Cecil, I guess you never read the speech the President gave a Lungi in which he indicated that he and his administration, as well as ECOMOG and other interested international parties have done all they could to end this thing through a negotiated settlement only to realize time and again that the AFRC?RUF do not respect the agreements they sign. In that speech, the President made it abundantly clear that as the properly constituted government of Sierra Leone, his admnistration had a legal and moral obligation to do something to bring and end to the current lawlessness that is currently masquerading itself in Freetown as a government. He promised the people of Sierra Leone that regrettably, he was now convinced that other measures were necessary and that his administration would use those measures to force a resolution of this crisis. Are you aware of this speech? What other measures did you think that he had in mind, if not the use of force? Do you realize that Capt. Norman was with the President at Lungi when this speech was delivered to the people of Sierra Leone? And, didn't Capt. Norman, in his capacity as deputy minister of defence issue orders to the RSLMF to cease and desist from their treason or face the CDF? Did the AFRC/RUF comply with the direct orders of their Commander-in-chief? How on earth can anyone view an army that takes arms against their Commander-in-Chief and his designee as the "legal" army of any republic? (Even Woody Allen's Banana Republc had more sense than that.)
The Constitution, in Section 165, allows for an Armed Forces of Sierra Leone whose principal function shall be to "guard and secure the Republic of Sierra Leone and preserve the safety and territorial integrity of the State, to participate in its development, to safeguard the people's achievements and the protect this Constitution." It does not name the RSLMF or any other armed entity as the legal army of Sierra Leone. That role was only entrusted to them by Parliament and the president because they felt that the officers of the RSLMF took their oaths of service seriously. In as much as they have failed to fulfill the fundamental reason for their existence, but have actually sought to destroy their raison d'etre, they are as much an illegal organisation as any other armed faction in Sierra Leone. And, given their treason, which makes it impossible for the usual legal niceties for replacing them with another constitutionally sanctioned armed entity through an Act of Parliament, I think that the CDF is the best stop-gap defense mechanism that is available to the President for doing what the army was constituted to do. Let's keep this in perspective as we wallow in discourse the ethnic composition of the CDF and what their payoff shall be after this nightmare is over.
Much regards,
Kelfala M. Kallon
Department of Economics, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO 80631
"Evil triumphs when good people do nothing." Edmund Burke? (not sure)