By Kemo Cham
Sierra Leone’s Foreign Minister, Timothy Musa Kabba has apologised to the Fullah community in Sierra Leone for the reported maltreatment some of their members faced amid a diplomatic row with neighbouring Guinea.
Kabba said that President Julius Maada Bio did not instruct anyone to target any particular group of people or even Guineans for deportation as retaliation. He said this at the government’s weekly press briefing on Tuesday, 17 December, two days after reports of a clampdown on people considered as Guineans.
That followed the reported deportation of Sierra Leoneans by the Guinean authorities, a move that caused a brief stand-off at the Sierra Leone-Guinea border last week.
The umbrella body representing Fullahs in Sierra Leone, the Fullah Progresisve Union, has said that members of their community were solely targeted in what appeared to be a retaliatory move by Sierra Leonean authorities. And the Union is demanding that those who gave the order be held to account.
“The president of this country, President Julius Maada Bio, did not give anybody instruction to arrest any particular set of people, nor did he instruct anybody to round up Guineans for deportation in retaliation,” Kabba said.
The Bio administration has come under widespread criticism for how it handled the incident, which some have described as threatening the country’s peace and stability.
Prominent among the voices condemning the crackdown on Fullahs include former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara, who described the incident as a “diplomatic failure” and also called for “urgent action” to address it.
“Every tribal community is entitled to security and protection from violations of their human rights,” he said.
While acknowledging the significance of the strain last week’s incident created on relations between the two countries, Kabba said they chose diplomatic route to resolve the differences with Guinea.
Kabba also made a passionate appeal to the Fullah community, saying that Government would not discriminate against its citizens.
“We have the diplomatic means to explore and resolve this issue,” he stressed as he reassured the nation of an amicable resolution of what has resulted into a diplomatic row.
The the Foreign Minister disclosed on Tuesday that they are expecting a delegation from Conakry headed by his counterpart, Morissanda Kouyaté, as special envoy of junta leader, General Mamadi Doumbouya to convey a special message to President Bio.
