The procurement process of the monthly rice distribution programme of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) has again been brought to question after some personnel complained of receiving poor quality rice.
After seven months of delay, the highly controversial scheme resumed this month. But police and civil society sources in the southern district of Bo say the rice they received is rotten and infested with bugs.
Some officers are reluctant to collect their supplies, appealing to the police leadership to provide them quality rice.
Civil society activist Joseph Blacky, a well known advocate for fair and timely distribution of the police rice, confirms receiving reports from aggrieved police officers. He says he personally confirmed the allegations by inspecting the rice.
Mr Blacky called on the leadership of the SLP to provide answers to the many questions raised by the revelation.
The SLP’s monthly rice distribution is an incentive scheme designed to motivate law enforcement officers amid high cost of living in a country where the security forces are among the lowest paid workers.
The scheme started in 2012, under the then administration of President Ernest Bai Koroma, who wanted to correct what the police saw as injustice, as their colleagues in the army were receiving a bag of rice each every month.
But the SLP’S programme has been shrouded in controversy since it commenced, especially over constant delay in the supplies and complaints of poor quality rice procured by the leadership.
In September 2021, local media reports cited police officers praising the then newly appointed Inspector General of Police, Ambrose Sovula, for procuring a quality rice “for the first time” since the programme commenced.
But as it turned out, that was the last time they would receive their supplies in a long time.
Some Police officers who spoke to ManoReporters on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal say they have not received their supplies since October 2021.
Ambrose Sovula. Image, SLP
Prior to the break in the distribution process in October, there were reports of eight months backlog.
Mr Blacky, who is the Director of the Bo based People’s Rights Integrity and Dignity Empowerment Sierra Leone (PRIDE-SL), laments the implication of the delays and backlog on the security of the country, noting that it doesn’t only affect personnel morale but that it also pushes officers towards corruption.
The southern region, which comprises the four districts of Moyamba, Bo, Bonthe and Pujehun, received a total of 1, 376 bags of rice in the ongoing distribution process which started this week.
Chief Superintendent of Police Patrick L. Dumbuya, Regional Support Officer South, is in charge of the distribution process. He confirms reports of the backlog, saying that the current consignment is for October 2021.
CSP Dumbuya however denies the allegation of poor quality rice. He tells ManoReporters that he wasn’t aware of any police officer complaining about the quality of the rice they’d received, even though he himself hasn’t collected his supply yet.
“This is a news to me,” he says, referring to the allegations of poor quality rice.
Some police officers also alleged that the police management has been selective in the procurement and distribution processes, claiming that personnel in certain parts of the country, especially in Freetown, receive different brand of rice, often high quality grains, compared to those in the provinces.
Dumbuya dismisses all these as mere speculation.
“Whatever rice they (Police management) procure and send to us is what we distribute,” he says.
