‘We are determined to end armed robbery’ AIG Al-Sheik Kamara

By Elkass I.L Sannoh

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in Charge of Operations, Mr. Al-Shiek Kamara, has said that they are determined to put an end to the high increase in armed robbery in the country.

Addressing Journalists this past Tuesday at the weekly Police press briefing at Police headquarters at George Street in Freetown, he revealed that the major reason why armed robbery has drastically reduced across the country was because of the rigid strategies introduced to decentralize the Operational Support Division (OSD) and also sub divide the Sierra Leone Police into sectors to enable them to promptly respond to distress calls and over power armed robbers.

Talking about the public hearing in the Bumbuna shooting incident involving Police Officers, he said they whole heartedly support the decision by the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone to institute the hearings so that the truth of what happened will be established, adding that he hoped that the issues that will be raised will be adequately addressed.

He however stated that they were concerned about some witnesses that were invited to testify at the hearing.

“We are disturbed over the fact that a good number of those witnesses will go and fabricate stories based mainly on hear say with the belief that they will be compensated at the end of the process, because most of them have ulterior motives,” he observed.

He also noted that one of such witnesses was Mr. Fallah Ensa N’Dama, who he said had already taken sides from the onset and has been making press statements and utterances on radio meant to dent the hard won reputation of the Police.

Mr. Kamara reiterated that no serious investor will be attracted to a country where the rule of law does not prevail, and therefore admonished the public to be very considerate in the way and manner they negatively criticize and condemn them in the performance of their duties.

In her statement, the newly appointed Assistant Inspector General of Police in Charge of Community Relations, Mrs.  Elizabeth Turay, said she was ready to work in partnership with the various media houses to ensure that the communities are well educated and informed on the relevance of community policing. She revealed that she has solicited the attention of donor partners to assist her department to enable them undertake such tasks, and appealed to Journalist to support her in her work. She assured newsmen that she will continue to create a friendly relationship between the Police and the people in the country.

In his remarks, the Head of the Human Resources and Peace Keeping Operations, Assistant Inspector General of Police Kalia Sesay, said he was pleased to inform the people of this country that the Sierra Leone Police has now been deployed in Haiti, Somalia, Darfur and New York in the United States of America where they are undertaking policing operations.

He revealed that two of their officials who misbehaved while on a peace keeping mission in Darfur Sudan, namely Sergeant Ben Sieh and Inspect Gladys Parkinson have come back to the country and are currently facing the Police Tribunal for disciplinary action.