Remembering August 10 – Lessons Learnt!
By Francess Sesay
In the year 2022 a group of people protested on the street of Freetown, Makeni, and some other parts of the country due to the standardized standard of living which led to the death of some police officers and many other civilians.
According to Abdul Karim Will, Director Strategic Communication, and Spokesperson Office of National Security, in an exclusive interview at the SLIK TV said that before a protest the minds of authorities should prepared at least two days to the protest, he also cited the public order act which talks about right to protest, he went on by saying that after a letter is written to the police for a clearance they should resonate with the police, so the police can provide security.
According to him for every general election a general mapping is done so they can tackle areas where attention is needed, but where they lack control is social media, so they find it difficult to control misinformation.
Sally Hancil who lost her husband during the protest, Desmond Hansel who was a sergeant explained what exactly happened to her husband before he left, according to her, on the 10th which was on Wednesday her husband did not sleep at home, and he came around 10:00am in the morning and took his birth, and he complained that he was not feeling too well, and she administered some medications to him. He later gave his wife 200NLe, and he left for work, whilst she went to the market. Upon her return she got a call that her husband has been killed by protesters, and she watch the video how he was brutally murdered.
She continued saying that they had received her husband’s salary only ones, and since then government has not done anything else.
Abdul Karim Will further stated that we should not use violence to correct matters, because the protest ended in a very bad way, and hopefully Sierra Leoneans have learnt.