‘Open letter regarding the dialogue process set in motion for the land dispute in Sahn Malen, Pujehun district’ 30 March 2020

…We wish to bring to your notice that the Technical Committee report is now public and can be viewed at the link https://www.farmlandgrab.org/post/view/29529-report-of-thetechnical-committee-on-the-malen-chiefdom-land-dispute-in-pujehun-district. There are a number of revelations in the report and we are truly very supportive of your move to resolving this long-standing fester in that Chiefdom, noting that it is the aspiration of the government to improve the investment sector in the country.

There are a lot more issues that the report is silence on but as CSOs prepared to support government’s efforts we take this in good faith given the time frame of the investigation. Hon. Vice President, we assure you of our support as you plan to chart out the next steps for the dialogue involving all stakeholders to the land dispute in the chiefdom. We continue to caution that in 2018 your government inherited a drawn-out conflict spanning 8 years. That conflict has graduated from mere dispute to a track 2 case, for which a lot of efforts may need to be applied for mutual resolution. Already this case has witnessed the death of two civilians from gunshots and 18 human rights defenders (one of whom is already dead) facing prolonged trials in Freetown rather than in Pujehun or Bo city the regional headquarter, South.