𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧 𝐒𝐚𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐦

The Chiefdom authority of Sahn Malen Chiefdom together with various Civil Society Organizations have endorsed and supported the Chiefdom Authorities of Sahn Malen Chiefdom in condemning a petition list making the rounds on social media by the Malen Land Owners Association supported by Green Scenery and partners.

The clandestine petition list, according to our information, was premeditated as 60% of the names on the list were clandestinely and secretly done just to appease their financiers.

According to the Paramount Chief, the so-called petition was shrouded in controversy and disagreement exposing the hate and unpatriotic behavior of the Malen Land Owners Association towards the government and people of Sierra Leone.

Paramount Chief B.V.S challenges MALOA, Green Scenery, Land For Life, FIAN-Belgium over the countless and senseless provocation the above organizations have been engaged in, in his chiefdom over the past years. “The so-called petition list was faulty and defective thereby exposing the deep-rooted hatred and malice Green Scenery and FIAN-Belgium have for my chiefdom and the agricultural company,” he explained. “The so-called petition list was premeditated by Green Scenery and FIAN-Belgium.” He alleges.

“With all the developmental activities the agricultural company is doing in my chiefdom which is encouraging and promising. It will be an insult for the agricultural company to be portrayed negatively by these clandestine organizations.

“The petition list is defective and faulty,” he reiterates. “FIAN-Belgium and Green Scenery should not be part and parcel of that clandestine and premeditated petition list.

Paramount Chief Kebbie was very vocal to the reality as he publicly shames the moves by the Malen Land Owners Association for presenting petty and dubious petition list which does not have the blessing of his chiefdom.

However, public dissatisfaction is growing amongst the various Civil Society Organizations across the country after doing series of investigation within the chiefdom by questioning some of the villagers on the legality of their names on the list.

According to some of the Civil Society Organizations some of the names and signatures on the petition list captured minors which the Child’s Rights Act is frowning at.

A letter written by stakeholders of Sahn-Malen Chiefdom with the subject: Report of Investigation into lists of Persons alleged to have signed the petition objecting the RSPO Certification of Socfin, Sierra Leone sent by Malen Land Owners Association” , exposes the shenanigan of Green Scenery, FIAN-Belgium in trying to deplete the chiefdom with fabricated and pathological lies.

According to the letter: I refer to the above and state that investigations carried out by Chiefdom Authorities into lists of persons alleged to have signed the petition objecting to the RSPO Certificate of Socfin was found to be fraudulent.

95% of people in 34 villages on the petition list did not sign by themselves; somebody signed on their behalf. Few MALOA members, working in collaboration with some International NGOs carried out this illegal act.

The few who signed were given wrong and misleading information. In fact, two of the villages mentioned in that petition list (Jao and Nyandehun) are not Socfin’s operational villages.

The above extraction from the District Multi Stakeholders Platform on their community engagement on the MALOA petition exposes the shenanigan by the Malen Land Owners Association working with Green Scenery in that part of the country.

The District Multi Stakeholders Platform further reveals that the forgery done by MALOA to include a 4-year-old child to sign in the petition list is a sham to all the organizations that are working with MALOA.

According to the different engagements by the Pujehun District Multi-Stakeholders within the chiefdom with targeted communities, most of the people who signed the petition were not aware of signing a petition some people only became aware of it after they had signed a petition. During the investigation by DMSP, they learned that some people signed the petition on the pretext that they would receive supplies for the vulnerable people, some for employment, and others signed because they are aggrieved with SAC operations, in some communities the list was compiled by an individual and signed without the knowledge of those whose names were on it, some names written on the petition were under the ages of seven and below (like in the case of Kpanguma community involving Hawa Munda and Adama Magba respectively.

Mr. Rahall who has been following the Malen dispute since the arrival of Socfin Agricultural Company in 2011 for the first time confesses that no international NGO supported the activities of MALOA but Green Scenery offered technical and limited financial support to MALOA.

Green Scenery also confesses that one MALOA member was prosecuted and the court sitting transcript reports that he pleaded guilty of “registration of community people without the knowledge of the Town Chief’.

The above assertion by Green Scenery endorses the Chiefdom Authorities, District Multi Stakeholders Platform and the various Civil Society Organizations who are branding the petition list as faulty and inaccurate.

The government of Sierra Leone should pay great attention to some of these international Non-Government Organizations in the country who are clandestinely supporting organizations to undermine government projects.

The government of President Julius Maada Bio should be watchful over the intervention of Christian Aid across the country whose operations are meant to see how they can help the government to reduce poverty by helping the needy but they are busy supporting crooked petition reports by the Malen Land Owners Association.

See Press Release below by some level headed Civil Society Organizations endorsing the chiefdom authorities of Sahn Malen on the fictitious petition list.

Prior to the call by Green Scenery and the Malen Land Owners Association urging and calling colleagues Civil Society Organizations across the country to ascertain the reality fact checks involving a petition which was allegedly signed by 1,475,000 members from the Malen Land Owners Association (MALOA) objecting to the certification of Socfin Agricultural Company by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has warranted the visit of the above named organization to Sahn-Malen Chiefdom.

The called by Green Scenery was a welcome one which has re-energized the position fact checking on the above subject matter to Sahn-Malen Chiefdom in engaging and interacting with various stakeholders and local authorities in the chiefdom to ascertain the brouhaha behind the petition list that was allegedly signed by 1,475,000 residents within the concession area of the Agricultural company is a misnomer to the reality on the ground.

The wild spread allegation by the Malen Land Owners Association with support from Green Scenery and FIAN/Belgium has being painted as a big time hoax and also challenged by the Chiefdom Authorities and the District Multi-Stakeholder Platform (DMSP) of Pujehun District as groundless and unfounded.

The above statements by the highest decision bodies in Pujehun District and the Chiefdom authorities of Sahn-Malen chiefdom warranted the intervention of the above name Civil Society Organization to visit Sahn- Malen Chiefdom to engage with the local people to know the reality on the ground between MALOA, DSMP and the Chiefdom authorities on the authenticities of their respective reports.

Engagement with Community People

Our visit to the Chiefdom was to investigates and bring the naked truths to Sierra Leoneans and the various International Organizations that are working with local organizations in the country.

According to our investigation and findings, it was proved that the Press Release by the Malen Land Owners was inaccurate and erroneous as those who were responsible to collect the data from the people ended up recording the wrong and inaccurate information to the dissatisfaction of one of their international partners who instructed Green Scenery to take off the information from their Face Book page.

From our in-depth information it was also revealed that the alleged petition lists was created out of hate and disgust as the ring leader for the petition list is the Member of Parliament for Constituency 104, Pujehun District.

From our findings, it was prove to us from the various people we interview that the Independent Member of Parliament within the concession area of the company are having strange relationship since the inception of the company and has being doing all sorts of villain attitude towards the smooth pace of the country.

According to residents, Hon. Sheka Sama has being saying to the people of Sahn-Malen that if they signed the petition list their wellbeing will be changed for the better.

All sorts of lofty and lordly promises was given to the people by the Malen Land Owners Association forgetting to know that the petition list do not have the blessing of the chiefdom authorities and Hon. Sheka Sama was doing it to create mischiefs in the chiefdom after the company was certified by the Roundtable Sustainable Palm oil.

According to reliable sources on the ground, children were exposed to hard labor and exploited contrary to the Child Rights Act of 2007, the Convention on the African Union Convention on the Rights and Responsibilities of the Child, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Our findings also revealed that the petition lists was full of innuendoes as 60% of names in the lists do not exist in Sahn-Malen chiefdom but was imported by the Malen Land Owners Association just to create chaos and confusion.

During our engagement with the chiefdom people it was clearly shown that the people were force to give their names in return of gifts and other assistances as promised by the Malen Land Owners Association with the full supports of Green Scenery and FIAN Belgium using unclear means to extract information from the people.

In a press release issued out by the chiefdom authorities it was abundantly clear that the petition list was deceitful and dishonest: Report of Investigation into list of Persons Alleged to have signed the Petition Objecting the RSPO Certification of SOCFIN, Sierra Leone sent by MALOA.

The reports of the highest authorities in the chiefdom branded the petition lists are fraudulent as 95% of people in the 34 villages on the list did not sign by themselves. “Few MALOA members working in collaboration with some International NGOs carried out this criminal act, the few who signed were given wrong and misleading information,” the release stated. “In fact, two of the villages mentioned on that petition list (Jao and Nyandehun) are not Socfin’s operational villages,” “This is forgery, and an act of criminal behavior at the highest level.

Our findings also unveiled that due to the clandestine operations of these MALOA members they even involved the name and signature of a teenager in Kpanguma village leaving several critical minded organizations like FIAN-Belgium fighting for their credibility and integrity in the face of accountability and rule of law.

Our engagements also proved that there is a deep rooted controversy involving the District Multi Stakeholders Platform Community Engagement a platform representing various stakeholders comprises Office of National Security (ONS), Civil Society Organizations against the operations of Green Scenery clandestine operations in the district and Sahn Malen chiefdom respectively.

The Coalition for Accountability and Rule of Law is sacrosanct and realistic that the motive of MALOA, Green Scenery and FIAN Belgium was premeditated forgetting to know that 70% of the oil the company is producing goes directly to the local markets for the production of soap, butter and other condiments which have drastically reduced the spate at which the above products were coming into the country.

Responsibility goes with duties and obligations and it is incumbent to us as Civil Society Organizations to stand for the undiluted truths by speaking for the voiceless and not the other way round in inciting the people against authorities.

The under-mentioned Civil Society Organizations hereby submit the following

• That the Member of Parliament used his position to manipulate his constituents in writing and signing the said petition

• There should be more education and sensitization by the company and the chiefdom authorities to educates the people on the important and significant of the RSPO

• That the Chiefdom authorities through the Liaison and Public Relation wing of the company should engage the various villages and townships of the company were the company is operated.

• There is serious misinformation between the community people and the chiefdom thereby given serious communication gap within the chiefdom

• The chiefdom authorities should make use of the Malen Radio station to disseminate and circulate correct information in the case of the RSPO which is still strange to the people and the role the RSPO can play in the chiefdom

• The Member of Parliament should see how he can work with the chiefdom authorities and the agricultural company for a win-win situation which will diffuse the misinformation across the chiefdom

• Statistics has proven that 99% of these villagers speak Mende, which implies that it is prudent on a strategic communication team to disseminate their messages in this dialect to ensure quality understanding of the project.

• We are also calling on FIAN/Belgium and our colleagues from Green Scenery to continue with their activism in a transparent and opened manner and not allowed pettiness to overshadow their working relationship with the people they are working for.

• We are also calling on the Paramount Chief and his subjects to establish an open door, and reconciliatory forum for collective community understanding with the Member of Parliament, Malen Land Owners Association and to other Civil Society Organizations across the country

• The company should continue with his engagement policies by engaging critical minds to stop the misinformation in the chiefdom

However, one of the petitioners who was arrested by the chiefdom authorities and handed over to the Sierra Leone Police has openly confesses under oath that the entire petition process was shrouded in secrecy as several members of the Malen Land Owners Association who spoke to us on Friday acknowledged that the petition lists was faulty and a deliberate ploy to ridiculed the agricultural company

Conversely, our coalition is calling on the Malen Land Owners Association, Green Scenery, Land for Life and FIAN-Belgium to disassociate themselves and their organizations from that purported petition list with immediate effects.

The misinformation and distortion in the chiefdom in connection with the so-called petition list is seriously serious as family members across the chiefdom are challenging one another on the legality and mandate on who writes or sign their names in the list without their consent or agreement.

A husband residing at Gboyama has to ask his wife out of the home due to her involvement in the petition list by writing his name in the list without his consent but with the timely intervention of the local authorities they were able to solve the matter amicably.

Over 60% of the people we speak to in Sahn, Sinjo, Kassay, Gboyama, Gangama, Bendu, Kortumahun, Lower and Upper Malen says the petition list is fictitious and should be null and void.

As one of the credible Civil Society Organizations in the country we wholeheartedly supports and endorsed the timely intervention of the Chiefdom Authorities and the unanimous decision by the District Multi-Stakeholders Platform for publicly condemning the spurious and fake ‘petition list’ by the Malen Land Owners Association in conjunction with Green Scenery, Land for Life and FIAN/Belgium.

As voice of the voiceless we are imploring the intervention of the government of President to pay great attention in Sahn-Malen and not allowed certain individuals hiding under the cloak as Civil Society’s to frustrate credible and spotless investors in the country.

As Civil Society Organization we cannot seat by and allowed few individuals due to their selfish and egoistic handlers to discourage or annoyed investors out of the country for their own personal criminal behavior.

We can emphatically say to the government and people of Sierra Leone that Socfin Agricultural Company is a blessing to Sierra Leoneans and the Bio’s administration should protect the company from the hands of ill-motivated Sierra Leoneans clandestinely working with organizations across the world in discouraging investors out of the country.

The role of Civil Society Organizations in any democratic countries is to criticize constructively and help to effects the necessary change and we beseeched Green Scenery and Land for Life to criticize constructively and not allowed shadowy ego to take precedent.

The undermentioned Civil Society Organizations hereby signed and agreed to the above Press Release with deep consultations with their memberships.

Kolleh Kallon

Alliance for Peace and Justice

Babadi Kamara

Forum of Sierra Leone Youth Network (FoSLYN)

Prison Foundation

Moisa Keikura

Alpha Mansaray

Network for Progressive Voices

Morlai Conteh

National Youth Coalition