Eight Women Organizations have in a joint open letter dated March 7, 2022, urged the International Committees to ensure that the Government of Sierra Leone take concrete measures to redress marginalization of Women in Sierra Leone.
This letter came prior to the celebration of the International Women’s Day (IWD) which was themed: “Time to break the bias,” on March 8, 2022.
In that regard, they therefore called on the international community to help break the bias that women in leadership continue to face in Sierra Leone.
The Women Organizations are gravely concerned over the current impasse between the Freetown City Council (FCC), the suspended Auditor-GeneralMadam Lara Taylor Pearce, and one of her deputies and the Government of Sierra Leone.
It was noted in the letter that the reasons for the suspension have not been made public and no progress has not been made by the tribunal set up by the government to investigate the affairs of the Audit Service Sierra Leone and, in particular, the performance of the Auditor General.
“To date, the tribunal has not commenced a single hearing. The Auditor-General filed a case in the Supreme Court challenging her suspension. Without any reasonable explanation, to date, the matter has not been listed for hearing and there is no indication whether it will be listed for hearing. The basic constitutional human rights of the Auditor General to access the court and a fair trial have been denied,” they said in the letter.
In the letter, they also raised concern on the Mayor of Freetown, Madam Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr, who had been continuously hampered in the execution of her duties as she had also been subjected to an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Parliamentary Accounts Committee and an Administrative Inquiry ‘to examine the general administration of the Freetown City Council (the FCC or Council).
“These two situations both reveal a chilling climate for women’s empowerment and leadership in Sierra Leone, notwithstanding laudable efforts as can be seen in both the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) policy and efforts to develop and pass a related Bill. Current national attempts to resolve these issues have not worked,” the organizations said in a letter.
It was indicated in the letter that, given the commitment of International Organizations to support Government of Sierra Leone to promote development that is grounded in women’s empowerment and gender equality, they are thereby urged, to be more robust in holding the Government of Sierra Leone accountable in keeping with its national and international commitments.
“Let us elaborate on how and why the two cases mentioned above illustrate a pressing need for your attention and intervention, and provide opportunities for you to show your unwavering commitment to making gender equality and women’s empowerment a critical national priority,” the women organisations said in the letter.
The letter also draws the attention of the International Committee that Sierra Leone has several regional and international obligations it has ratified and is obliged to comply with, namely: the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa; Sierra Leone is also committed to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), of which Sustainable Development Goals argets – to end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere and ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic, and public life.
The letter was jointly written by the Fifty-Fifty Group Sierra Leone, The Institute for Legal Research and Advocacy (ILRAJ), African Women Leadership Network (AWLN)–SL Chapter, AdvocAid, Campaign for Good Governance (CGG), Legal Access through Women Yearning for Equality, Rights and Social Justice (LAWYERS), Women’s Shadow Parliament (WSP) and West African Network for Peacebuilding, Sierra Leone (WANEP-SL).
By George M.O. Williams