REFERENCE THE DETENTION OF ELDRED COLLINS IN KAILAHUN
WEDNESDAY 27TH JANUARY 2005
PRESS RELEASE
Certain sections
of the local media have carried stories about the arrest and detention in Kailahun
of Eldred Collins, former spokesman of the Revolutionary United Front Party
(RUFP), and the link with the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The Commission
can state categorically that Mr Eldred Collins volunteered to take our Poetry,
Essay and Poster Competition flyers to Kailahun when he learnt that we needed
someone to contact in that District for this purpose. Since he made himself
available, and we were convinced that he was familiar with the region, we
agreed to let him run the errand on behalf of the ACC.
This was however
not a contract or employment, temporary or otherwise. The exercise was purely
of a voluntary nature, undertaken by a Sierra Leonean who thought it was his
duty to help the Commission.
The Commission
would like to state that Mr Eldred Collins is not the only person who has
volunteered to help the Commission disseminate information about the Poetry,
Essay and poster Competition. In Kono District, we have Mr Sahr M. Sandi; in
Kenema, Dr Sandy Bockarie; in Bo, Mr Aiah Famanda; in Makeni, Father Joe Turay;
and in Moyamba, Mr John Lavally, Principal, Fergusson Memorial Secondary
School.
We understand
however that the local authorities of Kailahun arrested Mr Collins because he
did not make his presence and mission known to the authorities when he arrived,
as this is the regulation in that part of the country. The police intervened
only when they realized it was their duty to secure him from any harm or
molestation. That is why he was taken into protective custody in Kailahun, and
later transferred him to Kenema.
Though Collins
was on a voluntary assignment on behalf of the ACC, we believe it was mandatory
for him to respect the rules and regulations that govern the local
administration of Kailahun District. We have great respect for traditional
rulers and therefore do not condone any act by anybody to flout their authority.
Emmanuel Aiah Senessie
Public Relations
Officer
