Rule of Law Training ends in Kono

August 28, 2009

In Sierra Leone, the World Justice Project supports two Opportunity Fund programs run by the 50/50 Group, an NGO whose mission is to increase female participation in democratic government and ensure gender parity. With its first Opportunity Fund program, “Justice for Women,” the 50/50 Group is pairing with experts to simplify and translate three gender acts and introduce the newly guaranteed women’s rights through a nation-wide campaign featuring informational radio segments. In the second program, “Rule of Law Watch,” the 50/50 Group is conducting Rule of Law trainings in partnership with local media to raise awareness and create a culture of the rule of law among everyday Sierra Leoneans.

Below is a recent article on 50/50’s Rule of Law Watch program published in Sierra Leone’s Awoko Newspaper.

Rule of Law Training ends in Kono

Journalists, teachers and Civil Society Organizations in Koidu Town of Kono have ended a day’s training on the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Sierra Leone.

The training which took place at the IAMTECH school grounds was sponsored by the Fifty-Fifty group in Sierra Leone, the World Justice Project and the American Bar Association (ABA) and was facilitated by Abibatu Kamara of Awoko Newspaper and Salieu Sesay of Torchlight Newspaper.

Declaring the training open, Salieu Sesay informed participants that the training aims at equipping them to know about the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Sierra Leone.

He said that, the workshop also aims to create a “Rule of Law Watch” to strengthen knowledge, capacities, attitudes and practices, and to educate people about the Rule of Law in post conflict Sierra Leone.

Abibatu Kamara who lectured on two topics: introducing concepts that are related to the understanding of the rule of law and understanding the rule of law, spoke on the five concepts of the Rule of Law: separation of powers, checks and balances, governance, delegated legislation and the need for delegated legislation. She explained that separation of power is a method of removing the amount of power in any one group’s hand, making it more difficult to abuse.

On checks and balances, she stated that, with checks and balances, each of the three branches of government (Legislative, Executive and Judiciary) can limit the powers of the others.

Explaining further Ms Kamara further stated that, governance is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not implemented.

On delegated legislation, she noted that it permits bodies beneath parliament to pass their own legislation in addition to a law already passed by Parliament.

Giving a mini lecture on what the Rule of Law is, Ms Kamara pointed out that, the Rule of Law is generally a legal-political concept under which the law restrains the government by promoting certain liberties and creating order and stability regarding how a country functions.

Salieu Sesay later gave a mini lecture on understanding the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone and the Rule of Law; principles of Accountability and access to justice and the culture of impunity. At the end of the training, Station Manager of SLBS in Kono Hawa Tucker said that such training is timely and important for their daily reporting. She recommended that similar training be extended to people in the interior of Kono district for them to know about the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Sierra Leone.These participants who were trained will be expected to facilitate similar training sessions.

Abibatu and Salieu who were the facilitators had themselves been thoroughly trained by the Fifty-Fifty group before embarking on the training. Similar trainings occurred in different parts of the country.