{"id":53970,"date":"2013-03-13T06:40:36","date_gmt":"2013-03-13T06:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sierraexpressmedia.com\/?p=53970"},"modified":"2013-03-13T06:40:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-13T06:40:36","slug":"our-immigration-our-national-image","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/?p=53970","title":{"rendered":"Our immigration, our national image"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much was dedicated to the aspect of rebranding our country\u2019s image, during the current government\u2019s first term in office. \u00a0Such effort was as a result of the adverse effect that our civil war left with us particularly from the viewpoint of public relations. \u00a0And to an extent, much was achieved by government in repositioning our country\u2019s image outside of the perimeters of the Lungi International Airport. \u00a0The country is now moving with prosperity agenda. \u00a0Chapter nine of the said agenda talks about plans aimed at promoting a strategic foreign policy and international co-operation. \u00a0It even identified, as a core challenge responding to the threat of transnational organized crime (drugs trafficking, terrorism and money laundering) within the capacity limit of our security forces. \u00a0In this, the Internal Affairs Ministry is one of several ministries having crucial and important roles to play in the successful implementation of such an encouraging plan.\u00a0 (Photo: Lamin George Brima)<\/i><\/p>\n

Key achievements<\/span>:<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

Within this ministry are a number of departments and agencies like; Immigration, Police, Prison, Fire Force and National Registration Secretariat. \u00a0In the first five years of governance, the present administration scored a number of achievements in this sector. \u00a0<\/b>One of such had to do with the i<\/b>mplementation of a modernization and structuring initiative of the National Registration Secretariat. \u00a0This was aimed at enhancing national security by capturing biometric data used in the production of the National Identity cards. \u00a0\u00a0At the level of the immigration department, restructuring was also done to meet the challenges of modern management trends and global standards for the issuance of readable passports that guarantees maximum security of our passport. \u00a0There also was an extension of the immigration services to the interior people. This was done by the setting up regional offices for better service delivery and access to facilities.<\/p>\n

Political control<\/span>: <\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

These are commendable achievements given what was achieved by government in the first five years in several other state institutions. \u00a0What we witnessed was a clear manifestation of the political will to get things moving. \u00a0Good successes with strong zest on the part of government, but with numerous challenges as well. \u00a0For instance, if those at the lower cadre who take action on matters of national interest are behaving in an unwarranted manner, it becomes a serious challenge to the process of change and development. \u00a0Let us take the immigration department as a case study. \u00a0I had a lengthy discussion with Hon Sheka Tarawallie, the Deputy Internal Affairs Minister on the 11th<\/sup> of March on issues having to do with happenings in Beijing, from the viewpoint of our national passport. \u00a0From the look of things, there should be the urgent need for political control over the immigration department, especially with the issuance of our passport. \u00a0\u00a0Our national passport should be carried by Sierra Leoneans, all things being equal. \u00a0But alas! When we reflect on how some kaki boys in the NPRC era made mockery of our national pride and respectability in the issuance of our passport, it then would tell how they had managed the state of affairs at the time. \u00a0For them, it was a way of making fortunes, at the expense of our image and uprightness.\u00a0 It was during their era that our passport started roaming the globe, falling in the wrong hands for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

So, it is encouraging to learn, that plans are underway to ensure political control over the issuance of our passport. \u00a0This is a commendable venture on the part of government. \u00a0Latest plans are also there to move the Internal Affairs Ministry to the current Foreign Affairs building, when the later would have moved up Tower Hill. \u00a0This will then see the Immigration Department also coming over to the same building, with Internal Affairs, thus ensuring better supervision and strong political control to be exerted by the ministry. \u00a0Having political control over the issuance of our passport will go a long way in ensuring control over who gains access to it. This is more so when we still continue to see a trend in which non Sierra Leoneans roaming with our passport around the globe. When one is arrested in another country for committing a serious crime; it is Sierra Leone\u2019s image that comes under the spotlight. So it is also even good when the Deputy Minister spoke of plans for the issuance of biometric passports. This is encouraging and I would also want to encourage the ministry to work hard in this direction for the good of Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

\u201cBo a small village in east Sierra Leone<\/span>\u201d:<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n

The level at which non Sierra Leoneans are carrying our passport should be a concern to us all. Here is an example; a foreign (African) was arrested in China a week ago with some illegal substance. \u00a0He was taken to a detention centre. \u00a0He told law enforcement officers, that he was a Sierra Leonean with the name Lamin George Brima. \u00a0He informed them of having a Sierra Leonean passport but at the time of his arrest, was not having it. \u00a0The Embassy was informed by the Public Security Bureau of China. \u00a0We requested for an interview with the detainee.\u00a0 During the interview on the 11th<\/sup> March, he was asked to among other things; show from which part of Sierra Leone he comes from; show his address in his hometown; to speak one of Sierra Leone\u2019s local languages; to provide a telephone contact for any of his relatives in Sierra Leone; and to at least read out his passport number (since he said, he was not with it upon his arrest).<\/p>\n

This is what he said in Krio (broken Krio!):<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a Sierra Leonean, from Bo. \u00a0Bo is a small village in east of Sierra Leone. \u00a0We do not have house addresses in Bo since it is a village. \u00a0We don\u2019t have village telephones there and I can\u2019t recall the number of any of my relatives in the county. \u00a0I last visited Bo village in February 2012. The only language we speak in Bo village is the one I speak now (broken Krio). \u00a0I have a Sierra Leone passport but I was not with it when arrested and I can\u2019t recall my passport number\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Asked again whether he was indeed from \u2018Bo village in east Sierra Leone,<\/span><\/i> he became furious, thus shouting literally on roof tops but for the intervention of police officers under whose watch he was. \u00a0Following our investigations, we came to know, he was not a Sierra Leonean but carrying a Sierra Leonean passport. \u00a0Did I say he was arrested with illegal substance? \u00a0Yes, indeed, according to police records. \u00a0He is not the only one carrying our national passport here. \u00a0Further investigations indicate a good number of Africans do carry our passport. \u00a0This is alarming. \u00a0When arrests are made, especially for those with serious crime, like possessing illegal substance, it is the image of our country that is at stake, because they will not state their countries of birth.\u00a0 How they get access to this valuable document is what should be investigated. \u00a0Immigration should investigate this. \u00a0Sierra Leone is for Sierra Leoneans and our passports should be controlled, or our image will be destroyed. \u00a0The man from \u201cBo village in the east\u201d<\/span> cannot tell where our international airport is. Interesting!<\/p>\n

Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much was dedicated to the aspect of rebranding our country\u2019s image, during the current government\u2019s first term in office. \u00a0Such effort was as a result […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":53971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[671],"tags":[4765,2112,4579,15120],"class_list":["post-53970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-citizenship","tag-immigration","tag-national-image","tag-passport-fraud"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sierraexpressmedia.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}