…Dennis Sandy’s Rape Allegations
(Lead story)
PRESSURE MOUNTS ON PRESIDENT BIO
… Dennis Sandy’s Rape Allegations
By Kamalo
The First Lady of Sierra Leone, Mrs. Fatima Bio, has carved a niche for his husband’s SLPP Paopa government in the area of sexual abuse and violence against girls and women through initiatives that are worthy of note internally and externally.
If not for anything, the First Lady should be commended for initiating the “Hands Off Our Girls” campaign that is believed to have saved many girls from sexual abuse and violence. Launched in December 2018, the campaign further hatched the successful amendment to the Sexual Offences Act in September 2019, enshrining life imprisonment and other severe penalties for those found culpable.
She didn’t even limit her strides to protect women domestically, but Fatima Maada Bio explored avenues internationally, thus leading the campaign for the United Nations General Assembly to pass that resolution which, among other things, now singles out the 18th November of every year as a day to put on the radar sexual abuse and other offences against children.
President Bio’s government also did not just declare a State of Emergency on rape and sexual violence in the country, but under his auspices, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution, making the smooth way for survivors of sexual violence to access justice. Reports suggest, therefore, that in September 2024, the passage of this Resolution ensured some 1.3 billion survivors worldwide to gain access to justice.
However, amid such giant strides by First Lady Fatima Bio and her husband’s government, it beats one’s imagination that selectivism and favouritism could mar the notable efforts of the First Lady and her husband’s government in that authorities close to them are seemingly going against the policy and principles of the campaign against sexual exploitation of women in the country, and no action taken against them.
First, a top local authority alleged to be the president’s uncle was accused of raping a girl in her early teens in Bonthe District, but though it occured at the time when the government was at the height of putting laws together against the national menace, what came out of it remains a mystery.
It is rather, alarming, worrying and heart-wrenching that despite the government’s robust moves and notable progress, reports of rape and other acts related to sexual offences are still rife in some parts of the country. But more serious is when a minister under Bio’s government stands accused of sexual exploitation, and concerned authorities are keeping tight lips on the matter.
The Minister of Works, Dennis Moinina Sandy’s stepdaughter, Amira Koroma alleges in a video that has gone viral on social media that he did not only seduce her on the day she clocked 18 years of age but attempted to rape her. According to her, she made up her mind to let the cat out of the bag because Sandy has extended the attempt of such immoral act to her sister.
While the allegation remains yet to be proven, very little or no attention has been given to the issue by superior authorities even as their government prides itself as champion in the fight against sexual violence. The inaction by the authorities is much that legal minds and human rights activists have started to speak out, expressing fears if progress so far made would not be jeopardized for sake of Minister Sandy.
Meanwhile, a firebrand female lawyer and right activist, Basita Michael queries, “Is the government willing to risk its hard-won reputation?”
“It is imperative that the government recognises the gravity of this situation. Sierra Leone cannot afford to retain in its cabinet an individual who stands accused of such serious misconduct, especially after the government has positioned itself as a global leader in the fight against sexual violence,” she noted.
Basita says “failure to launch an investigation into the allegations against Denis Moinina Sandy will not only damage the government’s reputation domestically but will also severely undermine its international standing, adding that shielding Sandy from scrutiny is utterly incompatible with the global image Sierra Leone has worked so hard to cultivate as a champion against sexual violence.”
“This inaction is also unfair to the well-meaning Sierra Leoneans at the United Nations who are tirelessly working to ensure that our small nation continues to make a positive impact on the global stage. To allow their efforts to be overshadowed by the government’s decision to protect a minister accused of such heinous acts would be a grave injustice. The concern extends beyond merely protecting the individual in question; it also empowers him to potentially continue acts of abuse and intimidation from a position of authority,” she maintains.
Quoting President Bio as saying in a passionate interview with RISE in August 2024, that his ambition is to “build a global alliance with other nations, multilateral institutions, international partners, and stakeholders to develop and agree on an International Treaty to guarantee access to justice for survivors of sexual violence,” Basita Michael queries: “Who will ensure that our girls and women within Sierra Leone’s borders are afforded the same access to justice that the President seeks to provide on the global stage?
She surmises that “While we take pride in our President’s achievements on the international stage, we long for the day when our own citizens at home are given even a fraction of that justice. It is time for the government to act decisively, honouring its commitments to the people of Sierra Leone and maintaining the standards it has set for itself on the global platform.”