A former SLPP youth leader in the Southern region, Ahmed Ken-Kamara yesterday disclosed at the press conference at the Ministry of Information and Communication that he received instructions from former SLPP Secretary General, Jacob Jusu Saffa aka JJ Blood to stir up and take part in political violence after the 2007 elections.
According to him, when he was in active politics, politicians used to contract him to mobilize his colleagues from ghettos and all other places within the south-eastern regions and misinforming people about what they know and do not know as they relate to political happenings in the country.
He explained that prior to the visit of Mr. Maada Bio to Bo last year, he was instructed to dispatch his men from Bo to go and stop Musa Tarawally who he was told, was on his way to disrupt an election that was being held at Fairoh. He said they arrived at Gendema at about 03:00 am and that at day break they went to the police station where they obtained permission from LUC Kaikai to move around the town.
Ken-Kamara also disclosed that even though he was a member of the SLPP “I was a contractor for the recruitment of young men for the purpose of provoking and taking part in violence,” he said. “I have since realized since I left the SLPP that I was being used wrongly against the interest of the country,” he said.
He said the SLPP under the leadership of Solomon Berewa is not the same under the leadership of Maada Bio as “today’s SLPP is full of violent-minded people.”
Ken-Kamara alleged that there are journalists, police officers and military officers who are being used as contractors by the SLPP to perpetrate violence.
Ken-Kamara said he is well known in party circles as “a contractor and an instigator and a perpetrator of political violence in my area”. He said he had always succeeded in galvanizing support for his activities and disclosed that once violence has been instigated, “my boys have the knowledge and ability to disappear from the scene unnoticed.” He disclosed further that he was part of the Tongo Field violence.
“But I regret all of these now. I have come to realize fully that what I and my guys were engaged in were not in the interest of the nation,” he remarked, adding that he has been able to demonstrate his “hands off violence” when he recently came out in Bo City to condemn the burning of houses during the 9th September 2011 incident in Bo.
“I am now a violence-free man and I am ready to take this message of non-violence to my people in the south and east of the country,” Ken-Kamara stated.
When contacted for his reaction that he had been ordering Ken Kamara and his colleagues to perpetrate violence Jacob Jusu Saffa said “they are big fools police should arrest them because they have been perpetrating violence.” He alleged that “they are doing this because they have collected monies from Musa Tarawally to try to clean his image by discrediting the Shears Moses report, but not even whitex (cleaning bleach) will be able to clean his image, that kind of dirt cannot be washed by any means.” Pressed further Saffa said “I do not have time for their rubbish, I am up country coordinating voter registration.”
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