The Santigie Kargbo led faction of the Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI) has accused the Joseph Allieu Kamara faction of vandalism and illegal possession of the SLUDI headquarters situated at Approved School in the eastern part of Freetown.
The Union has remained divided into factions since the conduct of elections in 2024 by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone.The Santigie Kargbo led executive had refused to hand over the office to Joseph Allieu Kamara on the grounds that the elections which brought him to power was not conducted in accordance with Disability Act.
“Our executive refused to do any handing over ceremony because the state conducted an election for the Union contrary to our constitution and without our involvement. We have repeatedly stated that we discountenance the said election,” said the Santigie led faction.
The Santigie led faction complained that, on March 1st, 2025, Joseph Allieu, together with some members of the Sierra Leone police, vandalised and took possession of their National Headquarters at Approved School in Freetown Sierra Leone.
They claimed that in an audio circulated on social media, Joseph Allieu Kamara had stated that, he took the police along to ensure that anyone that should have attempted to withstand his action is properly dealt with by the police.
“For the police to accompany an illegal body to take over our headquarters shows the determination of the state to silence our voices from standing against violations of our colleagues rights and to harm any person with disability that would withstand them,” said Santigie Kargbo.
He said the few people who were in the office fled for their lives, as the Sierra Leone Police is known for alleged arbitrary arrest and detention of persons with disabilities.
Francis Ndanema, a strong disability advocate and a strong member of the Union expressed shock, stating that such actions can only be supported by a court order. He charged that the operation is completely illegal and described the crackdown on independent disability activists as “a looming disaster”.
“We are calling on our loyal members to remain quiet and never cooperate with Joseph, as he was only installed by the state to silence us from pointing out the flaws in fulfilling the Persons with Disability Act of 2011,” they called.
When contacted on phone, Joseph Allieu told Concord Times that he took over the office after he received calls that the entity was being misused by some squatters, who were allegedly using it as brothel.
He acknowledged the division in the union, which he said emanated from the elections and that he had done all he could to bring everybody onboard, but to no avail.
“I know some people were aggrieved with the outcome of the elections. I have tried to get them onboard but to no avail,” he said.
He said the office space at Approved School provided to them by the Ministry of Social Welfare and that the police at Approved School notified him about the ills going on at the premises and threatened that they would ask the ministry to retrieve the space from them, should nobody cares for it.
Meanwhile, members of the Santigie Kargbo led faction have dismissed Joseph Allieu’s response as a made up story, charging that they never recognized his status as president of the Union because his election was fraudulent.
