he
Executive Secretary of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's
interim secretariat has expressed concern that the TRC has not
received any of the $10 million it will need to operate.
"Unfortunately, to date there have been no firm pledges or
commitments made from the international community to provide the
funds for the operation of the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission," Jasmine Jusu-Sheriff told Radio France
International. "It is rather worrying, but we remain
optimistic that the international community will come up with the
funds before the deadline which is really the first of June when
the commissioners should start work. The public activities of the
commission, we are hoping and planning, will commence on or about
the first of September."
Sierra Leone's former RUF rebels are distributing seed rice to farmers in their former strongholds in northern and eastern Sierra Leone, BBC correspondent Lansana Fofana reported on Tuesday. The RUF's interim leader, Issa Sesay (pictured right), told Fofana that the group's interest in agriculture was part of their concept of "revolution" during Sierra Leone's ten-year civil war. "Our revolution believes in agriculture," Sesay said. "We know that agriculture is very important for the people. And we believe that if we [have the strength], we have the support, in due course we will be capable of feeding our own nation." Sesay claimed that the RUF had 8,000 bushels of seed rice ready for distribution to farming communities in the north and the east. "Whether this is just a campaign strategy is not immediately clear, with elections barely a month away," Fofana commented. The BBC correspondent quoted the headman of Makari village, Bai Kanu, as saying that even when his area was cut off by war, the RUF had supplied local farmers with seed rice and farm tools.
(From Sierra Leone Web)