30 May 2007
Tony Blair’s visit to Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone, comes five years after his last visit, and seven years after British troops were deployed to stabilise the West African state.
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Prime Minister:
Thank you very much. It is a very great pleasure to be with you in Sierra Leone and to say congratulations to all of you who have taken part in this demonstration, which has been wonderful. You are kind of frightening but reassuring at the same time, I would say. But you have done a wonderful job and I would like to, if I might, thank also those people from the United Kingdom who have played a part in training you, and just to say how important I think it is.
And Mr President, Madam President, who are with me here today, they will know better than me how important it is to have Armed Forces and a police that is part of a democratic society at the disposition of the democratic society. And everyone here in Sierra Leone knows how terrible things were a few years back and how important it was then as part of the change, not just to have the opportunity to elect the government, not just to make sure that there was peace and stability, but also that the forces of the state, the army and the police, were at the command of the democratic forces and control of the government. That is the important thing, that is what makes the difference.
And that is what really is the one thing that is absolutely indispensable. Of course there needs to be more aid and more development and help given from countries like mine, but in any situation where the Armed Forces and the police aren’t under the control of the people through the government, when they become above the people and the government, that is when things are dangerous, that is when society goes backwards. So what is important is to make sure that for all this training and the expertise and how well you are doing today is for a purpose, and the purpose is to be the limbs of the democracy, to make sure that the country works properly because it knows that order can be kept, and kept by people like yourselves.
And I can only imagine it must be difficult to have undergone all this training, and I know that there has been a lot of hard work that has gone in from my people back in the United Kingdom both from the Armed Forces, and the police, and through IMATT and through the United Nations for the help and support that has been given. But we can see today with this demonstration how important it is, so that people should know that never again are groups of gangsters or people who use terrorism or violence going to turn this country backwards in time.
So that is what it is all about and you play a very, very important part of that. And all of that training, I know, is quite a challenge. And one of the difficulties for both the police and the Armed Forces as you undergo this intense training, and part of the training is in very specific circumstances that may only ever arise once or twice, or a few times, maybe never arise, actually you hope in a sense they do never arise, but the training has got to be there so that if they do you are able to deal with it. Because at that point in time, either with a civil demonstration that attempts to disrupt the political process, or attacks on your Armed Forces, at that moment in time then the whole of the state and the country is in peril. And at that moment in time you are the people that defend the proper government and the country and the proper state.
And so it is a big responsibility, and all that training and all the discipline that goes into it, and all the hard work, it is for that purpose that when people threaten your democracy you have the ability, the strength, the determination and the courage to stand up and defend it.
So for me this is a very great honour and privilege to come along and witness this demonstration of expertise today. And I would like to say to all the people that have taken part in it, and to your Commanding Officers, how very proud you should be. This was a really excellent, wonderful demonstration of your capability and how far you have come on. And from me, from the United Kingdom, from all the people there who feel such a strong bond now with the people here in Sierra Leone, I would like to thank you, to thank you for your friendship, thank you for what you have done in this country, and know always in the future that you have a friend who will stand by you and support you and help you.
Thank you very much indeed.
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