Bangla isn't second official language of Sierra Leone: Rumor Scanner

Fact-checking body Rumor Scanner has called incorrect the claim that Bangla is the second official, official or state language of the West African nation Sierra Leone.

"The claim that Banglad is the second official, official or state language of West African nation Sierra Leone is not correct as the language was never considered as a second state language in Sierra Leone," it said in a report published on its website on Thursday (20 February).

The fact-checking watchdog said the cultural heritage of Sierra Leone which covers an area of about 71,740 square kilometres, is quite diverse.

The country, which gained independence from the British in 1961, is currently home to about 18 ethnic groups.

A civil war began in the country in 1991. When West African countries failed to resolve the problems of Sierra Leone, the United Nations took over the responsibility of establishing peace in the country in 1999.

Several other countries, including Bangladesh, joined the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone. In 2002, the country's then President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah ended the civil war. Strong relations were established between Bangladesh and Sierra Leone based on the UN peacekeeping mission.

Since 2002, almost every February, information has come to light involving the Bangla language and Sierra Leone. It is claimed that Bangla is the second official language or one of the official languages or official language of Sierra Leone.

This claim is so strong that the Rumor Scanner team has seen this claim being circulated in mainstream media, various media websites, school textbooks, and even in the Bangladesh Civil Service or BCS question papers.

In the ninth chapter (page 133) on 'United Nations and Bangladesh' of the ninth-tenth grade 'Bangladesh and World Introduction' textbook, Bangla is mentioned as the second official language of Sierra Leone.
 
Fact Check

A long investigation by the Rumor Scanner team revealed that Bangla is not the second official, official or state language of Sierra Leone; rather, English is the only official language of the country. Several other languages, including Krio, Limba, Mende, and Teme, are spoken in Sierra Leone, of which Krio is the most common language.

Considering the prevalence of the discussed claim, the Rumor Scanner team has worked on the issue for a long time. More than fifty domestic and foreign research reports have been analysed.

An attempt has been made to find the source of this claim in the media. The team spoke to several individuals and organizations in Bangladesh and Sierra Leone on this issue. Our investigation began by finding the original source of the claim.

How did the claim in question originate?

While searching for the source of this claim, the team found a report published on the website of the Bangla version of the American media outlet 'Voice of America' on December 27, 2002.

The report stated, "The government of Sierra Leone has declared Bangla as an official language along with the other official languages of the country. On December 12, the country's President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah announced this decision while inaugurating a 54-kilometer-long reconstructed road. This road was reconstructed by the Engineers Corps of the Bangladesh Army with the assistance of the United Nations."

Almost the same information is available in a report in the English newspaper The Telegraph, based in Kolkata, India.

The report, published on December 29, 2002, quoted the news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP), as saying, "Sierra Leone has declared Bangla as an official language in recognition of the contribution of Bangladeshi peacekeepers to the country. Sierra Leone President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah made the announcement while inaugurating a 54-kilometer-long road built by Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the West African country."

The same information was published by the Daily Times, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, on December 29, 2002, as quoted by AFP.

Based on the above date, the Rumor Scanner team found news stories in domestic newspapers in 2002 from the Sangram Notebook website, an online archive of old Bangladeshi newspapers.

Four Bangladeshi newspapers, Ittefaq, Prothom Alo, The Daily Star and Janakantho, published reports on this on December 28 of that year.

The reports said, "The government of Sierra Leone has recognized Bangla as an official language like the other official languages of the country."

The following year (2003), on 3 January, the English daily The Daily Star, citing national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), reported a statement by the then Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan.

His statement went like this, "Bangladesh soldiers deployed in the UN peacekeeping mission have built a new road connecting three provinces of Sierra Leone. In addition, the newly elected government of Sierra Leone has included Bangla as an official language of the country."

However, Rumor Scanner has also seen a slightly modified version of this claim. According to a report published on the geography educational website World Atlas about the language of Sierra Leone, Sierra Leone has declared Bangla as its official language.

This decision was taken in recognition of the contribution of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in the country's civil war. Bangladeshi peacekeepers served as one of the largest contingents under the UN mission in the ongoing civil war (in Sierra Leone) from 1991 to 2002 and played a key role in the conflict against the rebels.

However, the residents of Sierra Leone do not use this language, as it is only an honorary or honorable status for the Bangla language.

Similar information has also been found in an article on the website of the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, an organization for trade and commerce of Commonwealth countries.

This article about Sierra Leone states that in December of that year, Bangla was declared an 'honorary official language' of Sierra Leone due to the efforts and contributions of Bangladeshi UN peacekeepers in the 2002 civil war.

During a search, the rumor scanner found a statement made by the Sierra Leonean Ambassador to South Korea on the occasion of International Mother Language Day, February 21, 2023, on the official website of the Sierra Leonean Embassy in South Korea. Towards the end of the statement, Ambassador Kaths Zibao Matai said that the former President of Sierra Leone, the late Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, had declared Bangla as an honorary language of Sierra Leone in 2002.

That is, in 2002, in recognition of the contributions of Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Sierra Leone, the then President of the country, Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, made a declaration focusing on the Bangla language. There are differences of opinion among various sources regarding this declaration. According to some sources, President Kabbah has declared Bangla as the official language of Sierra Leone. On the other hand, some sources claim that Bangla was declared an honorary language of Sierra Leone.