This transcript is produced from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight. It has been checked against the programme as broadcast, however Newsnight can accept no responsibility for any factual inaccuracies. We will be happy to correct serious errors.
A hero's return to Sierra Leone 8/2/02
MILLIGAN:
The party has begun. Peter Penfold,
the former disgraced British High
Commissioner in Sierra Leone, now a
Paramount Chief, is being welcomed
back and honoured. Here he's a hero.
But there's no such honour in Britain.
He was blamed for an illegal arms
deal and was told to keep his mouth
shut. Now, for the first time, he has
decided to tell his story of the
arms-to-Africa affair. Peter Penfold
is a model diplomat, clocking up
nearly 40 years with the Foreign Office.
But he won't be working here any more.
His career is over and he's now free to
talk.
PETER PENFOLD:
(Former British High Commissioner, Sierra Leone):
It's a very unusual feeling. 1963 is when
I joined the Foreign Office and went
into this building here. Those were the
days when you used to have coal fires.
You didn't have computers. We didn't
even have photocopiers and fax
machines.
MILLIGAN:
He had hoped to look back on his long
career with pride, but that dream
turned to dust when the Sandline
scandal broke.
PETER PENFOLD:
I was hopeful that after Sierra Leone
there would be just one last posting to
end what had been a very rewarding
and successful career. Sadly that
didn't happen.
MILLIGAN:
Now he's heading back to Sierra Leone.
He didn't want a fuss when he landed
back on African soil. But his face is
instantly recognised. To these people,
he is the man who helped rid them
of the rebel junta, restore their
democratically elected president to
power and bring peace back to this
war-torn country. It is a short helicopter
flight to the capital, Freetown. A priest
sitting near Peter Penfold welcomes
him back immediately, asking him to
preach at his church. Across his face
and chin are scars from a machete
attack, a reminder of the country's
violent past. It's the former High
Commissioner's first private trip to
Sierra Leone. He's clearly delighted
to be back.
PENFOLD:
It just feels tremendously good. I
feel really good inside. Part of me
never left Sierra Leone after all
that time, so I'm just reconnecting
with what was left behind, and it is
good to come back at this time, when
I think there's more optimism around.
MILLIGAN:
When the violence erupted across the
country, Peter Penfold helped the
evacuation of hundreds of ex-patriots
from Freetown. It was a dangerous time.
Even the Prime Minister, Tony Blair,
praised the bravery of our man in
Sierra Leone.
TONY BLAIR:
Mr Penfold did a superb job in dealing
with the consequences of the military
coup. He did a superb job in working
closely with the democratically
elected regime of President Kabbah.
MILLIGAN:
It's a busy morning in Freetown. The
signs are that Peter Penfold has returned
to a country enjoying calm - at least for
the moment. Peace has been declared
and weapons are being handed in. Life
here in Freetown in Sierra Leone is
fairly normal. People are going to work,
children are going to school, the market
is up and running. But when I came
here three-and-a-half years ago, that
wasn't the case. The RUF were on the
streets, wielding their machetes,
hacking people to death. The
Revolutionary United Front attacked
Freetown in 1997, forcing President
Kabbah to flee to Conakry, the capital
of the neighbouring country, Guinea.
Peter Penfold was by his side. While
the country was plunged into the
most ferocious fighting, the two men
worked closely together. The British
were committed to help restore the
exiled president. Peter Penfold was
privy to President's Kabbah's decision
to sign a deal with the British firm
Sandline to supply arms and mercenaries.
Peter Penfold, speaking publicly for the
first time about those days in exile,
remembers how the president arranged
a meeting between himself and
Sandline's Colonel Tim Spicer in
London, to discuss the contract.
PENFOLD:
That meeting was when they actually
handed me over a document - I think
it was called Operation Python, or
something - which spelled out the
package of assistance Sandline were
proposing to give to the government
of Sierra Leone, to President
Kabbah. I went into the Foreign
Office the day afterwards and I
handed over that document to the
department, so that they then had the
full information.
MILLIGAN:
But a UN arms embargo was in place,
and interpreted into British law, it
made it illegal to arm any side of the
conflict, not just the rebels. But
Peter Penfold says he was unaware
of this.
PENFOLD:
It was a very clear view of President
Kabbah and myself, and certainly the
view that had been passed on to me
from everybody, that the sanctions
order applied to the provision of arms
for the rebels, and not for the provision
of arms to the legitimate government
of Sierra Leone, which was outside of
Sierra Leone, in Conakry.
MILLIGAN:
With the rebels driven out, President
Kabbah and Peter Penfold returned
to Freetown. For the High
Commissioner, it was a triumph -
democratic government had been
restored, and Britain was credited
with a decisive role. Peter Penfold
was then recalled to London, he
thought to discuss the future of
Sierra Leone.
PENFOLD:
I received a phone call or a message
- I can't remember how it happened
- from somebody in our personnel
department who informed me that I
should not go into the African
Department, I should not have any
contact with anybody in the department,
but I was required to be interviewed by
Customs and Excise, which took place
in some sort of basement by the Tower
of London. Something like you would
see in police melodramas, being
interviewed down in the cells.
MILLIGAN:
At Westminster, questions were being
asked about the role of the High
Commissioner in the arms deal. Peter
Penfold was facing a seven-year jail
sentence. The crux of it was whether
the Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook,
knew about the illegal arms deal, or
had officials kept him in the dark?
ROBIN COOK:
If ministers are found to have been
at error, if they have knowingly misled
the House of Commons, or if they have
adopted the wrong policy, then they
must face the consequences.
MILLIGAN:
The arms-to-Africa affair was born. The
inquiry Robin Cook set up cleared
ministers of any blame, but Peter
Penfold was officially reprimanded.
However, he argues that he was acting
with the full knowledge of the Foreign
Office. He presented various documents
to back up his claim at the Customs and
Excise interview.
PENFOLD:
They also had a copy of my reports that I
sent, dated 2nd February, clearly showing
that arms and equipment were part of
this agreement. I also attached a number
of documents which had issued from
the Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
which clearly showed that, from reading
these documents, the understanding of the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office was
that the sanctions did not apply to
President Kabbah.
MILLIGAN:
The Customs investigations was dropped
and a further two inquiries were never
able to establish whether or not
ministers had been aware of the arms
deal between Sandline and President
Kabbah.
PENFOLD:
As far as I was concerned, generally
when it came to briefing ministers, that
would be the responsibility of the
department anyway, acting on my
reports.
REPORTER:
Would you have expected them to
have briefed the ministers after they
had received your reports?
PENFOLD:
Oh, I'm sure they did, yes.
REPORTER:
He doesn't understand why Robin
Cook never asked him for his
account.
PENFOLD:
I found it strange that something
hits the headlines in Britain, in
which members of the Foreign
Office or an ambassador or High
Commissioner are mentioned... I
would have felt the first thing to
do would be to find out what
happened, ask him what happened.
MILLIGAN:
Zainab Bangura, the presidential
candidate in the forthcoming
elections, joining in the "welcome
home" celebrations for Peter Penfold.
She believed that Robin Cook
panicked and looked for someone to
blame when the Sandline affair came
to light.
ZAINAB BANGURA:
(Campaign for Good Governance Presidential Candidate):
If he had been a smart politician
like Tony Blair he'd have said,
"What is the problem here? We
support this country, these people,
and they are in the right and they
won so what is the problem?" I
think if that had been done earlier
on, it could have saved all this
embarrassment. I think he did it
basically to save himself from all
the embarrassment.
MILLIGAN:
The treatment he received in London
couldn't have contrasted more with
the support he had in Sierra Leone.
After the public inquiry, Peter
Penfold was allowed to return as
High Commissioner. On arrival, he
was crowned a Paramount Chief and
carried through the streets by
jubilant crowds.
PENFOLD:
I have never had any training in
being carried in a hammock! I
wasn't sure if I put my legs inside or
outside, and so on. Here was a
white man, being carried through
the streets of this black African
capital, 30 years after their
independence, with so many
Union Jacks being flown. There
were probably more Union Jacks
than when Queen Victoria was there.
It was a very unusual situation. I
found it very moving.
MILLIGAN:
We asked the current High
Commissioner, Alan Jones, for an
interview. "If it has the words
'Penfold' or 'Sandline' in it," he said,
"the answer is no." As far as Alan
Jones was concerned, his
predecessor was history. He had
gone too far. That view became all
too obvious when Peter Penfold had
a career review at the Foreign
Office.
PENFOLD:
It was probably the worst report
that I ever had in my 38 years in
the diplomatic service.
REPORTER:
What did it say?
PENFOLD:
It generally felt that although I was
praised for certain merits, I had
perhaps got far too close to the
government of Sierra Leone, that I
wasn't actually representing the
interests of the British Government
and the British people.
MILLIGAN:
On his latest visit, it's just like old
times. A few months before the May
elections, President Kabbah has
arranged a whirlwind tour of the
most devastated parts of the
country, and Peter Penfold has been
invited along. The first stop is Kono,
once a thriving town, now reduced
to dust and ruin by the rebels. For
the former High Commissioner, it
is the first time he has been to these
areas.
PENFOLD:
It is a great pleasure for me to be here.
It is my first visit to Kono. It is a
big pleasure - something I have
always wanted to do for a long time.
MILLIGAN:
A house once stood here. The rebels
were searching for diamonds and
destroyed everything in their way.
The people have been left maimed
and traumatised. The Pakistani
peacekeepers fulfil the desperate
need for security. But the President
talks of peace and reconciliation.
Diamonds are not the future -
agriculture is, he tells the people. The
election in May is not far from his
mind. Armed police and UN soldiers
keep a careful watch on the crowd.
Security is tight. Many of these
people are former rebels and have
only just handed in their weapons.
Still, Peter Penfold says he is
optimistic that the country can
recover from the atrocities, but
warns Britain must keep up the
momentum.
PENFOLD:
The Prime Minister does have a
commitment to Africa, like so many
other people have had a commitment
to Africa. It is very difficult to know
exactly what can be done. Ultimately,
changes have to take place from
within. But, in order, I think, to ensure
that conflicts don't continue breaking
out, it is important to strengthen the
democratic institutions and strengthen
the democracy in Africa. We had a
big hand in helping to nurture that
here in Sierra Leone. That's why I
think we have a continued obligation
to help them do that.
MILLIGAN:
Back in Freetown, the former High
Commission is welcomed with a song
at a school for the blind. After nearly
40 years, his career with the Foreign
Office is over. He applied for 17 jobs,
but didn't get any of them. He was
assured it had nothing to do with the
Sandline affair, but he found that
difficult to believe.
BANGURA:
In the end, it was the man on the
ground who took the blame and paid
the price, which is very unfortunate,
because if he had to pay such a price
and now Britain is taking the credit
for bringing peace to Sierra Leone -
which he started, he started the process
- and now the British Government is
enjoying the support for it. So it is
very unfortunate.
SONG:
No more guns
No more killing...
MILLIGAN:
Peter Penfold wrote and recorded this
song to raise money to support the
students at this school.
SONG:
No more pain
No more hiding in the rain
Peace...
MILLIGAN:
Although his judgement on how he
handled the arms affair could still
be questioned, what cannot be
doubted is his enduring commitment
to the people of Sierra Leone. The
Prime Minister's is yet to be tested.