As the euphoria around the holding of the ECOWAS Summit in Sierra Leone gathers pace, doubts abound on the chairmanship of President Julius Maada Bio.
The sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) was formed in May, 1975 to maintain security and improve trade and commerce in West Africa.
Owing to various security threats especially wars, coups and counter-coups, the bloc, over the years, became more concerned about the maintenance of peace and stability in member states.
On 19th July, this year, the ECOWAS summit, For the first time will be held in Sierra Leone as President Bio chairs the West African body.
The meeting comes at a time of worsening economic crisis that has gripped the nation for years. The people of Sierra Leone, expect government to come up with practical solutions to control inflation, rectify the weak exchange rate between the Leones and the US dollar, correct the unfavourable terms of trade and normalise the payment deficits and improve the people’s livelihoods.
While several political analysts and commentators see hosting of the ECOWAS summit as a carving a cult of personality, political historians see it as a way of deepening Sierra Leone’s economic crisis.
The ECOWAS summit is being compared to the OAU/AU conference that was held in 1980 by President Siaka Stevens who many said sowed the seeds of economic meltdown that germinated in the 1980’s under President Joseph Saidu Momoh.
President Stevens was also Chairman of OAU at the time he played host to the conference.
President Bio similarly holds the noble post since last year after taking over from his predecessor, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria. The post, by nature, is rotational, lasting only a year for every Presidents that holds the post.
President Bio however faces strong criticism back home that he is not qualified for such post as he battles with legitimacy crisis locally and internationally owing to the findings and recommendations of the Tripartite Committee.
The Tripartite Committee is a body set up to investigate alleged irregularities of the June 24, 2023 elections, and its findings and recommendations are now within public domain.
Eighty recommendations bordering on electoral reforms are set to be implemented before the five divergent which will be carried out in Sierra Leone by the international community. It is expected that those five recommendations would name who win the elections and call for a power transfer, a move which SLPP may not welcome since it is a thorn in the flesh.
Whatever it is, the summit will go as planned as West African heads of states prepare to jet in to grace the all-important occasion.
The Chinese government has reportedly offered 15 vehicles paraded on social media platforms for use by the visiting Heads of States.
But, the people of Sierra Leone, in particular critics and analysts are asking if President Julius Maada Bio will still continue to be Chairman of ECOWAS after the Summit.
This question is yet to be answered but investigation conducted by this press shows that Bio will host the Summit with a sunken heart as he is supposed to step down after the Summit.
Information reaching Nightwatch Press confirms that President Bio will hand over the baton to the Senegalese President, Bassiru Diomaye Faye, which the current source of worry for President Bio as he intends to cling on to the Chairmanship seat against all odds.
President Faye will attend the conference as he hopes to take over from Bio who is expected to be the immediate predecessor. At all cost, analysts say, President Bio is set to retain the ECOWAS chairmanship to enjoy some amount of legitimacy as he faces international isolation.
Several reports note that the President has been left out of several international meetings where geo-political issues are discussed.
President Bio, sources say, has been working for the post from behind the scenes to ensure he goes in for another second term. A popular argument holds that the President hopes to leverage on the ECOWAS chairmanship to continue his international missions to curry favour from world powers particularly the United States and the West.
Recent reports show how President Bio attends a summit of top business executives in Miami, United States where US President, Donald Trump was also Present.
President Bio was a bit comfortable when his name was announced as he hopes to enjoy a cordial relationship with the United States, a country that is central to geo-politics and global democracy.
Democracy, human rights and development have always been the pillars and core values of Europe and the United States’ foreign policy for centuries. A country is a friend and ally to the West and the United States if it supports these values, and Sierra Leone is currently considered a foe or adversary to the West in respect of its performance in the 2023 election.
The United States was the first country to take what many call decisive actions against the Sierra Leone government after local and international reports indicate that the election was massively rigged and even stolen by the incumbent party.
The United states, the world’s super world power, slammed a travel ban on government officials in Sierra Leone, cut off aid and threaten asset freeze for all government officials.
Other countries particularly the UK, Germany, Ireland, among others, also takes similar actions.
Sierra Leone government, for the past three years, has been deprived of the much-needed revenue to run the economy, a move that led to short cuts particularly allegedly harbouring a drug lord in Sierra Leone for which government has been placed under pressure.
Several European countries particularly Netherlands have persistently made a number of requests to the Sierra Leone government to extradite a convicted drug lord, Jos Leijdekkers also known as Bolle Jos.
Government has always denied the allegation of hosting the fugitive although the Dutch journalist who attempted to locate the drug fugitive was asked to leave the country after a brief detention, thus raising questions about Sierra Leone’s press freedom credentials.
Locally, the vast majority of SLPP supporters will be comforted with President Bio retaining the ECOWAS chairmanship.
Within the SLPP especially by the grassroot, Bio will be seen as a man of the moment if he retains the ECOWAS leadership as they hope to tighten their grip on power after the conference, and lay foundation for a third-term bid and most likely the one-party project which SLPP has been pursuing all this while.
The talk of a one-party project has, most times, featured prominently in their statements and declarations from the top ranks.
Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Jabbie-Bio, few days ago, declared before a group of jubilant SLPP supporters that their party would go for a third term without pointing at any successful achievements over the years.
The First Lady’s declaration is a re-echo of previous public pronouncements by erstwhile chairman, Alex Prince Harding who publicly declared that a one-party project is possible in Sierra Leone in light of the proportional representation or district block system in the June 24, 2023 election.
The SLPP chairman further stated that the decision to determine who should be the next President of Sierra Leone rested on the shoulders of President Bio himself, and not the people of Sierra Leone.
If President Bio remains as Chairman of ECOWAS after the Summit, another argument holds, the 2028 polls is a done deal.