The United States Senate has few days ago, accused the Government of President Julius Maada Bio of violating a resettlement agreement that ensured that the Government of Sierra Leone accepts deportees from the United States.
The agreement which involved the colossal amount of USD 1.6m requires the Government of Sierra Leone to host and rehabilitate deportees sent from the United States and not to send them to any other country where they would likely be mistreated.
The accusation was made at the Senate during an interview with the Ambassador to Sierra Leone-designate, Daniel Travis. If he is approved, Travis would replace former Ambassador, David Bryan Hunt, one of the facilitators of the October 2023, Agreement for National Unity (ANU).
Senator Jeanne Shaheen said “Sierra Leone government collected USD1.6m for resettling deportees with a commitment of not sending them to third countries where they would face torture and death.” The Senator however maintained that the United States was getting credible reports that these deportees were being sent to other countries an act that is in blatant violation of the terms of the agreement.
Signing and committing oneself to terms of an agreement without due implementation is a cavalier attitude towards funds generated by US tax-payers.
While responding to some critical questions, the Ambassador-designate assured his government’s commitment to the actualization of the implementation of the ANU agreement signed by President Julius Maada Bio, and such job would be top on his agenda. He also promised to update his authorities back home.
“I will report back to this house on whatever progress made in respect of the agreement,” Travis assured Senate.
The deportees are said to Sierra Leoneans who illegally entered the United States apparently to seek asylum and jobs, a crime which US authorities will not toy with especially under Donald Trump’s regime.
In his many campaign speeches, President Trump said promised that he would be “a jobs President” America had never produced and that he would make America great again.
President Trump fears that the vast majority of the illegal immigrants in the united mostly involve in drugs and sex crimes, thus creating problems for law enforcement agencies. He often pointed accusing fingers at Africans for involving in crimes of various sorts, and he has from the outset, set out to make the United States a crime-free society.
The only way to achieve such objective is to ensure that foreigners who illegally enter the country are deported to their own countries where they would gainfully contribute to the development of their economies. Trump insists that that although the United States is open and tolerant to all manner of people, they would not allow people to break into their society.
Past US Presidents however managed to put up with the situation, but Trump is a different one.
He vigorously pursued such policy in his first term and therefore no difference in his second term. With the mantra of “American First,” Trump is poised to remove all illegal immigrants from the United States to make his country “safe and great again.”
Other foreigners also overstay after their studies, programmes which normally call for just one or two years.
The deportees are often sent back to their countries of origin after thorough investigations and careful analysis of their records, and countries which have collected the said sum abide by the agreement while Sierra Leone renege on the terms.
Recent reports have shown that the Sierra Leonean deportees are sent back to other countries upon their arrival in Sierra Leone just to ensure that they siphon funds received for such activities. Those who have been closely following the situation confirm that Sierra Leoneans are high risk of deportation from the United States.
Diplomatic relations between the United States and Sierra Leone turned sour after the June 24, 2023 general elections owing to damaging reports by local and international reports by election observation bodies.
The reports state that the election was massively rigged by President Bio using state security forces to achieve his aim though he was warned by the United States not to announce the election results.
The worst came when President Bio who later surfaced at an American university accused the United States of interfering with the elections.
An aged, weak and docile US President, Joe Biden put up with such scathing allegations, thus putting the image of the United States at stake.
Biden’s quiet and humble approach to Sierra Leone’s post-election fiasco was seen by several political commentators and analysts as a big blunder on his part. Such a move emboldened the Bio regime to think that it was above situation and continue its atrocities against the people of Sierra Leone especially those in the North-West regions, strongholds of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC).
They believe that President Bio would not have ventured to rig the 2023 election had it been former President George Bush (Jr) who warned him against such act.
Biden continued with his quiet and humble approach not until President Trump took over US state command and embarked on tough measures.
President Bio has over the years, attracted global attention for signing agreements which he knows that he will never implement as evidenced by the Agreement for National Unity (ANU).
In October, 2023, President Bio signed and launched the ANU and made full commitment to set up the Tripartite Committee charged with the responsibility of investigating the election and proffering recommendations.
Bio, despite his commitment to the agreement, fails to implement it because it contains a resolution which permits the body to look deep down into alleged electoral irregularities.
His government has complained persistent lack of funds, prompting the United States to fund the election investigation committee with $1.5m. But, But, delays still persist even after the committee has submitted 80 recommendations for implementation to ensure that Sierra Leone’s future elections are free, fair and credible.
The recommendations, to date, are yet to be tabled before parliament for ratification and domestication.
However, those who have been closely following activities in parliament show that President Bio is in no mood to ratify the agreement owing to the knowledge that they would work against his party, SLPP.
Under Bio’s auspices, lawmakers of the two sides have locked horns over what many call an illegal constitutional amendment bill instead of ratifying the recommendations for easy implementation.
Such action has also caused many Sierra Leoneans raising questions about President Bio for often signing agreements which he will knows he will not implement.
President Bio is also known not only for discarding his own agreements but even agreements left behind by his predecessor.
In 2021, Bio cancelled a 25-year mining agreement between the past government and the Iron Ore miner in Northern Sierra Leone, SL Mining now Marampa Mines Limited (MML).
Argument around the cancellation of the MML agreement hinges on error and illegality.
The Bio regime criticised the mining agreement and sought to replace it with a clear and credible one, but his venture turned out to be a disaster. This time, it is clear that he would be compelled to honour what he has signed once Travis jets in.