It is very difficult for one to sit as the state’s second-in-command, and come out clean. Chief Samuel Sam Sumana has broken away from the sad tradition. For eight successful years, he loyally served Sierra Leone as Vice President with unblemished record.
Chief Sam is not in the mould of the appointed former Vice President, Victor Backarie Foh who was arraigned for corruption when he allegedly siphoned off Hajj funds. He was freed by a high court in Freetown.
Consultations are underway within the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) as to who should be voted in as the party’s flag bearer and leader for next year’s elections. Out of the countless flag-bearer aspirants in the party, Chhief Sam Sumana and Dr Samura Kamara feature prominently in the discussions.
Most APCers say one of the two will emerge flag-bearer, but Chief Sam remains the most favourite as he has no case to answer in the courts. Unlike Sam, Kamara battles it out with corruption cases in the high court presided over by Justice Adrian Fisher. Either the allegations are watertight or not, he will have to spend time in the court before his innocence is proved. Kamara’s attendance to a convention could be halted if the courts calls his case.
The law comes first, and supersedes everything. One who has a case must go to the courts when ordered to do so.
But, Chief Sam is free from all those worries. To large South-Easterners are safe with aunder Chief Sam’s Presidency. Sam Sumana is a man who is widely seen as a unifier who will unify the country when SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) shall have left the stage.
Sons and daughters in the South-East fear APC (All People’s Congress)’s reprisals when their government goes out of power. President Julius Maada Bio and his ministers have done the worst ever seen in a democratic dispensation.
It is here in democratic Sierra Leone that citizens and former senior government officials are illegally and indiscriminately arrested and detained indefinitely. Most of those arrest and trials, the police and the courts observed no rule of law standard.
It is here in democratic Sierra Leone that government has massacred hundreds of its citizens with impunity. No one was held responsible for the killings. It is here in democratic Sierra Leone that states of emergencies have been proclaimed for a mere criminal offence: sexual violence.
It is here in democratic Sierra Leone that the worst forms of human rights abuses have taken place without remorse. It is also here in democratic Sierra Leone that close to a thousand civil and public servants are laid off without committing a crime and no investigation followed afterwards.
All these human rights abuses occurred under President’s Bio’s watchful eye. Now, the people in the South-East fear bloody reprisal from APC. But, they are more fearful and frightened if a pure North-Westerner took over from President next year.
Many Sierra Leoneans see Sam Sumana as a man with the heart filled with the milk of human kindness. He remained cool and unruffled in the face of deep provocation. He demonstrated such quality in 2015 after he was arbitrarily removed by his former boss, Ernest Bai Koroma.
The highest law, the Constitution of Sierra Leone, 1991 does not confer any power on a sitting President to remove a Vice President as and when he likes. rocedures are prescribed for that. The procedure applicable to the removal of the President from office laid down in sections 50 and 51 of the Constitution are the same to be used in the removal of a Vice President. As a man of peace, he staged no violence when he was unlawfully removed, but decided to seek solace in the courts. Chief Sam exercised patience and self-restraint to avoid the South Sudanese situation. He rather went to court to defend his right.
When Sam Sumana was deprived of justice here in Sierra Leone, he turned to ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) Court for protection. The ECOWAS Court is the highest court for West Africa although its rulings and judgments are not binding.
In the courts, Chief Sam triumphed over government, and that all courtesies, privileges and facilities due a former Vice President should be restored to him including his political rights.
It was at that time that Chief Sam Sumana returned to Sierra Leone, and worked towards peace and unity. From that time to now, he has committed no crime, and never been an object of any criminal investigation.
He maintained the peace and decorum of the state even when his security details were withdrawn from him following his reconciliation with former President Koroma. Bio has never wanted to see Sam Sumana going back to his old root fearing that Kono would fall in APC’s hands.
Despite the humiliation, Chief Sam stayed within the confines of the law. Sam Sumana also maintained peace when his retirement benefits were two times deprived of him.
Former President Koroma and his ministers have received their retirement benefits and allowances while Chief Sam has been left out without justification. The move was the greatest hypocrisy on Bio’s side.
During 2018 campaigns and rallies, Bio would tell his supporters that Chief Sam Sumana was unfairly treated, and would work towards easing his plight if voted in. Bio also made similar commitment in the 2018 SLPP Manifesto.
Sam’s illegal sacking is also mentioned in the 2018 Governance Transition Team (GTT) report authored by a group of SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) hardliners led by former Chief Minister Professor Francis. The report also described Sam’s sacking as an illegal and unconstitutional move on the part of the Koroma-led government. At the launching ceremony of government’s white paper on the findings of the defunct Constitutional Review Committee, President Bio still mentioned the removal of Chief Sam Sumana as illegal, but failed to restore his courtesies and privileges.
Sam Sumana also showed peace and statesmanship when he was attacked by a group of police officers in PortLoko two years ago. Teargas canisters and live rounds were fired by police officers, a move that created a tumultuous situation in APC stronghold.
The order to discharge the firearm also came from government, but Chief Sam held his peace.
This high level comportment and composure in the face of humiliation qualifies Chief Sam as one to entrust power. Chief Sam is not like Bio who takes revenge on those who hurt him.
Heis always unhurt even when he is hurt. Chief Sam’s quest for peace has earned him several awards and honours. He has been crowned as peace ambassador by several international organisations. The former Vice President, few days ago, won a leadership personality award by the African Fashion and Arts Organisation.
The award is to reward and appreciate creative Africans, key stakeholders, brands and individuals who have succeeded over the years and contributed towards the growth and development of African Youth, the Tourism, Fashion and Arts industry. The former Vice President was officially invited, and made an arousing speech at the ceremony.
“…Thanks to the organisers of Africa Fashion and Arts for this wonderful opportunity granted today to actually express and suggest my opinion of our culture, heritage…one that has been neglected in the recent psst,” Chief Sam reminded Africans at home and abroad.
The former Vice President looked at several aspects of the African culture, and touched on its total abandonment over the years, but spoke about hope.
“Sustainability of our heritage, our cultures and our traditions has become a major issue because we have decided to live on borrowed cultures all in the name of civilisation,” Chief Sam asserted.
In the face of deep neglect of Sierra Leone’s culture, he is hopeful that African culture would one day rise again through passion and commitment of today’s generation.
“A man is a man to an extent he can assert himself to a culture and tradition,” he informed the audience.
This is a statement which the former Vice President often uses to preach peace and harmony whenever he is accorded the opportunity to address to address his people. Sam Sumana took Africans’ memories back to 1966 when the Black African Arts culture, FRSTAC-77 was held in Senegal, the first in history.
FESTAC-77 was also the second World Black and African Festival of Arts held in Lagos, Nigeria under the leadership of then President, Lt General, Olusegun Obassanjo.
It was a celebration, the Vice President said, that brought together thousands of artists, writers, musicians and scholars from Africa and the black diaspora. Chief Sam went to state that it was at that festival that a new acceptance of our arts and culture was born: an ambitious festival of arts, dance and culture.
Chief Sam also celebrated such great minds as Professor Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Leopold Sedar Senghor, another literary giant, Sekou Toure, then Guinean President, Mariam Makeba,Louis Farahkan, Ted Jones, Akin Adesokan, Ama Ata Aidoo, Ibrahim El-Salahi and Steve Wonder to mention but a few.
The global recognition of the former Vice President is enough to entrust him state responsibilities. Without any exaggeration, other peace and leadership awards await Chief Sam Sumana.