US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken has cancelled trip to Sierra Leone, but the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda-Thomas Greenfield will step into her shoes.
A State House correspondence released yesterday shows that US Secretary State, will visit Sierra Leone for a mission that remains undisclosed.
“I write to inform you that the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken will arrive at the Freetown International Airport on 23rd January, 2024. In view of the above, I hereby request for a landing permit for the US military aircraft that will be used,” the State House letter reads in part.
It has been quite a long time for such an important official to land again on the Sierra Leonean soil. Blinken’s trip to Sierra Leone was however abruptly cancelled leaving the public in deep wonders. Instead of Blinken, US Ambassador to the United Nations would likely travel to Sierra Leone after the inauguration of Liberia’s newly elected President, Joseph Boakai.
As doubts about the cancellation of the visit keeps pouring in, political analysts say the announcement of the Secretary state’s visit to Sierra Leone prompted an immediate cancellation owing to security reasons.
The visit of key US official is never publicised to ensure his safety and security. Sources at the corridors of power say the premature announcement of the visit by the Chief Minister was deliberate as he did not want the official to be here in Sierra Leone lest they be reminded of their obligations to maintain peace and security as well as cooperation with the tripartite committee which is now the major topic of the day.
The election probe in Sierra Leone was one of the thematic issues at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as it is the only way out to peace in a country that tinkers on the edge of implosion owing to vaulting political ambitions. The US Ambassador’s arrival will not be divorced from the current happenings in Sierra Leone.
Government’s attempt to derail the course of the investigation was laid bare owing to reports of non-cooperation with the investigators. A senior APC (All People’s Congress) politician, Dr Kelfala Marrah recently hit hard on government over their snail-pace moves in the implementation of the communiqué.
He attended the first meeting while others especially the top cream of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) were conspicuously absent raising questions about their commitment to the agreement.
The tripartite committee is the last hope for peace and if it fails, Sierra Leone fails and the country goes back to another conflict. Opposition politicians are threatening to put up one of the biggest resistance against government with the hope that such action would bring the much-needed political change in Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leone’s deteriorating security situation also lately caught global attention especially among the UN. It was also one of the topical issues at the UNSC during the discussions there.
Last Thursday, UNSC, the highest organ in the UN body discussed and adopted measures to save Sierra Leone from falling into another conflict.
The current security threat boils down to the elections of June 24, 2023 when President Julius Maada Bio was allegedly fraudulently announced winner sparking waves of protest in the country with several people losing their lives. The voters felt cheated and called for a rerun of the elections so that they would get a candidate of their choice.
International and local election observation groups particularly EU discredited election process calling for the publication of the results by polling stations and districts. The call was however rebuffed by Mohamed Kenewui Konneh, Chief Electoral Commissioner.
Konneh heads the Electoral Commission, a body charged by law to conduct and supervise public elections in Sierra Leone. Konneh, a man who many say, is more PAOPA than President Julius Maada Bio, still maintained his stance despite mounting pressure.
EU election mission was also deeply concerned over Konneh’s announcement of the flawed elections paying particular focus on the high scale of violence that defined the election violence.
In a press briefing, two days after the June polls, EU Chief Election Observer, Ivin Incir said gunshots were fired and in some occasions, people were fatally injured, a factor that accounted for the unfairness and lack of freedom during the elections.
Incir’s claims of violence were also captured in the EU election report that came out mid last year.
Violence, before, during and after the election occurred in several parts of the country especially Bonthe, Pujehun, Kenema and other communities in the South-East regions.
In Bonthe, APC members and supporters were allegedly attacked by SLPP supporters and the police fell down heavily on the opposition members. Instead arresting the perpetrators of violence, the APC youth leader was arrested and held in a police cell where he spent the night.
Pujehun was also on the list of communities badly affected by political violence ahead of June polls as over 500 women were ambushed and attacked after declaring for the First Lady, Massa Rogers, an indigene of Pujehun community.
APC’s chairlady in Pujehun confirmed the violent attacks and dozens of victims were responding to medical treatment at Pujehun Governmental Hospital.
According to reports, Bo city in Southern Sierra Leone also saw an unparalleled spate of violence following the burning down of the house and vehicles of APC Chairlady, Cecilia Ngobeh who narrowly escaped death.
During elections, Bo city has always been a flashpoint of political violence as it usually tops the list of election threats register, and the forecast always comes to reality. Sometime in 2010, thugs linked to SLPP set an APC office ablaze and also attacked then APC chairlady, Zainab Mansaray who was butchered and had to be flown to Ghana for medical treatment. The spiral of violence continued to date.
Intimidation of voters started right from the registration period in which those who showed up at various centres were linked at the August 10, 2022 demonstrations that nearly wrecked the city and other parts of the country.
Other election reports also touched on the violence that occurred in the elections but delved specifically into the irregularities that soiled the credibility of the elections.
AU, ECOWAS and Carter Centre reports were also highly critical of the June elections saying it did not reflect the will of the majority. Apart from the criticisms levied against election officials, the report even called for prosecution of those who undermined democracy in Sierra Leone by way of votes stealing. Local observer groups also made it clear that the elections were not credible. Marcella Samba Sesay who headed National Elections Watch (NEW) said no candidate got the 55% threshold needed to avoid a second round.
The NEW boss made the projection in accordance with the PRVT (Process and Result Verification for Transparency) model which has been used in all previous elections in Sierra Leone.
The PRVT method was also used in other African countries before brought into Sierra Leone, and the system has never missed. However, Marcella is currently seeking asylum in the UK as she has been chased out by blood-thirsty thugs.
Despite condemnation, there has been reasonable attempt to rectify the error and most times, the rectification would be met with violence.
Two West African leaders, Ghanian and Senegalese Presidents were here in Sierra Leone for peace negotiations between the two main political parties with a temporal relocation of the former President, Ernest Bai Koroma to Nigeria for peace to reign.
Government did not accept, but the coming of the US Ambassador to the UN might change the narrative.