As Sierra Leone treads on the path of peace, untiy and national cohesion, Northeastern Resident Minister, Abu Abu Koroma must disengage, disarm and go back to his trench. If he does not do so voluntarily, he must be forced by his boss, President Julius Maada Bio.
By his comment in a video that has gone viral on several media platforms that the “The Themne are not civilised” at such a volatile moment is almost equal to pushing Sierra Leone to the edge of implosion.
The Resident Minister does not stop there as he went further imagining what would have happened to his house had be built one in Makeni city, his birthplace.
Out of figment of imagination, he said “The Themne would have burned down my houses.”
By his unguarded utterances, Abu Abu Koroma showcased the Themne as an uncontrollably destructive and brutal tribe with no fact to support his claim.
However, the minister’s scathing claims against the Themne is now one of the hottest topics for debates with many discrediting the Resident Minister. His comments are meant to cast mere aspersion on the country’s largest tribe citing June-24 election as a case in point.
South-East regions recorded brutal acts than any other region in Sierra Leone during the elections as APC officials and facilities were targetted. 500 women in Pujehun district fell in an ambush on their way home after declaring support for the main opposition, APC (All People’s Congress), a move that angered the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party than ever before.
The APC Chairlady in Bo city in the Southern region also narrowly escaped after her house which was being used as an APC office was torched including four vehicles in the premises.
In Bonthe, in Bio’s home district, APC supporters were also targeted for brutality, and there is no difference in Kenema district where APC officials suffered physical attacks. Most were also stopped from campaigning in the community, seen as an SLPP heartland.
Video footages show how APC’s posters and Samura’s portraits were torn and dragged on the ground by some youth thus exposing South-Easterners’ negative side.
However, such brutality was not allowed to occur here in the North-West regions where SLPP politicians were allowed to campaign freely. SLPP officials were awarded the same opportunity even when they were in opposition; they went as far as the home town of Dr Samura Kamara with campaign messages, and even placed a photo on Kamara’s house in Kamalo without any attack or humiliation.
But, the Resident Minister turned a blind eye at such high level of political tolerance, but chose to slaughter the themne tribe on the altar of dehumanisation and incitement. By his action, Abu Abu Koroma seems to have forgotten that the wounds inflicted by SLPP’s five-year rule are yet to be healed.
Currently, Sierra Leone sits on a keg of dynamite ready to explode at any time. The combustibles are well prepared waiting for the slightest spark to burst into flames, and Abu’s statement is one of those combustibles that would bring about an inferno if left unchecked.
The statement which nobody knew what prompted it is in direct violation of Resolution-7 of a communique recently signed by SLPP and APC officials. The Resolution frowns at anyone either within or outside Sierra Leone that incites violence, propagates hate messages and derails national cohesion.
“The Government of Sierra Leone and the APC party strictly condemn all citizens at home and abroad who incites violence, spread hate speech and disrupts national cohesion (online and offline) and government will continue all effort to bring those involved to justice,” a portion of the communique reads.
From the quoted version of the peace document, it is clear that the Northeastern Resident Minister has stepped outside the limits of the law and must be made to bear the brunt.
The Communique prescribes legal punishment for any one who falls foul of the peace agreement, and the people of Sierra Leone wait for President Bio or the police chief to go into action before the people move against him.
Abu Abu’s action is also at variance with Resolution-6 of the communique which states that “Both parties commit to re-engineer and rekindle the relationships within the national socio-political eco-system such as between His Excellency the President and former political leaders (former Presidents and Vice Presidents); the APC and SLPP leaderships.
With such tribal statements, it is difficult to actualise Resolution-6 as they have the potential to worsen an already polarised situation. Abu Abu Koroma appears to have been up in arms with the Themne tribe since he took up office of Resident Minister for Northeast region.
Sierra Leoneans are yet to forget his shoot-to-kill order which he issued to police and military officers deployed in Makeni during August 10, 2022 demonstration staged against high cost of living.
Reports from Makeni city showed that several residents were gunned down including a popular blogger, Hassan Dumbuya aka Evangelist Sampson.
When interviewed by an international news agency, President Bio was quick to say he was not aware of the death, but someone informed him about it later.
By his failure to act, Bio seemed to have condoned the brutal act even when a senior military officer is accused to have pulled the trigger at the blogger.
As custodian of national security, many had hoped that President Bio ought to have investigated the death with hope of bringing the killers to justice so that a deterrent could be created.
The Northeastern Resident was also accused of playing significant role in the death of several residents in Makeni city in July, 2020 when the people took to the streets against the relocation of an electricity generator from Makeni city to Lungi town in the Northern region.
According to government sources, six people were fatally injured but unofficial sources put the casualty figure at 20.
As Usual, Bio also made no attempt to prosecute the killers thus strengthening a culture of impunity in Sierra Leone. Dozens of Makeni youth including innocent ones were also arrested and detained at the country’s main correctional facility in Freetown only to be released after a year without conviction.
Matters were made worse when local authorities including Makeni City Mayor were threatened with further police crackdown if any violence was fomented.
A press release from the Information Ministry made it clear to the people of Makeni that the security forces would come down heavily on anyone who embark on further violence but without any message to restrain those who shot and killed armless and defence less protesters.
Most of the acts for which North-Westerners were massacred occur in the South-East regions too without anyone shot at. Bike riders in Kenema city recently staged a protest against high fuel price, but police killed no one raising argument that it would have been a different case if it were in the Northwest region.
In all killings that would have taken place in Makeni city, Abu Abu was never questioned about his shoot-to-kill order thereby emboldening him to do more. But the minister has a big room for repentance if only he allows sleeping dogs to lie as one of the notable writers once describe him as ‘one on his way to Damascus.’