Sierra Leone’s 17 political parties expect are waiting for a meeting with his Excellency to foster peace and reconciliation ahead of elections next year. President Julius Maada Bio’s meeting with political stakeholders ostensibly is to discuss matters relating to the implementation of the ‘White Paper,’ which is a response to recommendations of the defunct constitutional Review Committee.
The discussion, reports say, will focus particularly on the implementation of the non-entrenched clauses. Unlike the entrenched clauses which call for referendum, the entrenched clauses could be implemented by parliamentary enactment. A good number of Sierra Leoneans hold contrary views saying the President’s meetings with opposition parties goes far beyond discussions of the white paper implementation. They say the proposed meeting is about reaching out for dialogue and compromise after years of violence.
Bio has never seen eye-to-eye with opposition parties on matters of national importance. The first indicator of the bad blood in the early years of Bio’s regime was the refusal of political parties to respond to the President’s call for a Bintumani 111 conference. The Conference which would have been an ideal platform for peace negotiation and dialogue was snubbed.
Even those who attended were critical of the peace conference. A lawyer of good years standing, Basita Michael stood out in her criticism against government. The centrepiece of her argument at the conference was about government’s naked undermine of institutions of peace.
“How Can government call for peace while undermining institutions that maintain peace?” the firebrand lawyer wonders. The NGC leader too, Dr Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella and others who attended the peace conference did so with sunken hearts and were quite critical of government. SLPP’s disagreement with other opposition parties also became visible when three bills (Cyber Security, Mid-Term Census and depoliticisation of local councils) were tabled before parliament for passage into law.
The most controversial of the bills was the Mid-Term Census Bill of 2021. Opposition parties especially main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) were bitterly opposed to the census bill which they referred to as illegal. They have constantly argued that census is usually held in Sierra Leone after every 10 years.
Suffice it to say that the pronouncement of a census after five years is outside the powers of the President. Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPP), an offshoot of All Political Parties Association (APPA), was very active and consistent in its opposition to the census bill.
The disagreement which began in the well of parliament was taken to inner circles of political parties as well as streets, homes, mosques and churches. Majority of the voices on the census bill point one thing-illegality.
The illegality factor swayed opposition parties from cooperating with government. They did not stop only with cutting off cooperation but also telling their constituents not to take part in illegality. Little wonder that the census, despite the euphoria it generated at the initial stage did not make the gains expected by government.
Few people were counted while the majority were left out. A good number of Sierra Leoneans did not take part in the counting process. A great many Sierra Leoneans issued threats with use of machetes to harm those who stand on their doors to count them. The controversy that eclipses the headcount compelled European Union and World Bank not to fund a process whose outcome could not be accepted by the majority.
Politicians who vented out their critical voices were hounded.
Founder and Leader of Unity Party, UP for short, Femi Claudious Cole was arrested and detained. A notable female politician, Diana Konomani, ex-minister of Local Government also followed suit. Since he took over power in 2018, Bio’s leadership is hallmarked with disagreements among politicians within and outside SLPP.
It is safe to say that, most times, parliament has recently been relegated to a hub for conflicts and fights. It is not uncommon to see parliamentarians of the opposite sides to be at each other’s throats whenever they disagree with each other. A key SLPP politician recently told this press that President Bio could hardly unite Sierra Leone since he cannot unite his own party.
Stephen Mambu insinuated that SLPP had been divided by camps and cabals seen in the difference between ‘PAOPA’ and mainstream SLPP members.
Without any hesitation, Mambu informed Nightwatch, few days ago, that local and diaspora SLPP members would soon take on President Julius Maada Bio on his illegality of his election as flag-bearer. The divisions within SLPP is characterised by the inhumane treatment meted to key SLPP members who have kept the party well afloat in turbulent times.
The names of John Oponjo Benjamin and Chief Somano Kapen deserve a particular mention. The two personalities have led SLPP as chairmen. Despite contributions they have made to an entity they so much cherished, they are now pushed to the fringes having stripped them of their defences.
The time-honoured notion of how a person treats his own kinsmen is an indication of how he would treat others is much more relevant here. Since President Bio is very much uncompromising with his SLPP comrades, he is not unexpected to do the same to those outside his party. Thuggery and hooliganism showcased itself immediately SLPP was pronounced winner of 2018 elections.
The interlude between Bio’s victory and his swearing-in marked a period of violent confrontations between SLPP and APC with the latter being on the wrong end. Officials of the former APC government who served the country as minsters and in other different capacities were branded as thieves and racketeers.
The Negative identity ascribed to these officials almost overnight had its root in the Governance Transition Team (GTT) report of 2018 whose lead author is Professor David Francis. Francis is former Chief Minister, and now Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
It is clear from the outset that the authors of the report are SLPP hardliners, a move condemned by several well-meaning Sierra Leoneans and civil society organisations. The negative descriptions justified spates of state-sponsored violence against APC.
In what appears a raid to recover stolen assets, a group of SLPP thugs quickly constituted themselves into vigilantes led by former Minister of Mines, Foday Rado Yokie. They promote to retrieve state hidden state property. Former ministers and top government officials were targeted for humiliation.
Vehicles were taken away from them in a rudderless operation conducted hooligans hiding in the cloak of decent and honest men. Deficient in proper orientation, senior judicial officials were also molested in public view.
A judge of the high court was asked to hand over his vehicle as he was considered to be an ex-government official. The daughter as well as the son-in-law of former President Koroma was targeted for brutality.
Ibrahim Mansaray and his wife have never served government in any capacity implying that what they have is private. Out of sheer ignorance, a group of armed SLPP vigilantes intruded into premises of the Mansaray Family to take away a vehicle they considered to be a state asset.
The violence was indiscriminate leaving many Sierra Leoneans to wonder whether President Bio was in control or sincere with his promise of peace and national cohesion. In all these incidents, President Bio failed to condemn and bring those responsible to justice.
Most SLPP stalwarts say it was a game of revenge, but they missed the point. Former President Koroma worked with SLPP ministers for three months with full pay. SLPP was a different case as violence was used to stabilise their new regime.
Thuggery took a high turn when revered members of parliament were brutalised by armed men of the Sierra Leone police under instructions of Clerk of Parliament, Umar Paran Tarawally. The strange move, politicians say, was the first in the political evolution of Sierra Leone.
An APC parliamentarian, Mohamed Bangura had cause to seek medical service from a hospital in Freetown owing to police brutality in parliament. Controversial imposition of Speaker of Parliament, the taking away of ten parliamentary seats from the APC and the shelling of APC headquaters in Brookfields community in Freetown was a continuation of violence to the highest point.
The move was also seen as the greatest police disasters in history. Many Sierra Leoneans were lost in wonders about how a party of intellectuals would quickly relegate to violence and thuggery. Many Sierra Leoneans are of the view that such levels of violence have totally disqualified President Bio to champion any peace project in Sierra Leone.
Like President Bio, the first Lady is also making similar moves for peace. A meeting by First Lady with former government officials and top SLPP members lend credence to claims of reconciliation. Bio’s wife, is seemingly healing old wounds quite lately.
She has trod on the toes of many, and now is the time to repent. She has reportedly met people she hitherto considered as adversaries including former SLPP Women’s Leader and the former Minister of Social welfare, Gender and Children’s Affairs, Fatmata Sawaneh and Dr Sylvia Blyden respectively.
The rights of the two personalities were trampled on by Mrs Bio relying on the powers of the presidency. Until her removal late last year, Sawaneh never enjoyed the largesse and courtesies of a women’s leader in a ruling party throughout her tenure owing to First Lady’s dominance.
Fatima Bio overshadows every aspect of SLPP to the annoyance of senior SLPP members. Sierra Leoneans wait to see the outcome of President Bio and his wife’s engagement of his former adversaries.