More than a week now since Sierra Leone’s security was breached, no head of the country’s security makeup has been sacked or suspended pending investigation into the incident.
Under normal circumstances, heads of the army, Police, Office of National Security and Correctional Services, and the Minister of Internal Affairs should have by now not only be suspended, but they should have been sacked and put under lock and key while the investigations into the incident is going on.
The dastardly act of certain hoodlums on the early morning of Sunday, 27th November, 2023 which Government of Sierra Leone earlier defined as “a security breach” and was corroborated by the Deputy Head of the country’s Armed Forces was in less than 24 hours surreptitiously redefined by the President, as “a coup attempt” aimed at overthrowing the country’s “legitimate government” of the country.
The sudden u-turn was made by the “legitimate President” himself to a visiting delegation from the sub-regional body ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) although within the same instance, the main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) had in a press release unequivocally condemned the said act and proposed that government sets up an independent investigation body to look into the incident.
But, being that the President and his government had been brainwashed into always thinking that the APC was always working to undermine their progressive effort.
The President, without any proof, was swift to shift the blame to the main opposition party as mastermind of the sacrilegious act against democracy.
But, in his 2nd December 2023, the national broadcast on the incident, the President alluded to the fact that “the armoury at the Wilberforce Military Barracks had been violently breached by unknown assailants,” and that after an “intense gunfight” the nation’s “loyal forces eventually repelled them.”
However, the President fell short in this national broadcast to cast aspersions on the main opposition as he had already done with the visiting ECOWAS delegation rather, he maintained that “…investigations conducted so far by our Security and Intelligence Community strongly indicate that the November 26th infraction was clearly and unambiguously an attempted coup d’état,” and noted without mincing words that, “the attempted coup will, therefore be dealt with by my Government purely as a law-and-order issue, not a political, tribal or religious matter.”
The question now is, why was he so hasty in his conclusion to ECOWAS, just in the wake of “the infraction” that the main opposition APC was behind the infraction when the investigations have not been concluded and there was no lead as at that moment that pointed to the APC.
But in his speech, President Julius Maada Bio assured the nation that, “…we will follow the evidence wherever it leads us, and all those found culpable, no matter their status, shall be held fully to account for their actions within the confines of the law whilst at the same time also recognising the wider demands of justice and freedom,” he stated, adding that “Some arrests have since been made, and full investigations have been launched. The Sierra Leone Police released a list of wanted persons on November 28th….”
But, what again should been putting the horse before the cart when he addressed ECOWAS delegation, to call on citizens to provide useful information, he rather, on the spur of the moment, put the cart before the horse by being categoric that the main opposition that was behind the said security breach.
“I strongly encourage citizens and non-citizens to provide useful information that would lead to the arrest of fugitives and aid the investigations,” he called out, after apparently prejudicing the investigations.
But at the time the President was finger-pointing, there was and there is still no substantiated proof to qualify his aptly hasty conclusion of accusing the main opposition party, giving, as at that time of the President’s assertion, the freshness of the investigations.
Granted that it was “a coup attempt” but the Government had earlier acquiesced to the fact that it was a “security breach”, why is it that up to date the heads of those institutions from which there could be possible Fifth Columnists are still intact in their respective positions while investigations are going on?
In the aftermath of the infamous August 10, 2022 onslaught, the then head of the Army, Lt. General Sullay Sesay who was way out of the country when the incident took place was not suspended pending investigations, instead, he was sacked conjecturally on suspicion of complicity.
But here is a case that is far more serious in scope and in context; attempting to overthrow a “legitimate government” which activities are composit of attacks on two of the country’s military armouries; at Murray Town Barracks and at Wilberforce Barracks, and weapons allegedly seized, but those who should be morally held responsible for such gross negligence of responsibility remain basking in their positions and offices as if nothing seriously injurious did happen to the country’s security and stability.
In a situation where justice, fairness and transparency is the hallmark for sincerity,
Security heads by now must have been dismissed and subjected to an inquiry.
It is in view of these sad occurrences that the citizenry remain apprehensive as to the genuinity of what the government and its surrogates are peddling as “an attempted coup d’etat.”
This is so because looking at the face of the seeming disagreement in context between the President, his government and surrogates and the army’s appraisal of the incident, there are quite a number of deficiencies between the November 26 incident and what could even be referred to as “an attempted coup.”
In the first instance, His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio, according to his spouse, the First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio, holds a PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) in staging coups, how can a few miscreants just come in to stage a coup against such a high-profile coup professional?
In similar vain, during the ascribed “attempted coup”, no attempt to attack State House and government officials as expected of real coupists.
No other weaponry were allegedly used except the ones seized from the military stores at Murray Town Barracks and Wilberforce Barracks that were heavily guarded.
The “assailants” only attacked the national prisons in broad daylight with no resistance.
The security forces explanation for this further security breach is that it was for the “interest” of civilians’ lives they had to make “tactical retreat” rather than to have engaged to repel the assailants off the prisons and consequently out of Freetown.
Freetown is surrounded by military barracks strategically positioned to withstand such security breaches.
Juba Barracks in the far west of Freetown to handle insurgency from the mountains and hill tops.
That was proved doable on May 8, 2000 when the late Corporal Foday Saybana Sankoh and his RUF (Revolutionary United Front) rebels attempted to torpedo the SLPP-Tejan Kabba led government.
President Kabbah had already been airlifted to the Nigerian-UNAMSIL controlled Lungi Airport and there was an apparent vacuum in leadership in Freetown.
The late Major Johnny Paul Koroma took to the airwaves and appealed to his colleague patriotic soldiers in arms to assemble at the National Stadium for onward deployment to defend the constitution and sanctity of the democracy of their beloved fatherland.
In no time, hundreds of loyal soldiers assembled and Major Johnny Paul Koroma was at that material time in control of the country’s army.
They stood against Foday Sankoh and his rebels and forced them out of the Western Area completely into the mountains and hill tops.
They pursued them out entirely back to their original bases in the eastern part of the country.
The intensity and ferocity of the Johnny Paul Koroma-led repel was such that Foday Sankoh couldn’t match the army’s determination and had to hide in an unfinished building around the Spur Road environs until he was subsequently smoked out by an informant following an announced police bounty on his head.
The Wilberforce Barracks can handle the Western Area, the Murray Town Barracks can handle the central and Eastend area while Garrison at Hastings can block the entry and exist into the Capital.
But, that did not happen. The assailants were left in their jolly good ride of thundering gunshots and Rocket Propelled Grenades in the ears of peaceful citizens and were left with careless abandon to get away with unspecified quantum of arms and ammunition to only God knows where.
This characterisation by our President and his Government of the Sunday, 26 November 2023 incident as an “attempted coup” after being dramatically swayed from their earlier description as a “security breach” can only be what it really is, if the President had not prejudiced what is now “an investigation” into the incident and had allowed his patriotic and nationalistic lenses to have allowed for an independent panel to investigate and report its findings to the nation. Be it as it may, truth is a moral weapon whose stroke can be felt at any time no matter how long it will take.