The National Grand Coalition Party has, in a press release, condemned the apparent ‘tit-for –tat,’ and ‘do me ar do u’ pattern of reprisals, noting that an eye for an eye will leave us blind.
They continued that the attack on the APC office, by the Sierra Leone Police, was reminiscent of similar attacks on the SLPP office in 2007, 2008 and 2009.
“Now is the time to strengthen our state institutions and separate them from partisan political interest and break this vicious cycle of repression and violence,” the NGC release cautioned.
They also condemned the actions of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema, who also doubles as Publicity Secretary of the ruling SLPP.
According to them, Leema was chanting party slogans at the SLPP Party headquarters during the height of tensions on Friday. They questioned the actions of a Minister, who is responsible for internal affairs, to be engaging in party functions that are inimical to state security.
The NGC stated that such actions were indicative that the Government of President Julius Maada Bio is preaching peace but, at the same time, fanning the flames of conflict. They called for the separation of the state and party functions especially so when the just concluded Bintumani III conference had called for this.
The NGC also reechoed its earlier stance on the removal of the Chief Electoral Commissioner of NEC, who, according to them, was not responsible enough to have picked up all these tendencies that led to the High Court ruling against ten Members of Parliament, which subsequently created tensions in the country.
The NGC party also expressed concerns over the selective justice perpetrated by the Judiciary for failing to hear other matters brought to them by other parties and for also taking a very long time to hand down rulings on the election petitions.
They cited several injustices in the country and reminded the judiciary that some of these issues were factors responsible for the war, according to the TRC report.