It is now clear that key most politicians cannot remain in opposition for a term. Former APC (All People’s Congress) minister and the former Vice President, Alpha Khan and Victor Bockarie Foh respectively fit in to the claim. If SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) makes gains in APC’s traditional strongholds of Portloko APC and other northern towns, it could not be unconnected to the work of Alpha Khan who has recently taken up appointment as Resident Minister, Northwest region.
The road for an SLPP victory is being cleared by the apprentice as he facilitates Bio’s frequent visits to the northern district. Khan, few days ago, played host to President Julius Maada Bio and entourage when they visited PortLoko where SLPP hotly needs parliamentary seats.
Khan did not hold back his praises for President Bio for sustaining the Free Quality Education in Sierra Leone. He said Bio’s scheme has benefitted all Sierra Leoneans. The former apprentice to President Koroma painted a picture of sorrow of how very brilliant students dropped out of school because their parents could not afford the fee.
With President Bio, Khan went on, parents and pupils had been free from fee worries. It is a complete political marketing of President Bio to the people of the north for a second term. Such compliments are just the tip of an iceberg, Khan is ready to do more than what he is doing now after parliament is shut down.
APC members say it is traitorship beyond measure. This is the time Khan and Foh should declare their relevance to the party. The two have got much from the party and much is expected from those to whom much has been given. The two however are now giving to SLPP what they have got from APC.
Many Sierra Leoneans have however called on SLPP to closely monitor the two guys who may prove to be snitches or wolves in sheep clothing. Former President Koroma who is APC’s chairman and leader is not moved by acts of the two APC giants.
Alpha Khan and Victor Bockarie Foh, Traitors?
A source very close to the former President has repeatedly told this press that the former President always smiles whenever any of his APC comrades informs him about the actions of the two men. The former President always continues to keep sealed lips over the situation and keeps his calm and composure intact.
He knew quite well that the two would hardly succeed in their move no matter the tactics they employ. The former President always says Bio will go in 2023 regardless of political gimmicks. The two politicians held important posts in the APC and government during the hay days.
Alpha Khan went to parliament under APC’s banner where he represented a constituency in the northern district of PortLoko for years. He rose to glory, almost immediately, when APC won 2007 elections. APC‘s victory signalled a new hope for Khan who left the legislature for the executive arm of government.
While in the executive, Khan served in the ministries of Mines and Mineral resources, Political and Public Affairs and Information and Communications as minister. Khan whose name is in the good books of former President Koroma was subsequently made Adviser to President, a post he held until his resignation in 2016.
This clearly indicates that his vaulting intention to run for the party’s flag. Almost the same, APC has always been a bed of Roses for the man from the south, Victor Bocakrie Foh. He held key posts within the party which some northerners has never held.
For many years, Victor Foh was APC’s Secretary-General. Between 2013 and 2014, the former scribe was appointed as Ambassador to China, a country seen as a strategic ally for Sierra Leone.
He is therefore one of the most important ambassadors of the Koroma-led government. Foh who appeared to have been destined for great things in the APC was made Vice President in 2015 following the arbitrary dismissal of former Vice President, Chief Samuel Sam Sumana.
Sam’s removal was illegal to the core, but former President Koroma’s influence, APC stoutly stood by Foh so that he could be safe in the office. It did not cost APC anything to manipulate the judiciary to support Victor Foh although the move was illegal. Government went at greater lengths in protecting former Vice President Foh by refusing to attend the court of the sub-regional bloc, ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) when it was summoned.
Government also disobeyed ECOWAS court when it failed to reinstate and compensate Sam Sumana. The defence of sovereignty was invoked by government to evade justice. The case continued in court until judgement was entered in absentia.
Victor Bockarie Foh remained untouched until his boss, former President Koroma handed over power to President Julius Maada Bio who emerged winner of 2018 general elections.
The move for a political transition by the former President angered many in the APC. Foh and Khan were the most annoyed. The two who had wanted to quench their thirst for power did not want to see any transfer of power no matter the consequences.
Known for his compromise in politics, a reliable source in the APC has intimated this press that, Victor Foh was the only one who got a huge sum of money from the former President to calm down Foh’s nerves about the transition. Since politicians are known for their love for cash and power, Foh is no difference, he received the money under pretence that he had acceded to the transfer of power to Bio.
It was a clear showcase of a subtle fraud by the former Vice President who knew fully well that he would not accept the deal. The two politicians started to display traitorship and treachery after the 2017 convention in the northern capital of Makeni where Dr Samura Kamara emerged as flag-bearer.
His emergence stunned many APC members since Samura had never expressed his intention for the party’s flag. The two officials hanged around for a while for the outcome of the elections. The little known Samura Kamara was abandoned during campaigns, a deciding factor for his defeat in 2018. Khan and Foh never came to his aid.
They never flexed their muscles in the manner they did for former President Koroma in his two terms. The two politicians showed their real identity after Kamara’s defeat. Khan and Foh wasted no time in switching over to SLPP saying they had been disappointed by the former President.
Alpha Khan who many APC never dreamt of cross-carpeting were caught by surprise when he called on his comrades to accept President Bio as the main in charge of Sierra Leone.
The call of the former minister, in early 2018, helped greatly in the stabilisation of Bio’s new government. For many APC, the former minister did not do it out of love for Bio, but to satisfy his anger he held for being denied of the flag. Khan shows no relent and remorse in making SLPP a reckonable force in the north.
Victor Foh too treads on the same path. The former Vice President sold his facility to a business entity which the party was using as one of its offices immediately the election results were pronounced. He knew quite well that his authority and influence had left him.
Foh did not only sell the facility but also constantly called upon the former President to respect the law and obey President Bio. He used to say “nobody is above the law and former President Koroma is no longer President.”
The former Vice President also appeared at the defunct commissions of inquiry where he reiterated his call for the former President to make himself amenable to the law. Foh’s move also does not mean one that shows love for Bio but to do justice to his frustration which lies deep within him.
Although many APC members accused the two men of a lust for power, observers in the media and the public have come from an angle contrary to APC’s. To them, the two men were trying to make themselves safe from SLPP’s harassment and intimidation. Key APC politicians were arrested and detained on false charges just to create fear in them.
Opposition politicians’ estates have been lost to the state owing to SLPP’s political manoeuvrings. Illegal commissions of inquiry were created for a full-scale investigation of the entire governance activities and processes of the Koroma-led government.
The assets of key former government ministers and officials have been taken away by government owing to the commissions adverse recommendations. Even the dead were not spared, a move that was quite contrary to widely held views that a dead man during trial is never guilty of crime.
Former Minister of Education and the Chairman, National Telecommunications Commission, Minkailu Bah and Momoh Conteh respectively were posthumously held accountable for the wrongs they were accused of.
Since Foh and Khan may not be free from the intimidation, they would be immune from arrest and detention only when they throw in their lot with SLPP. These are moves of traitors, and Bio must watch them closely.