*Several injured
*Two Charged
By Ralph Sesay
The All People’s Congress (APC) and the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) have clashed in Waterloo just when the APC was doing their final rally in the Western area. According to Cornelius Deveaux, Spokesman for the APC party and deputy Minister of Information, their Member of Parliament candidate for Constituency 108, Kemokoh Conteh, had been earlier on attacked when the SLPP had their rally on Monday 26th February, 2018.
According to him, the SLPP Member of Parliament, MOJ, and Kemokoh, are neighbours leaving in the same area. The APC Publicity Secretary furthered that Kemokoh Conteh had also earlier on received death threats from SLPP thugs belonging to MOJ on the day of the rally to a point that Kemokoh ran for his life.
On the day for the APC rally, Mr. Devaux went on, SLPP supporters were clouded in party colours and were holding a meeting at the residence of Habib Thorpe, District Chairman SLPP in the rural area, very close to the main highway.
Somebody threw a stone at the rallying crowd, which sparked off angry crowds leading to several injuries and the burning of the District Chairman’s vehicle.
“I am a resident of Waterloo. I have firsthand evidence of all what happened and so I am not speaking as somebody who has been only informed of the incident,” the Deputy Minster concluded.
Responding, Abubakar Joe Sesay, a member of the SLPP Campaign Communication Team, informed the media that their District Chairman was in his private residence at Camp Junction, Waterloo, when he was attacked by a crowd of APC supporters who later burnt his vehicle and damaged several of their supporters.
He denied allegations that their supporters were clouded in party colours on the day for the APC rally on Wednesday and had thrown stones at the APC supporters.
Mr. Joe Sesay stated that certain APC operatives in the District had planned the attack on their District Chairman due to the inroads he continues to make in the District. He called on the Sierra Leone Police to act as, according to him, they have catalogued a huge number of similar complaints against the APC in almost all areas in the country where their posters have been torn and their supporters physically attacked and wounded.
The SLPP spokesman asked his supporters to resist all forms of intimidation and vote the Rtd Brigadier and the SLPP come March 7th, 2018.
Police sources in Waterloo say two of the arrested individuals in the riot have been charged to court with unlawful possession of arms after they were apprehended with cutlasses and machetes during the riot. The source has however denied rumours that an individual has died as result of the riot, but they have however confirmed that several people, from both sides, have received injuries.