Complete Disrespect for a communiqué said to bring lasting peace to Sierra Leone has raised big cloud of suspicion that President Julius Maada Bio would hardly put up with any recommendation that disfavours him.
Signed late last year, the communiqué is a product of a peace deal brokered by the international community (Commonwealth, African Union and ECOWAS ) to end a three-month post-election stalemate that posed threat to peace and security.
Inked by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC), the communiqué warrants government to release political detainees, discontinue politically motivated trials and resettle all those driven by political violence.
Resolution-4 of the communiqué states that “the parties agree to the release of any persons arrested, detained or imprisoned for alleged elections and civil protest informed by a list to be submitted by the APC and other political parties and considered by the government of Sierra Leone.”
Government, since the signing of the communiqué, was yet to comply with APC’s demands to release prisoners held for elections and civil protest. Instead of getting the prisoners out of the cells, more have been brought in as arrest and detention goes unabated sometimes on trumped-up charges.
Sometime in August, last year, government embarked on a number of arrest following allegations of coup plot against the government. Several Sierra Leoneans as well members of the security forces fell in the police net in respect of the allegation.
An ex-senior police officer, Chief Superintendent of Police, Mohamed Turay aka Yaetay Yaetay who was in Liberia was also arrested, extradited and detained alongside other suspected coupists.
Police also issued an arrest warrant for those at large, and a manhunt as well as waves arrest were ongoing when gunmen allegedly attacked various police and military facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital.
It was in the early morning of 26th November, 2023 that government alleged that the gunmen overran police and military armouries at Wilberforce, Murray Town, Calaba Town and Jui in Freetown.
The allegations also led to the arrest and detention of dozens of Sierra Leoneans with many standing trial in various courts including a court martial. Former Youth Affairs Minister and APC’s National Organising Secretary, Bai Mahmoud Bangura is currently in a prison cell following allegations of taking part in a coup to overthrow President Julius Maada Bio.
He was lying on an hospital bed at Police Hospital in Kingtom after his arrest owing to blood pressure according to local medics, but a court order saw him at the prison where many said he was between life and death.
Even former President Ernest Bai Koroma was never spared as he too was arrested and kept under house arrest before he was set free by troops dispatched by Nigerian President, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
However, Koroma’s case still continued in court as witnesses still testify. His arrest however sent a loud and clear message to others particularly in the North-West regions that more arrest would follow.
Currently, arrest warrant for the runaway suspects also remains in force with the inmates’ population set to balloon.
Calls for the release of political prisoners also fell on deaf ears, and the worst came when the Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh bashed at the APC accusing them of knowing where the prisoners were.
Mr Sengeh was bold to declare that government would cooperate with the tripartite committee only if APC brought back the runaway prisoners. This position was maintained by government not until the people of Sierra Leone and the international community raised deep concerns about the snail-pace moves of the tripartite committee.
Momentum however gathered that when the United States offered $1.5m to the tripartite committee to speed their work.
Effort at ensuring that the committee became a reality was made glaring after members held the first press briefing at New Brookfields hotel in Freetown.
But, a setback also lay along the way as the committee was seriously undermined by government whose representative, Dr Emmanuel Gaima said ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) should not be investigated and there would be no election till 2028.
The statement did not go down well with APC politicians who foresaw a resistance to the committee’s recommendation in the near future. With regards to the discontinuation of political politically motivated trials, the communiqué indicated that “the parties agree to the discontinuation of any politically motivated court cases against the APC, other parties and their supporters based on a list to be submitted by the APC and other parties and considered by the government of Sierra Leone.”
This provision also has been ignored by President Bio who still continued politically motivated cases despite repeated appeals by international moral guarantors and the people of Sierra Leone.
At the signing of the communiqué, it was expected that cases of all opposition politicians would be thrown out of court to bolster peace and national cohesion in Sierra Leone.
By this time, corruption cases of the opposition leader, Dr Samura Kamara and others should have ended if Bio ever wanted to live by what he promised. Many say the President probably takes advantage of a loophole in the communiqué as it failed to define what constituted “politically motivated cases.”
It goes without saying that if they are left undefined, it is government that has to tell what “political cases” are, and it will definitely be at APC’s detriment whose politicians are still in custody.
No political case has been discontinued, and there is no hope that one would come to an end as it apparently not a government agenda. The communiqué does not stop there as it also provides for a programme to “support the resettlement of any political party supporters internally and externally displaced due to political intimidation, attacks and harassment informed by a list to be submitted by the APC, and other parties and considered by the government as soon as possible.”
This provision has been neglected by government as no victim of political violence has been returned to their community, and physical attacks still go on in the South-East regions, SLPP strongholds.
An APC politician was reportedly attacked in Bonthe district in the Southern region and several others driven out of their communities. The recent political violence has been seen as a continuation of the thuggery of 2018 elections particularly in the South-East regions.
Very close to the polls, the house of APC Chairperson was set ablaze by thugs linked to the SLPP while women in Pujehun were ambushed and attacked with dozens sustaining permanent injuries.
It was also the same in 2018 when APC supporters were chased out of their homes after President Bio was announced winner of the elections. In the fourth provision, the communiqué also obliges government to pay back salaries and allowances when they return to parliament. It states that “upon assumption of their elective governance positions, all elected APC officials (Members of Parliament, Mayors, Chairpersons, Councillors) will have the issue regarding their entitlements addressed accordingly by the appropriate institutions.”
It is also one of the most contentious issues in parliament and local councils across the country as no parliamentarian has received a backlog pay although they have taken the oaths of office to serve their people.
These provisions are central to peace and national cohesion which have been trumpeted on rooftops by the SLPP, but the actions do not portray what they are calling for. If they mean business, the provisions must have been implemented by this time.
It goes without saying that there is no way government can accept a recommendation for either a rerun or early election if it fails to honour less severe obligations of the communiqué.