If there is a time ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) should deploy in Sierra Leone, that time is now sine the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) are locked in a gridlock although a peace communique has been signed.
The stalemate of the June 24, 2023 election still lingers despite a three-day dialogue facilitated by the international community (Commonwealth, African Union and ECOWAS).
APC members and supporters who see the PAOPA regime as illegal owing to an alleged election rigging demand either a rerun or fresh election to take back their mandate.
In his most of his public addresses, the opposition, Dr Samura Kamara have always referred to the PAOPA politicians as “colleagues of an illegal regime” owing to alleged irregularities that marred the June 24, 2023 multi-tier elections.
International and local reports indicate that the PAOPA regime does not win the elections and they hold a stolen mandate for which an election probe is underway.
On the other hand, the PAOPAs are convinced that they win the election and would not accept or implement any recommendation for a rerun or fresh election although vouch in for electoral reforms for all future elections.
Definitely, there is conflict ahead and foreign boots must be on the ground to guard the fragile peace.
According to reports by foreign media, ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) troops should have been here in Sierra Leone to guard the safety of the state to avoid further loss of lives and destruction of property.
They promised to use the sea route with their amphibian tanks to stay in Sierra Leone to assure the people of peace and security. By all indications, Sierra Leone’s peace and security is fragile and need a strong boots on the ground to bolster local forces in restoring peace and order.
ECOMOG’s facilities in the Northern town of Lungi were recently inspected and discovered fit to host the troops, but the time of their arrival remains unknown.
Top ECOMOG commanders were also in Freetown where they reportedly held a meeting with the police high command although their discussion was not made public, but it did not stray away from security matters.
Such visits and inspection of facilities for ECOMOG’s deployment took place after government appealed to ECOWAS to send troops to Sierra Leone as the local forces seem outstretched.
The people of Sierra Leone were in elation and ecstasy after news of ECOMOG deployment reached them as they hope to enjoy peace and freedom again after six years of brutal crackdowns.
Despite the recent euphoria about the arrival of ECOMOG in Sierra Leone, the issue is almost dead in the waters with no one knowing the actual cause.
Is it that the PAOPA regime has cancelled its request to ECOWAS? Or, is it some APC elements whittling down the current political and security crisis to delay ECOMOG’s deployment? Although the ruling party has a slice of its own in the delayed deployment of ECOMOG in Sierra Leone, fingers of blame are being pointed at APC politicians for not doing enough to ensure that ECOMOG arrive in Sierra Leone ahead of time. APC, according to observers in the media and the public, ought to have put up a strong case to ECOWAS parliament so that Sierra Leone’s current situation will be on top of the ECOWAS agenda.
A veteran politician recently intimated this press that the ECOWAS parliament was created mainly for opposition politicians to have voice in matters that affect the country and their political parties since such fora were virtually absent in their own countries.
Opposition parliamentarians in Liberia have used such platform to their advantage prompting an ECOWAS consideration of their country’s political situation.
Little wonder that Liberia’s election went on peacefully without arbitrary tampering or manipulation of the electoral laws for political gains.
Even the opposition politician in the Gambia, Mama Kandeh used such platform to his party’s advantage when he called on the sub-regional bloc to pay attention to various forms of maladministration that created conditions for military takeovers and not only the coups themselves.
Such call was also supported by ex-Liberian President, George Opong Weah who urged ECOWAS to address factors for coup d’etats in the sub region and should not wait to waste lives and money to restore undemocratic leaders. Looking at his political situation back home, former Sierra Leonean President, Ernest Bai Koroma too have also appealed to ECOWAS to monitor governance and not only elections to strengthen the pillars of peace.
Even though several African leaders have made such tough appeals for the stability of the region, APC politicians have not used such opportunity even though they are faced with a crucial moment in the near future. With ECOMOG’s presence in Sierra Leone, democracy will be restored as it is the case over two decades ago.
In March, 1998, the Nigerian-led ECOMOG (ECOWAS Monitoring Group) restored democracy in Sierra Leone during the reign of late General Sani Abacha after the army took over power and formed a governing agency known as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).
However, ECOMOG’s military strikes got them out of the renegades out of the political scene.
Without doubt, the ECOMOG military intervention, at that time, restored hope in a country where the khaki boys had joined forces with the Revolutionary United Front to kill and maim Sierra Leoneans including women and children. The parent body, ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) was formed in May, 1975 to create a free trade zone for all ECOWAS member states.
But, over the years, the sub-regional bloc has paid much attention to security challenges created by military take-overs, post-election stalemates, bloody wars and revolutions that weakened the pillars of peace in the sub-region.
ECOWAS’s role in the restoration of peace in Liberia in the late 1980s, The Gambia in 2017 and Sierra Leone in 1998 still lingers in the sand of time.
In the Gambia, a political conflict prompted ECOWAS’s intervention to restore normalcy and calm. Ex-Gambia President, Yayah Jammeh, after 20-year rule, refused to hand over power following defeat by his main challenger, Adama Barrow currently serving as President.
It was also similar situation in Liberia where President Samuel Kayon Doe ignored calls by his people to step aside. In Sierra Leone, the army toppled a democratic government in May, 1997 close to a year after election.
The putsch was staged against President Ahmed Tejan Kabba who reportedly disbanded the army owing to widespread allegations of connivance with the rebels who were also struggling to assume state command by the use of force.
Memories of the gallantry displayed by ECOMOG in the restoration of peace and democracy in a war-torn country would hardly fade in the minds of the people of Sierra Leone. The foreign troops were called in by the Kabba government who were seeking asylum in Guinea days after his overthrow.
25 years on, similar situation has also surfaced in Sierra Leone owing to political intimidation, oppression, killings and creation of terror tactics by a government which the international community says does not have the mandate to rule the people. According to reports by international and local election observation missions, the PAOPA regime does not win the elections but still holds the forte.
An election probe is ongoing, but there is no sign that government would accept and implement any recommendation that will cost them the presidential power.
The foreseen refusal is therefore the main point of contention as opposition politicians demand either a rerun or fresh election or the opposition leader, Dr Samura Kamara is declared President and hold parliamentary elections on constituency-based system.
In a situation where conflicts ensue between the two political sides when they fail to agree, the local forces, out of incompetence and unprofessionalism, would be there to protect only those in power and not the masses.
For the past six years, international human rights reports have indicted Sierra Leone’s security forces for failing to professionally carry out their traditional functions of guarding the peace and protecting the people, a factor that has created a loud outcry for the deployment of ECOMOG in Sierra Leone, but undue delays might hold them back.