At height of the campaign for ‘electoral Justice,’ Sierra Leone’s ex-President, Ernest Bai Koroma has declared that the June 24, 2023 elections are over, and that politicians must say the right message to their people.
The former President made the statement in leaked audio which has gone viral on social media platforms thus taking the people of Sierra Leone aback.
He says “election don don” which means in Krio parlance that elections are over adding that Samura Kamara APC (All People’s Congress)’s Presidential candidate should not waste people’s time. Koroma also urged Samura Kamara to say the truth to his people.
“You have to be honest to yourself as you went and spoke with Maada Bio on an internal conflict resolution mechanism without consulting me. It would have been better if you had taken a position,” Ernest Koroma cautions Samura.
The former President went on to state that Samura Kamara had agreed on a Tripartite investigation with 84 recommendations which spoke nothing other than “restructuring and reforming future elections” in Sierra Leone.
According to the President, Samura Kamara’s voluntary meeting with Bio means a fatal blow to his electoral victory stating that a controversial electoral process comes to an end when the opposition is brought to the table.
“I have covered elections and in Africa, and one thing they have taught us is to bring the opposition to the table,” Ernest Koroma emphasized while making reference to elections in Zambia and Kenya which he said were the most difficult.
In Zambia, the incumbent, Edgar Lungu had ruled only for a term and was ready for a second when he lost the election to the opposition candidate, Hakainde Hichilema.
Lungu was in no mood to transfer power to the opposition leader who was the actual winner of the elections at that time.
The incumbent feared political reprisal if Hichilema became President after jailing him on what many called a “politically motivated trial.” Zambia’s post-election stalemate came to an end as Koroma brokered a peace deal between the two and advised the incumbent to transfer power to the winner who he similarly cautioned not to revenge but to unite the country and maintain peace.
Ernest Koroma also did the same for Kenya where the political climate at the time of the election was also tense.
Such diplomatic moves suddenly transformed the Sierra Leonean former President into a global icon after stepping down in March, 2018.
But, Koroma made no attempt to embark on such mediation moves in his own country Sierra Leone where the incumbent failed to concede defeat but went on to grab power. The electoral race was between the incumbent, President Julius Maada Bio of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and Samura Kamara, presidential candidate of the main opposition party.
The former President found it difficult to tell Maada Bio to hand over power since he lost the June elections thus making allegations that there was a secret compromise plan between him and Bio watertight.
For years, Sierra Leone’s anti-graft agency has been at Koroma’s throat for corruption and money laundering offences while he was President between 2007 and 2018.
Similarly, the defunct Commissions of Inquiry set up in 2018 were after the President’s assets for confiscation owing to money stolen from state coffers.
But all of a sudden, those matters against the former President were dropped without any proven justification; and in a dramatic fashion, he was flown out of the country by the elite ECOWAS, in a succinct bid to set him free from the November 26, 2023 coup in which he was heavily implicated.
The ex-Head of State was accused of financing the putsch to get Bio out of power for which he was humbled in a magistrate court in Freetown. However, Koroma left Sierra Leone for Nigeria on medical checks and never returned despite repeated public calls to bring him back to continue his trial.
The former President has been mute for too long after the June votes were allegedly stolen by President Bio, and his quietness at a time he is expected to call on the international community to mount pressure on Bio to give up power is being treated with suspicion.
Residing in Nigeria which hosts ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) headquarters, the former President was supposed to have fought for electoral justice than APC’s opposition leader who he first handpicked in 2017 and later elected in 2023.
Grassroots and senior APC politicians also accused Ernest Koroma of stalling the deployment of ECOMSIL (ECOWAS Mission in Sierra Leone) troops in Sierra Leone to restore democracy which means giving power to the rightful winner of the elections.
Such suspicion began almost a year of the June polls when former President Koroma publicly insulted senior APC politicians including Samura Kamara who he referred to as “Munku politicians.” He accused them of being responsible for all the problems within APC and not the ruling party.
He showered such insults while addressing a mammoth crowd of APC supporters in the newly constructed APC building in Makeni city. Voters also wondered about how a former President could use such profane and provocative language to senior colleagues of the party especially Kamara who many saw as the most favourite candidate in the National Delegates’ Conference for the election of the party’s flag-bearer.
From that point, it dawned on the people of Sierra Leone that the former President never wanted Kamara to take over the reins of state command. Many accused the former President of lacking love for his party drawing parallels between him and former Liberian President, George Opong Weah who is fighting for his party.
The ex-Liberian President, according to credible sources, wrote a strongly worded letter to ECOWAS when state security operatives illegally searched his party office for drugs let alone if one had been killed there.
For President Koroma, June 24, 2023 elections are over and that everybody should look forward to 2028. The former President’s statement resonates with that of the Publicity Spokesman, Sidi Yayah Tunis who says in public that the “election is done and dusted” and people should for the next election.