Former Vice President, Victor Bockarie Foh stands on the threshold of prosecution for his confession to past wrongs. Foh referred to his former party, the main opposition, All People’s Congress ((APC) as “a party of thieves” sparking waves of discussions and debates among the public. The statement is widely seen as a true confession since Foh himself was the second gentleman of the party and the state.
If APC is a party of thieves, it logically follows that the former Vice President is one of the biggest thieves. Even if Victor Foh is not prosecuted today, he could be roped in later. It does not matter whether President Julius Maada Bio or Samura Kamara is in power. The African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa arrested and jailed their member, former President Jacob Zuma. The ZANU PF in Zimbabwe impeached and nearly prosecuted their own Robert Mugabe when he strolled on a frolic.
What about Victor Foh who is an appointed Vice President? As one of the oldest member of the party, it goes without saying that Foh acquired his wealth through APC. He came into the party during President Siaka Stevens’s reign, a period during which corruption was seen as a way of life in Sierra Leone. At that time politicians could take from state coffers as much as it pleased them, and nobody could question their action.
An effective system of checks and balances as well as democratic accountability were non-existent. The fight against corruption was not at a pace as it is today. Politicians at that time made hay while the sun shone, and do away with it. As if to mesmerise Bio and SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) stalwarts, the former Vice President made the scathing allegation against his former party during one of SLPP’s campaign tours in Kono, Eastern Sierra Leone.
Foh hailed Bio as “a man of peace” for letting APC politicians see the light of day adding that they should all be dragged to prison. “President Julius Maada Bio would have tied rope around the waist and necks of APC politicians and dragged them to Jail,” Foh suggested while commending Bio and degrading APC members in public, Foh heaped praises on Bio referring to him as an excellent man. “President Bio, I admire you; I love you,” Foh praised Bio.
The former Vice President is however astute and shrewd enough to exonerate himself by stating that although APC is a party of corrupt men, he maintained a clean slate as his name was never mentioned in the list of persons of interest for the commissions of inquiry. The commissions were set up within months after President Bio came to power to investigate those who were President, Vice President,and ministers in respect of the management of state finances.
Those against whom adverse findings were made had been decisively dealt with by the Bio regime. Houses and estates have been confiscated, former government officials arrested and jailed and others died through sustained oppression and intermittent crackdowns. However, Foh and other past ministers who declared for SLPP were spared.
Although the former Vice President had left APC, Foh had been closely monitoring events unfolding in the party with particular focus on intra-party conflicts. He minced no word in telling the public that APC had been crumbling from within.
“Any party with too much internal struggles is bound to fall, and too much fight in the APC has caused the party to fall down,” Foh informed Sierra Leoneans. APCians within and outside Sierra Leone have not taken Foh’s comments with a pinch of salt. Many said the former Vice President was part of a group of people who he referred to as thieves. Who is he in the party before this time?
What posts did he hold within and outside the party? Foh was district and regional chairman of the party before he became national secretary-general. He was Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to China before he was made Vice President. By virtue of the positions held in the party, it is safe to say that Foh has wide and in-depth knowledge of the party’s structures and operations as it came out clearly from the speech he made to a group of SLPP supporters in Kono district.
He hinted on how he and former flag-bearer, Eddie Turay represented APC at Bintumani 1 & 11 conferences in 1996 which were about the democratisation of Sierra Leone. The former Vice President also represented APC at the All Political Parties Association (APPA) when it was newly formed. Until its disintegration quite lately, APPA used to be the umbrella body of the country’s political parties.
Foh who took credit for giving the name APPA also stood in for APC at the defunct Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a body set up to investigate causes of Sierra Leone’s civil war. Foh also prided himself as the political strategist who wrote the road map for the APC to win the 2007 elections. He claimed to have brought former President Ernest Bai Koroma from PDP (People’s Democratic Party) to the APC.
Foh further stated that he contributed to the selection of Chief Sam Sumana as Koroma’s running mate and subsequently Vice President of the Republic of Sierra Leone. Everyone will be convinced by Victor Foh’s derogatory remarks against APC owing to the positions he held in the party. While Foh is being castigated for such uncomplimentary statements against a party through which he rose to prominence, others still sympathised with him.
Many say he is not praising Bio and SLPP for nothing. It is a move to keep his head above water, and to tap SLPP’s political largesse. The former Vice President was dragged to court for misappropriation of funds meant for the hajj to holy city of Mecca. He was however freed after a protracted trial that went on for over a year. Many say the outcome would have been different if Foh had failed to throw his weight behind SLPP.
Kono, home of First Lady, Mrs Fatima Bio, is one of the swing districts in the country. Almost every political party especially struggles for a foothold in the community. The eastern district, over the years, has been a battlefield for APC and SLPP. It was clear that APC took the lead while Bio had it tough. The President was abandoned in a mosque while addressing the people there.
In another event, Bio was also booed at by pupils when he mentioned the electricity challenge in the community. The pupils treated Bio’s statement as an issue of utmost hypocrisy as his government forcefully relocated a thermal plant from Kono to Bo town. However, Victor Foh’s negative statements against the APC will therefore clear SLPP’s way in Kono. Top APC members within and outside Sierra Leone are not comfortable with Foh derogatory remarks against the party.
They fear that the comments would weigh down the party very hard in the coming elections. The people of Sierra Leone are no longer ready to vote in rogue politicians but ones that will lift them out poverty and under-development. Apart from moves to save himself from corruption trials, Foh, according to several APC members, eyed the party’s flag in 2018.
As one of the oldest men in the party, he was highly hopeful of succeeding former President Ernest Bai Koroma clueless about a third party that is in the drama. Samura Kamara was the most favoured candidate owing to rich work experience, expertise, clout and contacts. Kamara also leads a clean slate making him the most preferred choice in 2018.
In anger, Foh forcefully removed APC from his house on Damballa in Bo city. Victor Foh offered his house to APC after party’s office was set ablaze in Bo city during a row between APC and SLPP supporters. Access Bank now occupies the building after APC was removed. As if that is not enough, Victor Foh is busy castigating his age-old party like nobody’s business hoping that all would be rosy for SLPP. Tagging his former comrades as thieves is one of the latest moves. But the question is what happens if APC won 2023 elections?