In a meeting held at Bo Secondary School in Bo city, President Julius Maada Bio assured his supporters that he would not hand over power to the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC).
He made the statement few days after he was sworn in caring less about whether APC won an election or not.
Bio’s stance resonated well with supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) who dreamed of a one-party state in a country well known for democracy.
Although it seems feasible, the promise endeared President Bio to the SLPP stalwarts and grassroot and ready to stand by him regardless of the President’s achievement on the ground.
For them, it is well and good as long as SLPP remains in power even if millions of Sierra Leoneans perish. They appear more supportive of President Bio especially when the one-term phenomenon was pronounced, and they did not mind going into an all-out conflict.
It was not uncommon to hear ardent SLPP supporters threatening to fight if the election did not go their way as charms, amulets and shotguns were being prepared for another armed struggle in a country that saw one of the bloodiest guerilla warfares in Africa. Even high-ranking SLPP officials including Dr Prince Alex hand amplified the notion of Bio not handing over power to APC come what may. The robust resistance by SLPP to the flawed and fraudulent election is one of the glaring signs.
Dr Harding has been quoted saying that “only Bio will determine who should be Sierra Leone’s next President.” In his effort to see that the one-term phenomenon did not stand, Dr Harding was bold enough to reduce credible international election observers as “academic dwarfs” even when he was not privy to the observers’ academic qualifications and experiences. The safety of the election observers was also threatened by thugs linked to the ruling party, and most of them left immediately after the election.
Situation was worsened by SLPP’s attempt to interfere with the constitution to make it a seven-year term instead of five years. If the deal worked well, another election would be held in 2030 and not 2028.
SLPP government is also accused of an attempt to interfere with the constitution to make the term limitless so that Bio could go again after 20230 and the one-party project strengthened.
The move for single party in Sierra Leone was begun by the second premier, Sir Milton Margai of SLPP in mid 1960s but was unsuccessful owing to his defeat in the polls.
However, many say President Bio is struggling to continue such project with many doubting whether he would succeed in a 21st century democracy. Bio’s statement seems paradoxical at first glance as it seems impossible in a democratic order.
In a functioning democracy such as Sierra Leone, there is no way an incumbent candidate loses an election and remains on the driving seat as the will of the majority is the basis of governmental power and authority. When Bio said he never hand over power to APC, Nobody questioned him about what his statement actually meant.
However, Bio put his statement into effect when he allegedly colluded with the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh to steal the votes in SLPP’s favour.
In daylight, the votes were allegedly stolen and Bio fraudulently declared winner of the June 24, 2023 election, one of the most politically contentious issues at the moment.
To the dismay and disappointment of the diplomatic community, Bio was sworn in President after a heavy deployment of police and army on the streets to ward off any riot or protest. It was a move to create terror and panic among the populace for Bio to have his way.
Many said Bio was announced President even before the votes from the North-West regions were counted and tallied, a clear act of contempt towards the international community who spent much of their tax-payers’ money in the elections.
The election was strongly discredited by local and international election observers with many saying it “lacked credibility.” The UN, AU, Commonwealth, ECOWAS, EU, Carter Centre, G7+ and NEW condemned the June polls with the use of political violence and thuggery featuring high in subsequent reports.
Ahead of reports, EU Chief Election Observer accused government of using armed violence to win the elections in a press briefing held at Raddison Blu two days after the polls. Ivin Incir touched on the spate of armed attacks at the APC office where a nurse and other supporters were fatally injured with no one held accountable in respect of the killings. The local body of election observers, NEW (National Elections Watch) also condemned the election results saying it was not free and fair.
Its head Michaella Samba Sesay said in a radio interview that Bio lost the election according to the PRVT (Process and Result Verification for Transparency) model which was adopted for Sierra Leone’s previous elections. None of the election observers accepted the election results with some calling for the prosecution of those who allegedly stole the results.
In its last recommendation, Carter Center report urged the international community to hold accountable those who undermined the electoral process in Sierra Leone. The call for prosecution, and the resistance by opposition politicians do not worry President Bio since he is bent on achieving his second term at all cost.
Anywhere he goes, President Bio talks about 2028 amid an election probe.
An Election Investigation Committee is vigorously looking into the conduct of the June elections with a view to recommend a rerun if the alleged irregularities are proved. His ministers too and other high-ranking government officials spoke about 2028 saying the June 24 elections is sealed and settled, and Sierra Leone should move on.
The move for 2028 elections started a day after the communiqué was signed by the SLPP, APC and development partners in an apparent move to bash at the international community.
Bio and his men started putting in place for the second term and one-party project by narrowing the political space and making life extremely difficult for opposition politicians. The political method to make SLPP the sole party was two-pronged using violence and the courts. Sierra Leoneans witnessed an unparalleled scale of violence on the night Bio was pronounced President of Sierra Leone.
Thugs linked to the ruling party raided the homes of opposition politicians with sticks, stones and machetes to recover what they referred to as stolen vehicles and other government assets.
An unknown number of APC politicians were killed in the process and homes looted. The thugs even reached the former President’s daughter, Alice Koroma claiming that they were trying to retrieve government assets.
The trigger was about to be pulled at her not until desperate calls kept the thugs out of the premises. No one was safe at that time as a high court judge who was mistaken for a former minister was forced out his vehicle by machete-wielding youth.
On the other side of the drama, the courts were being used to lord it over opposition politicians as 16 APC parliamentarians were restrained from taking part in parliament owing to petitions filed by SLPP runners-up in the 2018 elections. The APC law makers who made their way to parliament were brutalised by armed police officers leading to what many opposition politicians described as an imposition of a Speaker of Parliament.
However, APC’s petitions were ignored and the opposition party which was in the majority became the minority making it easy for the imposed speaker to preside over most of the obnoxious and draconian laws the country saw through Bio’s five-year rule.
A commission of inquiry dubbed kangaroo-styled was hurriedly and quickly set up to investigate those who were President, Vice President, ministers and deputies owing to allegations of financial improprieties.
Except few, former ministers who appeared at the commissions were nailed with almost all their assets confiscated. An atmosphere of terror characterised by indiscriminate killings of opposition politicians and supporters, mass arrest and detention, rampant pronouncement of states of emergences and dusk-to-dawn curfews as well as other forms of human abuses was created to shut down APC.
In this unsafe atmosphere, APC politicians have borne the brunt as Bio hoped that if most of the APC strong men are eliminated, the road to one-party state will be made easy, but time has proved him wrong.