* Nurturing Ethnic And Tribal Divisions
*Unlawful Dismissals
*Mass Killings
* Illegal Removal Of 10 APC Parliamentarians
*Imposition Of A Speaker Of Parliament
*Indiscriminate Arrest and Detention Of Opposition Politicians
*SLPP’s Ambition For Power
June-24 election has come but not gone as the rumblings of an all-out conflict continue in the clouds. The opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) is yet to recognise the presidency of Julius Maada Bio owing to claims that he is not the winner of the elections.
Until the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh releases the election result, APC will not recognise Bio as President, a bad sign for a post-war country like Sierra Leone.
The resistance to the elections is strongly supported by the international community who have cut off cooperation with Bio seen in funding cut. The USD444m MCC (Millenium Challenge Corporation) grant is the most coveted at the moment as Chief Minister continues his advances on the US Ambassador to Sierra Leone to get the money.
Bio and his men are also sure to face an international tribunal due to sit in Sierra Leone in months to give account of wrong allegedly committed between 2018 and 2023. The on-going tussle between Bio’s government and the opposition backed up by the international community means all is not well although government says that all is well.
By his looks, President Julius Maada Bio has always called on opposition politicians to take part in his government citing peace and stability as much more paramount. Bio wanted to see APC’s parliamentarians, mayors, chairmen and councilors take their seats in parliament and councils, but this wish has been widely seen as far-fetched as none are ready to respond to Bio’s council.
If APC’s elected officials continue the political resistance, the politics of compromise in the form of a coalition government is highly likely to occur.
But, many APCers object to Samura Kamara coalescing with Bio, a man who, many say, is unreliable to the core. Apart from key promises made to the people of Sierra Leone, Bio promised to foster peace and national cohesion by nurturing tolerance with APC which did not materialise throughout his five years.
Close to elections, Bio also took an oath before God that he would not kill again and the political space was opened for everyone. The promise was also not kept as Bio’s forces shot dead two persons at APC headquarters in Freetown without any remorse.
During the polls, voters were scared away as teargas canisters and live rounds were fired at them, a move that raised several questions on Bio’s integrity.
Bio’s failure to keep promises is a big setback to any mediation effort in the near future, but his past dealings with opposition politicians and the people of Sierra Leone worsens an already polarised situation.
He nurtured and nourished naked ethnic division in Sierra Leone, embarked on mass murders, illegally and forcefully removed 10 APC opposition parliamentarians, imposed a Speaker of parliament, indiscriminately arrested and detained opposition politicians, carved a cult of personality and the list continues.
Ethnic and Regional Division
Unlike past Presidents Ahmed Tejan Kabba and Ernest Bai Koroma who created a cohesive society in post-war Sierra Leone, Bio attempted to tear the country down by creating a tribal hegemony. A recent list of government appointees released by a Sierra Leonean diasporan showed that approximately 98 percent are South-Easterners.
A look at key government institutions such as the Sierra Leone Police, Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces, State House, the Executive, parliament, the judiciary, Statistics Sierra Leone and others will reveal an unprecedented state capture by just one tribe.
Bio however seeks justification of his tribalistic act from the demonic Governance Transition Team (GTT) report authored by a group of SLPP hardliners led by the sacked Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor David Francis.
Written in the early days of April, 2018, the politically fanatic authors accused the Koroma regime of entrenching tribalism in the appointment and promotion of civil and public servants although South-Easterners held key posts then.
Joseph Bandabla Dauda was in charge of a class ‘A’ Ministry of Internal Affairs, Denis Sandy was Minister of Lands, John Arrow Bockarie was Deputy Minister of Justice and the list goes on.
Governing in an immediate post-war period, Tejan Kabba also built a broad-based government of national unity by putting Northerners in charge of key ministries.
Under Pa Kaaba, various Northerners tapped the political largesse and political tension was kept at its barest minimum. Momodu Koroma was Minister of Foreign Affairs, Alpha Tejan Wurie, Minister of Education, Alfred Bobson Sesay, Minister of Lands, Dr Kadie Sesay, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alfred Carew, Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Okere Adams, Minister of Agriculture and the list is not exhaustive.
Under Bio, it is a different ball game as considerations of tribe and region, in no small measure, influence his appointment of ministers and other top government officials.
Unlawful Dismissals
Striving to build a perfectly constituted tribal government, Bio dismissed a large number of prominent North-Westerners from public institutions to create a window of opportunity for his brothers and sisters from South-East regions.
Dozens of officials of North-Western backgrounds lost their jobs at State House, Office of Diaspora Affairs, Sierra Leone Maritime Administration, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Sierra Leone Police and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces among others.
Statistics Sierra Leone (SSL) which was led by one of the few favoured Northerners, Professor Osman Sankoh however proved to be the worst. Over 100 workers were laid off at SSL without providing sufficient and proper reason.
Prof Sankoh also subsequently succumbed to the same fate when he was asked to lay down kits without prior notice.
The Northern Professor was used, abused and dumped later as they left him in the wilderness only to be saved by the University of Advanced Management and Technology (UNIMTEC), one of the mushroom universities in Sierra Leone.
SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) government pressed ahead with the decision even when it became clear that it was not the correct way to go. A government must learn to see the creation of jobs for its citizens as a form of investment and not to dismiss workers in the name of tribalism and regionalism.
Former President Koroma did not dismiss South-Easterners to create jobs for North-Westerners but created job opportunities by bringing in London Mining Company, African Minerals Limited, SUCFIM, Timis
Corporation, Shandong Steel Group and other investors. Everyone who had the requisite credentials was employed and the country blossomed to the fullest as everyone was happy. Bio however trod on a different path putting on lenses coloured by ethnicism.
Mass Killings
Unlike Kabba and Koroma, Bio’s government has been referred to as a ‘killing machine’ that has crushed hundreds of North-Westerners in just five years. The killings started in Rosengbe village in Tonkoli district just few days after bio was announced President of Sierra Leone in April, 2018.
A joint police-military raid for Canabis in the small, quiet village turned out to be an invasion. Dwelling Houses were broken into and property carted away on the suspicion that they were proceeds of the sale of Canabis.
No one was held accountable for the unlawful action and the former Local Unit Commander to Mile-91 division was sacked when he attempted to shed light on the operation.
On 29th April, 2020, 31 inmates including a prison officer were allegedly shot dead to stop what authorities called an attempted jail break. Unofficial sources offered a higher figure raising big doubt as to whether government is truthful with the casualty figures or playing magic with numbers.
As usual, no one was held accountable even when accusing fingers are pointed at Bio’s presidential guards. In an open show of condoning impunity, Bio consoled no bereaved family but added insults to injury when he said “my government will hit harder” labelling Sierra Leoneans as “terrorists” and “insurrectionists.”
Outside the prison yard, residents in Tombo community were also fatally injured during an encounter with the police. Since fishing is the main economic activity in the fishing community, the fishermen had protested a government ban that stopped them from going to the high seas to fish.
Although the ban was a complete abuse of the people’s right, government justified it as a measure to reduce the spread of Corona Virus.
The justification is untenable since there was no evidence that a fishermen had been infected with Corona while fishing. In Lunsar town in Northern Sierra Leone, a number of youth who took to the streets demanding the release of an APC councilor from police custody were gunned down by police and army.
Investigation previously carried out by this press indicated that the detained councillor committed no crime and had been helpful to the youth in the community following the illegal closure of SL Mining Company by government citing legal errors in the agreement.
In July, 2020, about 20 residents in Makeni city also crumbled under the barrel of the gun when they stood up against the forceful removal of an electricity generator.
In August 10, 2022, 31 unarmed protesters including six police officers were murdered by police and army to suppress what they call an insurrection. The protest was staged against the country’s economic hardship that was spiraling out of control.
Government’s thirst for the blood of the innocent is still not quenched even on the eve of a Commonwealth brokered mediation. Two persons were shot dead at APC office in Brookfields community in Freetown immediately after the elections and threats to kill still continue.
Illegal Removal Of Parliamentarians
The arbitrary removal of 10 APC parliamentarians from their seats using the court was also a continuation of the dismissals. Verdicts simultaneously handed down by justices Komba Kamanda and Momoh Jah Stevens resulted into the removal of the APC parliamentarians who were replaced by SLPP runners-up.
The act runs contrary to the Public Elections Act, 2022 which provides for a re-run in a situation where a petition holds. One of the hardest-hit victims was Kemokoh Conteh who was removed for what the court called sporadic violence during the elections.
In fairness to Honourable Conteh, he ought to have been spared as peace and security is in the hands of the police and not a lone member of parliament.
To keep APC in fear, armed police and army were immediately deployed at APC office which was pelted with bullets and teargas canisters. The fearless and voiceferous APC Spokesman, Cornelius Deveaux was chased out of the country by trigger-happy and blood-thirsty police and military officers. To date, Deveaux still remains in exile and his coming to Sierra Leone remains a wait-and-see affair.
Imposition Of A Speaker Of Parliament
Restraint on 16 APC parliamentarians is a precursor to the eventual imposition of a Speaker of parliament, Dr Abass Bundu. The restraint came in response to petitions filed by SLPP parliamentarians. Disappointingly, APC’s petitions were rejected outright, a move that led to the erosion of confidence in the judiciary.
Once the Speaker took the seat through fraudulent means, it went without saying that he was under obligation to those who fought for his victory.
Little wonder that several laws passed were not in the country’s interest, but SLPP’s interest. For a long time, fist fighting, invectives and police brutality characterised Sierra Leone’s parliament as opposition parliamentarians especially APC resisted to tyranny.
Indiscriminate Arrest
APC’s top politicians and their supporters have been placed behind bars most times on false claims.
Former Minister of Defence, Alfred Paolo Conteh was arrested and detained on a treason charge, Works Minister, Kemo Sesay was locked up, Minister of Political Affairs, Karmoh Kabba was also picked up and detained and the list continues.
Dozens of APC supporters are still in police and prison cells without hope of getting their freedom again. Even in the face of mediation, arrest sprees have not ceased. The police and army are ready to crack down on the APC supporters at any time the need arises.
Bio’s Uncontrollable Ambition For Power
At the moment, Bio is ready to go the extra mile to retain power so that he can evade a sad history of being the first President to rule only for a term in multi-party Sierra Leone.
Kabba and Koroma consecutively ruled for two terms and the question facing Bio is why only me? He has the cash and cache.
Bio is sure to use force to keep the opposition silent by police and military crackdown if money failed. He is backed by his tribesmen from the South-East regions caring less whether the country moved forward or not.
Through Power ambition, Bio openly rigged the election in daylight rebuffing all calls for a re-count or re-run. He challenged the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France, and the United States who he humiliated on their own soil.
He blackmailed the United States by falsely alleging that he was called by US Authorities to interfere with the elections. The United States have responded to Bio’s claims describing them as false. Daggers have been drawn between Bio and the United States as latest events show.
His effrontery to go into a war on words with the world’s greatest country shows the extent to which Bio is ready to retain power by all means possible. If Bio can confront United States, what about APC?