In a war, the first casualty is truth. Depending on who is talking, the truth is expendable. This is true of what is taking place in Sierra Leone.
According to president Julius Maada Bio, no shot was fired on election day at APC (All People’s Congress) headquarters in Freetown contrary to allegations made by the EU election report. Sierra Leone’s embattled President made the disclaimer, last week, in an interview with Aljazeera news channel.
In the interview, Mr Bio said there was no risk of Sierra Leone returning to conflict after the disputed June elections in a region where power seems to be changing hands without elections.
Despite the fact that Aljazeera, local media practitioners and members of the international community that had to duck bullets are in possession of pictures and such other details on the fateful day, president Bio still denied that the firing actually took place, a statement that questions the authenticity of the news report that state security officers opened fire at the APC office resulting into the death of a long-serving member of the office staff.
It must be recalled that several journalists including one belonging to this medium all narrated their experiences on the day. Re-elected Mayor of Freetown, Aki Sawyerr waxed lyrical about her experience ducking bullets while using her phone to notify the public and world about what was happening.
Now, the man the APC is supposed to trust in the process of the dialogue to settle June-24 elections impasse has shown no remorse or demonstrated that he was even sorry as that situation could have turned out bad, with the lives of Dr Samura Kamara, the city mayor-elect and members of the international community endangered.
What would have happened if Dr Samura had been assassinated on that day? Why was this denial by president Bio worthy of note? It is often said that in a war, truth is the first casualty. If Mr Bio can obviously deny that such an incident happened, then he can and will say anything to maintain his grip on power.
If this is the type of character the APC is supposed to trust will act in the best interest of the nation, then we hope that they will learn. Obviously in denial about what happened at the APC secretariat, the president also said he was fairly elected in a contest that he described as free, credible and transparent.
Going into a dialogue with the APC over the disputed elections result announcement with such an attitude does not say anything good about the APC getting what they have been demanding all along.
By denying that the APC secretariat was never attacked, that the police investigated and declared that it was never under attack, by claiming that he won the election in a free, fair and credible manner, what truth are we to expect from the embattled leader of Sierra Leone?
Mr Bio has demonstrated that he is not interested in peace or ensuring that we make progress in our quest for peace. By returning the nation back to the days of Pa Sheki, when only one party was in government, Mr Bio has destroyed what others claimed he had built.
If his intention was to return Sierra Leone back to a democratic state, then the manipulations that have occurred during the electoral processes from 2018 and 2023 do not say anything encouraging to the people and our international friends.
According to news report on the day, in the midst of Dr Samura having a press conference on the APC tallying of the votes, sporadic gunshots were heard leaving many to lie prostrate on the ground ducking bullets.
It was believed that teargas and bullets that were fired at the APC office was aimed at preventing Dr Samura from releasing the APC’s tallying of polling results on the day. Mr Bio is not known as a man that respects agreements as long as he had gotten the other side of the agreement to the table.
He is not expected to respect anything that comes from the dialogue to settle the electoral impasse. If he can deny that no shots were fired at the APC office in the midst of so many witnesses, then he will insist on his electoral victory, no matter what happens to the people and the state. Lonta!