In spite of his popularity in the past 15 years, former President Ernest Koroma is now a shadow of his glorious former self.
For that reason, President Julius Maada Bio no longer needs the former President who, many say, has outlived his usefulness in the All People’s Congress (APC) party.
Koroma however still parades as a popular man although the name has died before the man even before he was taken into exile. The former head of state lost his popularity when information leaked that he was strong support of the Bio regime despite its failings and killings of North-Westerners.
Koroma’s low-key welcome he got from his people in Makeni is a testament to his fall from grace to grass, and therefore no more a gem for Julius Maada Bio.
Reports from Makeni, Ernest Koroma’s hometown indicate that commercial motorists popularly known as ‘okada’ riders were paid and offered free fuel to receive the former President during his home-coming.
But, the crowd was still too low compared to the huge population which would come out in the street in the past to see the great man with his motorcade on the streets of major towns including Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital.
A good number of Makeni residents stayed at home on that day while few riders went to see the former President.
Speaking to Nightwatch Press via mobile phone, a resident in Makeni, Hassan Kamara said it would have been better for the former President to die in exile than to come back home.
“Ernest Koroma does not earn the respect and admiration which he used to enjoy from his people especially in Makeni. When the President arrived in his hometown, only few people went out in the streets,” Kamara told this press, adding that the people were disgusted with Ernest Koroma owing to his past actions.
Kamara emphasised that the former head of state fail to stand up for his people while they were being massacred by Bio’s security forces.
He cited the killings of July, 2020 during the forceful removal of a 6Kva electricity generator from Makeni to Lungi, a community which hosts Sierra Leone’s only international airport.
Matters became worse when government threatened to arrest key stakeholders in Makeni including the mayor of Makeni if they fomented any violence or lawlessness.
Another resident in Makeni, Isatu Kargbo also told this press that Koroma’s popularity is finished as life is no longer the same for him. She is taken aback by the by the low turnout upon arrival of the former President in Makeni.
“It is a big surprise to see a small crowd of people welcoming Ernest Koroma upon returning home,” Isatu told this press. Dozens of residents in Makeni also said they had no business with the former President who they saw as a man who had sold his people to Maada Bio and his SLPP/PAOPA government.
PAOPA government, according to the opposition leader, is an “ethnic militant cabal” that is not restrained by any law, rule or principle in the perpetuation of atrocities, human rights abuses and crimes against humanity.
Koroma’s decision to dine and wine with such a “militant cabal” remains one of the hottest topics of discussion among the public.
Currently, Koroma has been used and dumped in the gutters and no more a jewel for President Bio and his SLPP party.
President Bio, by April 2028, will have exhausted his two terms and handed over power to whoever wins the election, and will take an exit from state governance right from that point.
This means a two-pronged mission has been successfully accomplished: Bio has enjoyed a two-term Presidency and also depopularised ex-President Koroma and the APC.
Upon becoming President of Sierra Leone in April, 2018, Maada Bio set out to achieve two objectives which are to reduce Ernest Koroma to a laughing stock and to divide the APC.
Bio and cronies’ strategies was first to set up a commission of inquiry and to trumpet corruption allegations and other criminal offences against the Koroma regime.
Bio’s first move was to disarm and withdraw Koroma’s personal bodyguards and left him defenceless and vulnerable. Bio turned all calls to re-deploy Ernest guards, an intention to make him appear funny in the eyes of the public.
A 2018 report by the Governance Transition Team (GTT) branded the APC regime of Ernest Koroma a “criminal racketeering enterprise,” implying that APC is a party of thieves and racketeers that loot state assets at the people’s detriment.
Former President Koroma’s name was the first to go into the list of persons of interest by the commissions of inquiry, with most his bank accounts frozen.
The premises of the former President was constantly raided by investigators of Anti-corruption Commission accompanied (ACC) by armed police officers to obtain statements from him in respect of corruption and money-laundering offences.
Perhaps, the greatest allegation against the former President was the alleged financing of a coup which landed him in a magistrate court in Freetown after police interview.
Sources said, during the trial, that there was a hidden plan to place the former President at least three days in custody and later released on bail just to trim his feathers and cut down his popularity.
As an alternative to incarceration, the former head of state was held in house- arrest for days after his first appearance before the court, with restrictions on the number of people who should visit him. The political situation became tense after it became clear that the former head of state might not return home after the court session on his second appearance.
But, the continuous deterioration of the security situation prompted an intervention by ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African) leaders to take Ernest Koroma out of the country. From the presidency, Bio targeted the main institution, APC to shut it down by arresting and detaining most of the party’s top cream.
The houses and estates of former APC ministers and heads of government departments and agencies were arrested and detained for violence and corruption-related offences.
Former Minister of Political and Public Affairs, Karmoh Kabba was prosecuted for alleged incitement of violence in one of the constituencies in Western Area Rural during a bye-election.
Former NRA (National Revenue Authority) chief, Haja Kallah Kamara too faced the ACC for corruption allegations and was held in police custody for three days released and made to refund stolen funds.
The relatives of a deceased minister, Minkailu Bah, were asked out of their home by armed police owing to findings of the defunct commissions of inquiry established by the Bio regime.
The family of another deceased head of a telecoms agency, were also made homeless owing to the findings of the same commissions of inquiry.
It was alleged that Momoh Conteh had misappropriated public funds amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The list of targeted APC ministers was endless, but the worst came for the APC when the party was branded a “terrorist organisation” by President Bio in the aftermath of the prison massacre of April, 2020. The aim was to demonise APC to an extent that no credible entity especially the international community (the United States and the United Kingdom) will have business with the party. Europe and the world hate to see terrorist organisations owing to their penchant to destroy lives, social capital and bring down legitimate governments.
It also justifies any brutal action taken against the party to permanently keep it out of politics.
Fear instead of freedom reigned within the ranks of APC with Bio’s threatening that “my government will hit hard.”
The statement came after the brutal carnage at the prison yard meaning that the Bio regime was ready to embark on a further crackdown.
With fear and panic owing to threats of gun violence, some senior APC politicians were silenced while others decided to play double standards by playing second fiddle to the ruling party.
This situation which leads to a near death of the APC has been blamed on former President Koroma as the man who made a tragic mistake in 2018 by the gimmick of a “regime change.”
Currently, Koroma is no more useful for the Bio regime whose political mission has been achieved.
However, Koroma was definitely a likeable and cherished personality for President Bio while in opposition for his way to be paved.
Sources within APC have given various accounts on how the former President offered huge sums of money to Bio to ensure that he lived in comfort, slowly preparing him for the presidency.
Koroma was said to have rented and even bought a house in Freetown for President Bio at the annoyance of several APC politicians who are au fait with the atrocities of the Bio regime.
At the height of Ebola, Bio also received thousands of dollars from Ernest Koroma for public education scheme to help roll back Ebola in the South-East regions. Many say the funds were used to campaign even ahead of 2018 election as told by credible sources.
It was not clear whether President Bio gave any account or not, but everything went normal until Koroma peacefully handed over power to him in April, 2018.