Opposition leader, Samura Kamara currently stands between the devil and the deep Blue Sea as he endlessly struggles to bring back APC (All People’s Congress)’s election victory which was allegedly stolen on June, last year.
APC members, supporters and sympathisers have threatened to go after him if he betrays them and President Julius Maada Bio, on the other hand will bring treason or subversion charges if Samura Kamara calls for street protest that may end into riots or insurrection.
According to APC sources, recommendations that emanated from the election probe favour Samura Kamara as it shows a 57.15 percent victory for the opposition party, and the ball is now in his court while the sky is his limit.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an APC grassroot member said a deadline will soon be issued for the opposition leader to lead a protest while they follow him.
The deadline, he said, would be a red line which the opposition leader should not cross or he gives up the party’s flag for another candidate to take over.
A local activist, Ibrahim Bangura too accuses Samura Kamara of weakness in the face of naked election rigging which has taken several lives away, a situation he links to Samura’s slow response to the rigging spree. The safety of several Sierra Leoneans, he says, is also at stake as President Bio appears to be fighting to the last drop of his blood.
He always argues that Samura Kamara should have proactive measures to forestall stealing of votes if he wanted to avoid street protest.
As PAOPA still presides over the affairs of the nation, anger of the grassroot member grows everyday as the sad memories of government’s brutality especially during protests still lingers in their minds.
The shooting dead of protesters in opposition strongholds as well as the arrest and detention of APC supporters and sympathisers are still hot topics for discussions among APC grassroot.
They tend to justify their protests by capitalising on statements made President Bio during media interviews. Bio who was the opposition candidate in the 2018 general elections bluntly said “election rigging would lead to war” and that the people had the right to protect their votes although he would not tell them to take to the streets.
Going by Bio’s discussions, he see nothing wrong if the people go out in defence of their votes to restore APC’s victory. For too long, they said, APC’s opposition leader had been assuring them of securing their votes even before the elections.
But, as it stands, it appears as if he would not win the battle as the bio regime still penetrates in his terrain.
However, Samura Kamara would not evade responsibility this time since this is the last chance for the APC, and there is no way the party puts up with him when the game is declared over.
The Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone (ESCL) has failed the grassroot for declaring what many say the wrong candidate as winner of the elections, but the Tripartite should not fail them.
They have constantly called for accountability for government officials who committed atrocious crimes against the people of Sierra Leone, and that will occur only when President Bio is out of power.
The hope that Sierra Leone would prosper again only when Samura Kamara takes over State House also drive the grassroot to a protest frenzy and they expect it to happen overnight in the country. Suspicion of a complicity between Samura Kamara and President Bio is another big push factor for a protest.
Kamara was expected to call for street protest the day Bio was sworn in so that he could send a loud and clear message to the world that he was ready for the presidency.
But, the opposition leader chose a peaceful way of resisting President Bio by disallowing APC’s elected officials (parliamentarians, mayors, chairmen and councillors) to stay away from parliament and local councils, a move that brought about the formation of the Tripartite committee, a quasi-judicial body that replaced the country’s highest judicial institution, the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court, according to Sierra Leone’s constitution, is the highest and final court of appeal for and within Sierra Leone, and it hitherto hear election petitions from aggrieved politicians, but fear of taking sides with the ruling party prompted APC to take another route by having a Tripartite Committee.
The Tripartite Committee also known as the Election Investigation Committee is mandated to look into alleged irregularities of June 24, 2023 multi-tier elections and come up with findings and proffer recommendations so that what happens will not happen again.
The recommendations are in three folds: electoral reforms, results examination and accountability. Recommendations for electoral reforms will look at electoral laws and policies to ensure that all future elections in Sierra Leone are free, fair and credible.
For the second, the results will be examined and the actual winner ascertained, and the third set of the recommendations holds that those who play key role in the election rigging will be brought before a court.
Work of the Tripartite Committee has been completed and recommendations endorsed by all parties to the agreement and now in the hands of the international community.
But, there is a general feeling that President Bio would not accept any recommendation that will cost him the presidency.
He recently sent a loud and clear message to the opposition camp that the election was over and there would be no more election until 2028.
He also warned APC’s political big guns to stop peddling rerun rumour threatening to come down hard on them. In another meeting with SLPP supporters in Bo city, a key SLPP stronghold, Bio threatened to use bullets against those who will risk to come for the presidency when his second term is not yet protected.
In the last public address, Bio also attempted to whittle down the importance of the Tripartite Committee when he rhetorically whether it could manufacture election results.
It is a confidence-building measure for his supporters who have always hoped that nothing would come out of the election investigation as they see President Bio as the only hope for a prosperous Sierra Leone.
It is also reported that some SLPP youth are ready to defend their party if the need arises just to see that Bio rounds up his second term although his election victory remains in big doubt.
But, how can a man who many say is full of the milk of human kindness and unquestioned humility would take back his victory from President Bio is one of the most trending questions at the moment.
The court would have been a good option for the opposition leader, but fear for the fair enforcement of the laws is another big question.
The laws of Sierra Leone particularly, the Public Elections Act, 2022 stipulates legal redress as the only way to challenge electoral irregularities. The legal redress has also been one of the cherished legal customs since the introduction of multi-party democracy in Sierra Leone.
President Bio again has strongly warned that aggrieved parties especially Dr Samura Kamara should go to courts to defend the election results citing his legal battle in 2012 when he filed a petition to the Supreme Court against former President Ernest Bai Koroma for alleged election rigging.
He accepted the outcome even when his case was thrown out citing procedural errors and also wanted Samura Kamara to tread on the same path.
But, the two situations, according to grassroot members, are different as many said President Bio did not win 2012 elections and should not use it as a way to go away with the rigging, but Samura appears weak at the gate.