A close look at Sierra Leone’s security situation reveals that all is not well although authorities bury their heads in the sand and pretend that all is well.
Political tension rises at every tick of the clock as all combustibles well set waiting for the slightest spark to burst into flames. The people of Sierra Leone wanted to take back with their bare hands what they call stolen votes from the PAOPA government.
Majority of Sierra Leoneans in the North-West regions, strongholds of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC) have threatened to take to the streets in two weeks if the Tripartite Committee does not announce a rerun or fresh election alleging that the June 24, 2023 polls is rigged. If there is no rerun or fresh election, Dr Samura Kamara must be declared winner of the elections or else they would make the state ungovernable.
The Tripartite Committee, a body set up to investigate the irregularities, is expected to announce their findings on June 19, this year and the people seem determined to respond to any recommendations that will not favour them.
The situation therefore calls for the voice of the leader, Dr Samura Kamara who has been quiet all this while.
Although he shoulders a big responsibility, many say Kamara somewhat appears weak, docile and tight-lipped about the deteriorating political situation in Sierra Leone despite the countless number of Sierra Leoneans that have perished under the barrel of the gun.
At this trying time, Dr Samura Kamara is expected to provide leadership by engaging his people through the media or by way of regular town hall meetings to educate them about the work of the Tripartite Committee so that misconceptions and conspiracy theories about the election probe could be dispelled.
Several allegations of a sell-out to the ruling party against Dr Samura Kamara have been filtering through the public thus eroding the people’s confidence in the work of the Tripartite Committee. Few months back, Dr Samura Kamara was accused of receiving a bribe of $2m from the PAOPAs to let go the elections prompting invectives from several quarters.
It was a quite a dangerous situation but more dangerous when Kamara remains mute and tight-lipped about the political situation.
APC members and supporters expected their leader, Dr Samura Kamara to respond by way of criticisms to President Bio’s declaration of no other election until 2028.
He made the statement during a meeting with SLPP members and supporters in the Southern city of Bo. Standing by his statement, the President threaten to use bullet for bullet to tighten his grip on power although international and local election reports noted that he did not win the June 24, 2023 elections.
For many APC members, Bio’s statement is peremptory of the work of the Tripartite Committee and also a threat to national security, but the opposition leader, Dr Samura Kamara is also quiet about Bio’s statements.
Even when the United States Ambassador, David Hunt said there would be no rerun ahead of the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee, APC members and supporters looked up to their leader for solace by addressing them on the current state of affairs.
In the midst of doubts and misconceptions currently gaining ground, only few APC politicians come on air to inform the people about the party’s position towards the election probe and other political challenges confronting the party.
Three days back, Minkailu Koroma who is not an APC executive official informed Sierra Leoneans about the party’s stance towards the a planned protest due to take place in the not-too-distant future.
During the discussion, Minkailu Koroma was opposed to any protest saying “the APC will support any form of violence or protest staged by any member of the public.”
Not too long, the party also put out a joint press release that condemns hate speech or any form of violence in Sierra Leone.
“The Sierra Leone People’s Party and the All People’s Congress express our concern over rising tensions in our political discourse both within Sierra Leone and among our diaspora communities. The APC and SLPP have jointly committed to the agreement for national unity to address these challenges: peacefully resolve political differences, strengthen our democratic institutions, resume regular cross-party dialogue and unite all Sierra Leoneans across the divides,” a portion of the press release reads.
Similarly, SLPP politicians also came out to condemn violence in the country, but rules out any recommendation for a rerun of the election despite warning by APC’s representative that nobody should preempt the outcome of the Tripartite Committee.
Dr Kaifala Marrah has been repeatedly calling on members and supporters of APC to exercise patience and restraint until the committee rounds up its work and comes out with the findings and recommendations.
APC’s representatives at the Tripartite Committee also have been engaging low cadre members and supporters of the party about the work of the Tripartite and where they were at the moment.
At the time of the press briefing about a month ago, almost all agencies had cooperated with the committee by presenting their documents to the investigators except ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) and NaCRA (National Civil Registration Authority) which are key agencies said to have played a leading role in the rigging of the elections.
The situation also left many questions than answers as the ECSL and NaCRA should be the first institutions to cooperate with the investigators to ensure progress.
ECSL conducted and supervised the elections while NaCRA handled most of the registration processes especially for first-time voters.
In the midst of the conflicting views and opinions, Dr Samura Kamara is completely missing in action prompting critics to call him “MUMU OPPOSITION leader.” Even a notable Sierra Leonean lawyer has bashed at the seeming weakness of the opposition to hold power to account. Maybe Dr Samura Kamara relies on international diplomacy and justice system to turn the political tide in his favour.
The people of Sierra Leone have a genuine reason for looking up to Samura Kamara to steer the ship at a tough moment since he assured them that he would protect the votes at all cost and against all odds.
Almost two weeks to the elections, voters especially those in APC strongholds had resolved to boycott the polls if ECSL fails to provide the voter register which help them know the exact number of voters.
The ‘NO DATA, NO VOTE’ campaign was gathering pace when Samura Kamara urged the people to go out and vote, reiterating that the votes will be protected.
Adhering to the call of their leader, the people went out in their numbers and exercised their franchise despite climatic and security challenges.
But, the results were allegedly stolen in favour of the incumbent party, the SLPP leaving opposition members and supporters in big time disappointment. Again, Samura Kamara was not so visible especially after he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Bio’s security forces.
However, an APC member was fatally injured with no one held accountable thus fuelling an impunity culture in Sierra Leone’s body politic.
According to reliable sources, the firing at the APC was masterminded by top SLPP politicians just to wipe off the opposition leader, but divine intervention caused a change of course. Samura Kamara also attempted to speak on the election eve when he demanded the resignation of the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh and other four commissioners over failure to produce data and other associated factors, but his effort was foiled by SLPP politicians who heavily threw their weight behind the electoral commissioners.
SLPP Chairman, Dr Prince Harding threw a tough challenge to Samura Kamara that Mohamed Konneh and the Commissioners would conduct the election results at all cost, a move that raised the question of why Dr Harding was so passionate about the conduct of the elections by a handpicked official.
At the end of the day, SLPP had a smooth ride over Samura Kamara, but the election ended in a big fiasco. Now, the voters are ready to resist the PAOPA rule for another four years and the voice of Samura Kamara urgently needed to show the direction the party is going.
Remember, rough seas made good captains.