THE RISE AND TRIUMPHS
In a well-attended inauguration ceremony November, 2007 at the National Stadium in Freetown, Ernest Koroma humbly received the presidential signaling the second coming of the All People’s Congress (APC) to the political limelight after 15 years in the wilderness.
The solemn occasion was marked with fanfare, pump and pageantry as various heads of states and diplomatic corps witnessed the all-important ceremony. It is a real moment for Koroma who later became an iconic figure in Africa and beyond even after his political life owing to his achievements in Sierra Leone and contributions to global peace and security.
However, his popularity today is at an all-time low, and his authority at its low ebb because of lies, deception and betrayal of his party through he rose to fame.
Koroma has been in politics for years without much recognition, but he came under the spotlight in 2002 when he was made APC’s flag-bearer to contest with then political heavyweight, President Ahmed Tejan Kabba. Although it was his first time to run for the presidency and lose, he made impressive inroads in the polls securing 27 parliamentary seats and a good number of Mayors, Chairmen and Councilors to APC’s credit compared to Eddie Turay who got just four seats in 1996 elections.
He came at a time APC had been out of State House for fifteen years after it was toppled by the NPRC Khaki Boys in the April, 1992 putsch.
Koroma was a man from the once popular People’s Democratic Party- Sorbeh (PDP-Sorbeh), the party of late Thaimu Bangura who had close ties with Tejan Kabba’s SLPP.
A long run legal wrangling that lasted for years, a hallmark of the APC, as Osho Williams aka Osho for Sure, Eddie Turay, Jengo Stevens and Serry Kamal were in court challenging Ernest Koroma over the party’s leadership.
But, all of a sudden, the conflicts died down owing to some political compromises so that the party could bounce back to power as it was almost forgotten in the country’s body politic.
No gainsaying that Ernest’s glorious appearance gave life to the party after over a decade in oblivion. His strides were great and admirable and the people looked for no choice in the 2007 polls other than Ernest Koroma who many said had the looks and features of a productive President.
The people initially made no mistake in having Ernest Koroma the party’s flag-bearer as he won the election with a relatively wide margin defeating the incumbent, former Vice President, Solomon Ekuma Berewa.
Mr. Berewa had tainted his image for working with then SLPP who many Sierra Leoneans said did nothing to develop the country and he was also accused of championing the execution of 24 military officers in March, 1998 after being found guilty of treason despite calls for amnesty.
The executions came few weeks after the restoration of Tejan Kabba who was briefly overthrown in by an unholy alliance of renegade soldiers and the RUF in May, 1997. Thousands, if not millions of voters, saw a demon in Berewa and there was no way they could vote him in to perpetuate another savagery.
Despite the incumbency, one could be correct to say Berewa was a soft target and easy pushover for former President Koroma. Without wasting time, Ernest hit the ground running when Freetown once dubbed the darkest city in the world saw bright light in its nook and cranny during Ernest’s first 100 days in office.
It was a fulfillment of a promise made by the former President before coming to power. His Agenda For Change (A4C) was premised on five thematic areas: energy, infrastructure (roads and bridges), health, education and agriculture which he rolled out to every district in Sierra Leone devoid of tribe, region and political affiliation.
It was under the AFC that energy and good roads were restored in Freetown, PortLoko, Moyamba, Makeni, Bo, Bonthe, Pujehun, Kailahun, Tonkolili among others except Kenema district in the Eastern region.
Kenema was the only district that was left out since they were not ready to work with Ernest Koroma, and most of their people would say they were waiting for SLPP to come back.
The energy and infrastructural projects were also complemented by the launch of the Free Health Care (FHC) policy which catered for under-five children, lactating mothers and pregnant women.
The FHC scheme proved well as Sierra Leone’s terrible rolling statistics of infant and maternal mortality rate was reduced to an appreciable level.
Before the coming of President Koroma, Sierra Leone had the worse records of infant and maternal deaths in Africa second only to Angola.
Koroma also moved Sierra Leone a bit from aid to trade, and he mobilised such support when he attended the G-8 summit in the UK in 2008. The migration from aid to trade means Sierra Leone would no longer heavily depend on foreign assistance or donations but investment, trade and commerce. It was after that global conference that serious and credible investors knocked on the doors of Sierra Leone as seen in the arrival of Sucfim in Pujehun, London Mining Company in PortLoko, African Minerals Limited in Tonkolili districts among others.
Trade boomed and thousands of jobs were created for the jobless Sierra Leonean youth, living cost cut down with life having a real meaning.
Apart from these tangible development strides, Ernest Koroma was also hailed for respecting and protecting democracy, rights, freedoms and civil liberties of citizens including those of the then main opposition, Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) now the ruling party.
He displayed rare qualities of a leader by protecting SLPP offices across the country when APC office and the house of APC regional chairperson were in flames and such move earned the former President the title of ‘Democrat of Africa.’
At one time, he was flanked by the former US President and the UN Secretary-General during a UN Summit making many Sierra Leoneans proud. Little wonder that the former President won again a second-term mandate in 2012 in a wide margin.
The following year of his second term, Sierra Leone was rated the fastest growing economy in the world according to an IMF (International Monetary Fund) projection with Samura Kamara, APC’s current flag-bearer sitting as Finance Minister.
Having fixed several areas of the economy, Koroma was about to roll out the Agenda For Prosperity (AFP) when Ebola struck in May, 2014 costing the lives of thousands of Sierra Leoneans including health professionals. Mining companies also pulled out their staff, assets and halted operations.
In the Ebola period, much of the gains made in Koroma’s first term faded away, and the AFP which is about improving salaries and wages of public sector workers also stalled. But, with a manful control, the country was kept afloat as the economy bounced back two years after Ebola was declared over in November, 2016.
Mining companies and other investors ploughed back their money and the youth put back to work with the economy steadily recovering from the twin shocks.
The Finance Minister, Samura Kamara was relocated to the Foreign Affairs Ministry which was an opportunity to woo investors to come again to a post-Ebola economy and his effort added weight to the recovery process.
Life was better off compared to today with Ernest Koroma still enjoying the love and admiration of Sierra Leoneans.
THE DOWNFALL AND FAILINGS
It is often said that all is well that ends well, but former President Koroma never ends well in his political life. When he was riding into the sunset in his second term, it was clear that he would not run again for a third term since it is prohibited by law.
Section 40 of the Constitution Act No. 6 of 1991 states that ” No person shall serve as President for more than two terms whether consecutive or not.” It was on this basis that several APC politicians including Alpha Kanu expressed their intention of contesting for the party’s flag and ultimately the presidency.
It was later laid bare that the former President assured all those that met him for the presidency, and there are others he called privately and urged them to run for the flag. According to political analysts, it was a big blunder on Koroma as he failed to build consensus among his peers.
APC members and supporters expected him to unite the flag-bearer hopefuls so that they could speak with one voice in the party’s interest.
The seed of discord sown by the former President germinated in Makeni, the Northern capital, where flag-bearer aspirants who found it difficult to unanimously choose one person appealed to Ernest Koroma to exercise that wisdom.
To the shock and awe of the aspirants, he selected Samura Kamara, the current APC’s presidential candidate and Chernor Bah as running mate. What made more shocking was the duo’s failure to express any intention of running for the presidency.
For many unwary and clueless party members, it was a bad move, but it was good for then President Koroma who was secretly working out a political transition.
The sudden and illegal dismissal of former Vice President, Victor Bockarie Foh two years to the National Delegates’ Conference in Makeni was a precursor to Ernest’s ulterior motive. He knew quite well that that such action would cost APC the Kono votes which were crucial for the party’s victory.
Most APC contenders especially Alpha Kanu returned to Freetown with sunken hearts as their hopes and plans had been shattered and the little-known Samura Kamara abandoned in the campaign trails. However, it was no pushover for then opposition SLPP owing to the significant achievements recorded in various sectors of national development. Suffice it to say despite the struggle, Samura Kamara made it in the ballot box but it was reported that Ernest Koroma prevailed on him to let go APC’s victory and wait for 2023 hiding behind what he called a “regime change” proposed by the international community with Sierra Leone’s former colonial master, UK taking the lead.
Samura Kamara accepted appeals from his former boss for the country’s peace and stability. Indeed peace reigned with Bio given the freehand to rule, but most disappointingly his rule is a far cry from his predecessor.
His regime trampled on almost the freedoms of almost every Sierra Leonean with the worst power abuses recorded in the North-West regions, strongholds of the APC.
Mass sackings of perceived APC sympathizers; extra-judicial executions, cannibalism, disappearances of inmates from the central correctional center, in particularly at the Pademba Road center; the country’s maximum security prison, and many other heinous crimes, including rape and torture.
Situation is further worsened by a sickly economy characterized by a rocketing inflation, weak terms of trade, and gross balance of payment, deterioration of the Leone, foreign exchange crisis and high cost of living among others.
Ernest Koroma who many observed that he imposed Bio on Sierra Leoneans was nowhere to be found let alone criticize the regime. Whilst in his comfortable place in Makeni, the former President would say that he wanted to maintain his integrity as a former President and now a statesman.
Sticking to this notion, the President would say nothing even when Bio’s government extra-judicially executed all his former bodyguards not to count the mass killings of inmates at Pademba Road, Lunsar, Tonkolili, Tombo, Masiaka, Waterloo, Freetown and Ernest Koroma’s hometown, Makeni.
Despite the challenges, the people had to put up with the deadly regime and submit to the passage of time in strict compliance with the demands of a democratic order.
In the early hours of June 24, 2023, the people went out in their thousands to vote against the incumbent, President Bio who allegedly resisted the people as the votes were announced in his favour for the second time.
But, there is a conundrum as the Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Kenewui Konneh failed to publish the election results on the website, and rebuffed all calls to do so. He continued his resistance at
the ad hoc tribunal, the Tripartite Committee which was set up to look into the alleged electoral irregularities. The committee itself submitted to the international community that since Konneh failed to produce the results, it followed that Bio did not win the election.
Calls for either a rerun or transfer of power to the rightful winner have been rejected outright by the PAOPA regime officials who said they would not hand over power to “MAD MEN.” In light of his rich experience in international politics, the former President was expected to come down hard on the Bio regime to see the need to comply with the demands of the international community and the people of Sierra Leone but lie back and enjoy the fun at birthday parties, concerts, comedies, cocktails and drinking sprees. But, back home, his people perish.
The worst came when the former President condemned Samura Kamara for selling out to Maada Bio by holding a private meeting with him at the height of the electoral rancour.
According to Ernest Koroma, the “game is over” as long as Kamara has sat at the table with Bio. As head of AU/ECOWAS Election Observation Group, former President Koroma said the main tactic to end any electoral conflict in any part of the world is to bring the opposition leader to the negotiation table.
Such unguarded utterances in a period of grief and agony did not go down well with the grassroots members of APC and they threatened to go after the former President with the use of invectives and obscene words against him and his family members.
They also vowed to destroy his estate and attack him if he steps his foot here in Sierra Leone. Their ultimatum says Ernest either dies in exile or risks his life and property if he returns to Sierra Leone.