Travel ban on government officials by the United States has been welcomed by Sierra Leoneans here and in the diaspora. No government official, according to the ban, will enter the United States and what government should do to reverse America’s decision remains unclear at the moment.
From media interviews granted by diplomatic officials, nothing will appease the United States and other development partners. The ban targets key individuals who played key role in rigging the June, 2023 elections although names are yet to be published by the US State Department.
The riggers’ family members, according to a press statement from the US embassy in Sierra Leone, will be targetted also. The sanctions came after government failed to produce the election results by polling stations and districts as demanded by the international community. Matters turned for the worst when President Julius Maada Bio failed to allow outside investigators to look into alleged electoral irregularities.
Situation will be tough for Bio and his government as the United States set to adopt other strict measures. It is yet unclear whether the measures would be sanctions or asset freeze. The visa ban and the proposed measures widely seen as a sigh of relief among Sierra Leoneans is now one of the hottest topics for discussions.
Russia and China Flage
It is a popular notion among Sierra Leoneans that a President who desecrates electoral processes will also do the same to state institutions and ultimately the people. This notion seems water-tight since it is only through free and fair election that a government derives its powers, legitimacy and authority to govern the people.
Fighting to ensure that democracy prevails in Sierra Leone has strengthened the people’s resolve of not taking the law into their own hands. Sierra Leoneans have also hailed the United States for taking the lead in the protection of democracy in Sierra Leone, but they also wanted to see other countries and inter-governmental organisations following suit.
They call on Britain, Russia, China and to go the American way to restore democracy in Sierra Leone. Between March and April, 2018, Sierra Leoneans saw the central role played by Britain in Bringing President Bio to power.
Erstwhile British High Commissioner to Sierra Leone, Guy Warrington facilitated the 2018 political transition from the then ruling All People’s Congress to Sierra Leone’s Party (SLPP) which was in opposition at that time. SLPP was plunged into the political wilderness 11 years after it lost the elections to APC in 2007. It therefore took Britain time, tact and intellect to bring SLPP to power especially after APC, under President Ernest Bai Koroma, had made tremendous gains in roads, energy, health and most importantly democracy, national cohesion and the rule of law.
With a record of coups, extra-judicial killings and human rights abuse, Bio was difficult to sell to Sierra Leoneans leaving the a good deal of the fight to diplomatic officials. Mr Warrington would almost spend the day at the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone headquarters in Freetown, sometimes State House and State Lodge holding talks with former President Koroma about how the regime change should go.
It came to pass as Mr Warrington ensured that Bio’s so-called 2018 election victory was endorsed. Without any doubt, Britain enjoys a privileged position in Sierra Leone with a strong voice as a former colonial power.
If they helped to bring Bio to the Presidency, they must also act to remove to ensure the people’s voice stand since he is not the rightful winner of the elections. Funding cut alone is not enough, but Sierra Leoneans would be happy to see British authorities stopping election riggers entering their country.
Although Russia and China does not see eye-to-eye, at the moment, with the US and the West in respect of foreign policy objectives, they are being called upon by Sierra Leoneans to unite so that they can decisively handle Sierra Leone’s political crisis. Russia and China are also expected to take strong actions against President Bio and his government so that they can be counted among those countries who protect Sierra Leone’s democracy while it was in flames.
Russia and China must work towards issuing travel bans on Sierra Leone’s government officials so that they cannot take their countries as alternative landing places. In a similar tone of voice, Sierra Leoneans also call on EU to move beyond funding cut.
They are expected to come up with their own travel bans so that no government official goes to Europe for haven. With such actions, it is hoped that Bio’s government will be humbled and crumbled. It is also hoped that the protection of democracy anywhere in the world would hold only if the world leaders act together.
Democracy is composite as it contains several elements that ensure peace and prosperity, and must not be allowed to be relegated to the dustbin. For many Sierra Leoneans, President Bio did not only rig elections but also humiliated and provoked the the US and Europe that they did nothing for Sierra Leone at a time they were needed most.
Where were they when the country was in flames? This is a question rhetorically posed by President Bio to belittle Western countries in the eyes of many Sierra Leoneans. President Bio’s incitement of civil society activists against the West also does not go unnoticed.
He exploited the activists’ thirst for jobs as most approached President Bio for appointments. Bio wanted rights campaigners to take on diplomatic officials in the streets just to maintain his grip on power when, many say, he has nothing to deliver.
In the 1980s, African countries which were democratic delivered quality services to their people while autocratic or despotic ones failed miserably. The West should therefore not allow autocrats to reign in any African country in the 21st century politics. They must be aware that autocrats who hold sham elections tend to stay much longer in power than those who frown at them.