Ready to take the bull by the horns, President Julius Maada Bio says he will resist gun violence anywhere, anytime and from whatever source.
“You come with bullets, you will meet bullets,” he warned anyone who might answer the call to be up in arms against his government. The quoted statement means in the Krio parlance that anyone who comes with bullet, will meet bullets. He issued the stern warning to Sierra Leoneans threatening to take to the streets owing to election rigging.
The President mentioned bullets this time as armed men especially who fled with weapons in the jungle might take part in the protest which they referred to as a move to restore freedom again in Sierra Leone.
The protest has been linked to the alleged rigging of June 24, 2023 elections compounded by government’s seeming lack of cooperation with the Tripartite Committee, a body set up to look into alleged electoral irregularities.
But, Bio throws challenge to the people of Sierra especially those in opposition strongholds that June 24, 2023 polls is over and that the country must expect another election in 2028.
He also cautioned those he referred to as political big guns who are threatening to take to the streets next month to disrupt the peace and stability of Sierra Leone to reconsider their decision as his government is prepared to crackdown on lawlessness and unlawful protests.
“We are ready for anyone who comes with a bullet, we will repel him with bullet,” President Bio warned the country’s top politicians amid thunderous claps and cheers by SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Part) supporters.
He drew Sierra Leoneans’ attention to the precarious situation of renegades and gun men who attacked and looted military and police armouries with intent to usurp presidential power. The act was referred as an attempted coup and most of the suspected coupists including Idriss Hamid Kamara popularly known as Leather Boot crumbled under the barrel of the gun. “Several others will leave to tell the story,” President Bio reminded Sierra Leoneans.
Most of those arrested in connection to the November coup are standing treason trials in various courts in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown and would serve lengthy jail terms if convicted.
One of them was has been imprisoned for 30 years after he admitted to have taken part in the putsch.
Others including former Youth Affairs Minister, Bai Mahmoud Bangura are languishing behind bars with several reports of protracted illnesses. President Bio however would like to see Sierra Leoneans learning good lesson from tribulations of using force to oust a government that comes to power through the ballot box.
As if sending a strong message to members of the main opposition, All People’s Congress (APC), President Bio made it clear that the economic crunch is biting opposition politicians and that they could not put up with the current situation. Suffice it to say their only option is to seize power so that they could once again enjoy the spoils of office as it was in recent past.
“Opposition politicians cannot put up with hardship at the moment, they are now broke after stealing enough from government coffers,” he further informed his supporters.
President Bio also reminded opposition politicians that his tenure is at an end and would give way to a new breed of leaders when time is up.
Without mincing any word, he would not sit down with folded arms and allow a group of persons to disrupt the peace of the state adding that Sierra Leone belonged to everyone.
He alluded to 2012 elections when ECSL (Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone) declared him loser after he contested with former President Ernest Bai Koroma, the incumbent candidate at that time.
It was not an easy moment for him and his supporters, but they took heart and allowed then President to complete his term before he ran again with Dr Samura Kamara and won the elections in 2018.
As he clocks one year in office after June 24, 2023 elections, President Bio also wanted APC politicians and the people of Sierra Leone to see him through 2028 when another election will take place as lawfully provided.
But, it seems extremely difficult for the people of Sierra Leone to put up with the Bio regime which they describe as the deadliest in post-independent Sierra Leone.
Sierra Leoneans are also wary and worried about the hard times the country is going through with government failing to make enough effort to fix the country’s problems.
Reading from defeatist statement made by Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh, the PAOPA regime cannot tackle inflation (rise in prices) and exchange rate talk less of improving the people’s living standards.
In an interview by a foreign news channel few years ago, President Bio himself admitted that he found it difficult to solve the country’s economic problems.
But, sounding defensive at a trying moment, he has refuted claims that the economic crunch is peculiar only to Sierra Leone adding that the world is seeing an unprecedented economic crisis.
“We have enough problems in the world; countries such as Russia, Afghanistan and Mali have serious economic and environmental problems,” He emphasised while singling out Mali where heat of the desert killed two Malians.
Despite such challenges, no one took to the streets to remove their governments. President Bio also mentioned Kenya in East Africa where floods washed away houses and destroyed lives.
In the face of an ever- growing hardship, President Bio called on Sierra Leoneans to stand up to the challenge as the economic problems will be sorted out.
But the people continue to pose questions about how soon will solutions come.
Without doubt, the people believed that Sierra Leone would be better off once President Bio is out of the political scene, but the Commander-in-Chief and his men seem ready to put up the most robust resistance to any protest or gun violence in Sierra Leone.
Although Sierra Leone is a signatory to conventions that recognise the rights of citizens to protest against governments without recourse to law enforcement agencies, her laws still restrict the exercise of such right if not done within the confines of the law.
The Public Order Act, 1965, in particular, obliges organisers of any protest or procession to seek consent from the police, and such requirement is the point of divergence between protesters and the forces of law and order.
The protesters usually bear the greatest brunt when they clash with members of the security forces as shown by the incidents of August 10, 2022 and September 11, 2023.
In both protests, the unarmed and defenceless protesters paid a high price as 32, all in all, were allegedly gunned down.
26 were shot dead in August while six lost their lives in September, last year, and there could be no difference next month when a group of Sierra Leoneans will take to the streets again against the Bio regime.
Threats of violence could be linked to alleged irregularities of the June 24, 2023 elections in which President Bio was controversially announced winner.
The opposition, APC as well as members of the diplomatic community have condemned the election results owing to significant malpractices at every stage of the process.
International and local election observation missions also discredited the elections for which a Tripartite Committee was set up to investigate the allegations and make recommendations for permanent electoral reforms.
However, violence or any form of protest ahead of recommendation will water down the importance of the committee.