The failed Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has been cautioned in London to give peace a chance to reign in Sierra Leone prior, during and after the approaching June 24 elections.
The SLPP presidential candidate, Julius Maada Bio received stern warning at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London to remove all heavily armed security personnel from the streets of the country, allow peaceful co-existence of the people, respect the rights the people, refrain from political intimidation of the citizenry and the opposition.
The Commonwealth Secretariat admonition is in at a critical political season with Sierra Leoneans preparing to go to the polls on Saturday 24 June 2023, for which the Marlborough Dialogue cautioned Julius Maada Bio to be civil and hold the peace of the nation.
Warning to Bio was issued following London’s receipts of series imperial findings on state-sponsored extra-judicial killings and hundreds of Human Rights violations and abuses, being perpetuated in the last five years by state security forces on orders from above.
It was also clearly made known to government and Bio to remove all armed security roadblocks across the country and allow the free movements of citizens, goods and services within the country, pointing out to him and his failed administration that there is certainly no need to mount roadblocks and checkpoint that limit the free movements of people.
Reasons being that there are armed checkpoints mounted all over the place by security personnel of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces and the Sierra Leone Police. The restrictive measures ahead of the elections, during and afterwards have come a long way in limiting the free movements of people even before the elections, thus should be dismantled to restore confidence of peace and stability in the country, the Marlborough dialogue cautioned.
These, according to sources were put forward to the Bio-led government is to avoid limitation of the electorate’s participations in the voting process on polling day.
