Titus Boye-Thompson, London
In a remarkable interview with a close aide to the former President of Sierra Leone Dr Ernest Bai Koroma who is presently ensconced in Nigeria, it has been revealed that the former President is very much disturbed by the seeming disintegration of the political party he once controlled as Chairman and Leader. In the interview which was held over the internet, the former President was known to have made a very strong appeal to the higher echelons of the All Peoples Congress that order and decorum must be allowed to prevail in the discharge of politics in Sierra Leone and particularly that the APC must now strive to rebuild its unity rather than become engulfed in internal conflicts for position and power. The former President is currently in Nigeria for medical purposes and away from a treason trial resulting from the failed coup attempt in which he was implicated. The Statesman is said to be very disturbed that the current bad blood being spewed across the Party would result in further electoral failure for the party at the next elections, whenever called, and disappointment for the populace that the very same politicians are expected to defend and represent.
The former President who had very quickly after his term of office ended in 2018, built up a formidable reputation as a pragmatic but resolute politician was revered internationally as a person of influence in Africa who was able to settle many pre and post electoral disputes through diplomatic resolutions, especially in countries where he had acted as Head of Mission for electoral observers across the continent. In Lusaka, Zambia (2021) on one of his more remarkable assignments, former President Koroma was said to have demonstrated an “ experience of election issues and deep commitment to democracy which has always set him apart as a judicious arbitrator and objective observer.“ Political commentators have averred on the value of such duties and assignments that have been so satisfactorily carried out by the former President. He has, since his tenure of office ended as President in Sierra Leone in 2018, been religiously called upon to oversee and monitor such assignments as well as make meaningful contributions to debates in the international fora dealing with democracy and the promotion of peace and integrative development across Africa.
Political observers have indicated that the rumblings coming from within the former President’s own political power base, the All Peoples Congress in Sierra Leone tend to bring much umbrage to the elder statesman as much as it is damaging any chances of the party getting back power form the sitting government. While former President Koroma has always been seen as a forerunner in the fight to restore democracy through electoral justice across Africa, the prospect of his own party disintegrating on a disagreement on this very issue merely undermines his status and democratic credentials. The concern has been that because the former President has remained silent, it is being taken as tacit agreement of the actions by some in his party to draw a line under the ills of the past elections, the injustice should be forgotten, and the vote taken as “done and dusted.” This group believe that the party must move swiftly on regardless of the damage to democracy and focus on planning for the next elections expected in 2028. A UN Diplomat who commented on this issue recently indicated that such a faux pas would ultimately mean that the leaders of the President’s political party in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city, are undermining the former President’s legacy and by inferring his tacit support for their cause, are giving the signal that former President Koroma has renounced democracy in its entirety. The aide furthered that the former President has no such support for the “done and dusted” campaign nor would he be in agreement with any act by his party to sacrifice democracy and the prospect of free and fair elections at the footstools of political expediency.
