By Forum staff writer
Former Member of Parliament Ibrahim Ben Kargbo has raised concerns over the arrest and detention of Lansana Dumbuya, describing the move as premature and unnecessary in light of internal efforts within the All Peoples Congress to address the matter.
Speaking in an interview on Wake Up Sierra Leone on AYV Television, Ben Kargbo said a group of senior APC members had planned to meet Dumbuya to urge him to apologize over what he described as an unfortunate public statement. According to him, those efforts were overtaken by events before any internal engagement could take place.
“A group of us in the APC have convened a meeting to ask Lansana Dumbuya to apologize, but we were not given the opportunity,” Ben Kargbo said. “Before we could even move to meet him, he was arrested, charged to court and sent to Pademba Road.”
Dumbuya was subsequently remanded at the Pademba Road Prison, a development that has sparked debate within political and civil society circles about proportionality, due process and freedom of expression.
Ben Kargbo acknowledged that the APC Secretary General’s remarks were inappropriate and should not have been made. He said he personally advised colleagues that Dumbuya ought to have exercised greater caution, given his senior position within the party and the charged political atmosphere.
“Lansana Dumbuya made an unfortunate statement, and I told my friends that he should not have said so,” he said. “He ought to have known better.”
However, the former lawmaker stressed that while the statement was wrong, it did not in his view reach a level that justified criminal prosecution and incarceration. He questioned whether the state’s response was measured or in keeping with democratic norms.
“At the same time, I did not think that it reached the threshold to encourage the government to take him to Pademba Road Prison,” Ben Kargbo added.
He further argued that if an apology was required, Dumbuya should have been given the chance to do so, either publicly or through internal party mechanisms. According to him, the speed of the arrest effectively shut down any opportunity for reconciliation or corrective action within the APC.
The comments come amid heightened political tensions, with opposition figures accusing the government of using state institutions to intimidate critics, an allegation authorities have repeatedly denied. Government officials have maintained that the law applies equally to all citizens, regardless of political affiliation.
Ben Kargbo’s intervention has added a senior voice to calls for restraint and dialogue, urging both political actors and state authorities to handle sensitive matters in ways that strengthen democratic practice rather than deepen division.
As the case continues in court, attention remains focused on broader questions of political tolerance, accountability and the balance between enforcing the law and safeguarding democratic freedoms in Sierra Leone.
