The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) leader and presidential candidate for the June 24 elections, last Wednesday 12 April 2023 deceived, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) joint pre-election assessment mission about broadened the democratic space. The democratic space since April 2018 to date remains tightly narrow, with high restrictions imposed on opposition political parties and other critical voices on the deplorable socioeconomic, political situation in Sierra Leone and that self praises of Bio broadened the democratic space is untrue.
Bio gave the impression amid highly level of public awareness and outcry about his regime narrowed and challenging democratic situation in the country’s political landscape throughout his five years misgovernance.
Receiving the AU-ECOWAS delegation in Freetown, Bio gave a hoax impression to his guests as if he is a true democrat and has done so much is consolidating the Sierra Leone’s democratic gains.
Explaining their purpose of visit, Commissioner Ambassador Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah informed former president Bio that, “After our visit, we will put our report together for the attention of the President of the African Union, who will give assistance where needed.”
Speaking during a meeting with the AU-ECOWAS fact-finding and assessments mission, Bio painted a portrait of true democratic situation in the country, which is untrue, citing the repealed of Part 5 of the Criminal Libel Law of the 1965 Public Order Act and the abolition of death penalty.
Though opposition political parties are challenged with all forms of restrictions of having their policies and campaign messages reach out to their followers and beyond, the leader and presidential aspirant of the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) along with members of his party held similar engagement the regional and continental blocks representatives and shared their experiences and ordeals in the hands of the Bio former regime.
Though highly confidence of winning the elections at first ballot yet reflecting vividly on treatments mated on the APC party and their presidential candidate, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara in the 2018 election, raised concerns about the provision of a level playing field, which also exposed Bio deceits about his government broadened the democratic space.
Why then misleading the regional and continental block observers, to create with fake impressions that democracy in Sierra Leone has matured due to consolidation whereas, democracy and democratic gains have been vastly reversed under Bio’s five years misrule. Had it not been that the APC frontrunner shouldn’t have called on the AU-ECOWAS pre-election assessment and factfinding mission for ‘a level playing field’. That is due to the fact they (the opposition) have not been treated fairly and have long suspected foul play far ahead of the election, starting from the mid-term housing and population census, voter registration, display of the voter register, verification of voter particulars and now huge inconsistencies with the substandard and black and white voter identity cards. These are sone of the signs of deliberate rigging plans by the incumbent that have caused fears in and among opposition political parties in the narrow democratic space.
Some political parties are being deprived of contesting in the coming election due to bad the law that prevented them conducting their primaries, but former president Bio went ahead with the impression to the visiting AU-ECOWAS fact-finding mission that his past regime consolidated democracy in the country. A true only for Bio and his closed allies.
However, impressions given to the ECOWAS-AU fact-finding mission gauging the preparedness of Sierra Leone for the June 24 polls so far by Bio, are far from the facts on the ground, as the democratic condition under him is very toxic and his SLPP rule continue to prove more dictatorial than democratic. Then what is being consolidated is certainly military authoritarianism by Julius Maada Bio?
Opposition parties especially his rival, the APC and other critical voices against his undemocratic misgovernance posture are almost always clamped down on by state sponsored security forces with orders from above. Hence one also wonders where and how democracy in Sierra Leone under the Bio misrule is being consolidated? The remains is that democracy under Bio in the last five years failed woefully to grow. Sierra Leone democracy in the last five years didn’t move even one step forward, but reversed drastically to the pre-1992 era, when everything about political was militarized by armed security personnel under watch of Bio’s then National Provisional Ruling Council.
Similarly, in the last five years of the Bio led SLPP rule was never a democratic governance but looked very much like an archaic Nigerian military rule of the mid-eighties. A toxically atmosphere heavily charged with armed security personnel everywhere in the country and round the clock. At night, checkpoints are mounted and manned by armed police and military personnel who take pleasures in extorting monies from commuters plying roads across the country at night, all under Bio’s so-called consolidated democracy. Hope the consolidation is just SLPP and Bio’s version of modern democratic maturity.
On the social and economic hardship fronts, backed by high cost of living under the said consolidated democracy is a different kettle of fish in its entity. There is certainly no economic freedom, huge financial stability with lack access to finances by businesses and low-income earners. The consolidated democracy under Bio hardly makes provisions for the vulnerable plight of the people. Rather, when economically oppressed Sierra Leoneans took to the streets, with peaceful protest for economic hardship, on 10 August 2022, they brutally slaughtered in cold blooded by armed state security personnel, in the name of keeping the peace and restoring law and order. Though they too fell causalities, in Sierra Leone people are fully subjected to constant deprivations of basic social services such as food, healthcare, public transportation, regular electricity, and water supplies the list is long. Yet the last administration of Bio is busy beating its chest in self-praises for consolidating democracy in the absent of peace, cohesion, poverty, joblessness, economic and equitable national development across the board.
What is sadly forgetting by the outgoing president Bio and his failed SLPP government is that democracy cannot be consolidated with total disregards for the Rule of Law, with overdue influence of the independent of the judiciary, the absent of civic culture, mass migrations of Sierra Leonean youth to Europe via the deadly Mediterranean Sea, and largely compromised functions, roles and responsibilities of democratic institutions such as the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, the Political Parties’ Regulation Commission, the Audit Service Sierra Leone, the security forces, House of Parliament in the unethical name of working for and with the government of the day.
In state governance circumstances where in fundamental democratic consolidation principles are surrendered to former president Bio then there is no need for him to have misinformed his guests about a consolidated democracy in Sierra Leone under his rule. That is certainly untruth.
The fact remains is that Sierra Leone governance system in the last five years of Bio was a mere totalitarian dictatorship than that of a mature democracy, as it is being cunningly painted for the AU-ECOWAS fact-finding mission in the country. To sum up Sierra Leone democracy is still far from modern democratic consolidation and government in and out must do more in achieving fully consolidated democracy in the country.
