By Abu Shaw in London (03/03/2023) 

The government of Sierra Leone under the stewardship of President Julius Maada Bio has degenerated into a laughing stock in the last 4 & half years.

President Bio’s blatant disregard for democracy and the rule of law has become so visible that most Sierra Leoneans in and outside the country as well as the international community have been left totally unimpressed. In short, President Bio has exhibited total disdain for free and fair, and transparent elections in the country expected to take place on June 24, 2023. The failed SLPP regime has done everything to undermine the democratic process by trying to destroy opposition political parties etc. All these manipulations by President Bio in capturing state institutions like the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone ECSL, the Political Parties Regulations Commission PPRC, and so on, are geared toward rigging the June 24 crucial elections. Sad to witness that state institutions that are supposed to defend and protect democracy have all been in the pockets of President Bio much to the disappointment of the majority of Sierra Leoneans. (Photo: EU Envoy Manuel Müller visited former Sierra Leone President Ernest Koroma).

Today, the only institutions that the citizens have to depend on to protect democracy are those from the international community like the European Union, etc, and of course few internal stakeholders. That is why the timely intervention of the EU Ambassador to Sierra Leone Manuel Müller by persistently reminding President Bio’s government about free, fair, credible, and transparent elections is absolutely welcome by most peace-loving and democratic Sierra Leoneans. However, the corrupt SLPP regime is totally against free and fair elections and anytime anyone tries to remind them about free and fair elections on June 24, they would go haywire just like what is currently happening to the EU representative to Sierra Leone. Mr Manuel Müller did not do or say anything wrong. All he said was the EU and global partners want free, fair, credible, and transparent elections in Sierra Leone.

Manuel Müller’s frank advice has struck the corrupt ruling SLPP government where it hurts most. That is why President Bio’s stooges are coming out full-fledge to criticise the EU envoy Muller. For instance, the Electoral Commissioner in the southern region one idiotic SLPP supporter called Edmund Alpha came out blazing like fire and blasted the EU representative Manuel Müller for simply saying the truth. It was shocking when Sierra Leoneans who totally support the EU Ambassador heard Edmund Alpha criticising the EU representative and even accusing him and others of interfering in the internal politics of Sierra Leone. Citizens are not surprised at Edmond Alpha’s outburst because he is not supporting Sierra Leone’s democracy but he is wholly propping up his failed SLPP government to undermine free, fair, and credible elections thereby ushering further misery on the people.

One of the salient facts that EU Ambassador Manuel Müller said that hurt the Bio presidency was the chaotic voter registration exercise. Mr Manuel Müller said plainly that as far as he and his observation team were concerned, they saw more people queuing up in the west and northwest of the country to register during the voter registration process than they observed in the southeast of Sierra Leone. Remember that the west and northwest areas of Sierra Leone are the strongholds of the main opposition APC party, while the southeast is regarded as the strongholds of the ruling SLPP government. The EU’s frank observation did not go down well at State House but most Sierra Leoneans have praised him for being truthful.

It is true that the people of the southeast were so disgruntled and disappointed in their failed SLPP regime that they decided to boycott the voter registration exercise. The EU observation team noticed the blatant boycott in the southeast unlike in the northwest where thousands of people lined up to register for the June 24, 2023 elections. So when the EU came to realise that the Electoral Commission had released the voter registration results that indicated that more people in the southeast had registered more in the northwest that was a red flag that something is not correct. The biased ECSL led by SLPP stooge Mohamed Kenewui Konneh noted Kenema has more population than Freetown.

Incredible as most citizens do not believe that Kenema, Kono, Kailahun, or Bo in the southeast have more people than in the capital Freetown. This blunt truth by the EU Ambassador Manuel Müller has angered the Bio presidency. That is why another President Bio puppet called Emerson Lamina of the C4C party in parliament came out to blast the EU Ambassador. Speaking at the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly the C4C party parliamentarian Emerson Lamina who is clearly in the pockets of President Bio, noted: “It is sad to note that some faction of the international community who should support Sierra Leone’s democratic gains, are rather undermining it through their actions.” It is interesting to note that the failed SLPP regime has forgotten that the EU is the main sponsor of the June 24, 2023 elections.

The fake and corrupt C4C parliamentarian Emerson Lamina cited Ambassador Manuel Müller, whom he said “has become the mouthpiece and an extension of the main opposition APC party. Sierra Leoneans believe President Bio is misusing his political stooges to undermine the EU and other global partners like the United Kingdom High Commissioner Lisa Chesney. However, the people of Sierra Leone who are eager to vote out President Bio in June are in total support of the good job the international community is doing to protect democracy. It is succinct that President Bio does not like the EU or anyone else to talk about free, fair, credible, and transparent elections. “Keep up the excellent work you are doing here,” Sierra Leoneans praised the global partners.