By Kabs Kanu
Julius Maada Bio lost the plot at home and could have lost power after being beaten by Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara in the 2023 elections but his diplomatic maneuvers —with U.S. Ambassador Bryan Hunt, with whom he contrived the fake Agreement of National Unity and fooled Samura Kamara, and his diplomatic trickery with ECOWAS—kept him in power.
Bio ensured that he used his diplomatic contacts and Samura Kamara was ultimately betrayed by the international community.
Bio’s diplomacy with the international community did not benefit the nation but it served him well by keeping him in power.
There was a tremendous international outcry from international elections observer missions, the U.S. Congress, State Department and other stakeholders against Bio when he stole the elections in 2023. Can anybody tell me how their voices got eventually silenced? A travel ban was imposed by the U.S and the $480 million MCC Compact grant was withheld. Can anybody explain to us how Bio circumvented those problems?
There are no hard -facts evidence that ECOWAS was coming to remove him, but they were certainly going to move troops into the country and that could have weakened Bio’s hold on power and empowered internal factors to eventually remove him. The ECOWAS troops deployment would have emboldened local and international actors to continue the spate of demonstrations that had been held against him, though with deadly fatal consequences. The hundreds of demonstrators who jammed the Lungi Airport to welcome the presupposed ECOWAS troops knew what they were doing.
Hopes of ECOWAS troops deployment in Sierra Leone kept rising , though some of us knew for a fact that they were not coming with a direct and structured mandate to remove Bio. But their coming would have extricated the oppressive and violent power Bio was using to crush revolts against him. You would have seen lots of protests and Sierra Leone would have teetered on the brink.
The latest we then heard was that the very ECOWAS had made Bio their Chairman. Only a fool would believe that it happened by magic or because Bio was an outstanding leader. Bio kicked diplomatic butts and certainly shelled the money.
Money, diamonds, gold and coltan speak eloquently on the chessboards of international diplomacy.
Do not agree with me that Bio has diplomatic acumen. However, one fact you will not deny is that Bio knows how to shuffle the diplomatic cards well and he used it in this instance and got himself out of trouble.
I say all these things to warn my party, the APC and patriotic forces in Sierra Leone that they are ignoring one obvious source of Bio’s leverage — The international dimension. They have to understand that there are two mutually inclusive forces to gaining and holding power in Africa today: The internal and international dimensions. Elections are not determined by those who vote, but by those who count and certify the votes. APC must understand this, otherwise Bio will always steal their elections victories.
Let it not be forgotten quickly that it was through diplomatic conspiracies that Maada Bio even came to power. The former British High Commissioner, Guy Warrington, led sections of the diplomatic community to force a regime change in Sierra Leone in 2018. Misguided people blame my beloved younger brother, former president Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, that he betrayed the APC to give power to Maada Bio but EBK’s side will be heard one day. EBK is not a traitor and the truth will be known one day.
The day Maada Bio’s handlers successfully led him to Chatham House to put his case before the British monarchy and governors, the day I started suspecting that we might be in trouble. We were busy hailing the multitudes of crowds dancing debul behind Dr. Samura Kamara (How many of them were registered voters and how many of them had power to influence the votes?), but Bio, knowing British diplomatic leverage in her former colony, was busy making a significant diplomatic breakthrough in London. And APC did not even notice or know the ramifications.
If Bryan Hunt had not been sacked and even restrained from returning to Sierra Leone to pack his bundle ,Sierra Leoneans would have awoken one morning and seen pictures of Maada Bio at the White House, parleying and dining and drinking red wine with Donald Trump !!!!! Maada Bio bought him long ago.
Flay and even skin Maada Bio alive for his spectacular failures at home but give him his bunch of palm nuts on his international diplomacy. It is what is making all the difference between him losing power or precariously hanging on at State House or in the airplanes taking him on his wakabots around the world.
Una Siddom dey play.
Quote:
Let it not be forgotten quickly that it was through diplomatic conspiracies that Maada Bio even came to power. The former British High Commissioner, Guy Warrington, led sections of the diplomatic community to force a regime change in Sierra Leone in 2018. Misguided people blame my beloved younger brother, former president Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, that he betrayed the APC to give power to Maada Bio but EBK’s side will be heard one day. EBK is not a traitor and the truth will be known one day.
TO BE CONTINUE
Disclaimer:
Views and sentiments expressed herein this piece do not represent the editorial position of FORUM NEWS but the personal opinions of the author.
