By: Hassan Osman Kargbo

A month or two now, Sierra Leone experienced a rapid gun shots in the capital of Freetown. These uncontrollable and unstoppable gun shots on the early hours of 26 November 2023, in Freetown, came as a surprise to many and the people of Bo is not an exception. This unfortunate attacked at the Wilberforce Barracks and other prominent areas in the capital is what government and others official called a failed attempted coup in the country.

At least 19 people, including 13 soldiers, died in the violence, according to the Minister of information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah. This issue had sparked eyebrows to the people of Bo and majority of them are still in dilemma as to what had led to this unfortunate November 26 events in the country.

Despite the coup plot in the country; Bo City remains calm and quiet before and after the failed coup in the country.

At a popular Ataya Base at Shellmego in Bo where barrages of energetic youth spend most of their times, the topic that made the headline was the attempted coup in Sierra Leone, because many say this coup not timely. Mohamed Rogers, a vibrant tailor at Shellmego expressed his dissatisfaction on the November 26 failed coup. He said, he doesn’t know why some set of people want to disturb the peace and tranquillity of the country. He continued that some people are doing this for their own selfish interest and not for the betterment of the country.

‘We all know what happenings in the country are currently. The hardship and the cost of living is nothing good to write home about, but what some set of people are trying to do is not for the interest of the country, but it’s for their own self fish interest and people need to aware of that,’ he said.

Amara Sesay another resident of Bo noted that the country needs to be advance more than this coup thing. He said the rest of the world is moving very fast; but in Sierra Leone it’s a different kettle of fish. According to him, they country really need to work to catch with the rest of the world and with the intervention of this coup situation it seems like the country is getting from bad to worst.

‘I don’t understand why some set of people are try to disturb the peace of the country? The rest of the world is moving very fast but Sierra Leone is just on a stand still. The coupists are just making things more difficult in the country,’ he said.

Pa Musa Kamara, one of the elders at Shellmego in Bo empathized on the impact of coup in the country; he said he had knowledge on the NPRC coup on April 29th, 1992. According to him coup in any country would lead to chaos, violence, and instability in any country. He continued that a coup could bring down a whole nation if not properly taken care of.

‘The attempted coup on November 26th represents a threat to the hard-earned peace and progress that Sierra Leone has achieved over the years,’ Pa Musa Kamara stated.

He mentioned that coup in a nation could undermines the foundations of democracy, and trust in the country’s institutions, and disrupts the lives of ordinary citizens. It tears apart the fabric of our society and jeopardizes the future of the country.

He called on all Sierra Leoneans to remain calm, vigilant, and united and it serve as a reminder of the importance of safeguarding the country’s democracy and working together to build a stronger and more prosperous Sierra Leone.

Hassan Amara noted that the attempted coup in the country is just a distraction from some people and the government need to focus on his manifestos because the people of Sierra Leone deserve more. He admitted that because of the coup that was attempted in November 26, the security apparatus has decided to mount checkpoints in and out of the capital Freetown. He continued that coup is not good for any country, and it’s led to many checkpoints from the security apparatus which is now a burden to many Sierra Leoneans that ply around the country. He noted that some have taken it as a business making in various checkpoints especially the checkpoints that are in Bo.

All these are courses of the attempted coup in the country. Had it not be a failed coup the number of checkpoints couldn’t have mount like how the checkpoints are all over the country.

The nation is still crapping to stand and the issue of coup will not help in any way. So, the government and other important apparatus in the country need to put all hands on deck so that the issue of could be an issue of the past in the country.