By Joseph A. Kamanda

It is as easier as eating ripe banana to say that we have no political prisoners in detention, while the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party members and supporters continue to languish in deplorable conditions in cells at the male and female prisons.

Yes you people can say that simply because you are doing it from a borrowed leafs of former President Ernest Bai Koroma, who didn’t disturb a fly throughout his ten years of rule, unlike his successor, President Julius Maada Bio the widely self-acclaimed father of democracy who now scores of political detainees at Pademba prison and other deplorable detentions facilities in the country.

Here you people have proved in the last two years beyond that you act contrary to what you preach, is the reason behind the statement of your government having “no political detainees in detention.”

The intention of the Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Rahaman Swaray to distort the fact about the present state of affairs was last week exposed by his very unleashing erratic truths on public television, whiles trying to refute concerns raised by an APC strong man, the Deputy National Organizing Secretary and former Minister of State, East Karamo Kabba, regarding the detained opposition politicians in prisons.

We have no doubt to have heard such an unfortunate statement coming from a whole Government minister, deceiving some sects of the public with intentional untruthful narratives, actually trying to convince the public into believing that the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) has not arbitrarily arrest and detain any politician since President Julius Maada Bio took up office precisely two year two months now. That is not true because APC party politicians are still held behind bars, most of them suffering for crimes they didn’t commit. Is that what the SLPP call democracy Mr “father of democracy”?

We know very well that the statement by the Minister Information and Communications is not coming directly from him nor does it originate from his imaginations but from elsewhere as mere intentional deceptions from the government and the leadership, to tell the world that the present administration has not done anything that affect the political and democratic rights of his opponents and the general citizenry as a whole.

So in defence of the alarming rights violation issues, Minister Swaray is seen in all of these as a mere worker doing justice to his terms of reference to please his pay master and receive a delicious take home at the end of every month, irrespective of whatever he tells the public and the world; lies or not. That is why he can say anything to please his party and his boss the President Bio and by extension lead their followers into accepting that detainees at prison are not politicians.

The remark is therefore considered as an intentional fallacies in the sense that Minister Swaray is seen as a desperate hired mercenary on a mission to an erroneously of criticize and debunk the facts by APC and other opposition political party members that Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, Alfred Paolo Conteh, Hon. Karankay and others are not opposition politicians and political detainees, stated on the African Young Voices television by the APC Deputy National Organizing Secretary, Mr Kabba. That is the clear truth that the SLPP Government of President Bio and his team of imbalance south and easterner surrogates are bent on arbitrarily arresting and unlawfully detaining opposition politicians in the country. That is what it is now except it is changed in the next approaching moments.

 Also, the fact that Minister Swaray failed to downplay the relevance of what Mr Kabba communicated to the world because there is no way he could have diluted lies truth, which even the highest SLPP deceptive spinners can hardly afford to do.

The facts remains the opposition APC politicians are languishing in prison so if Minister of Information and Communications Mohamed Rahaman Swaray can take a podium on the public media and try to be that economical with the truth, then the people must be on the lookout for another role model Government and presidential spokesman, who can explain exactly what is happening in the country.

As the adage goes, “you can fool the people but can’t fool everybody all the time,” and for all we know are now seen clearly is that your Government has brought the national peace index to the lowest ebb which is not good for the consolidation of our democracy.

It is not a hidden secrete that the president, Government and the entire state governors know that they have political detainees in detention. So the lies must stopped now and let revert to the truth Mr Minister.

Besides, we are to critically analyse the statement of the Minister of Information and Communications Swaray said on social and in certain sections of the traditional media then we must ask Minister Swaray and his Government to tell exactly who are former Mayor of the Freetown City Council, George Herbart Williams, Abu Bakarr Daramy, Alfred Paolo Conteh, Dr Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, retired Sergeant Amadu Koita and others are doing in detentions at central prison? This is what Minister Swaray is expected to answer publically again like he was on AYV TV telling the world that there is no political detainee in detention. Come out clean with your facts the public wants to hear from again.

However, Minister Swaray needs to know that these prison detainees are APC party politicians, and they all belong to the main opposition in Sierra Leone, who have their rights and obligations to talk for and on behalf of their large group of supporters, members nationwide. They are not enemies of the state, as it is being perceived by the ruling class.

And with lies of such magnitude, will end up losing public confidence and trust, which is why we want to encourage you to look back and take caution about your reputation. So it will be good and fine for you to take exit with respect.

Moreover, these issues of deceptive propaganda against opposition politicians and the last administration everywhere you people go, is not governance at all so you must show and demonstrate some amount of acknowledgements to your predecessors rather than going all over the place castigating them even for crimes they are innocent of. Those were the same things you people did to defame past Government workers, the APC party and its members, leaving so many national development related matters unaddressed.

So our note of caution to you Mr Information and Communications Minister Swaray and your vengeful regime is that you people must be truthful and factual in whatever they are doing; be it a public statement referencing the past administration and their works they must be fact and not lies.

Therefore it in lieu of that we want to end this note by encouraging you and all other spokesmen not to tell lies as you have been doing at the administrative inquiries. And apart from that you should also stop urging the main opposition APC and other political party members to desist from articulating issues that are directly affecting their members and supporters, especially when the supreme foundation of the country’s democratic dispensation the House of Parliament of Sierra Leone still remains shaky.  And the truths are that the SLPP have political detainees in prisons.