By Cornelius Oguntola Melvin Deveaux
Following the controversial election of Julius Maada Bio as President of Sierra Leone in 2018, political mistrust and animosities are deep rooted in every nook and cranny of governance. To the greatest disappointment of Sierra Leoneans, our own kith and kin who are supposed to be the moral guarantors of peace in Sierra Leone have vamoosed like salt in soup and both ruling party and the main opposition now gallivant to our ‘development partners’ to complain and request for their intervention, as ‘moral guarantors of the peace’, in matters that require sincerity and tolerance, respect for the rule of law and human rights, participatory democracy and good governance and also the efficient and good conduct of the Police, the judiciary and other non-state actors to solve. Some question this move as an offshoot of neo-colonialism and a truism that Africans don’t like themselves and cannot solve their problems.
It is however important to note the opposition All Peoples Congress has been complaining to the international community and requesting their intervention to check-mate the totalitarian excesses of the ruling SLPP because the APC and its members fundamentally and sentimentally espouse peace and tranquility as the foundation for democratic good governance. The party, like most right thinking Sierra Leoneans, is convinced, without an iota of doubt, that some civil society actors, religious leaders, Paramount Chiefs and even other registered political parties have by their recent conducts unequivocally proved they lack the moral standing to be the guarantors of peace. In essence, they have lost the trust and confidence of most right thinking Sierra Leoneans.
Before the advent of the SLPP government of President Julius Maada Bio in 2018, Sierra Leone was on a journey to recovery after long years of a brutal and senseless war in which critical infrastructures for social service delivery were willfully destroyed. It is no longer a secret that under the government of President Julius Maada Bio Sierra Leone has swiftly retrogressed to become a failed state in just two years thus laying waste long years of tireless efforts to end the war and start the process of recovery. On the contrary, a Samura Kamara APC government would have consolidated gains and build on the foundation inherited.
The SLPP government’s drive to disintegration and retrogression is well calculated and has as its centre-piece the suppression and possible extinction of critical views dangerously aimed at the annihilation of the opposition APC and stalling of all development efforts including eroding the tenets of good governance and participatory democracy. This message was sounded way back in 2012 when on the campaign banner of Julius Maada Bio the ‘New Direction’ arrow was pointing backwards.
One year ago, the All Peoples Congress declared May 30th and 31st as ‘Red Day’ and urged all to wear red as a sign of protest against the continued bastardization of the constitution and human rights violations; arbitrary killings; sacking of non-south-easterners from jobs; the failure of the judiciary to impartially adjudicate in matters pertaining to the APC and the failure of the Police to grant every citizen equal protection under the law.
On Friday May 31st, 2019, Kamajors (the militia wing of the SLPP government) in police uniform launched a violent and brutal assault on unarmed civilians at the opposition party office with intent to kill. This was an act of terrorism, carefully orchestrated and implemented on the directives of the SLPP government. This act of terrorism is a case for the ICC and the APC has the evidence.
Administrative chairman, Comrade Birch Momodu Conte gasped for breath as inmates were suffocated by unending canisters of teargas. He was emotionally distressed and traumatized. He never went to the party office since then until he died couple of days ago. May His soul Rest in Peace.
Right thinking Sierra Leoneans applaud the opposition APC for not responding to the provocations of the SLPP government with commensurate ferocity.
President Bio and his SLPP government, on their part, have failed to provide any evidence for the ill-motivated branding of members and supporters of the All Peoples Congress as terrorists; while, the footprints of an era of unprecedented terrorization of our constitution and democracy could be seen in the forceful imposition of a Speaker of Parliament, replacing elected Members of Parliament with ‘strangers’, destruction of election materials by a Minister of Government, the sometimes brutal suppression of democratic freedoms, arbitrary killings, arrest and detention of opposition members on politically motivated charges and a long list of incompatibilities to a functioning democracy.
Most recently, the decision to metamorphose an open meeting with the diplomatic community to a close door meeting just to deprive the people from hearing firsthand what the ‘moral guarantors of our peace’ had to say on the critical issues of violence vis-à-vis peace, democracy and development and the fight against Covid-19 is a continuation of the SLPP government’s terrorization of our democracy.
Sierra Leoneans yearn for an end to this spell of political uncertainty. It is good that both ruling party and opposition have gallivanted to the moral guarantors of our peace. Consequently, these ‘moral guarantors of our peace’ now have an opportunity to invalidate accusations of a regime change conspiracy and vindicate themselves from blame or set the wheels in motion to correct this mistake. They cannot miss the point; they cannot pretend to be oblivious of the obvious.
And in consideration of the obvious, which includes, and is not limited to, the reinstatement of the ten elected Members of Parliament who were one year ago unconstitutionally removed from Parliament vis-à-vis the re-election of a Speaker and that politically motivated cases and investigations against opposition members should discontinue and thrown out of court for lack of merit, the existing political mistrust has eroded confidence in the independence of the national elections commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections under the aegis of this government.
Let me humbly suggest that the APC holds among its considerations the view that the 2022 local council elections and 2023 parliamentary and presidential elections are conducted by ECOWAS in partnership with the UN. Efforts should also be concentrated on the process of concluding the review of the 1991 constitution taking into consideration recent experiences. The ECOWAS and UN should conduct the referendum on the new constitution. The interventions of ‘the moral guarantors of our peace’ should be obliging.
The SLPP government is also obliged to do that which is right to uphold the sanctity of the rule of law and constitutionalism and for participatory democracy and national cohesion to prevail. The Judiciary and the Police are integral in this process. Men and women of strong moral fiber and an immaculate character and an established pedigree also have a critical role to play.
In conclusion, we are back to the drawing board. And we must ensure we get it right this time round. The current political turbulence will only subside if government, opposition and people approach it with sincerity and honesty.
The author is a former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications; National Publicity Secretary of the All Peoples Congress (APC).
