The people of Sierra Leone have singled out the United Nations – UN Secretary General and the Federal government of Germany for betraying their hopes and trust, going as far as calling them ‘Judas Iscariots’.
In an act that the people and leftist politicians have said can and should only be viewed as tacit approval and recognition of Julius Maada Bio as the winner of the disputed 24 June 2023 presidential elections and his pronouncement as President of Sierra Leone, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres invited President Bio to the UN Food System 2023 Stocktaking summit as a special guest of the Secretary General where the German Federal Minister for Food openly pledged $22 million to the government of Sierra Leone to sort out food security issues.
This they termed as an open betrayal of the people of Sierra Leone and their beliefs, trust and hope in democracy.
This simple action of courting and rubbing shoulders with presidents who assumed their nation’s highest office based on a perpetrated electoral fraud that beats all imaginations and applications of sound logic or even our training in statistics, goes against everything and the message that the international community is trying to get across about democracy and the elections process.
It must be noted here that far from the UN food summit, that here in Sierra Leone, Germany together with other nations and organisations have not recognised the president’s electoral victory as they have questioned the credibility of the tallying and other processes for them to declare the election won on a free, fair and credible basis.
This break in the rank by the UN Secretary General and Germany has been viewed by members of the main opposition APC as a mortgaging of the collective peace and security of the nation and people of Sierra Leone.
‘But this is what the UN is known for. They are not known for preventing conflict. They only come in after the fact to save face. But we are the ones who end up suffering for them overlooking what could lead to another potential conflict in the next few months in Sierra Leone if this presidential fraud is allowed to go the way of business as usual. Germany and the UN cannot be seen as breaking rank with the rest of the international community by inviting President Bio to that summit. By doing so Secretary General Guterres has given the recognition to the illegitimate Bio regime it craves,’ said a ranking member of the new APC executive.
The men say that western duplicity is something they always have to contend with as different countries and organisations have a variety of interests and other shared values that can be far from the interest of democracy and the rule of law.
‘By right, if the international community to whom we are looking up to rescue us is now openly sleeping with the enemy, then we have been left to our own devices. We have already been betrayed; only time will tell when the rest of the international community would follow suit.’
‘We fear this message that Germany and the UN are sending to us and the rest of the international community. What happened to the travel ban and other actions promised by the international community against this government of the Bio’s stolen second term? If the international community fails to sort out this mess then they will have no credibility anywhere they go trying to preach or peddle western style democracy,’ they warned.
After the 24 June elections results were announced, the main opposition, international and local elections observers, the US, the EU, Germany, Ireland, UK, ECOWAS, AU and others in unison decried the announced result declaring Bio the winner of the presidential elections citing massive electoral irregularities.
The nations and organisations in the main have called for either a release of the voting data per polling station or a rerun of the disputed elections by an elections managed by foreign commissioners conversant with our common law as it relates to elections management.
Our cornered Electoral Commissioner and the ruling party have both rubbished the suggestion saying it does not apply to our electoral laws as stipulated in the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, Bio continues with his single party government thereby returning Sierra Leone to the backward days of former dictator and one-party head of state Siaka P. Stevens of yore.
‘Not long ago we posited that the only way Bio can win the 2023 elections is if he openly steals our votes or enter State House by some roundabout way. Now that it has happened, we also said only the international community can guarantee that we hold credible elections in Sierra Leone based on how they deal with the regime under scrutiny. Time and time again we have been disappointed by the international community who mortgage our future and safety while they accomplish their set of objectives for being in Sierra Leone.’
‘If the UN and Germany are openly courting and giving room to President Bio to sully such a sacred gathering of democratically elected leaders then they are saying that this is the way elections should be won in Sierra Leone. The reality for us then is that every five years based on how the incumbent wins the elections we should also be preparing for ideological and political struggles. The only way we can change this narrative is for the international community together with the main opposition APC and all supporters of the democratic order to rally behind the people of Sierra Leone and not give any legitimacy to Bio on his stolen presidential mandate. What happened on 24 June and is still happening should be a shame, a travesty of justice,’ a well know APC stalwart from the Eastern region confided in this medium.
To the people of Sierra Leone, the UN represents a failure in the international order as ever since its establishment it has not been able to prevent conflicts.
‘We only know the UN for coming in after the fact. They will sit aside and watch a situation unfold knowing full well what is coming. What have they done in Guinea? Nothing as since after the Army overthrew Prof Alpha Conde, and despite international condemnation, blah, blah, blah, Doumbouya is still head of state, and Guinea is forging on. Imagine that even Guinea that is under sanction closed their border and stopped all exports to Sierra Leone because of our electoral impasse. What is Guinea seeing that the UN and Germany are not? Is the UN and Germany saying that the rest of their international friends are wrong about what has been happening in Sierra Leone’s politics since 24 June?’
‘What the UN Secretary General and the German Minister have done is to betray the whole nation and people of Sierra Leone and the values of a democratic society where everyone is subjected to the rule and procedures of the law. If they fail to sanction Bio and all others like him then they are just a talk shop that no one will pay any real attention to; just lip service. They are openly saying that how a person becomes president does not matter to them as long as he or she has been declared winner, and despite widespread condemnation of the process that calls for a re-look or thinking of how we arrived at our results. The UN and Germany have betrayed us. Who will follow next? If they still cannot solve Guinea’s problems, will they be able to sort our own out? Remember that during our war we failed to see the UN. If it wasn’t for ECOMOG and the British Army, we would still be in a state of war today,’ cautioned a street trader who said she lost her entire family during the nation’s 11 year civil war.
CREDIT: J. S. KAI-LEWIS
