By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
One of the traits of President Julius Maada Bio is his tendency to give with the left hand and take back with the right. His media handlers have been shouting about his Government’s obliteration of Part Five of the Public Order Act of 1965, from our law books, but are keeping quiet on his passing into law The Cyber Security and Crime Act 2021 which is a rebirth of the Public Order Act.
The Head of State’s communications specialists have been telling us that President Bio has also expunged the Death Penalty from our law books but are keeping silent on the extra-judicial killings which took place in Makeni; in Lunsar; at Mile-91; at Tonko Limba; at Tombo, and at the Pademba Road Correctional Centre in Freetown allegedly by members of the security forces who went to those places to keep the peace! In those instances, it is like using pacifist tactics on Ngor to antagonize and frighten Korthor.
Another noticeable characteristic of President Bio is his seemingly ability to tell half-truths. This trait was again exhibited last Thursday at State House, in Freetown, during the formal presentation of the sexed-up Mid-Term National Population Census results. It was at this event that he said he valued “the peace and stability of this nation….[and that it is his] duty to preserve the peace of this nation.”
But those Sierra Leoneans who have continually endured blatant injustices and the “isms” all these four-plus-years of President Bio’s rule will be shocked by those remarks. It is commonsensical that if, indeed, he values the peace and stability of Sierra Leone, he will never have called a large chunk of the citizenry “terrorists” and “insurrectionists” (Anyway, these “terrorists” and “insurrectionists” are “not true Sierra Leoneans” because they are not supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party—SLPP!). If he believes that it is his duty to preserve the peace of the nation; he will not be seemingly using tribalism, nepotism, and partisan pettiness as the centerpieces of his governance style.
And it seems insulting for President Bio to repeatedly claim that he “restored democracy and voluntarily handed over power to a democratically-elected government—all for the sake of peace”. Those of us who followed political events in Sierra Leone, keenly in 1996, know that Bio reluctantly handed over power after he was forced by Sierra Leonean women, called Women Organised for a Morally Enlightened Nation (WOMEN) led by Zainab Bangura, who noticed that he had wanted to use his “Peace before Elections” campaign to throw spanners into the works of Democracy!
According to the Report of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission Volume 3A, “…the attendees [at both the Bintumani I and II Conferences] were seen to be staunchly in favour of elections, no matter what obstacles were proclaimed to exist by the military Government [of which Maada Bio was one of the architects]. Some sections of the civilian population held the NPRC leadership in utter contempt. They suspected that to wait for ‘Peace before Elections’ would be to play into the hands of the ‘sobels’ who wanted to prolong the war” (Page 223). And does President Bio think that some of us have forgotten the sporadic gunshots on elections day in 1996 that were meant to scare away voters from ushering Democracy, by “sobels” allegedly cloned at Kabasa Lodge, so that the ‘Peace before Elections’ campaign would gain currency?
Added to those, we are also told on page 223 of that same Report that: “Bintumani I thus overwhelmingly insisted that elections must be conducted despite the hazardous security situation. The participants characterized democratic stability as a precondition for a negotiated end to the war. In short, they opted for Elections before Peace”. Here, it comes out clearly that it was after Bio’s “Peace before Elections” campaign was defeated that he decided to eat humble pie and reluctantly accepted the will of the people by relinquishing political power. And “It was speculated before the [Truth and Reconciliation] Commission that Julius Maada Bio harboured ambitions to stand as the NUP [National Unity Party] candidate in the elections, but that Strasser’s ratification of the constitutional minimum age had prevented him” (Page 225) from watering this ambition further.
So, with those excerpts from the TRC Report Vol. 3A, three facts have come to light in light of President Bio’s recent claim to have “voluntarily handed over power to a democratically-elected government.” The first is: Bio harboured ambitions to stand as the NUP presidential candidate in the 1996 elections. The second is: He had wanted to use the “Peace before Elections” campaign to halt the democratic process so as to prolong his three-month-old NPRC II junta. And third: His 1996 political ambition was dashed by Captain Valentine Strasser and the Sierra Leonean women led by the then women’s rights activist Zainab Bangura.
Now with those facts laid bare, it will be safe to conjecture that President Bio grudgingly handed over power to a “democratically-elected government” after his “Peace before Elections” campaign was defeated by the civilian majority who were determined to kick out his military junta at all cost! So, for him to be now using the First Person narrative to insinuate that he single-handedly “restored democracy” could be described as a deliberate act of dishonesty!
Again, was President Bio the one who single-handedly mapped-out the map for the 1996 transition from military dictatorship to multi-party democracy in Sierra Leone? Let me allow the TRC Report Vol. 3A to answer that question. On page 220 we are told that, “In accordance with objectives stated at the time it came to power, the NPRC would make way for a civilian Government during its fourth year. This policy was endorsed and frequently reiterated by all members of the Council [including Maada Bio], at least in principle.” Here the Commander-in-Chief’s claim, of “I restored democracy”, is being made mincemeat of because the restoration of multi-party democracy in Sierra Leone was a collective effort not an individual one!
Despite he tries to present himself as a magnanimous man, in his remarks of 15 September 2022, you and I know that President Bio has repeatedly shown that he is a man who appears to be very vindictive. The manner in which his SLPP government has repeatedly persecuted and prosecuted former President Ernest Bai Koroma and members of his erstwhile administration shows vindictiveness than magnanimity!
Yet President Bio told his audience at State House, last Thursday, that: “All is forgiven for the sake of national cohesion and peace”. Well, there is an African proverb that says you should “Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.” Should I write more?
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