“Unreliable” President Bio
Tripartite Committee…
WILL BIO SUCCUMB?
- No political prisoner released
- No politically motivated case dropped
*Total neglect of other communique resolutions
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
For this piece, we tag them the United Front 8 (UF-8) – the United States (US), the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK), the Commonwealth of Nations, the African Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the All Peoples Congress (APC) party, all having been brought together by the Bintumani Hotel Dialogue and guided by a Communique signed on the 18th of October 2023.
United Front-8 because they are believed to have stood up in defence of democracy, and not just to restore the same, but to further review the electoral systems in Sierra Leone.
Though some say restoring democracy in the small West African country could be a daunting task as the Maada Bio-led Paopa regime has allegedly mutilated every bit of the globally accepted political concept and left it in tatters, others believe an unwavering commitment to the signed Communique and the subsequent Tripartite Committee’s Terms of Reference (ToR) could break mountains and smoothen the way.
However, while the signed ToR may have made the work of the Tripartite Committee simple, it remains to be seen if all parties in the UF-8 are steadfast in their commitment to ensuring the success of the Committee.
Concerns are also being raised not just as to whether the work will be done within the stipulated six-month timeframe, but if President Bio will expedite the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations in good faith at the end of it all.
Already, some people say considering the lapses on the part of the government so far, especially the alleged reluctance to set free political prisoners and discontinuation of politically motivated court cases, they fear the success of the Tripartite Committee rests on a thin thread.
The debate is even more widespread and hotter downtown regarding the delay by the Bio-led government to carry out its part of the October 18 Bintumani Hotel bargain. Scary further is when some pro-Bio and Paopa diehards are said to have been regularly heard saying that their leader, Maada Bio, is not going to hand over power to the All Peoples Congress (APC) party no matter whose ox is gored.
If this is anything to go by, with the APC and Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) being the two oldest and largest political parties that have so far been interchangeably ruling post-independence Sierra Leone, especially in the absence of any formidable political party in the country, it then sends signals of a likelihood that correcting the wrongs of democratic governance in Sierra Leone could be far-fetched. It is likely also that any would-be recommendation by the Tripartite Committee that stands in conflict with Bio’s governance wellbeing would be shrugged off!
Bio’s opponents have even begun to speculate that he and his dyed-in-the-wool paopa functionaries will not gladly implement anything that would turn them out of state governance, term them illegal or not, except by extreme measures from the international front!
In the opponents’ view, President Bio’s behaviour shows he is ever ready and determined to hold on to power regardless of anything under the sun until the expiration of his second term or even beyond.
Therefore, while the work of the Tripartite Committee is unabatedly in progress and its would-be recommendations said to be actionable and implementable, will the Bio-led SLPP and Samura Kamara-led APC succumb or swallow hook, line, and sinker the Committee’s recommendations to come is the question on the lips of many Sierra Leoneans doubting the trustworthiness of their power-thirsty politicians.
Cross-sections of the Sierra Leonean populace say they no longer place trust in their politicians but in the International Community to give them lasting justice by defending and restoring their democracy, noting that stubborn and power-hungry men of the world could flout agreements of their own very signatures when they stand to lose. They are capable of appending their signatures on documents with their right hands and breaching the same with their left hands with impunity in the twinkle of an eye.
Within the APC ring, allegations of foul play to thwart any success by that party are also hovering over certain operatives, accused of having collected huge sums of money to betray the party’s course of making sure the Bio-backed Electoral Commission Sierra Leone comes clean in its Chief Commissioner’s conduct of the 2023 national elections, more so the tabulation and announcement of its results.
All of these alleged skirmishes give a reason why the fears expressed by Sierra Leoneans should not be given just a wave of the hand but the international community should rather be on the alert for any eventuality if democracy is to be defended and be restored in Sierra Leone.