Sannoh & Sylvia May Cause Mayhem in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leoneans are calling the attention of President Bio to work very hard to see how he can be able to handle tribalism sentiments spreading on the social media. The two people who may likely cause mayhem in this country due to their tribal bigotry in this country are Dr. Sylvia O. Blyden and Joseph Sannoh. These past few days the audios they sent out to the public are not good for tribal tolerance in the country.

President Bio needs to caution these two people for them to know the types of statements or audios they share to the public. The way things are going now is not good for our country. People have started asking questions about this and they are calling for attention to be paid on this matter. Other people say that by the looks of things, they want the President’s attention for them to get government appointment.

Tribalism is a sad reality in Sierra Leone. In a country of 7 million people in the West coast of Africa, which has experienced 11 years’ civil war that led to the loss of millions of lives, including destruction of infrastructure, and causing backwardness of the state, we cannot be seen tolerating even remotely any tribal sentiment from any quarter.

Joseph Sannoh a so-called civil society activist and Executive Director of Heal Sierra Leone. Last week he was seen disseminating tribal sentiments against the Limbas and Temnes in a video message which went viral on social media.

Sylvia Blyden in her response to Joseph Sannoh, also preached tribalism which has created much debate about these two people described as evil that what to create problems in this country. Sierra Leoneans are therefore calling on President Bio to caution these two evil spirits, to avoid tribal war or another civil disaster from happening.

The Limbas are the largest ethnic group in Sierra Leone. In the video, Sannoh fanned the flames of tribal hatred between the Temne and Limba trines.

He portrayed the Limba as a tribe which is at the forefront of all debacles happening within the APC party and that they are leading figures in all the investigations in the country, including the investigation of the APC party. Sannoh said the Limba tribe is trying to steal the All People’s Congress (APC) from the hands of the Temne people, who are the original party owners. Sannoh’s tribal sentiments igniting difference and hatred and suspicion between the Limba and the Temne is not good for the political fabric, peace and national cohesion of Sierra Leone and he must be brought to nook.

He goes on to describe the Limba people as selfish in their ways of leadership in the APC party. He further said that the Limba use the Temne people to take unnecessary action in the party’s affairs and in the country at large. Sannoh also said that, the Temne people must stand firm against the Limba if they want to thrive in any political limelight in the APC, adding that the Temne tribe is subordinate to the Limba because of their simplicity and lack of understanding of the Limba people.

The tribal message of Sannoh against the Limba tribe, has propagated different tribal sentiments against Limba and Temne people. Sannoh, who is claiming to be a civil society activist must know better his role in society but because of his sudden twist from his mandate as an activist to a political vuvuzela for the Maada Bio regime, he has lost touch with reality and is just frothing at the mouth to draw attention you himself whilst he is on a campaign for a job within the government – something he will never get.

Most people that followed his social media propaganda against the Limba and Temne say Sannoh must be arrested by the Cyber Security Unit for disseminating information which has the tendency of creating tribal dissention and political instability. Sannoh should know that the genocide that happened in Rwanda, which claimed the lives of many people within the course of 100 days in 1994, occurred when members of the majority ethnic group, the Hutus, targeted members of the minority ethnic group, the Tutsis, for extermination.

During the genocide, an estimated 800,000 people were killed, and hundreds of thousands of others displaced. The genocide was triggered by the assassination of the country’s president, and it was fueled by long-standing ethnic tensions and propaganda that portrayed the Tutsis as a threat to the Hutus. The Rwandan genocide is considered one of the worst atrocities of the 20^th Century, and its legacies still vividly remembered.

Therefore, as Sierra Leoneans, let us not allow political and tribal bigotry to divide this nation.