PANIC GRIPS CITIZENS
In a much shared video last week, the president of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, made an open challenge to people who plan on organising a protest action across the country, including members of the main opposition APC, over what they termed as delays in the work of the Tripartite Committee that was established to address the close to a year-long political and economic stalemate.
Speaking at the coronation of paramount chiefs in Bo last week, the president said since he came in by the ballot box he can only be removed from power via the same means.
For anyone that wants to use any other means to get the president out of power, including those wanting to resort to the use of arms, they will be met bullet for bullet.
This has caused widespread consternation and fear among the people of Sierra Leone who are well aware of the role Julius Maada Bio played in the nation’s 11 year long civil war that devastated the entire country.
Mr Bio said his government will meet bullet for bullet anyone that plans to destabilise the state.
After he was told he lost the 2012 elections the president said he did not put up a fight but trusted in the democratic process of assuming the presidency via the ballot box.
After being elected by the people in 2018, now, after the 24 June 2023 presidential election result was announced, some people are calling for his removal via a nationwide protest action.
Throwing a curveball to the unsuspecting crowd and citizenry, the president said the only election he is looking forward to is the one to be held in 2028.
Meanwhile, the call for nationwide protest when coupled with the fact that the Tripartite Committee is yet to complete its work and make recommendations and Mr Bio saying he will not give in to any demands for early elections have caused panic on the streets of Freetown.
If the organisers of the 19 June 2024 protest action, which falls five days before the one-year anniversary of the 24th June 2023 elections, wanted any reassurance that Mr Bio will be moved to hold early elections, be it a runoff, rerun or fresh elections, then the cat has been let out of the bag: he will not listen to any talk of early election.
If anyone wants to risk his or her life over what may or may not be part of the recommendation by the Tripartite Committee, then the president has thrown down the gauntlet.
The fact that nothing has become of anyone over the killing of protesting civilians since 2018 to date, the fear among the population is that should the organisers of the 19 June protest action are serious then the nation should be expecting more blood to be spilled across the country.
President Bio had said he will serve his second term “tay ah don”, meaning he will serve until 2028, not any time before or after that. If anyone wants to remove him before that then “we sef ready…nor to wan man get this country”.
All this talk of bullets has caused widespread panic among a population that is still grappling with what happened in this country between 1992 and 2003.
Meanwhile, this is the time for calm and level headedness to prevail across the country as no one in their right mind would or should want to lead Sierra Leone back to a state of war.
If we have all placed our hope and trust in the Tripartite Committee, then the president is wrong for saying he will not listen to any recommendation for early presidential election; also, the organisers of the 19 June 2024 protest action are also wrong for not being patient to see the work of the Committee come to an end, with their recommendations to boot.
People across the country and the diaspora should know that if and whenever there is a social problem, it is mainly the poor and suffering people that suffers, not those making the news headlines who are mostly offered asylum in western countries to take them and their families out of the equation. This however still does not solve the problem for the suffering masses, whose hope for a bright future for this country would have been pushed back.
The nation cannot afford to live like this, which is the reason for everyone to wait for the Tripartite Committee to finish their work and put forward their recommendations.
Meanwhile, the people in the main have said any recommendation that the ruling party is against would be what is best for the society, based on the party’s past doings; while anything they support would be based on self-interest.
This is not time for accusations and counter accusations to be thrown around, it is neither time for partisan politics.
It is time for us as a nation to consider all options and select which is best for us going forward.