Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 September 2018:
Presidential Adviser and Head of Strategic Communications in the Bio led government of Sierra Leone – Dr. PK Muana, has broken silence over the rantings made last week by the British Labour Party MP Neil Coyle on social media, about recent political developments in Sierra Leone.
Neil Coyle, whom many Sierra Leoneans are now accusing of leading a campaign along with disgruntled opposition APC stalwarts to bring down the SLPP government that has barely been in office for six months, is being advised by Dr PK Muana to visit Sierra Leone to gain first-hand knowledge of the facts on the ground, before embarking on a partisan campaign to impugn the government of Sierra Leone and destroy the country’s image.
This is what Dr Muana said:
The British High Commission in Sierra Leone has first-hand knowledge and therefore has raised NO CONCERNS about the governance and human rights records of this administration.
The British government continues to be fully engaged with the Sierra Leone government and continues 100% support of the government’s flagship programmes of free education and human capital development, governance and security reforms, healthcare and rural development, and productive trade and investment relationships.
MP Neil Coyle is welcome to Sierra Leone to gather first-hand information about the human rights situation in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is safe and at peace after a peaceful election and transfer of power.
Neil Coyle is welcome to travel to Sierra Leone and point out where these so-called political prisoners are being kept and where the security and other forces are intimidating and executing political opponents as he claims.
As a member of the British parliament, I am sure he recognizes that his integrity matters. The Sierra Leone government would offer to pay for his travel and welfare and provide security while he is in Sierra Leone.
Indeed, Sierra Leonean lives matter. Instead of repeating baseless and sensational untruths that sully the image and reputation of Sierra Leone and its government and make the country unattractive to investors, Mr Neil Coyle should be working to promote investment and trade in Sierra Leone which will have the knock-on effect of promoting job creation.
Thus, Neil Coyle would contribute to consolidating the financially stable, open, transparent, and accountable democracy that President Julius Maada Bio’s New Direction government has instituted for the last 6 months.
More investment and a stronger economy is best for all Sierra Leoneans. Sierra Leonean lives do matter and you can contribute to making Sierra Leonean lives matter.
Note:
Dr PK Muana is the Presidential Adviser and Head of Strategic Communications in the government of Sierra Leone.
With reference to all the comments directed at the British MP Mr. Neil Coyle who is bandwagon-jumping to the tune of some unprogressive, corrupt, heartless criminals calling themselves Sierra Leoneans living in diaspora, I advice your newspaper to forward all these comments to him in whatever way possible. He needs to get his facts right.
And as a Member of Parliament in the UK, he ought to know better than those unprogressive Sierra Leoneans he is affiliated to in the UK; and that in democracy, you carry out fact finding – not just talk when you are told to do so by corrupt Sierra Leoneans.
This explains it all as African we should leave these Europeans alone. How can a man, a so called British MP go on social media and make this allegation about a government in Africa, yet failing to back up his allegations. We have to be vigilant. We have to protect our borders and Ports of entry into our nation.
Some foreigners are only coming to Africa for reasons that will only benefit themselves but cost us more problem. We should not allow him to come to our country until he can provide the world the fact that will support his allegations of human right abuse in Sierra Leone.
The British MP Shall never visit a Country that is not safe, and lawless police officers have no respect for human Rights; and the very government cannot condemn the act of the police.
Neil Coyle and his boss Tony B Liar should be banned from entering Salone
I guess MP Neil has been benefiting from the former APC government Corrupt practices from the Ebola and mud slides funds, hence the reason he has the gut to be publicly crying down democratically elected government who has barely been in power for less than 7 months without checking his facts?
I would like to know how much of the corrupt money he was bribed to bring shame upon the British Parliament. And he calls himself member of noble Labour party that stands for good governance. He needs to tell the British people and members of his Parliament where he got his information from with documentary evidence.
This is a clear indication of how far APC can go to damage Sierra Leone. It’s also clear that there are irresponsible MPs in the British Parliament. These are some of the white men who don’t want to see Africa progress. They want African governments to always come begging to them for assistance.
Only APC thugs can work with such unscrupulous British MP. He is irresponsible because he cannot find out before making irresponsible statements. He should not be even invited to visit our country since he has already made his stupid statements.
Gone are those days when Africans think of the White Man as demigod. Africa is rising up and Sierra Leone is one of the countries setting the pace. Don’t allow a fool of a man to visit that country because he is an enemy of progress.
I don’t just understand why people are paying and given undue to relevance to this failed MP who called himself Mr Neil Coyle. This is a man who has never initiated a single bill of motion in parliament, but he wants to make himself relevant by unfairly criticising our government.
Is he still thinking that Sierra Leone is a puppet country to Britain? Fool! Mr Neil Coyle you got it wrong this time around. No matter what you do, President Bio and his government will give you not even a single dime to shut up. Hope you are now bowing down your head in shame.
STOP THIS MADNESS OF YOURS.
British MP Neil Should have known better long before criticising the country and her president. He should visit the country because eyes are better than all the other information received. Sierra Leone is working hard to put the past away and not to ever remember it again.
The Honorable member of Parliament will never go to an unsafe country where its citizens are running away from for safe havens. The travel information is expected to be released by the foreign office very soon on Sierra Leone.
I was meant to travel to the country but has also put it on hold till this Government is out of office. This has nothing to do with APC as I am not an APC member. You guys like to Politicise matters of great concern but we will not allow you to do so on this.
Your President is hiding from the Populace now that he has been elected. He should face the electorate on a weekly basis to explain the violence in the country, not you coming out to defend him.
Did I just hear you say you are not an APC? You guys are the very ones politicizing every single government’s effort. This government has done a lot, in just 5 months, to consolidate our democracy. This government is an inclusive one unlike the previous, irresponsible administration of EBK. Our country is safe and we the citizens are 100% enjoying our basic fundamental human rights.
Since the people of Sierra Leone kicked APC out of power 5 months back, they are going all out to bring down all the positive strides of the Maada Bio-led government. There’s nothing APC can do again to win the hearts of the people, so all they are now doing is to engage in malicious propaganda and preach ethnic politics which the people of this country won’t settle for any more.
The Free Quality Education, the uninterrupted power supply in the city with the intention to extend to every part of this country, the robust system of revenue mobilisation, the proposed road construction, job opportunities and youth empowerment and many many more are what we are now focusing on, not the APC cheap politics.
Let the cheap British parliamentarian continue putting his integrity at stake. Who cares.
Oh yeah?! You just made yourself a longterm lock out of sweet home. Because so far Sierra Leone is safe, sweet and peaceful and will continue this way. Only criminals run from constitutional procedures. Every country has its laws. I may be wrong but was this MP a beneficiary of some of the corrupt practices in Sierra Leone in the past 10 years and just getting upset and taking sides without justifiable evidence?
You just don’t love the current peace and progress the government is trying to achieve; that is why you are here supporting the unprofessional statement made by a foreigner. Without shame, you call yourself a citizen of Sierra Leone when you can not even visit your own people.
I wonder where this British MP was the last ten years when Ernest Koroma’s thugs were brutalizing innocent Sierra Leoneans. Where was he when Ebola funds were looted as thousands of Sierra Leoneans died. Didn’t Sierra Leonean lives matter then? Has the British MP all of a sudden become a tool of the sore losers, the APC?
Paopa Sierra Leone must prosper with our beloved President Bio. Their propaganda is not going to stop the development of our beautiful country.