Kabs Kanu: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 01 November 2022:
Be assured. Col. Mamadu Dumbuya knows better. GUINEA will not interfere in our national affairs. They know the diplomatic, economic and political ramifications. They know what happened to CHARLES TAYLOR of Liberia.
The Guinea military junta is already under strong and sustained international pressure to hand power back to a civilian government and they will not incur further international wrath by interfering in the internal politics of a neighboring country , knowing how it will destabilize the West African subregion and even make Guinea a pariah state in Africa.
In Siaka Stevens‘ case, he and the late President Sekou Toure had signed a defence pact. Guinea would not have however attempted to overturn the coup, if Brig. John Bangura had succeeded to overthrow Siaka Stevens in 1971, if it had been a popular coup.
Leaders know when to intervene in a country – not during a popular uprising against an unpopular and abusive government.
Guinean forces who came to defend Shaki knew their limits. When students revolted against Stevens in 1977 and came very close to overthrowing him, but for the loyalty of the army under the late Brig. Joseph Momoh and the Sierra Leone Labour Congress Guinea knew that it was a people’s movement and did not intervene.
The Guinea junta leader has problems of his own and that was possibly why he came to visit one of his neighbors, Sierra Leone. It was to help build goodwill in the face of the international furore over his takeover in Conakry and the increased threats of economic and diplomatic sanctions if he continues holding on to power and refuse to hand over to a civilian government.
There are also many international threats being faced by West African countries that leaders do not discuss publicly, like transnational crime, the use of porous borders to import dangerous drugs and small firearms, all capable of destabilizing a nation.
It is within the diplomatic rights of these West African nations to cooperate to ensure that none of them allows their borders to be used to destabilize the other. Col. Dumbuya’ s visit to Sierra Leone may not be unconnected with these issues.
Everybody knows the needful in Sierra Leone. Everybody knows what President Maada Bio needs to do. He came to power through democratic elections, and he has an obligation to maintain the culture of democracy by conducting democratic elections in Sierra Leone next year.
Col. Dumbuya himself is fully aware of Maada Bio’s obligations to the people of Sierra Leone and the international community and will think twice to collaborate with Bio to destabilize Sierra Leone by denying the people their Democratic and constitutional rights. He has bad name of his own already .
We therefore want to assure all Sierra Leoneans that the visit of the Guinea junta leader to Freetown had nothing to do with support for President Bio’s megalomania and his desires to rig next year’s elections.
Col. Dumbuya and the Guinea junta know better than interfere in Sierra Leone at a time like this when majority of the people are craving a regime change.
Is there anything wrong with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia becoming ONE NATION so that the POOR, THE POOREST OF THE POOR In Sierra Leone can have FOOD TO EAT?
I do not think so. Only Greedy and Selfish people would raise objection to it.
I believe the last thing on Colonel Dumbouya’s mind is to influence anything in Sierra Leone. In a subtle way his visit was meant to teach Maada Bio a lesson, that it is bad economics to use a hired jet to travel to a neighbouring country. Without knowing it Col Dumbouya is an Economist,the same as the late John Magafuli of Tanzania was. A further sign that the man (Col Dumbouya) is an Economist on the quiet, he just passed a policy that henceforth Guinea’s iron ore would be processed in Guinea. The multiplier effects of this are unimaginable. Can Bio match him?
The ingratitude showed by Sierra Leoneas is extraordinary. When the Guineans were assisting us in war, they had tanks and all kinds of ammunition. No one complained.
When they gave shelter to over a million Sierra Leoneans as refugees, nobody complained
The convoy that the Guinean president arrived with is a basic convoy, however, we are so backwards as a people that we think an anti aircraft gun is a heavy weapon.
The people shouting to high heavens on social media, the adebayo’s etc Al have a vested interest in the return of the APC, for the rest of us, it’s just two sides of the same corrupt elite.