Sierra Leone Telegraph: 14 July 2022:
Sierra Leone Police continues its onslaught against female politicians in the country, with the arrest and detention without charge yesterday of Madam Yabome Sesay, who is the Chairperson of Tonkolili District Council – an opposition APC controlled council in the north of the country.
Her arrest comes, following the release of the leader of the Unity Party – Femi Claudius Cole, after spending four nights in detention on false allegation by the police, of inciting women in Freetown to take part in street demonstration.
Madam Yabome Sesay is being questioned by CID, in connection with the recent by-election in Samia-Bendugu which was lost by the ruling SLPP party, amidst violence and intimidation.
It is also understood that the 2018 presidential candidate of the opposition APC party – Dr Samura Kamara and its national secretary general – Dr Osman Yansaneh, have also been invited to report to CID headquarters in Freetown, though details of their alleged offence are yet to be made clear by the police.
As 2023 presidential and general elections fast approach, there is growing concern the country may spiral into largescale violence. Sierra Leone police are being accused of political interference and waging war against opposition politicians on behalf of the SLPP government.
Critics of the government say that president Bio has failed the people of Sierra Leone, and is now using the police to help close the country’s democratic space.
When a government resorts to the arbitrary arrest of opposition politicians, then you know that the country is heading for disaster. President Bio must be held accountable and ought to respect democratic freedoms.
There is a large demonstration by Sierra Leoneans taking place in London, Uk today, against the poor human rights record of president Bio. See video below;
This is what Mayor of Freetown – Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr said on twitter regarding the arrest of Yabome Sesay:
Photo above: Madam Yabome Sesay.
Mr Sorie,, you are a very honest person just for admitting you’re an outcast, a lunatic and unpredictable. I am not a psychiatrist, but I suggest you see one very soon. Seeing a mental health specialist is not only beneficial to you but also helps the people of Sierra Leone in understanding with clarity what you are writing about in the forum. I am not suggesting you’re crazy but you should consider my advice as this not personal. Even those whom you support and then sometimes drag in the mud think you have a mental illness. From whence Siaka Stevens came to power and pre Kabba regime, Sierra Leone was a police state. Things improved with the election of Ernest Koroma.
Believe me brother, we are all waiting for that messenger who will deliver Sierra Leone out of the wilderness. This person is not now among us. God bless you.
Mr Colsen, no one is here participating in discourse to be insulted. So please refrain. Lets have mutual respect. Thank you.
Alusine Fallay, I always feel uplifted when a member of the forum responds to me. Thank you, and you don’t do badly either in holding firm to your position. You see, when it comes to our country’s politics, I am a free spirit, ready to wack anybody with the whip which The Telegraph has armed me with. This makes me unpredictable and a non-straitjacket wearer. In a country where most people are either APC or SLPP I am an outcast, almost erratic. That’s why one moment I am supporting somebody, and at another I am dragging them in the mud, depending on how I perceive the occasion. Unless we as a people stop being predictable to our leaders they will never respect us. “My Mende brother/sister will support me come what may; my Temene brother/sister will support me come what may; my Limba brother/sister will support me come what may” , and on it goes. We don’t make these politicians to be afraid of us, they regard us as mentally ill, incapable of proper reasoning. You should retrieve what I wrote about Earnest after I went off him. I was in Bio’s corner when the presidential election of 2018 came down to just him and Samura. But like Earnest before him he strayed from the right path. Before closing I must make something clear once more : I don’t hate politicians personally, it’s their performance that triggers my anger. I still believe that Dr Yomkella is the answer to our stymied position for the last six decades. I hope and pray that Allah will give him impeccable strength to cope with his wife’s passing. We need him. Thanks once more Alusine, let us hold tight to our democratic platform erected by the Telegraph.
This is what you get when a government over promise and delivers little .The Bio government knows they have overstayed their welcome .His government sell-by date is fast approaching .And the only way they can reinvent themselves is by trying to cut the leadership of the main opposition party the APC , from their grassroots base.The police use of disproportionate force against the latest Bio political witchhunt victim ,Mrs Yanome Sesay the chairperson of Tonkili District , is not only regerttebale but it tells you all what we’ve have been shouting about from the roof top , that under Bio the drum beat of our democratic process and experience since the end of the civil war is slowly but surely retreating . Sierra Leone is sleep walking to become a police state.And since the Sierra Leone police under the leadership of the inspector general of police , who through his action have granted himself the role as the chairperson of what is acceptable to say in public and the media alike , and with a wink from Bio , he is ready to deploy his attack dogs , if he deemed individuals have violated their freedom of speech , it speaks volumes that our country have been reduced to such a charred or become the laughingstock of the West African subregion .When it comes to freedom of speech and the right to assemble freely to express ourselves those rights are increasingly put under strain.The work of the opposition, is to oppose the government as written on the tin which means by criticcising government policies and working with government in matters they agreed upon .The opposition can also help to scrutinise government policy and offer an alternative policy that they believed is costed and can deliver for the masses .And most importantly they are in every well functioning democracy , the government in waiting .All their work is geared towards rereplacinq the sitting government .And that is the part that keeps Bio and his cronies up at night .So they will used all the dirty tricks in the book to keep the opposition APC and other political parties at bay because they are coming after their jobs.
Mr. Santhkie Sorie
I believe that you are one of the brightest mind and one of the longest contributor in this noble forum. But sadly, some of your recent comments have shed some questions about your sincerity.
Please prove to the forumites and readers of this newspaper how many political parties opponents President “Talk and Do” Bio has assassinated since he won the 2018 presidential elections.
I will advise you to think carefully before spewing any nonsense about our president.
The link below proves my point:
Santhkie Sorie says:
JULY 2, 2020 AT 8:00 PM
With extreme, uncanny caution one can say the outcome of the Palo Conteh case clawed back a millionth of an inch respect and dignity for the Judiciary, which has been swimming against a tide of corruption and malpractice for decades. The hope has to be that the nation has at last reached an oasis in the infinite desert of judicial bias and incompetence.
It should not be lost to anyone the exemplary behaviour of President Bio through out the proceedings; he remained aloof to allow the judicial process to continue unimpeded. It may just be for the Palo case because it attracted both local and international attention. But if extends to cases involving just ordinary people who are totally powerless then Maada Bio will carve his name into the history books on this score. If Pa Alimamy or Mammy Baindu, with no education can be made to prevail over a PhD holder in court because they are right then our judicial system will become the envy of the sub-region as it once was, which made it possible for the likes of Justice Kutubu to form the panel to investigate the assassination of Herbert Chitepo in Southern Africa.
Palo Conteh should consider himself lucky that he finds himself on the right side of history. If it were the days of Siaka Stevens and S.I. Koroma, he would be a condemned man. Those were the days when framing anyone with the aim of executing them was commonplace. In pursuit of their dastardly intention they would reshuffle staff in key positions, such as when they removed Frank Jalloh from the case of Mohamed Sorie Forna and replaced him with Bambay Kamara. Key lawyers like Francis Gabbidon and Berthan Macaulay were made to withdraw from defending the accused. May our country see the light soon.
Bio has only ever liked two women – his late mother and his wife. Therefore the rest of womanhood, especially the segment who dare to stray into politics, and In opposing parties, are quite simply dirt to be discarded absentmindedly. A couple of weeks ago it was Femi Claudius-Cole that was taken in by Bio, using the hands of mentally disturbed Sovula, who cannot read the writing on his fake degree. Sovula again has has now locked up Yaboum Sesay for the crime of being the chairperson of a district council.
Let us don’t make any mistake, we are now living in Soviet Russia under the first cousin of Joseph Stalin Maada Bio, who like his cousin in Russia, takes pleasure in arresting, killing and maiming his opponents. In whatever way we can we must oppose Bio, he is a real threat to the entity called Sierra Leone. Didn’t he try to sell a portion of our country to the Chinese just a little while ago? The man is in urgent need of psychiatric examination.
Yet they are out and about, making noises about a PR system, which they are deceptively fooling their delusional PAOPAs that, it will bring into reality of 30% quota for women participations in politics. The less than 5% women so far who are in politics and dare to stand up for what is right, are being persecuted by this MAFIA government. Absurd!!
I believe tweet from Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr is not only misleading, but dangerous especially because of her political position. First of all, base on her tweet, there are just 3 female heads of local councils in our country, why should the police invite just Yabom Sesay for questioning but not the other two? The clue is, her statement will be useful in the ongoing investigation of the violence that occurred in her district. This has absolutely nothing to do with her gender. Investigating corruption against a sitting mayor and allegations of violence does not make any woman a “sacred cow”.
Finally, the New Direction government has successfully connected the Bumbuna hydro with the hydro power grid from Ivory Coast that she is supposed to be tweeting about the 24 hours light that Freetonians are now enjoying. The APC supporters and members in London are wishing that President Bio should be dethroned just like the British Prime Minister Johnson, but that’s the COPY CAT mindset of the APC. Any negative incident around the world should be replicated in our beloved country.