Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 December 2016
The Sierra Leone Telegraph has received a report from Freetown, about an armed attack which took place at the residence of opposition presidential hopeful – Mr. Alie Kabba in the early hours of this morning.
Four men believed to be soldiers, attempted to break into his home. But after several attempts which lasted over one hour, the heavily armed men left the premises.
The editor of the Sierra Leone Telegraph has spoken with Mr. Alie Kabba about the incident. Speaking from the USA where he is on vacation, he confirmed that heavily armed men – dressed in para-military uniform and believed to be soldiers, this morning attacked his home.
He said that his security men who were at the house, called the police for help several times, but got no response.
Kabba told the Sierra Leone Telegraph that: “This is an apparent escalation of targeted harassment and intimidation of opposition figures in the country. If this is another attempt to silence me, then they have failed once again, because I will continue to speak about the suffering of our people and the weak in our society. Political intimidation and the abuse of power should have no place in our democracy. But it seems the culture of impunity and the abuse of power have become deeply woven into the psyche of those entrusted with power. This must stop, so that Sierra Leone’s democracy and peace can be allowed to flourish.”
It is almost one week to the day – 23rd of December, 2015, that Mr. Alie Kabba was arrested by police in Freetown, on what many in Sierra Leone believed to be a politically motivated arrest.
Alie is one of Sierra Leone’s main opposition candidates for the presidency at the next presidential election in 2018. He is a popular politician who in the past twelve months has proven to be a fierce critic of the Koroma government.
His arrest on the 23rd of December last year, came just two weeks after returning to Sierra Leone to establish his campaign offices and embark on a nationwide tour.
Since returning to Sierra Leone, Kabba has been vociferously vocal in his criticism of the government’s handling of the economy, corruption in high places and the deplorable management of state institutions.
When it comes to criticising the Koroma government, Alie Kabba pulls no punches.
And this could be seen in his reaction to the unconstitutional sacking of vice president Sam Sumana in February 2015 by president Koroma. This is what he said to the annoyance of State House:
“Once again, the governing APC party has succeeded in not just embarrassing themselves, but in making Sierra Leone the laughing stock of the world by the thuggish way that they have attempted to remove Vice President Sam Sumana.
“The misguided caboodle running that party seems to have forgotten that Sierra Leone is now a democracy.
“They have completely gone bonkers by failing to understand that no partisan unelected cabal of a political party has the right to meet in the middle of the night, arrogate for themselves the right to drive out of office a nationally elected vice president, and then brazenly try to manipulate the courts, Parliament, the police, and most troublingly, our armed forces, to back that unconstitutional move.
“It’s time for all of us to remind the APC bosses that although they may have a right to tell Sam Sumana that he is no longer a member of their party, they do not have the constitutional authority to “expel” him from the vice presidency of the country, and they definitely do not have the right to send in truckloads of soldiers in the wee hours of the morning to “change the security detail” of a vice president that they have just expelled from their party for the most cockamamie of implausible excuses, without telling him, and frightening his wife and kids.
“It’s time to remind APC that it has a duty and responsibility to act as a civilized, democratic and modern political party, and not the bad old APC of yesteryears, with all its attendant baggage of violence, corruption, thuggery and very dark history of throwing Bank Governors who disagreed with them off the balconies of their homes to their death, and executing cabinet ministers who crossed them.
“I am sure that Sam Sumana quickly remembered that history and took to his heels as soon as the soldiers and thugs disarmed his security and told him that they were only there to give him a nice massage. Would you blame him?
“My friends, what is happening to Sam Sumana cannot be simply dismissed as just an APC internal affair.
“It stains the democratic fabric of the nation. If good people had spoken out when Siaka Stevens was just beginning his brutal reign, individuals like Dr. Mohamed Sorie Fornah, Ibrahim Taqi, David Lansana, Francis Mishek Minnah and many others would not have been subsequently executed; S.L. Bangura would not have been murdered in his home for refusing to give Siaka Stevens a carte blanche to the treasury for his OAU glory; the use of thugs to harass opponents would not have happened; and governments, past and present, would have been held accountable for their actions a long time ago.
“The thing about all this sordid mess that I can’t quite wrap my head around is, why? Why in the world did APC provoke this very unnecessary confrontation that has badly backfired on them, and frankly put them in a very bad light?
“Why are they so allergic to Sam Sumana that they are ready to shred the constitution in their zeal to get rid of him? Why are they so hungry to get their hands around the political throat of the vice president that they are contradicting themselves with different excuses/reasons for their politically idiotic action?
“And why are they bringing the military into politics once again? These are very troubling questions that demand honest answers because I frankly believe that our democracy is under threat from the wanton recklessness and overarching ambition of the caboodle that is currently running APC and the country.
“The APC has broken all bounds in injecting religion into this Sam Sumana debacle. What the hell is going on with that party?
“We are guaranteed freedom of religion by the framers of our constitution, but nowhere in the constitution is there a provision about religious affiliation being a prerequisite for president, vice president or other high office.
“That is why I am shocked that APC seem to have doubled down on Sam Sumana’s religion as a reason for expelling him from their party. This is very dangerous, completely illogical and inexcusable, and a threat to our national security and cohesion as one people.
“That is why I am disappointed that APC has clumsily chosen to bring the vice president’s faith or lack thereof into the mix.
“Those who crafted the bag of lies and flimsy reasons to expel the Vice President should reflect, bow down in shame and apologize to the nation for this toxic and incomprehensible injection of religion into our already tense politics.
“Many Kono organizations have jointly released a statement expressing concern about the way VP Sumana is being hounded, harassed and bullied, and I completely support them in this regard; just as I would if any other ethnic group is being marginalized in Sierra Leone.
“I totally condemn ethnic and religious bullying, and I call on President Koroma to control his minions in APC and tell them to back off and get off Sam Sumana’s back. Then he must totally and unequivocally condemn and dissociate himself from this undemocratic and inflammatory action of his party.
“The only way that President Koroma can put out this fire that his attack dogs have started is to assure us that he is committed to the rule of law, and to tell his party’s apparatchiks to respect the rule of law, and to stoutly condemn tribal animosity in APC or anywhere else in Sierra Leone.
“The buck stops with the President who happens to be the Chairman and Supreme Leader of the APC.
“If he utters just one word to Yansanneh, IB Kargbo, Alpha Khan, Shekito, Bayraytay and the many APC propagandists on his payroll that it is not acceptable to mix tribe, religion, the military, and thuggery in politics, this crisis will go away in minutes, and we can all go back to fighting Ebola and trying to make our country a bastion of the rule of law.
“The long-suffering people of Sierra Leone hold President Ernest Koroma responsible for this atrocious action of his party. It is his responsibility to fix the mess and make it right again.
“We expect nothing short of an address to the nation by the president, dissociating himself from the mess that his party has plunged us into. Mr. President, your fellow Sierra Leoneans are waiting for leadership from you.
“I am no fan of Vice President Sam Sumana. He and I belong to different political parties, but I am a passionate defender of the rule of law.
“We are all Sierra Leoneans, and it makes my blood boil to see any Sierra Leonean being unjustifiably harassed by the powers that be.
“That is why I led students at FBC to protest against APC injustice and undemocratic rule as a young student leader at FBC in 1985, for which I was jailed at Pademba Road prison and expelled from the university.
“If the hounding and harassment of VP Sumana is meant to scare the opposition and make us shake with fear, then APC has badly miscalculated.
“If the intention here is to tell us that APC will use any unconstitutional means to hold on to power, then the backlash and revulsion from all sectors of society should tell them that Sierra Leone will not stand for it.
“Let me make this clear: Despite the transparent acrobatics and shenanigans crouched in the so-called constitutional review, there will be no third term for the president and there will be no coronation of an APC heir apparent.
“I and most patriotic Sierra Leoneans will never accept the notion that our country is the personal property of a family or a party.
“We will have free and fair elections, and we will have ten thousand people watching with smart phones at all polling stations to ensure that the elections are free and fair.
“I believe that SLPP will win the next elections. The rule of law will prevail, and, as President, I will end the arbitrary use of power to intimidate political opponents and focus on building a society of opportunity and responsibility.
“I leave you with the words of Martin Niemoller, a prominent Protestant pastor who spent the last seven years of Nazi rule in concentration camps:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
“Fellow Sierra Leoneans, don’t sleep in the dungeon of silence. Stand up, organise and mobilise for change in Sierra Leone.”
The police in Freetown are yet to comment on the report that their offices were called for help this morning by Alie Kabba’s security men, and they failed to respond.
Sir, you are a shining light for the future of Sierra Leone. I left the country at the age of 4, and I am shocked to see that brutality and barbarism still exists. I hope all corruption and extortion can be rooted out of this country.
It doesn’t matter what tribe you are from, everyone should have an opportunity to thrive in Sierra Leone. Keep up the hard work for freedom.
Sinicerly,
Martin Kabba
This incident allegedly carried out by armed men in military uniform on the residence of an important political figure does raise suspicion of a political conspiracy, at this time of tense party rivalry.
This is a serious matter, which government must investigate thoroughly in order to dispel the perception that the shadow of the APC’s past is about to pursue political opponents this time again. It will be wise for the APC government to clear its reputation on this matter.
And again, why had the police as the law enforcement custodian remained immovable when they were called to provide security to citizens desperately in need of their service? The people need an explanation.
The Sierra Leone police are on the service of the citizens, whose tax proceeds pay their salaries. Their duty is also to provide the citizenry with security coverage at all times, especially in times of need as in this case.
This gives the reason to believe that it is an act of intimidation against political opponents, with an intention to inflict bodily harm.
The people will strongly resent violence perpetrated in the political scenario by any political group, rather than the debate of ideas, respect for the rule of law and good governance.
We are looking forward to a violence free political campaign in the forthcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in 2018.
This is indeed a troubling situation and should not be tolerated. It doesn’t matter who the person is, what his or her religious, political or social affiliations and aspirations are, everyone has a right to be safe in their premises and should not be harassed or threatened in any way, shape, or form ( especially when it involves a presidential aspirant).
It is therefore the responsibility of Sierra Leone’s law enforcement to investigate this incident thoroughly and with enthusiasm and all facts made public to prove to the world that Sierra Leone is a peaceful and law abiding nation that’s on it’s way to becoming a very strong democracy in Africa. The ball is in your court A.P.C!
Shame them Alie, and continue to say the truth as that is the only thing that will set Sierra Leone free from the ravages of these monstrous caboodles.