Sierra Leone Telegraph: 01 December 2021:
The immediate past President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, is set to lead another Elections Observation Mission to the Republic of Gambia for that country’s Presidential Elections scheduled for 4th December 2021.
The Former President will today depart Sierra Leone for Banjul and is expected to be joined by a team of 50 (fifty) ECOWAS elections experts and observers drawn from the 16 ECOWAS member states, including government representatives, ECOWAS Ambassadors accredited to Abuja, Members of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Representatives of the Electoral Commissions of Member States, Civil Society and the Media.
A letter signed by the ECOWAS Commission President, Jean-Claude Kassi reads; “In the hope of benefiting once again from Your Excellency’s rich experience, diplomatic skills and the great leadership that you have demonstrated over the years, I kindly beseech your availability to lead the ECOWAS Observer Mission.”
The Observation Mission team will, among other things, leverage on documents put together from the fact-finding Mission and the report prepared by the Long-Term Electoral Observer Mission (LTEOM). The team will also hold high-level consultations with key stakeholders in the Gambian electoral process.
Former President Koroma has expressed satisfaction at the confidence reposed in him by the subregional body to once again lead a Mission to a crucial Presidential election such as the one in The Gambia.
“I will continue to render my service for the furtherance of peace, security and democracy in the sub-region and the rest of the Continent. It is only through relentless sacrifices like these that we will be able to achieve the Africa we want – an Africa where peace, democracy and human rights are integral in our quest for political and economic freedom,” Koroma said.
The December 4th elections in the Gambia is the first to be held after President Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the country for over two decades, was defeated in 2017 by then opposition leader, Adama Barrow.
Five candidates already cleared by the Gambian electoral commission will be facing President Adama Barrow in the elections.
Charity begins at home. If anything, this confidence and recognition of fromer president Koroma, in being called upon to be the trouble shooter in observing elections out comes across the African continent, is not only a plus for our own democratic credentials, as a country uniquely placed in the postion as pace maker in teaching other African countries how to conduct free, open and unfettered elections, free from tribal violence, as in the case of many African countries during their elections calendar season, but it point us to something more enduring as other African members states look at us and want to emulates us ,and wish their own leaders can conduct themselves like our leaders does , by respecting their constitutional order that place a presidential term limit for would be leaders.
If Alpha Conde had followed in the footsteps of our fromer president Bia Koroma, none of what happened in Guinea, in forcing the hand of the military to dispersed him to political oblivion would had taken place. And more relevant to the story at hand, fomer Gambian dictator , Yayah Jammeh would not have been forced to go into exiled when they had the last presidential election, in which he clearly lost to Adama Barrow, but through his lack of his will to see the writting on the wall, that his tenure as Gambia’s worst dictatorship is up and , the sun was finally setting on him and his government. Maybe now we know what happened during his dictatorship, the human rights violence, the rapes murders of journalists, political prisoners, Ghanaians would be economic migrants, and unimaginable suffering he subjected the prople of Gambia.
Losing power for him was like forfeiting his freedom when the truth finally comes out. So he would rather the truth be buried and never see the light of day. And through the Gambian truth and reconciliation commission, Gambians have finally got a clear picture of what went on after twenty years of Idi Amins or Emperor Bokassa type dictatorships. No doubt since this the first presidential since Jammeh was forced to accept the inevitable by ECOWAS member States, we will only hope former President Koroma dispense words of wisdom to President Barrow and the opposition presidential candidates, win or loose, you have to respect the constitutional order of your country. We learnt that lesson the hard way after the 1967 elections, between then Prime Minister Albert Margai of the SLPP and Candidate Saika Stevens of the ALL Peoples Congress. Never again we say in Sierra Leone.
O my God!, congratulations to our able Excellent former President, H.E. Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, and the life chairman of the Almighty APC party and it supporters. I also thanks the brilliants African leaders that met together and selected our former president to lead this delegation and it’s team, to conduct, observed free and fair election in to our sister land” The Republic of Gambia”. It is a perfect precedented move, Allahu Akbar, this is not the first time. As some of us are strongly preparing comments right now on this appointment. Stay tune.