Sierra Leone Telegraph: 5 September 2021:
The African Bar Association (AfBA) has invited former President of Sierra Leone, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, to attend the Association’s annual conference taking place from 3rd October to 7th October 2021 in Niamey, Niger.
AfBA also informed President Koroma of its decision to honour him with the 2021 African Leadership Medal during the Annual Conference
At a short presentation ceremony in Makeni yesterday, AfBA’s Director of Information and Protocol, Elvis Enoh, said the African Bar Association was established in 1971 as an advocacy group seeking to promote good governance, constitutionality, and the rule of law in Africa.
Enoh said that the AfBA had passed a resolution to honour some of the deserving past leaders on the continent for their services to Africa in promoting Good Governance, Democracy and the Rule of Law while in office.
Enoh added, “the African Bah Association will be pleased to decorate Your Excellency with the African Bar Leadership Medal at the Opening Ceremony of the Conference…”
Accepting the invitation, Former President Koroma said: “I accept this invitation with all humility, and I am going to dedicate the award to the people of Sierra Leone who gave me the opportunity to serve, members of my administration whose support was instrumental to what we were able to accomplish, and my political party that gave me a platform….”
The Sierra Leonean statesman also reassured AfBA that he will continue to dedicate his energy, time and other resources towards promoting peace and good governance in Africa.
Former President Koroma will be among six other former leaders and diplomats to be awarded in Niamey.
Elvis Enoh was accompanied to Makeni by the AfBA Vice President for West Africa, Rhoda Nuni; Information and Protocol Officer, Boyzie Kamara from the AfBA Chapter Sierra Leone; and Mr Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara (Photo above – with former president Koroma) who is a life time Member of the AfBA Governing Council.
We have to get use to Earnest Koroma receiving international accolades. Most international organisations are manned by people who are only after a fat pay cheque, they are not circumspect in their deliberations. Earnest is a beneficiary of this unmitigated mediocrity. If a group of lawyers, whose profession should epitomise thorough investigation and debilitating questioning can behave so amateurishly, what should be expected from the rest of us?
There may well be lobbying to which we have been blinded to make Earnest grander than he actually is or deserve. By doing so his domestic bungling can go unnoticed even if it violates international law as was the case with ECOWAS. The only thing international bodies tend to have been buried in ,because of intense lobbying, is the half-hearted handing power over to Bio after APC were corralled and whipped by Bio and his SLPP in 2018. This could help to explain the inexplicable love affair between Earnest and international bodies.
This is very strange. How can African lBar Association honor our former President Earnest Koroma who blatantly through his former Attorney General Joseph Kamara disregarded the judgment of the ECOWAS Court?
“ Money Talks, Bullsh*t Walks”.
This explains why lawyers and used car salesman are always in the bottom of the ladder.
I beg to differ. The former president is a crook and a charlatan. The sale of Sierra Rutile, the weakening of parliament by removing the speaker,which came baxk to haunt the A.P.C. His house in Makeni cost more than the University of Makeni.
He has filled the A.P.C party with his relatives and sycophants. He tried to have a third term, however he failed. Lack of foresight, his treatment of Charles Margai and Sam Sumana cost the party precious votes in Kono and southern Sierra Leone. His reign of 8 years did little improvement to the country.
He is worse than Alpha Conde or Ouattara because you cannot even begin to compare Sierra Leone with Cote d’Ivoire or Guinea in terms of development. Sierra Leone is the third world compared to Guinea and fifth world compared to Cote d’Ivoire.
Thanks Mr Africanus, When I wrote my pieces about Alpha Conde and Ouattara, and my criticism of the two leaders for over staying or wanting to stay in power in defiance of the their own country’s constitutional arrangements on presidential term limits, one is tempted to give the current Ivorian president a green pass for running a third term, because he was asked to contest the presidency because of the sudden death by the ruling party presidential candidate Amadou Couilbaly that was meant to take after him. More like Ouattara was the only credible candidate that could have won last year’s presidential elections after Mr Couilbaly deaths . Now on the question of Ivory Coast been one of the economic power houses in West Africa,is all down to Felix Houphouet-Boigny.Unlike Seku Turay of Guinea, at the time of independence, the Ivorian leader was smart enough to retain all the well trained white French civil servants and went to extra ordinary lengths to encourage them to stay after Ivory Coast was granted independence back in the 1960.
Before the 2000s Ivorian civil war there were fifty thousand French nationals living, and working and paying their taxes in Ivory coast . With there expert knowledge helped to replicate Paris in West Africa. Compared that to Guinea, when the French gave them independence, they were so upset with Sekou Toure, even the electricity lamp posts were uprooted and taken with them. The famous quote by then Ahmed Sekou Toure, was “We would rather have poverty in freedom than riches in slavery ” He was reacting to the French colonial power’s actions. Today Guinea is the richest country on paper due to fact they have the largest iron ore deposit in the world, but practically poor due to corruption and mismanagement. Now I don’t want to gloat about what happened in Guinea in the last 48 hours. I wonder what Mr Africanus think of the military take over in Guinea.?
Which one of the two you prefer? Enerst Bai Koroma who I will say given our African traditions of respecting our leaders, might have been advised to run for third party by his over jealous supporters, but in reality if he really wanted he could, but never did,because don’t forget he was still commander in chief of armed forces and the police. All he needed to do was declare a national state of emergency and arrest Bio and all other opposition leaders in the country, and amend the constitution and run for a third term. I am not giving Bio an idea, but we all know if an African president wants to stay in power he will stay in power. But he didn’t do that. Alpha Conde did,despite the opposition for to his third term. Now look where it all ends. A change of government by the most uncompromising citizens we call the AK47 TRIBE or the barrel of the gun or through the ballot box . We don’t want them in our country. We have a lot to thank Enerst Bai Koroma, and Bio himself that handed power to Kabbah.
Mr Jalloh, all I can say is that some fat envelopes have crossed hands. The former president was blocked by the late justice Cowan from his third term shenanigans. He can spend all his money on these awards, as someone who disregarded the ECOWAS court on the Sam Sumana issue, I personally do not think that he is fit, however I digress. The former president lacks foresight. He will never get his hands on power in SL again and when the A.P.C party rises. He has questions to face on the lacklustre performance. This A.P.C is not the A.P.C of Kamara Taylor, Kawusu Conte, Sorie Ibrahim Koroma.
Yeah. Someone who respects others will always be appreciated and honoured. This former Commander in Chief of the Sierra Leone Armed Forces will remain in the spotlight till the almighty God asks for him. Please don’t be scared of my last sentence statement Mr former President. You will have a long life and be just fine, in Jesu’s name. I said it several times and will repeat it. This President is the best former African President ever, in my view. See the casual presidential pose of the former President in that picture. In whatever human format, this former President always looks presidential and will ever remain presidential. Enjoy your award Dr Ernest Bai Koroma. Congratulations to you and may God bless you and your family. “E Go Be Mah”.
Congratulations to former president Bai Koroma for this recognition and award from the African Bar Association. Well deserved accolade, to a decent and deserving Pan Africanist, that have used his spare time out of office to promote unity to some of our politically and socially fractured African countries. Somalia, Zambia, Benin etc. If we just take a deep breath and summoned the courage and recognise what former President Koroma did in respecting the two presidential terms as stipulated in our constitution, and leaving office, when his time was up, given the nature of the gridlock politics in other African countries, Ethiopia, Central Africa Republic, DRC, the terrorist threat in the Sahel region and closer to home, the way it has being practice in our near neighbourhood,the likes of Alpha Conde of Guinea and Allasan Oauttarra of Ivory Coast, and we are talking about two octogenarians compared to our younger and fomer president, so those people who acused him of being a power hungry and a control freak with in the APC party are just trying to sling mud at his name to see if it sticks.
In every democracy, whether is APC party of Buhari, or or the opposition PDP party of Nigeria, both the Republic, and Democrats parties of the United States , the Labour Party or the ruling Conservative party,of the United Kingdom, the old hands in those parties still play and active and meaningful roles. So whats the difference between former President Obama, Cliton hold on the Democratic party and George Bush and Dick Chenney’s hold on the Republical, and we compare that to president Bia Koroma’s contribution to the advancements of the APC party. The only difference here is because he is a Sierra Leonean. And Sierra Leoneans like to see the fault in their fellow Sierra-leoneans not the fault of forefingers. Is just part of our DNA. You won’t be a complete 24 carat Sierra Leonean with out being envious not running in your blood stream. Thats what we are and that’s what makes us who we are.