Sierra Leone Telegraph: 30 December 2023:
United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone – Bryan David Hunt (Photo above with president Bio) has spoken out against all forms of state impunity and collective punishment in Sierra Leone, after scores of people connected to the country’s main opposition APC party were arrested and detained, following an alleged attempted coup on 26 November 2023, including former president Ernest Bai Koroma who is currently serving house arrest.
Speaking on AYV television this week, the US ambassador said that ongoing judicial investigation into the alleged coup must not be conflated with the ongoing peace dialogue between the government and the opposition APC, and calls for all involved to continue the implementation of the signed peace accord which was brokered by the international community to end months of political chaos and uncertainty in the country.
“There is a judicial process that is going on to find out who were responsible for November 26th. Whoever was involved in that needs to be held accountable under Sierra Leone law,” including those responsible for supporting or financing the 26 November shootings in Freetown.
The ambassador is coming under heavy criticism from SLPP government supporters for saying that he does not believe the opposition APC could have been involved in the 26 November incident.
“I don’t believe that any legitimate political actor in Sierra Leone would back what happened on November 26,” suggesting that those who may have supported the incident did so in their personal capacity rather than under the auspices of a political party.
“When we talk about the investigation for November 26th, we’re talking about investigating and holding accountable individuals for their individual actions. Sierra Leone does not believe in collective punishment, nor does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. So we do not punish a political party or any organization for the individual actions of its members.”
You can watch the ambassador speaking:
Thank you, Victor John and Margaret Nallo .When we say it, they insult us. Who among the APC members will risk their lives needlessly partaking in a risky enterprise like a coup in this day and age when most coups do not stand ?
Do you know what it entails to overthrow a government in a country like Sierra Leone ? You need a very strong foreign backing with money and logistics . You also need the participation of a neighboring country for uninterrupted flow of arms and ammunition and mercenaries. Bio is not an easy leader to overthrow because he controls the army and police, which he has saturated with his tribesmen. Bio is also not careless with power like others . You have to give him credit t for that, however much you condemn the diabolical maneuvers he uses to hold on to power illegally and his elections thieving and human rights abuses. No serious person will try to overthrow a government like Bio’s with arms stolen from an ammunition dump which would not be enough to sustain and consolidate the coup. If there was a coup attempt at all, it was adventuristic and the plotters were imbeciles.
We pray to God that one day we will learn the truth about November 26.
The ambassador is absolutely right. Why would any political party and their leaders want to risk everything by plotting and carrying out what can only be described as a mickey mouse coup with a handful of kalashnikovs stolen from army barrack.
November 26 was a stage-managed drama by president Bio and his SLPP top guns. They are responsible for the deaths of those poor soldiers who were used as cannon fodder in a staged battlefield. May their souls rest in peace for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ironically, most of those soldiers that died on the 26 November are northerners.
Did Bio send them to their untimely deaths because he suspected them of plotting to overthrow his government? This we will never know. Only Bio and his nasty wife know the truth. But God will punish them one day. We will live to see their miserable ending.
Thank you Mr ambassador for standing up to bullying in Sierra Leone.
I agree with the Ambassador. President Koroma nor the APC as a whole were responsible for that chaos that took place and President Bio and the SLPP members know that. In my opinion, the chaos was caused by disgruntled people, namely his leadership, friends and family members. The President made several promises to them that were not fulfilled by him. Hence, these people reacted in violence.
Then how comes most of are from the north? You will regret that action of yours