Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 August 2023:
President Bio’s announcement in Parliament last week that he will soon be setting up a committee led by the country’s vice president – Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh to review the country’s elections processes, including the working of the Electoral Commission, may be taking little traction in a few quarters, especially among supporters of his ruling SLPP party.
But for the main opposition APC and critics, the president’s proposal is seen as just another lame gimmick, aimed at buying time in the hope that the international community and the APC will now accept the controversial June 2023 elections results announced by the Electoral Commission, and move on.
Since the announcement of those results, both the international community and the opposition APC are calling for the electoral commission to publish all polling station results to ensure they are credible, transparent and can stand to scrutiny.
The opposition APC are refusing to work with the government, accusing President Bio of stealing the people’s votes by rigging the ballots.
A quiet storm is brewing between the ruling SLPP and the main opposition APC, which if not addressed soon, could lead to serious political instability in the country.
Writing on Twitter yesterday, former President of the Sierra Leone Bar Association and Human Rights Lawyer – Barrister Basita Michael, criticised President Bio’s proposed elections review committee. This is what she says:
This corrupt President is one of those unscrupulous people who believes all money is the same…whether you scam it, rob or kill to get it…it doesn’t really matter, its alright its fine; That’s exactly the reason why he has been freeloading all his life; to him the end always justifies the means; the hard lessons that he was taught by the unforgiving ways of abject, deplorable poverty have transformed him completely into an amoral, unseemly leader, that lacks the abilities to reason judiciously by himself in times of crisis; Yup, he has already become a gruesome tribal monster that would go to hell and back just to safeguard his strategic and personal interests; Folks, there are no longer citizens in our country, but hostages…sitting ducks, waiting at the mercy of this wannabe dictator with a heart made of stone, currently residing in our State House.
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Funny is it not how a barely literate individual that surrounded himself with a bunch of his semi-literate tribesmen now thinks that he owns our little Sierra Leone? They scheme and connive daily behind the scenes against innocent citizens…kill harmless prisoners…trample on the most basic and fundamental principles of democracy…stoke the roaring fires of tribalism and hatred and…brazenly steal elections just to be able to hold on to power; Human rights is virtually non existent in our Sierra Leone; Highly paid apologists and polemicists are everywhere, hell-bent on protecting the shadowy interests of a failing, ailing, crumbling SLPP government; Yes, they can seen on rooftops blowing the loudest tribalistic trumpets, on behalf of the President and not in the strategic interest of our beloved Sierra Leone. Hate him or love him..it won’t really matter…Maada Bio will remain a tribalist until the end of time. True.
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There is a hard lesson for the APC to teach this President with a childish mentality, that adamantly believes he can govern Sierra Leone on his own without an opposition keeping checks and balances on his already failed, incompetent government. Folks, Non participation – aptly resembles a sharpened gleaming, enduring Samurai sword…the most powerful weapon an opposition can wield in times of war; The APC should not relent, lament or back down…they should remain resolute, steadfast and totally focused until our frail, little poor Country comes to a grinding economic halt…and crumbles, hopelessly, out of fatigue, and exhaustion like a deck of cards; Now let me reiterate…scams are what they are scams…please show this corrupt SLPP president that you are not interested in his scam…run away from it…because curiosity is all that is needed to entrap people in a devious scam…Mr. “Mende President” – Release the original, authentic election results…we the people are not interested at all in your fraudulent SLPP scheme.