Tommy Amara: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 29 October 2022:
Of all the Mayors and District Chairpersons, the Mayor of the Freetown City Council (FCC) – Yvonne Aki-Sawyer, is the most harassed, victimized and vilified by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP).
Ever since the SLPP came to power, Aki-Sawyer has been singled out for persecution and prosecution. The SLPP has tried every trick in their crooked books to get this woman with unblemished character stained or roped.
She is the only head of a Local Council who has received persistent hostilities from the Local Government Minister and Government’s operatives. SLPP supporters have even tried to paint her as a tribalist for daring to speak some home truths!
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which is the hidden arm of the SLPP, has also done everything in the sun to bring Aki-Sawyer down. But they too have not been able to bring down a good woman with a heart of gold. The ACC’s attempt at political blackmail was seen for the witch-hunt it really was.
With the ACC and Local Government Ministry’s inability to bring down Mayor Aki-Sawyer, the Sierra Leone Police are the latest pawn which the SLPP government has turned to in its chess game of persecution and prosecution of the FCC Mayor.
The Police case against her, for “Obstruction of Justice” as laughable as it is, has already started on a comic note as it is full of inconsistencies.
What the first prosecution witness, Fanta Fofanah, is saying in open court is quite different from her original statement. When cross-examined by one of the defence counsels, Mohamed Pa Momoh Fofanah, she reveals how hopeless and pointless the police case against Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyer is.
If Mayor Akl-Sawyer were just an ordinary citizen the probability of her being gunned down somewhere would have been quite high, given Bio’s pattern of doing things. The reason for such a dastardly act would have been that a lipstick was found in the Mayor’s handbag, and soldiers mistook it for a loaded gun. Wasn’t Evangelist Samson gunned down because security forces had to defend themselves, when, in fact, Samson wasn’t even holding a stick? This is how bloodthirsty leaders play their game of eliminating those they perceive to be their enemies or they are just not fit for life.
History is full of such misguided and insane leaders. Remember Adolf Hitler? Remember Joseph Stalin in what was then The Soviet Union, who killed even family members? Remember Idi Amin of Uganda who killed thousands of his compatriots? Remember Mabutu Sessco of The Democratic Republic of Congo whose killing spree started with the killing of the angelic Patrice Lumumba? Remember our own Siaka Stevens,aided by S I Koroma and C A Kamara-Taylor, who dispatched many opponents to an early grave?
Now then, what do all these leaders had in common ? Their end was miserable. Hitler committed suicide. Stalin died alone in his dacha. Idi Amin was chased out of Uganda and lies buried in a foreign country. Mabutu is in a grave in Morocco . According to irrefutable information Siaka Stevens, S I Koroma and C A Kamara-Taylor became living corpses even before the angel of death visited them. Our Catholic Bio is beginning to see something in the distance, the looks of which are terrifying, hence his summoning of a pastor from Nigeria to pray for him. Rumours have it that he has trouble sleeping these days because whenever he attempts to close his eyes he sees the phantoms of those he has killed in a determined attempt to catch him. Leave Yvonne Aki-Sawyer alone Bio and try to do an honest day’s work. By the way, where is the Auditor-General’s report?
There is much to this story than meet the eye.The story of Bio’s unflinching vehemence and savagery against the elected Mayor of Freetown and the FCC is well documented and in the public domain. Guilty by association has been the main tainted brush used by Bio and his associates to undermine and harras our Mayor for party political purposes. And since the leadership of the opposition APC party is spineless and haven’t conducted themselves as a real opposition to this one directionless Poapa Bio government , all the bile and political chraratcther assasination has been directed towards the only politicians that Bio and some of the tguggish elements within his orbit fear most in the political landscape of Sierra Leone. The APC leadership was quick to come out and condemned the actions of Bio against the former president Enerst Bai Koroma. The Christian and Muslims faith leaders that pride themselves as the moral guarantors of our country’s peace dividends were also on record urging all parties to exercise restrain.
The diplomatic corps were also on hand .Because they know when the country is face with economic and security challenges they have to pick up the flake .When it comes to the victimization of Mayor Akin Swayer , their silence is deafening.The danger of course, we should not down play some of the actions of Bio and his government .The threat of Islamist terrorist is spreading like wildfires in the West Africa region .And these 12 century breaded jihadists are always on the look out for weak states to impose their form of Sharia law governments .Togo , Niger , Bukina Fasso , Mali , Nigeria , Ghana. And the instability in Guinea is a timely reminder we should not take the peace we enjoy today for granted. So what evidence does the Bio government need to know we live in a rough neighborhood that his actions is likely to create the unintended effects of ubderminging the security of Sierra Leone and making our country ungovernable .We need a government that is committed to peace building like Rwanda that went through the same horrors of civil war but have come out the other end better prepared for any future upheavals.
The Mayor have been identified with highly commendable good works by helping her constituents of Freetown and trying to improve their living standards .Her program of social actions from , lunching her agenda of planting trees to tackling the climate emergency facing residents that are exposed to flash flooding around the Freetown peninsula , to waste managements , to the construction of market stalls for”PEPE WOMEN” ,and help for working mothers ,to the marshalling of international support , to borrow Trump’s phrase “To make Sierra Leone Great again” , has all been significantly marginalized by the Bio government because they can neither compete nor can his government deliver all the false promises he made during his 2017/2018 presidential campaign .The chronology of events that led the Mayor to the Freetown law Courts , on charges of police obstruction is entriely false evidence base . Is not only the Mayor in the duck but the whole of Sierra Leone is on the duck , as the world watches in horror and anger , and asked the question in the minds of all right thinking Sierra Leoneans , What the heck does Bio hope to achieve in this politically motivated trial .?
The real culprits in this sorry saga is leadership of the Sierra Leone police force not the foot soldiers at the airport that have to carry out their orders even self consciously in their heart of hearts or their 3am wake up call ,they don’t agree with the way the Mayor have been treated by Bio and his savagery supporter.You have to be careful for what you wish for .