Sierra Leone Telegraph: 24 July 2019:
It is now over ten days since president Bio was last seen in Sierra Leone. The media frenzy that spearheaded the search for his whereabouts has died down. But the after-shock of his sudden appearance in Kenya last week as a tourist, amidst reports that he was ill, still reverberates across the country.
There is unconfirmed report in at least one of the local newspapers that president Bio will arrive back in Freetown later today, with a fanfare welcome from his supporters and officials.
It is understood that the president made an unofficial visit to Dubai this week, where he met potential investors to take over the running of the country’s Tonkolili iron ore mines which was abandoned in 2017 by the Chinese.
There is news today also, of the government reviewing all mining agreements signed by the previous government.
There is widespread consternation over the alleged break-in into the home of the commission of inquiry Judge – Justice Biobele Georgewill, where a laptop is reported to have been stolen. Some newspapers are questioning the level of security provided, while others are reporting on the political finger pointing between the ruling SLPP and the opposition APC as to who could have been responsible for the burglary.
The alleged disappearance of over One Billion Leones meant to cover the cost of running the country’s parliament, also made the news this morning.
This is what some of the papers are saying today:
A lot of conspiracy theories regarding the theft of a laptop belonging to Commission of Inquiry (COI) chairman – Justice Biobele Georgewill – must be flying around in various media outlets, at this moment in time.
Of course, the previous administration of the All Peoples Congress (APC) party – the respondent to all this backward and ethnical orientated political strategy, which to the eyes of many is now approaching to the stage of a white elephant – would feel the heat as the finger of blame is constantly pointing at them; as they are in the dock to defend themselves for highlighting the initial steps to be taken in the economic development of a third world country, brought about by the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) government.
In the first instance, people should refrain from making conclusions attributed to partisan sentiments. This is an important issue and has the potential to unravel into a MYSTERY. And, on the whole, there are four main suspects in this saga: the APC party, the SLPP, the Police, and the complainant, Justice Biobele Georgewill.
As if taken out of the blue, the public will now have the opportunity to recalibrate the efficiency and capacity of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) in resolving intelligence matters, devoid of partisan affiliation, in the context of being independent and establishing their integrity. The Police, being the apparatus responsible for security within the country, should genuinely dissociate themselves from this crime, or else, heads will have to roll in the future, if the present government is committed to fostering transparency and accountability.
For now, it is a local case, but has got some international implications attached to it. It is imperative that the Police get it right. Don’t budge it!
It seems like a new chapter has opened in the COI: ‘The End’ or a new era for the ‘proliferation of evidence’.
Please ask him who he last slept with prior to the big breaking news. This guy is trying to make money on the people of Sierra Leone.
The asinine suggestion by some media outlets that the SLPP government is involved in the attack on Justice Georgewill is part of a grand conspiracy to undermine the present government’s efforts in fighting corruption in Sierra Leone. What does the SLPP government gain by attacking a judge that it appointed to investigate corruption?
The Commissions of Inquiry serve at the discretion of the government of Sierra Leone and can be brought to an end if the government so desires. So how can the same government turn around to undermine its own efforts in enforcing the rule of law? It makes no sense.
It is great to know that the judge was not physically harmed. The theft itself was very foolish and amateurish. The judge has backup data that can be easily retrieved. Thus, all the thief or thieves gain is a Laptop that may not cost more than $1,000. The next time that these lawless malcontents attempt to repeat their dastardly acts, they will be confronted by a coterie of heavily armed military and police personnel ready to take them out.