Kabs Kanu: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 August 2022:
DO we need to catalogue all the bloodshed President Bio has committed in Sierra Leone since his NPRC days and since he came to power in 2018 for anybody to understand why many Sierra Leoneans rejoiced today for the first strong open challenge to his misrule?
Nobody has shed blood in Sierra Leone for politics , apart from Foday Sankoh, more than Maada Bio . Nobody has violated and abused the constitution and Rule of Law more than Maada Bio. Bio is the tyrant we have never had in our country before.
Hypocrite Sierra Leoneans are condemning Adebayor for calling for the challenge to Maada Bio’s power . Have they forgotten how Maada Bio killed our kids in Makeni, Tombo, Mile 91, Lunsar, Tonko Limba, etc ; how he sent police to beat our MPs and drag them out of Parliament; how Bio illegally removed 10 APC politicians without even batting an eyelid; how SLPP supporters rejoiced and gloated about each and every one of these incidents ; how they showed no sympathy and did not condemn Maada Bio in any way? Rather, they glorified him .
SLPP supporters justified the killings of our innocent citizens and have even been threatening to do worse to those who criticize or challenge this government. Have they forgotten how Maada BIO sent thugs and police to massacre hundreds of people at the Pademba Road Prisons?
Do you know how many breadwinners Maada Bio threw out of jobs illegally because they do not speak the same language as he? Look at the harassment and unnecessary advantage being taken of the Auditor General Lara Taylor Pearce , the Mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki- Sawyer and politician Femi Claudius Cole because they are doing their jobs. Look at politician Mohamed Kamarainba virtually dying in prison . What did he do to deserve that? He was denied bail for allegedly committing a bailable offense. He is dying in prison and none of you are talking for him. Why should one man be so wicked to his fellow men?
Maada Bio was shedding blood and taking advantage of people and nobody was challenging him . He seemed to be getting away with everything and he was enjoying it . He did not care for the pain he was causing. Anybody who complained openly was arrested . It went to the point where he even arrested a stroke victim who had to be helped to walk and a mentally challenged boy just for speaking their minds .
So, if some people are rejoicing because Adebayor challenged Maada Bio’s bloodshed , atrocities and bullying , why shoud it be a problem? Adebayor is the first and only man that has proved a match to Maada Bio. Bio has bought, cowed or silenced everybody in the country , including civil society, political parties, pressmen and women, parliamentarians, legal professionals and almost everybody else. He has even turned bitter critics into sycophants.
If people are hailing Adebayor, it is not because they are happy to see chaos or the deaths of our citizens. It is because Adebayor is the first and only person to give the nation hope , to show the nation the way and the light; to prove that Sierra Leoneans can get this GEGEH NAR THROAT out of their backs without a military coup, even if he rigs next year’s elections. Adebayor is the only man that has made Maada Bio worry that he could lose power next year.
Maada Bio’s humiliation by Adebayor is victory for the many citizens whose blood this wicked president has shed . It is victory for the many people whom he has been taking advantage of with impunity , with nobody seeming to have the guts to challenge him. It is victory for any decent person who is tired of Bio’s dictatorship , totalitarian governance, tribalism, bloodthirsty rule and bullying of innocent people . When a bully is challenged at last, his victims rejoice. It is part of life . As children, we rejoiced when the schoolyard bully met his match at last.
We are deeply sorry for the many precious lives lost today as a result of the demonstration. We extend our deepest condolence to the families . But the person to blame for all these deaths is President Bio . He provoked people to take to the streets. When you extinguish every avenue of complaints , you provoke people to lose their patience and resort to strikes and demonstrations.
Sierra Leone has always been s country of hypocrites and citizens with double standards. The same people denouncing Adebayor today would have been jubilating if this demonstration had taken place during APC rule.
Do not mind all the false piety and fake sympathies for those who lost their lives today . It is because the demonstration was against their SLPP party that does no wrong. They rejoiced when our children were killed in Makeni, Tombo, Lunsar, Mile 91, Tonko Limba; they are even secretly rejoicing at the killings in Makeni today. What changed today ? Hypocrites and devious people. God will judge them one day.
Abdulai Mansaray, I am sure Mr. Titus Pratt was just being humorous. You do not need to be my follower for me to publish your articles. You , by your own free will, send me your articles for publication . You and your brother used to post every article to me. We had our clash once , but we made it up and resumed our friendship.
I have been in journalism for over a half century. I worked for the Sierra Leone Daily Mail, We Yone, The Nation , the Tablet and contributed articles to the . The People. In America, I also worked for the Sierra Leone Newsletter and the West African Journal. When the internet came, I worked for Expo Times before reopening COCORIOKO, which I had founded at FBC in 1973 and edited it along with the Spotlight magazine.
I have received 12 different awards for outstanding journalism from credible organizations like NOSLINA ( The Sierra Leone version of the American Academys } Springs of Joy, Save Sierra Leone, the FBC Students Union etc. etc. I do not need anybody to authenticate or validate me. My work and my achievements speak for me.
Let us continue our respective work. You will be amazed to know how many people appreciate what we write, including diplomats at the UN, EU , U.S. State Department, U.S. Congress etc. Some of these guys do not know how much stakeholders from the international community contact us to get information or to discuss some of the things we write. Den feel say nar idleness we dey pan. We are creating a historical archive of information that we will yet be cherished for long after we are dead.
I am even very surprised that such an Article was published. Now one can start to understand and sispect the People behind this Riot. If Maada Bio was such a bad Ruler since the NPRC, how come that he won the Elections.
This oped-ed against President Maada Bio is based on propaganda, lies, hate and deception. Nothing written by this man in his oped-ed is based on fact. President Julius Maada Bio is the democratically elected president of Sierra Leone and he won a free and fear elections in 2018. There is an election next year in 2023 and Sierra Leoneans who are eligible to vote have the power at the ballot box to either give president Bio a new five year term or elect a new president. Every Sierra Leonean has the right to either support or criticise president Maada Bio’s policies. The oped-ed of this article did not write about either his support or opposition of president Bio’s policies, the oped-ed of this article instead personally wrote about his hate, deception, lies and propaganda against President Bio, to apparently inflame tensions in the country. Every Sierra Leonenean should continue to promote peace in the country. My sympathy goes to the families of the Sierra Leoneans including both civilians and the Sierra Leone Police Officers that lost their lives during the recent violence in the country.
Few years ago, Mr. Abdulai Mansaray who is a journalist educated me that KABS KANU is not a journalist. Now I believe that he is not a journalist because now he is on the rampage on this credible newspaper as APC propagandist.
Augustine Fallay, we are not here to listen to gossip about who said what about who not being a journalist. We all have seen Kabs Kanu in action . Who else can be a better journalist ? Is the very Abdulai Mansaray not an oped writer in Kabs Kanu’s Cocorioko ? He is a follower of Kabs Kanu. If Kabs is not a journalist, why is he following him ?
Let us be honest with ourselves : Kabs Kanu is not the problem. Is Maada Bio ruling our country right ? The problem in Sierra Leone is not the Kabs Kanus who highlight the issues. Enough with this messenger-bashing. Please stick to the issues and defend your government, if you can. .
Mr Pratt, I don’t follow anyone. My articles are published in many newspapers, some without my consent and it’s free. If a cat sat on a pillar, does it become a caterpillar? You don’t have to agree with someone to share the same platform. Like anyone else, you have the right to your opinion and I will defend such a right. We need to have meaningful conversations for the benefit of Mama Salone. We just need to keep the big conversations civil, irrespective of our differences in opinions. Variety is the spice of life. If we all think the same way or belong to the same circles, life will be boring. Just a gentle reminder: I am not a journalist, I just think aloud. I don’t belong to any political party, I support Sierra Leone and anyone who wants to see the country go forward. Don’t you notice that I try to look left and right in my articles. Because I don’t belong to any party, I feel at ease to be as honest, as humanly possible, in my pieces. Let’s keep the conversations going but let’s try and focus on the issues and less on personalities. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll find some of the solutions on this forum. God bless all those who mean well for Sierra Leone.
This oped-ed against President Maada Bio is based on propaganda, deceptions, hate, and lies. Nothing written by this man in his oped-ed is based on fact. President Julius Maada Bio is the democratically elected president of Sierra Leone and he won a free and fear elections in 2018. There is an election next year in 2023 and Sierra Leoneans who are eligible to vote have the power at the ballot box to either give president Bio a new five year term or elect a new president. Every Sierra Leonean has the right to either support or criticise president Maada Bio’s policies. The oped-ed of this article did not write about either his support or opposition of president Bio’s policies, the oped-ed of this article instead personally wrote about his hate, deception, lies and propaganda against President Bio, to apparently inflame tensions in the country. Every Sierra Leonenean should continue to promote peace and tolerance in the country. My sympathy goes to the families of both the civilians and the Sierra Leone Police Officers that lost their lives during the recent violence in the country.
On this glorious platform, these messages are the messages we need right now. Lei’s remember that people were killed.
Listen to this message – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ds6sjmYQRc.
In moments like this, we need people like Mr Solomon Jamiru who will come out and find solutions to the problems, not people who go on national TV to express their personal anger and are simultaneously discourteous to radio and TV presenters. We should respect people in their places of work—simple ethics, sir. Does he understand that? Kudos also the Mayor Yvonne Aki Sawyer.
I will always advise President Bio to come out and address the people when serious issues affect our country. Outsourcing his responsibilities to political runaways and irresponsible blokes will always be a sad mistake. President Bio knows the power of the presidency and anything that comes out of his mouth. If someone goes on national radio and tells people that ” they will be shot on site if they dare violate the curfew” is as bad as hell. See how the person in question misinterpreted the Vice President’s statement. Let’s say a police officer goes out and shoot someone on site. Who will be held responsible? The police officer or the official who gave that misleading and ignorant statement on national radio? I don’t understand why president Bio should allow every Jack and Jill to go out there and make irresponsible statements that pour petrol on the fire.
We need many more Mr Solomon Jamirus to come out and deliver the right message to calm down the situation. Just do things that will dial down the rhetoric. God bless Mr Solomon Jamiru and Sierra Leone.
KANYAKO, YOU ARE SLPP and that is exactly what I am saying and I am proud that Young 4na agreed with me. Everything I am writing now is objectionable because it is condemning the SLPP misrule, human rights abuses and corruption. When your government spilled innocent blood, there was nothing wrong with it. You are condemning the demonstration today because it was anti-SLPP. If it had been anti-APC, you would have hailed it to the high heavens. This is the problem that will keep Sierra Leone in the abyss for long. Everybody has taken sides. Wickedness is only wrong when it is perpetrated by the other side. You do not read COCORIOKO but we have nearly one million readers through the internet and social media everyday.
The main issue the writer of the article has failed to express is,what is the main opposition party doing?
Sending out illiterates to die for your lust for power is not the way to go about it. That is a recipe for tribal war.
It is the job of a viable opposition to oppose, the people are suffering. That I do not deny, however, gloating over the deaths of innocents is not the way forward.
The removal of the 10 parlimentarians was caused by Ernest Koroma, when he changed the constitution,which stipulated that the speaker should be apolitical.
In his boundless ambition, he did not realise that the tool he fashioned would be used against him.
This fire, if lit will not be easily extinguished.
Tribalistic innuendos and we against them will only stoke the flames of war.
I am sick and tied of reading articles from a Reverend, whose words are always negative, biased and politically one sided and absolutely no truth in whatever he writes but merely fabricated statements. I used to read his online news outlet, the Cocorioco, and because of those reasons I have stopped. For his dislike of the SLPP and President Bio, no one can stop him from expressing and venting his anger, it is his right. But for God sake, as a Reverend, the truth must be his words to the people of Sierra Leone. Hardly there is any truth in his statements whenever he writes an article as far as I know. because I do read other news outlets online and his is always contrary to the rest of the other news outlets. I (we) do expect a Reverend to be straight forward in relation to facts. This is just an extract from this article in which I quote Barbs Kanu “SLPP supporters justified the killings of our innocent citizens and have even been threatening to do worse to those who criticize or challenge this government. Have they forgotten how Maada BIO sent thugs and police to massacre hundreds of people at the Pademba Road Prisons?” My point here is, I have never read or heard that hundreds were massacre from any media outlets on the day of the Pademba Road incident, so where did Barbs Kanu got his figure from? This is a massive misleading statement to the nation of Sierra Leone. I do believe the ordinary men and women and even children in the streets of Sierra Leone will never be that close to that amount of people killed in Pademba Road Prisons mentioned by Barbs Kanu And also the word “massacre” used, would be least of a word for them to use in describing the Pademba incident,
I would like to point this out for you readers to know that I am not a member of any political party either having any affiliation to any of the political party. This is my observation about the write of this article, Barbs Kanu. He has always been painting the APC with a clear varnish whereby he hails, glorifies, praises etc the APC and never has he at no point tell the people of Sierra Leone of any wrong. The SLPP and President Bio, he is always painting them with a darker paint and also always crying them down of any good thing the party or the President does. How can a Reverend be so negative all the time and preaching untruly to his own people. Being a Reverend, we are expecting the truth and even prayers from him for our beloved Sierra Leone and her leader President Bio, for prosperity, peace, good governance and leadership directions, if he thinks this is what President Bio’s government needed to make Sierra Leone a better place for all Sierra Leoneans to live in.
*Hypocrite Sierra Leoneans are condemning Adebayor for calling for the challenge to Maada Bio’s power” I quote from Barbs Kanu’s article. It is shocking to read such a statement from a Reverend casting out decent, unbiased and patriotic Sierra Leoneans and calling them hypocrites for condemning a man who is constantly and verbally abusing fellow Sierra Leoneans with the worse of “mammy kuss” ever in our nation. Not only that, this guy is constantly bringing mayhems that always ended up to loss of lives and destructions to properties in Sierra Leone. How dear you Babs Kanu to call patriotic Sierra Leoneans “hypocrites” who are thinking good for Sierra Leone and rooting out the good for nothing guy, shameless, rude and evil unpatriotic Sierra Leonean Adebayor and you rather hailing Adebayor .And this is what you wrote and I quote “as the first and only person to give the nation hope to show the nation the way and the light; to prove that Sierra Leoneans can get this GEGEH NAR THROAT out of their backs without a military coup, even if he rigs next year’s elections”. So this simply means that, you are not the man to tell Sierra Leoneans the wrongs of this current government and President Bio but Adebayor.. You yourself have now come out clean that whatever you have been writing and saying to the people of Sierra Leone are considered untrue and with no merit. Nobody else knows it all but Adebayor. according to your own staement.
If you don’t mind me asking you this question Barbs Kanu, I have noticed recently that you are writing articles on this online news outlet and Why? I have always been with the Cocorioco I guess. Are Sierra Leoneans not interested any more reading the Cocorioco online news outlet or is it about taking another avenue to spread untrue stories to the people of Sierra Leone?
Reverend Barbs Kanu, I have another question for you to answer honestly and straightforwardly. My question is, you and other writes and journalists on the other side have been labelling the President as a bloodthirsty ruler,. Now this sad and dark day ie 10/08/22 in Sierra Leone which the government was trying to prevent from happening by not allowing any such demonstration to take place has now led to the killing of our dear fellow Sierra Leoneans innocently, now how are you going to label those with blood on their hands that organised and supported the demonstration unlawfully that led to the killing of our fellow Sierra Leoneans. My brother Babs Kanu, lets us think positively about our country and her leaders to make Sierra Leone a better place for us and our children and grand children and those yet unborn to live in peace and harmony and to enjoy Mama Sierra Leone to the fullest without fear of their political affiliations and tribal lines but as a one people of our great nation SIERRA LEONE. MAY GOD BLESS MAMA SIERRA LEONE.
Michael, on this occasion I have allowed your very length comment to go through. But please note that next time it will not be allowed. Thanks.
REMOVE THE LOG FROM YOUR OWN EYES FIRST
KANYAKO, I am equally sick and tired of reading your biased and one-sided pro-SLPP banter. Who are you to judge others ?I do not think you have the moral authority to judge anybody about their political views. I think you are too incurably biased in favour of the SLPP and against the APC. I think some of you must remove the log in your eyes before you try to remove the mote in other people’s eyes. I think your hypocrisy stinks to the high heavens. If you do not know that President Bio is a bloodthirsty killer, what moral authority do you have to hold others to account ? My articles appear in many other newspapers–THE NATIONALIST, THE FORUM, THE NORTHERN NEWS, SIERRA LEONE TELEGRAPH, THE ORGANIZER ETC.
How different is President Bio from Adebayor ? Is President Bio a moral example ? Is President Bio showing better examples ? Is the SLPP showing any better examples ?
I am a Rev. and I believe I am spot on in the things I am saying about President Bio and the SLPP. When I was critizing President Siaka Stevens and Joseph Momoh and even went to jail for that, was I not a Rev. then ? Oh, then, I was a hero. I was the best journalist in the country. Today, you do not read my newspaper as you say. Who cares ? Do you know our readership ? Up to a million people through the internet, Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter and Linkedin now read our newspaper. When this crisis happened, foreign media were quoting COCORIOKO. One even described the paper as one of the best in Sierra Leone. So, if rabid SLPP fanatics stay away, who cares ? Who loses ?
You guys are equally chronically biased about politics in Sierra Leone and you have no moral authority to judge anybody. You blind SLPP zealots, first remove the big log from your eyes before you talk about others.
Our prayers are for those who lost their lives. Our prayers are also for Sierra Leone to achieve peace for its citizens. None of these self serving edits from so called clergy in the diaspora will help the country. Their opinions must be taken as such – self serving.
While I am against any form of violence or civil disturbances that might lead to death and property destructions, I am tempted to agree with the following quotations from the article… “When you extinguish every avenue of complaints, you provoke people to lose their patience and resort to strikes and demonstrations.” ….. “ Do not mind all the false piety and fake sympathies for those who lost their lives today. It is because the demonstration was against their SLPP party that does no wrong. They rejoiced when our children were killed in Makeni, Tombo, Lunsar, Mile 91, Tonko Limba; they are even secretly rejoicing at the killings in Makeni today. What changed today? ”
May the souls of those citizens that have lost their lives over the past 4 years, in exercising their democratic rights, to protest or express grievances towards the sitting government actions, rest in perpetual peace.
Mr Young4na, I do not see what Kabs Kanu said that is new to us in Sierra Leone. Kabs Kanu speaks the hard facts and to some of us, he is one of our best journalists and the voice of the people. Kabs Kanu is a man of bold journalism. He could not have said it any better than this :
“Nobody has shed blood in Sierra Leone for politics , apart from Foday Sankoh, more than Maada Bio . Nobody has violated and abused the constitution and Rule of Law more than Maada Bio. Bio is the tyrant we have never had in our country before” ( Kabs Kanu. )
What is not true about this ?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. BAH
Sorry I responded late to your comment. I just saw it. May God bless objective and independent people like you who are not guided by political partisanship, tribalism, ethnicism and regionalism to judge the performance of our journalists.
Mr. Bah, once you oppose the SLPP and expose their human rights abuses, criminal governance, extrajudicial killings, corruption, tribalism and disregard for law and the constitution, you are not worth anything. You are vile, illiterate and the worst thing God ever created. Our SLPP brothers, sadly, are very democratic and have a bush man’s mentality to issues of civility, democracy and the rule of law. I know them now so they don’t bother me. If I start praising their government today, I am the best man that God ever created.
I call on you, the independent and free-thinking citizens, to remain unpolluted by the SLPP, who do not believe in the law, democracy, civility and sharing power with others outside their tribal circle.