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Biriwa brouhaha – Mandingos frown at APC

Biriwa brouhaha – Mandingos frown at APC

The Mandingos from Biriwa Chiefdom have accused the APC of usurping the staff of Paramount Chief of a duly elected Chief.

It is a fact that Dr. Alpha Madseray Sheriff (deposed chief) was commanded to submit his staff of office to the provincial secretary northern province soon after the coming into governance of the APC in 2007.

Facts have it that the deposed chief was under pressure from both the provincial secretary and Local Government Minister then.

Several attempts forcing the Biriwa chief to surrender his staff of the office of paramount chief failed woefully.

To this, saw the intervention of the police, who to all, dances to the dictates of government in power.

Biriwa chiefdom has two major ethnic groups – the Limbas and Madingos.

The Fullahs are said to be in the minority.

Records have it that the Limbas, on a number of occasions, have had jolly days occupying the seat of paramount chieftaincy of Biriwa chiefdom.

The wind of change was noticed immediately after the conduct of the 2006 paramount chieftaincy election, which saw Dr. Madseray Sheriff as the elected chief of Biriwa.

The election, it was presumed, was allegedly marred with electoral violations and fraud.

That apart, officials of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) went through the electioneering process and later declared Dr. Madseray Sheriff as winner.

He was later sworn as the chief of Biriwa and acted in that capacity until 2008 when eventually the APC took over governance from the SLPP.

Between February and March of 2011, it is alleged that police officers in Makeni, later caught at the deposed Biriwa chief, demanding that he goes with them to the police for an interview with the Local Unit Commander (LUC).

At Makeni police, the Biriwa chief was kept behind bars and later frog marched into a police vehicle for a trip to Freetown where again, he was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for investigation.

He was made to sleep in smelly cells at the CID and later arraigned before the well of Magistrate court 2 on two count charges.

To the Mandingos (the tribe of the deposed chief), it was a shock that officials of government disrespectfully go against society’s cultural values; thus the unlawful keeping in smelly cells of a respectable tribal authority.

It has reached this press that the Mandingos are unhappy over the action of government in the unlawful withdrawal of the staff of office of the chief of Biriwa.

Sources say that the Mandingos at home and abroad have had busy moments putting structures in place to formidably condemn the action that lead to the withdrawal of the staff of the paramount chief of Biriwa Chiefdom.

Persons interviewed viewed action leading to the withdrawal of the staff of the Biriwa chief as a complete deviation of society’s cultural values.

Others have seen it as having the potent tendencies of what could be viewed as ‘serious political mishaps.’

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