“The evil that men do” Muana Gbati regrets
William Shakespeare’s wise quotation that “the evil that men do lives after them” has changed in modern times. It might have changed in the days of Shakespeare but not as prevalent as in today’s contemporary politics. (Photo: Dr S B Saccoh, [credit: Awareness Times])
My view point here has to do with a onetime hard core SLPP character by the name of Dr. Sheku Bah Saccoh commonly known as Muana Gbati. I came to know him about two decades ago at Fourah Bay Road in the early 90s. he used to carry a bell along the streets of Fourah Bay campaigning to people to join the SLPP; those were the remote days of political pluralism in Sierra Leone, because then Sierra Leone had a one party system of government under the late Joseph Saidu Momoh who inherited it from President Siaka Stevens. At that time there was limited scope for freedom of expression.
However, Dr. Sheku Bah Saccoh and others spoke fearlessly about the ills of APC’s bad governance and its attendant negative consequences.
As a result of the interregnum created by the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) there was an increase in political awareness. Many political parties participated in the proportional Representation Presidential and Parliamentary elections. The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) won the race with Tejan Kabbah as president. When president Kabbah assumed power, Dr. Sheku Saccoh was one of the few appointed to serve as ambassador in the Republic of Guinea. He was retained even after the AFRC coup d’état. He was also one of the untouchables in the Tejan Kabbah two terms of office administration.
As ambassador in the Republic of Guinea, Muana Gbati gained a lot of material benefit. He got big mining lands in Kono through political influence and made a good number of friends. Dr. Saccoh was relieved of his functions as ambassador with the change of government in 2007.
In 2009, Dr. Saccoh aspired to become the national chairman of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) in Kenema and lost it to John Oponjo Benjamin.
Peered and frustrated, Dr. Saccoh hastily tendered his letter of resignation from the SLPP. His remarks were SLPP was a Mende party. This action must have been exacerbated by influence. Dr. Saccoh declared for the APC in the North with the hope of getting another appointment from President Ernest Bai Koroma. Unfortunately Dr. Saccoh is still wallowing in the political wilderness with nothing forthcoming from the presidential desk. Sadly enough, Dr. Saccoh comes from Kamaquie, an area that is predominantly Loko speaking. He has a Madingo background and it would seem that his declaration for the All People’s Congress (APC) has been frowned at by his tribesmen. So his perfidious decision has not yielded any dividend. Too bad!
By Felix Fofoh
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