“Bio is a coupist,” APC Victor Foh blasts
Bio is blemished, he is a killer, and violator of human rights. And it is clearly stated in the TRC report ( flipping the pages ) that the “NPRC junta was involved in very serious human rights abuses, ranging from the extra judicial execution of James Bambay Kamara, Colonel Yayah Kanu and others on the 29th of December 1992, to torture and intimidation,” the ruling APC Secretary General, Victor Bockarie Foh said.
Politics, he continued “is about history, and leadership is about history.” “Mr. Bio,” he stated “is a fine young man, neatly dressed young man, he went to the Bo school, he is amply educated.”
BUT, he said “Maada Bio is a coup plotter. He was one of the misfits that staged the April 29th coup in 1992.”
The APC big man made the above statement barely 6 hours after Julius Maada Bio was announced as the winner and Presidential flag bearer of the main opposition SLPP party in the concluded National Delegates’ Conference.
He however congratulated Maada Bio on his election victory, but cautioned he has a task ahead.
“It is a very difficult office” he said, “I shall now be carrying copies of the TRC report anywhere I go to educate society of bad past of the SLPP Presidential candidate.
Sierra Leone unlike other countries the world over, has gone through dramatic events in the past two decades.
And just recently (Monday 31st) another drama unfolded at the Miatta Conference Hall in Freetown – which saw SLPP delegates electing a serialized coupist in the person of Maada Bio as their party’s Presidential contender for the 2012 elections.
The voting, as perceived by good number of persons this press spoke to, was much more controlled and played out by the Mendes, who for tribalistic reasons rather vote their Mende brother than anyone else.
Bio who scored 238 votes as against Usman Boie Kamara’s 186 has had a rotten past in the political history of Sierra Leone.
Public’s contemplations have it that Bio has to come clear about his image as former leader in the notorious National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) junta regime which killed 28 in cold blood, tortured and intimidated vulnerable Sierra Leoneans between 1991-1996 respectively.
It is a fact that Bio’s past will surely come under serious scrutiny by the electorates as at periods of NPRC junta control.
Bio overthrew his fellow coup plotter Captain Valentine Strasser in January 1996, took over state governance and tactfully submitted power to his party of choice – the SLPP Ahmad.
The regime (NPRC) in which Bio was and headed, detained, tortured, and summarily executed Sierra Leonean nationals at a time the RUF rebellion was raging in the countryside.
But he has a place to lean – and has consistently stated that he never ordered the execution or arrest of anybody and was not happy with some of these things that happened.
Some school of thought indicates that there is sword hanging over the heads of all NPRC coup plotters, and that the sword could come down today, tomorrow, or any day.
In his exact words, Victor Foh said: “There is no law or legal limitation whatsoever that can prevent the law officers department from charging Bio for the illegal seizure of power in 1992”.
“It was a coup and a treasonable offence,” he added.
Asked about the implications surrounding prosecution of the SLPP Presidential nominee, Victor Foh condemned the opposition SLPP have a coupist as their Presidential hopeful and that all former NPRC officials should have no place in the democratic process because, according to him, they’ve been bathing in the blood of 28 innocent souls.
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Ernest Cole
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WHO IS VICTOR BOCKARIE FOH, THE APC SECRETARY GENERAL?
APC Secretary General Mr. Victor Foh supposed to be behind bar rather than serving as a secretary General of the ruling party while oppressing main opposition party that brought his country to independent and encourage the system of democracy.
7th September 2011Victor Bockarie Foh was a former civil servant involed in embezzling (voucher gate) state funds and was sentenced to 93 years in jail in the late 80th. He also worked with the NPRC to prosecute his former collides to achieve his own goals.
Paul Williams
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What every political party needs is pragmatic leaders that can energise the party to victory, regardless of who happens to be.
7th September 2011We as SLLP supporters should all embrace the recent election of a young, dynamic and vibrant leader like Maada Bio.
Would you please show the public the mende oat that inferenced the 238 out of 607 councillors from the four provinces of the country that casted their votes in favour of him? Were they all members of the mende ethnic group to participate in such act?
Has the APC flagbearer ever come from another region besides the north? Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (Mandingo) came from the north.
For Barack Obama to clique the nomination as presidential candidate, (Democrat flagbearer) secret meetings were held, amongst the delegates. Bridges were mended within the party.
Maada Bio led his country for short period, kept to promises and returned us back to democratic rules. How many people including the ruling party are ready to relinquish powers? People voted for Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, though he belongs to a minority tribe because of the Sierra Leone people’s party.
Barack Obama became president of America only because of the Democratic Party but not for his ethnic origin.
This time around we are looking out for young people who can deliver to us and not people involed in selling their country rights. Abass Bundu is dishonest politician who sold thousands of Sierra Leonean passports to foreigners.
How many people did Siaka Stevens, J.S.Momoh including the former IG of police James Bambay Kamara Murdered? What about Ibrahim Taqui,Dr.Fornah, Brigadier Lasana, F.M.Minah, G.M.T.Kaikai and many others killed during the tyranny APC one party rule? Instead of trying SLPP leader, President Koroma should be serious to try all those APC stewards who led the country to a bloody civil war. Was amnesty just offered to few or are we trying to go back to another civil unrest because we fear strong opposition
Please, let’s us all give him chance as he is a law abiding and a patiotic citizen of this nation to prove himself.
Moreover the election where conducted under peaceful atmosphere.
P.Kallon
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Leadership problems can be best handled by Leaders and Members of SLPP but not by disgruntled and useless APC stewards and hooligans sponsored by state criminals.
7th September 2011Don’t you think it is time to accept each other rather than tiring each other down for no just reason? Do you believe in democracy it self? He is our candidate, and please present your own candidate to fight him through the ballot boxes and stop being frighten. There is no more one party rule or unopposed styles of old APC tactics.
Please give Sierra Leoneans good and positive information and don’t be biased.
Stand firm to support who so ever that will rule this country whole heartedly.
Develop the country, unify the people, press & political freedoms, stop harassing journalists and be ready to relinquish power rather than hang on to it when defeated
Paul Williams
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I hope that your press will do the decent thing and withdraw the insinuation as baseless as well as publish an apology to SLPP leadership for insinuating:
7th September 2011The unbridled frenzy of falsehoods, hate, and smear directed at Brigadier (Rtd) Julius Maada Bio, SLPP’s presidential candidate, can only be fuelled by any of his
record of leadership under fire in valiantly battling a raging insurgency.
If his bravery in confronting the malevolent, repressive, and brutally corrupt APC oligarchy of nearly 26 years makes him a violent insurrectionary, then may the good Lord endow this nation with such “violent men” who risk their lives so that their fellow men can live in freedom and peace and be able to determine their own future? If his selfless act of patriotism in making peace with the Revolutionary United Front and returning our country to democratic governance is part of his legacy, then I will always proudly blazon forth that legacy as that of a pre-eminent citizen who loved his country and who truly evinces the best in us.
What is being done in Awareness Times is virulent public lynching by the press. It WE KNOW THE REAL PATRIOTS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED PATRIOTISM IN BLOOD AND SWEAT, RELIQUISHED POWER FOR AN ELECTED CIVILIAN INSTEAD OF HANGING UP TO POWER.POWER HUNGERY POLITICIANS HANG ON EVEN WHEN THEY SEE THEIR COUNTRY BURNING . WE SAY NO TO ONE PARTY/MAN’S RULE, NO TO NEPOTISM, NO MORE OPPRESSION ON THE PEOPLE!!!
Emmanuel "Sheeley" Conteh, Mankato, MN
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Kamara is a fine debater even though he strays away from Bio as the issue, just like other Bio loyalists. Another thing is that, unlike the other Bio supporters, he remains civil. For this I give him kudos!!!
Now, neither the APC nor the SLPP are the issue in Victor Foh’s comment, but rather Bio, who still has some explaining to do to the Sierra Leone people and the world at large about his tainted past. He’s got to explain whether or not he participated in the savage murdering of 28 innocent fellow Sierra Leoneans in December 1992. He’s got to answer to the charges whether he used his usurped powers in the 1990s to plunder the national treasury of Sierra Leone, engage in some heist and abuse the human rights of his fellow compatriots.
The burden of proof is on Bio and not Foh. Inasmuch as Kamara and other supporters love Bio (and rightly so) and would do anything for him, there has to come a time for Bio himself to step to the plate and answer all these serious charges being levelled against him. These are charges that cannot be wished to disappear away. This is because in democratic politics, those aspiring to hold public office and control the destinies of their fellow citizens must go through a severe grilling process. In other words, democratic politics is like a very hot kitchen! If your man, Maada Bio, cannot withstand the heat in it, ask him kindly to leave!
As for which party, when in power, harmed or didn’t harm Sierra Leone, that should be a debate for some other time. For now, please let’s not distract readers from the main issue that is Julius Maada Bio.
12th August 2011KAMARA
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Brother Emmannuel, I do not expect any leader to solve Sierra Leone’s problems in ten years. It is up to Sierra Leoneans to develop their country, The leader can only be a catylist and create a safe and secure environment for development. The problem is that the moral fabric in sierra leone was destroyed by the kleptocratic Stevens. The people have been overcome by the dependant behavior of put for me.our people our lazy and expect handouts. the majority of the businesses are owned by Lebanese and other foreign Africans. They hustle more.
All the govts have been corrupt even the current APC. NPRC and SLPP led Sierra Leone to democracy. That step is one of the most important achievement in Sierra Leone’s history. NPRC prevented Freetown from being overun by rebels; Something the serial womanizer, momoh and his APC govt were unable to do. NPRC ushered democracy , something the APC connected AFRC refused to do. SLPP maintained democracy by accepting defeat at the polls. This smooth transition fosters investor confidence and encourages new investors to consider Sierra Leone.
The problem with APC is that their members have not realized that Sierra Leone has evolved to a democracy where people are free to examine the candidates and vote. The politics of gbose Gbose, thuggery and intimidation is over. All the propaganda and lies that worked under a one party cannot work in a democracy. Leaders are voted on by their records and actions, Let the people vote.
APC fanatics try to manufacture successes and improvements that have not occured.
How Ernest koroma can sit dowm an write a book and claim to have turned Sierra Leone in three years and expect us to believe? President Obama with all the Economic experts and Investments cannot turn America around in three years then APC expects us to believe that ernest can turnarond a sick patient like Sierra Leone. Give a break man. From the airport, any one will notice that Sierra Leone has not improved. It can sometimes take you as much time to get to freetown as it took travel to Lungiespecially when you do not want to die in a helicopter. Only god had prevented major disasters on improperly service ferries and boats. Ernest is a good and decent man but he has not brought much improvement to Sierra leone. If you vote for him because of his innate qualities or for your tribal allegiance, that’s ok but do not tell me because of his successes year to date
9th August 2011Emmanuel "Shelley" Conteh, Mankato, MN
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Kamara, I agree with you on the point that Sierra Leone is a democratic country where citizens have a right to choose their leaders without being intimdidated or coerced.
In listing down the shortcomings of the APC and the current challenges facing the country, you deliberately fail to give your readers a thorough balance sheet. Name me one development project that is associated with Tejan Kabbah’s SLPP? How about naming us some of the concrete achievements of the NPRC either under Valentine Strasser or Maada Bio, the scumbag whose feet you’ll be willing to wash and kiss?
It is true as you stated that the former APC was kelptocratic. But did the NPRC that topple it from power in 1992, end this and other pathologies? Did the SLPP that succeeded the NPRC in a choreographed democratic process launch a serious war on corruption and mismanagement?
You, Gloria and all those Bio clones are entitled to your opinions, but you’re not entitled to your facts! Please try to write a balance sheet next time when commenting on our country’s politics and society!
8th August 2011kamara
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Emmanuel, It is not enough to make efforts to address the problems. In four years of Ernest Koroma attempting to solve the problems; they have gone from bad to worse. There have been very little improvement since August 2007 , except for:.
Badly Devalued Leone
Skyrocketing prices
Increased lawlessnes, crime and rapes
Sierra Leone recognized as a cocaine transhipment center
more divided country
Completion of previously earmarked road construction
More Filth in cities
If Ernest koroma is attempting the solve
problems what will be situation if he fails.
Give me a break, Take the APC Lies and propaganda elsewhere,. Remember Sierra Leone is a democracy, people are free to vote for whom they want without the intimidation of ISU thugs as in the elections conducted by the former Kleptocratic APC.
8th August 2011Emmanuel "Shelley" Conteh, Mankato, MN
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Gloria’s reading of Sierra Leone politics and current events is misleading. What’s laughable about the pot calling the kettle black is that all the presssing issues she wanted to talk about are a sore point for Bio’s National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) or the Sierra Leone People’s Party that she heavily endorses.
Where as the Current All People’s Congress (APC)government of President Koroma is making efforts to address these problems she raised in her long list, the NPRC and SLPP never bothered to do so. While the NPRC was busy plundering the country’s resources and wasting them on its vast concubines, the SLPP was equally busy sqaundering reconstruction and development funds from the international donor community. These are some of the pathologies that Gloria failed to mention in her rebutal.
7th August 2011Gloria
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Victor Foh calling Maada Bio a Coupists is laughable. This is a matter of the pot calling the kettle black.
What about the many AFRC coupists parading as officers of the present government(Victor Foh and many others)?
The past is gone though not forgotten.
Former President Kabba had let sleeping dogs lie by pardoning and forgivng all former culprits, even returning their ill gotten wealth seized by previous governments.
Lets turn to the issues presently affecting Sierra Leone.
Lets talk about the future of our jobless youths. Lets talk about eliminating extreme poverty forever.
Lets talk about improving sanitation and congestion in Freetown.
Lets talk about making the nation self sufficient in rice.
Lets talk about the basic food, shelter and clothing for the masses.
Lets talk about benefitting from our God given natural resources.
Lets talk about implementing a real energy policy for Sierra Leone, not a haphazard income electric/bumbuna for Freetown
Lets talk about unifying the country.
The issues are many and pressing,and they need urgent attention.
If even satan can give the people of Sierra Leone a better quality of life right now, they will embrace him.
Appointing Bio as SLPP Flag bearer should not be a problem for progressive Sierra Leoneans. At the very least we deserve a strong opposition for our democracy to thrive. If he is the choice of the youths of the opposition, so be it. Lets get to work.
Sierra Leone is right now crying!!
Lets put and end to her misery.
Long live the suffering youths of Sierra Leone.
6th August 2011