Over Maada Bio press release, why does pro-APC newspaper call for IG of Police to resign… desperation or another political intimidation?

It is more than two weeks since Maada Bio wrote his now famous Press Release on ‘Re-armament, Deployment and Registration of Ex-combatants in the South and Eastern Provinces’. No doubts, whichever way the APC spin doctors describe it, ‘scare mongering’, ‘sadistic and satanic’ or ‘mischievous’, surely the APC election strategists must have seriously rattled or politically wounded. However, the subject of this piece was my greatest shock when I read an editorial piece last week from the pro-APC newspaper, The Sierra Leone Daily Mail titled ‘If Inspector General Francis Munu can’t make Maada Bio honour the Police summon then he needs to resign’. In fact, the same piece was subsequently published on the pro-APC’s Cocorioko online newspaper. (Photo: Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, author)

Before discussing the editorial piece proper, I may just highlight few issues that I have been pondering over during this press release saga. To start with, in every democracy, it is the duty of an opposition presidential candidate to raise legitimate issues reported to him which border on the fairness of the electoral process and most importantly national security. To abdicate from that duty is to BETRAY the trust of the very people who elected him as their leader and to JEOPARDISE the very national security of our country in the face of political intimidation. In 2007 before the second round of the presidential election, President Koroma (then as opposition presidential candidate) could not abdicate that duty as was evident in his letter of allegation to the American Ambassador (whether he then had proof or pieces of evidence for those allegations will now be judged by posterity). Therefore, it is not only disingenuous but also politically opportunistic for the APC government to expect Maada Bio to abdicate from his own duty in 2012 to raise legitimate issues of national concern reported to him. Surprisingly, in a recent interview with the Awareness Times, my former club mate at University, Cornelius Deveaux (Editor of APC’s We Yone Newspaper) suggested that President Koroma’s 2007 letter, unlike Maada Bio’s, was not overtly inciting a call to arms. Well, I suppose my friend has a copy of the letter so what about this paragraph when President Koroma wrote ‘Let me now state and affirm that any further actions to undermine the integrity of the forthcoming presidential run-off election by the SLPP, their members or supporters and no matter how highly placed they may be will be met by a very APPROPRIATE RESPONSE’. Was the threat of APPROPRIATE RESPONSE not an overt call to arms but which part in Maada Bio’s press release is he overtly calling to arms my good friend?

Another puzzle in this press release saga which I have tried to beat my brain out to solve is the logic of truth and falsity propounded by the APC’s spin doctors. According to this weird logic by the spin doctors, they said President Koroma’s allegations in the 2007 letter were based on the TRUTH because they were never challenged by the then SLPP government. Conversely, they said because Maada Bio’s allegations are based on FALSITY that is why the APC government should challenge his allegations and charge him for seditious libel. Well my dear friends that logic is a bit too simplistic because for a then responsible SLPP government to challenge allegations by an opposition presidential candidate in an election environment there were so many considerations the then SLPP government would have had to make. Firstly, whether such a challenge (either in court or otherwise) would not have been perceived as a ploy to undermine the chances of the opposition leader to win the presidential election; secondly whether such a challenge would not have risked antagonising supporters of the opposition leader against the government; thirdly, whether such a challenge would not have heightened tribal and regional tensions between supporters of the opposition and government; fourthly whether such a challenge would not have been rightly viewed by international observers and the donor community as a threat to national security; and lastly whether such a challenge would not have been rightly or wrongly perceived as a desperate attempt by the government to stay in power. So these could have been the considerations by the then SLPP government but not because President Koroma’s allegations were based on the truth as the spin doctors claim.

Anyways, back to my topic on the editorial piece for I.G Francis Munu to resign if he cannot make Maada Bio honour the police summon. Shockingly, the section which gave me goose bumps was the last paragraph of the piece which states in an intimidating tone that ‘The ball is now in your court (I.G Munu) – Maada Bio needs to show up at a place and time to be determined by you, the chief – if you can’t do that for the people of Sierra Leone, then you need to resign immediately’. Wow! The obvious questions that come to mind are: are the APC operatives so desperate to get rid of Maada Bio for President Koroma or is it another clear evidence of political intimidation to cow I.G Francis Munu to follow the political game plan of the APC government? Well thank God, we are not in the 1970s or 80s when we had the late Bambay Kamara as Inspector General who had so much powers that he could randomly arrest members of the opposition SLPP and even dissidents of the APC and had them locked up in Pademba Road without due process of the law. In fact, the 2012 elections are different from the 1978 general and presidential elections where the late Inspector General Bambay Kamara was alleged to have ordered police officers to brutalise and dump dozens of opposition members in prisons until elections were over. So let us briefly examine the actions of the police in this press release saga and why the APC operatives are intimidating the police to achieve their political aim.

Immediately after the Maada Bio’s Press Release, the Police issued a Press Release in which they state among other things that ‘The Sierra Leone Police therefore wishes to inform the general public that the matter is being investigated and is APPEALING to anyone including the Leadership of the SLPP to ASSIST the police by providing any useful information they may have regarding these allegations’. Take note that at this point the Police was APPEALING to the Leadership of the SLPP. However, few days later when the political pressure mounted on the Police by the APC, the Police changed the tone by sending a letter to invite Maada Bio to throw more light into allegations in his press release. And now when it has become obvious that the Police letter of invitation was more politically motivated than genuinely addressing the legitimate issues Maada Bio raises in his initial Press Release, Maada Bio has rightly turned down the police invitation. Legally, Maada Bio has no obligation to honour the Police invitation because he is neither a SUSPECT nor a COMPLAINANT. As such, if he decides not to ASSIST the Police because in his opinion his Press Release details specific locations to have facilitated the police investigation or he feels the Police have been compromised to carry an independent investigation then that is his democratic rights. So to the APC spin doctors, Maada Bio has breached no law to turn down the Police invitation and to suggest Maada Bio is lawless shows a mere ignorance of citizens’ rights and obligations. I understand this is a difficult time for I.G Francis Munu and other few senior officers because they are caught on a crossroad between genuinely discharging their sacred duty and obeying the political orders from the APC government.  However enormous the political pressure may be, remember the international community is watching and the people of Sierra Leone expect you to discharge your duties with independence, professionalism and fairness because they have the final say on the 17^th November 2012.

By Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, BA(Hons) LLB(Hons) London

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