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What if Maada Bio was set-up?

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As political campaigns across the country heat up ahead of the November polls, the two major political parties in Sierra Leone are currently at each others throats with accusations and counter-accusations.  

President Ernest Bai Koroma of the ruling party, All People’s Congress (APC) is seeking re-election for a second term in office, while Brigadier Retired Julius Maada Bio of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), who had tasted power through a military coup, wants to be elected through the ballot box this time round. For the aforementioned reasons, backed up with the desperation for power by the two sides, certain amount of campaign of calumny has been injected into the political fray.

Of late, the APC and SLPP are accusing each other of destruction of portraits of Julius Maada Bio and Ernest Bai Koroma respectively. Apart from that, there were reports of violence outbreak over the weekend in Kono, which reportedly emanated from the destruction of an APC red flag.

However, this piece would not be focused on the aforementioned; instead, it shall be looking at the allegation of presidential convoy blockade, which is being defended by the SLPP Flagbearer. In other words, Maada Bio stands accused of obstructing the convoy of President Ernest Bai Koroma. In fact, the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and the Political Parties Registration Commission (PPRC) have issued press releases condemning in no uncertain terms the alleged act of the SLPP Flagbearer.

Unfortunately for the SLPP Flagbearer, and fortunately for the APC campaign team, all fingers seem to be pointing in one direction – Maada Bio has defied police orders and obstructed President Koroma’s convoy.

To add insult to injury, Maada Bio has been roundly condemned by this writer for the said act, though that condemnation by then was purely based on the content of the press release hurriedly issued by the SLP. The condemnation was based on the fact that nobody has the authority to obstruct the president’s access. In that piece, it was clearly highlighted that a person that ventures to obstruct a presidential convoy does not only risk the life of the president but his own very life. I still stand by that. In the midst of the barrage of condemnation, the APC Campaign Secretariat used the said event as an excuse to boycott a whole national presidential debate. This writer has also argued that Maada Bio’s alleged lawlessness (though not acceptable) should not be used by anybody as an excuse to boycott a national presidential debate.

However, it is very important, at this juncture, to look at this incident from a fresh perspective, totally different from the accusations against the opposition Flagbearer. 

This is definitely not an attempt to hold a brief for the opposition Flagbearer (In fact, I don’t have any reason to), but a mere effort aimed at putting out details of what could have possibly happened, so that the populace will be in a better position to make fair judgments.

It is an open secret that Maada Bio’s convoy, like President Koroma’s convoy, is being officially led by officers of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP). It is also true that Maada Bio is a prominent or popular figure in Freetown, if not Sierra Leone as a whole. The SLP will never contest the fact that its officers at the Up-Gun Roundabout had modern communications gadgets like ‘Walkie Talkies’ or mobile phones. It is also no secret that a whole police division is at the Eastern Police. Infact, the area was named after the said police division.

With the aforementioned fact, could it not be possible that the obstruction of the president’s convoy at Goderich Street was a set-up? If proper investigation into that matter is done, would the police come clean of an indictment of setting up Maada Bio? 

Was it a deliberate ploy by the police to hurt or further tarnish the already shattered image of Maada Bio? Until the aforementioned concerns are addressed, the citizens will remain suspicious of the police, especially so that the force was too quick to issue out a press statement condemning Bio for the alleged act. Was the police press release an attempt to cover up the mess of the police force?

Since the incident happened some weeks back, the police have not been able to clearly explain how they allowed Maada Bio’s convoy to ‘bulldoze’ them from Up-Gun onto Goderich Street without being able to stop him. If the police cannot stop Maada Bio from Up-Gun turn-table, through Kissy Road onto the East End Police Division, going to Goderich Street and meeting face-to-face with the convoy of the President, is our beloved President really safe in the hands of this type of police? What a force for good that cannot force Bio to obey the law, especially as it relates to the security and respect of the President!

To say Maada Bio’s convoy defied police instructions to wait until the President passes could also mean that the police officers that were officially assigned to Maada Bio, (who are also leading the convoy of Bio) were the very ones that defied instructions from their institution or colleagues. Maada Bio’s vehicle, like President Koroma’s will only stop when the police vehicles leading it stops.

If Maada Bio defied police stop signs or instructions from Up-Gun turntable, even at a neck-breaking speed, the distance from Up-Gun to East End Police was long enough to allow the Up-Gun police to even use a mobile phone to communicate to the East End Police Division to forcefully stop Bio. If even the Up-Gun police were to rush to a near-by tele-center to communicate the ‘threat on the President’s life’ to their colleagues at East End police, there was enough and spare-time to do that, because Maada Bio was not using a Super-Sonic or Alpha-Jet. In fact, he does not have one.

Therefore, the police need to explain clearly how this event happened or the suspicion that they either set-up Bio or treated the President’s security with levity, will continue to resonate. And this is bad for the image of a force tasked with policing a crucial election like this.

Let us also assume that the Up-Gun police actually ordered Maada Bio’s convoy to stop and wait until the President passes, was that a step in the right direction? In my view, that definitely does not make sense. The possibility for Maada Bio’s supporters, friends, sympathizers, and even those that merely wants to see the face of the human being called Maada Bio, to flood the streets of Up-Gun to get a glimpse of the stationary Maada Bio was imminent. Such a ‘congosa’ crowd could have blocked the street, thereby obstructing the President’s convoy.

Maada Bio may have defied police rules, regulations or instructions in the past, but the police need to substantiate this very serious allegation against a whole presidential candidate.

With Abdul Fonti

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