What if Maada Bio was set-up?

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

APC: What about the media?

The two major political parties in Sierra Leone have unveiled their manifestos few weeks ahead of the November polls. 

The sixty six (66) page manifesto of the main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) contained the pictures of the Presidential Candidate and Running Mate, Julius Maada Bio and Kadi Sesay respectively, boldly and nicely printed. Of course, the palm tree symbol of the SLPP was conspicuously printed on the green and white cover of the manifesto. The words contained on the cover of the SLPP manifesto are: “A New Direction for a Better Sierra Leone (Sierra Leone First) Main Document”.

The content of the SLPP manifesto focused on issues like human development, infrastructure, the economy and governance.

The manifesto of the APC is made up of sixty four (64) pages; decorated in magnificent red color, which represents the party’s colour and of course, with President Koroma’s picture strategically located. The party’s sun symbol is at the top of the manifesto’s cover with the picture of the new railway located in the center of the front page. Pictures of tractors embarking on road construction, the Bumbuna dam, and a hospital are among the pictures that make up the front cover of the APC manifesto. 

Beautiful pictures of agricultural produce and farms, hand pumps, a graduation ceremony and the sentence: ‘Imagine what we can do in another 5 years’, formed the APC manifesto back page.

The APC manifesto focused on the party’s core political and economic ideals, track record, the economy, natural resources, service delivery, protecting and empowering the vulnerable, enhancing national integrity and security, deepening, democracy and the new politics, and promoting strategic foreign policy and international cooperation. 

The ensuing question is the first among the series of questions to be looked into in this, and in subsequent articles focused on the manifestos of the two major political parties. 

Are there provisions in the manifestos for the press/media?

After carefully going through the two manifestos, it was clear that the APC made no serious provision for the media in its five-year plan (2012 – 2017), whilst the SLPP at least made some commitments or promises.

The only mention of the media in the APC manifesto has to do with what the APC supposedly did for the media in the past five years. However, the party managed to re-echo its failed 2007 election promise to enact the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

“There is a proliferation of radio stations….SLBS has been transformed into a corporation (SLBC) and now transmits worldwide…Pass the Freedom of Information Act”.

The aforementioned is literally what is contained inside the APC manifesto that is media related. With the aforementioned fact, is there any specific provision in the APC manifesto about media? We shall look into that shortly; but let us at this juncture go into the SLPP manifesto and see what is contained therein.

“The Fourth Estate has been very useful in informing and educating the public on governance issues. Since 2002, there has been a proliferation of press houses and radio stations….The major challenges of the Fourth Estate is a continued existence of the seditious libel law, the absence of Freedom of Information (FOI), limited capacity of journalists and uninformed and unethical reporting, absence of a true National Broadcaster and bribery of journalists by politicians…in the New Direction, the SLPP administration will reform the Fourth Estate through the following: Repeal the seditious libel law; review and enact the Freedom of Information Bill; enact policies and laws to develop the capacity of journalists; support the School of Journalism and other institutions to train journalists; provide funding opportunities for journalists to establish press houses as corporate entities; encourage the private sector to invest in the media; provide from the budget a yearly subvention to SLAJ; build the capacity of the IMC to enforce the IMC Act; review the legal and operational status of the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC) to make it a truly professional national broadcaster”.

If the media is to support or vote for a particular political party based on the provisions for the media in the various manifestos, which political party do you think will attract the support and/or votes of the media in the forthcoming elections? The answer is obvious. But what in an instance where the media choose to be very critical about the provisions and lack of provisions for the media in the various manifestos and support or vote on other considerations? Answer the questions for yourself.

However, it is no gainsaying the fact that the APC in its manifesto considered the media less (I am actually being moderate with my words; at least for now).

Somebody might argue that the commitment or promise of the APC to enact the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) is a serious provision on the media agenda of the APC. But is the FOI law specifically for journalists or a general law for the benefit of all Sierra Leoneans including government officials themselves? It is definitely not a media specific provision. So could this mean that the APC has no plans for the media in the next five years? Or does the conspicuous silence on media issues mean that the APC is satisfied with the current status of the media? Was the APC trying to avoid a repetition of its 2007 promises on the media that were never fulfilled? If the answer to this last question is a yes, then why was the repeat on the FOI promise? The APC 2007 manifesto promised the enactment of the FOI law. Five years on, the APC is still reiterating the same promise. Hmmm!!!

What about the libel law? Why is the APC silence about the libel law this time round? In 2007, the APC promised to at least review the country’s libel laws. The first term of the APC has ended and the libel laws remain the same. Not even pressure from the journalists and other stakeholders has made any difference.    

For the SLPP, the provisions for the press are obviously there; in abundance to be more precise. But is the SLPP truly committed to such promises? As good as they look; they are suspicious, in my view. Similar promises like those have been made in the past and remain unfulfilled. Hope these are not just bogus promises aimed at hoodwinking the press to support or vote for them. The fact that the SLPP has not been so friendly with the press, especially in recent times, is in total contrast with what the party is putting in black and white. And guess what! The SLPP promises to the media are on the last page of the party’s manifesto. Could this mean that the media is last but not the least in the SLPP agenda or were these provisions only included to complete the sixty-six page manifesto (flop cont, we call it in the local Krio parlance)?

Whatever are the answers to the aforementioned questions, the media can at least hold the SLPP by its words in an instance where the party attains power and renege on its promises.

The APC should endeavor to explain to the press and the general public the rationale behind the exclusion of the media in their five-year plan. 

With Abdul Fonti

RAPE: Who are the real victims?

Rape is defined as the act of having sex with somebody against his/her will. In Sierra Leone, and I suppose the world over, legislations make it criminal for someone to forcefully have sex with another person. Rape convicts could serve a custodian sentence of at least seven years.

Irrespective of the fact that rape is criminal, the act is regularly being recorded in Sierra Leone. And the indication that it might continue unabated for a long time is a serious cause for alarm.

Babies, teenagers, adults and elderly people are raping and being raped with impunity as if there are no laws criminalizing the act. If today a teenage boy is not raping an elderly woman, tomorrow a sixty years old man would rape a three year old baby or even younger. Could this rape menace that continues to hunt people of all ages unabated means that the laws are not strong enough to punish rape victims?

In as much as I partially agree that the laws are not strong enough to punish rapists, I also strongly hold the view that there is more to do to stop rape other than just making laws to punish ‘perpetrators’. To back the argument that punishable laws for ‘perpetrators’ are not enough to tackle the menace called rape, we have as many multiple rape ‘perpetrators’ in Sierra Leone as you can count. This means that people have been tried, convicted, sentenced, served their jail terms, come out of prison and rape again. You see why the current regulations are not enough to eradicate or minimize rape?

If the government and other stakeholders are very serious about fighting rape, it’s high time they started looking at the causes of rape, rather than just concentrating on punishing people they think are the perpetrators. The time to identify the real rape victims and punish them is now. It’s time to carefully study the definition of rape, or even redefine it, and put in place legislations to punish the real perpetrators.

It might interest people to learn that most of the people being convicted and jailed for rape are actually the victims of rape. The real perpetrators are walking the streets of Freetown committing more offences while the victims are suffering behind bars.

What I am trying to say in essence is the fact that some women are the perpetrators of rape, but are allowed to go scot-free. There has never been an instance wherein a woman has been convicted for rape in Sierra Leone, I stand to be corrected.

Let me, at this juncture; substantiate the argument that some women are the real rape perpetrators. Some women are using the act of seduction to ‘force’ men into sex. And seduction happens to be a very powerful tool to subdue a man into doing things against his will. Notwithstanding the fact that men are supposed to be strong and upright, it is unfair to give a blanket condemnation to a man who succumbs to the act of seduction and do something stupid or regrettable.

It is an open secret that a huge percentage of young girls and women in modern day Sierra Leone have inculcated the bad dress code of parading the streets half naked. If their dresses are not exposing their breast or legs, then their buttocks would be displayed for public view. Is the aforementioned not a major cause of rape? It definitely is! We will not expect all the men to be strong enough to resist such temptations. It is but natural that certain men cannot stand such enticement. This explains why the aforementioned accounts for a huge percentage of rape cases in the country.

This argument is in no way trying to justify the act of rape. It is only trying to spell out the fact that it is high time women are punished for forcing men to rape them. If a woman with a record of being claded in ‘hijab’ or other acceptable forms of dressing is raped, the perpetrator actually deserves a life imprisonment sentence. But it is very unfair to convict and sentence a man because he rapes a woman dressed half naked with breasts, legs and buttocks totally exposed. In other words, it makes a lot of sense and justifies justice if a woman that is raped is convicted and sentenced because of her history of roaming the streets or communities naked. The need for legislations on dress code for especially Sierra Leonean teenagers cannot be overemphasized. 

The country needs laws that criminalize the exposure of breasts, waists, and legs. In fact, decent dress is part of the dictates of our culture; so why not induce that into the laws? Rape would be drastically reduced if this is done.

On another note, it is very sad that our law makers never made an attempt to classify rape into various categories. The same law that governs the act of a teenage boy raping a teenage girl is the same law that punishes an old man who rapes a three year old girl. It is very unfair to charge and convict an old man that rapes a child for rape. Forcefully having sex with an underage girl or child is definitely not an act of rape but attempted murder.

The appropriate authorities need to seriously look into this issue of rape and right the wrongs.

With Abdul Fonti

The word is CAMPAIGN!

It is no longer news that the National Electoral Commission (NEC) has announced the commencement date for the forthcoming general elections campaigns. 

It starts on the 17^th October 2012 (two weeks from now) and ends on the 15^th November 2012. As the various political parties gear up to commence campaigns across the country, nominations for the political leaders are already underway.

Before going into the details of this piece, let us first and foremost try to define the ward campaign. Also, this piece will attempt to highlight the overall goal of politicians.

A campaign is a planned set of actions aimed at achieving a particular result, while the overall objective of politicians, especially in an election, is to rise to the citadel of power. 

Therefore, the planned set of actions that are expected to be undertaken or implemented by politicians should be in line with civilization, legality and peace. The campaigns are meant for politicians to peacefully sell themselves and their parties to the voters. What the politicians should be focused on is to carefully explain their ideologies and manifestoes to the electorates. 

This could be done through town hall meetings, peaceful rallies, radio and television programs, house to house meetings, village to village, town to town, city to city, ward to ward, district to district, constituency to constituency, and region to region meetings. 

Campaigns can also be done by printing and distributing, and pasting flyers and wall bills. There are several other civilize and acceptable ways to undertake political campaigns, and there is no doubt that the politicians and most of their supporters are abreast with those techniques.

That established, it is important for politicians and their supporters to know that what commences in Sierra Leone two weeks from now, according to the activity calendar of the National Electoral Commission (NEC) is CAMPAIGN, and nothing else.

All stakeholders are expected to conform to the dictates of acceptable campaigns so that the elections will come go and leave us in one piece. It is very important for all and sundry to realize that elections would be held on a single day (November 17 2012 in this case) and that there is life for the country and people after November 17. 

The Election Day is only meant for the exercise of once franchise. It is supposed to serve as the day when people go to the polls to decide on the leaders for the next five years. It should serve as the day when Sierra Leoneans decide to choose a progressive or retrogressive president. It should serve as the day when Sierra Leoneans decide the direction of the country for the next five years. The aforementioned is very simple to understand as drinking water.

If all what has been said above are the motives of campaign and voting, do we need to engage ourselves in violence acts? Do we need to hate one another? Do we need to fan the flames of tribal and regional sentiments? Is there a need to attack the personalities of our opponents, especially so if there personal life has nothing to do with his/her leadership character? Do we need to give drugs to the youths? Do we need to preach hate messages against our fellow Sierra Leoneans? The answers to all of the aforementioned are big NOs. This is because we all share the same nationality (meaning that we are all brothers and sisters) and we will remain Sierra Leoneans even after the elections would have long ended.

It is very much important for Sierra Leoneans not to allow elections or political orientation to divide them. Sierra Leone will only develop if the people are united and determined to work towards a single goal.

Each and every Sierra Leonean has the right to belong to any political party of his/her choice as dictated by democratic principles; but that does not in any way mean that we are different people. All of us are representing the green, white and blue. Let us maintain the values of unity, freedom and justice.

In summary, the word is CAMPAIGN. Use it to ascend to power without destroying your fellow country man. Tell the people what you have done and what you intend to do for them. Desist from blackmail and personality attacks; concentrate on the issues; avoid intimidation and violence. If politicians heed to the aforementioned, they will not face the struggle of trying to unite their people after elections. They will inherit a peaceful country conducive to implement developmental project. But in an instance where the politicians think the only way to attain power is to perpetrate violence and preach hate messages, they should be ready to inherit a doomed nation.

With Abdul Fonti

Bad losers or rotten system?

Primary elections or selections for the various political parties in Sierra Leone have ended, amid controversies. For the parliamentary symbols in the two major political parties, the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) party and opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), at least thirty former Members of Parliament (MPs) lost their symbols to new comers.

Fewer women were considered for symbols in the various political parties, thereby making a mockery of the gender policies of the political parties.

The number of youth that received parliamentary and council symbols is encouraging as compared to previous years when the elderly people were mostly considered for symbols. Whether or not this was deliberate or accidental remains unclear, but one cannot hide from the fact that more power is given to the youth this time round.

In the midst of the aforementioned, disgruntlement and grumblings as to the conduct of the primaries in the various political parties is currently the order of the day. While some prefer to suffer quietly, others are actually making their grievances public. The radio airwaves, television screens, newspapers, and town halls are currently inundated with disgruntle comments from losing aspirants and their supporters.

At least a former Member of Parliament (MP) representing the opposition SLPP, Robin Farley, has crossed over to the ruling APC, following the decision of the SLPP to deprive him of his desire to run for a second term in his Constituency 7. After abandoning his SLPP and pledging his allegiance to the APC, Farley was not only immediately accepted by the APC but was automatically given the APC symbol for Constituency 7 to contest against his former SLPP party.

The All Political Parties Women Association (APPWA) is the latest to have vent out its dissatisfaction over the decisions of the political parties to sideline the women in the symbol contests.

In summary, only a few of the losing candidates have agreed to support the winners in the various wards or constituencies, thus the loud noises of protests from all corners of the country.

A huge percentage of the losing candidates are claiming to be the people’s choice, while blaming their defeats on fraudulent conduct of the primaries.

During the conduct of the APC primaries, the move by President Ernest Bai Koroma to order the cancellation of the party’s electoral colleges in Freetown was a testament to the fact that certain politicians in the APC were desperately bent on giving symbols to their favored candidates. Notwithstanding the fact that the President attempted to personally supervise the process, the elections still ended in controversies with fingers pointing on certain ministers that were at the helm of organizing the primaries.

As all of this is happening, the question on the lips of many Sierra Leoneans is: are these aggrieved candidates mere bad losers determined to put their various political parties and leaders in bad light, or they were actually deprived of what they truly deserved?

This piece will not attempt to provide an answer to this question, at least not directly, but there is the saying that goes: “There is no smoke without fire”. If the grumbling aspirants were just a handful, it could have been easy to dismiss their concerns. But in this instance, wherein the grumbling aspirants are in the majority, there is an indication that some political manipulations took place to deprive certain people of their symbols.

If the noise of the losing aspirants across the country is anything to go by, it simply means the various political parties that engaged themselves in such manipulations have actually succeeded in doing harm to their chances of emerging victorious in the various wards or constituencies in the forthcoming elections. These disgruntled aspirants have their followings and the grievances of these supporters will always reflect on the votes. If the popular aspirant in a particular ward or constituency is wickedly deprived of his or her right to lead his or her party to the forthcoming election, his or her supporters will prefer either to stay off the election or cast their votes in favour of another aspirant in a different political party. The latter is called protest vote.

However, some of the political leaders have succeeded in pacifying a couple of losing candidates with promises of giving them other appointments in the case of a win for the party. But is this going to change the mindset of the electorates in the various wards and constituencies? The answer is definitely a big NO, because the minds of the people are already made up not to vote for certain aspirants, especially the incumbents. No amount of pacifying can change the fact that certain people will not vote for incumbent MPs and Councilors that had failed woefully in their wards and constituencies but were imposed on them for a second-term by political leaders.

At this juncture, let me state that it’s a shame on the various political parties, especially the APC and the SLPP, for their actions to neglect women in the symbol races. What about the gender policies? When are women getting their 30% quota? When will Sierra Leonean politicians allow free and fair elections?

The polls will surely teach certain politicians and political parties how to respect the will of the people.

With Abdul Fonti