''All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing'' - Edmund Burke

Welcome

S I E R R A  H E R A L D

Vol 9 No 6

The tendency sometimes to protect perpetrators for the sake of peace...doesn't help society. Impunity should not be allowed to stand. - Kofi Annan on Waki report

HOME
Mission
Contact us
UK Serious Fraud Office
World Association for Human Rights - USA
Audit Service Sierra Leone
 
National Union of Journalists (UK)
BBC African Service
Daily Trust of Nigeria
UN Great Lakes
PEN
INASLA
Writer Adichie
Southwark Council
S.L. Web
All Africa.com
Africa Week
AWOKO
Human Rights Watch
Amnesty International
Trial Watch
International Criminal Court
LAWCLA
One World
Royal African Society
University of
East London
Nigeria Anti Corruption Commission
(EFCC)
Institute for Democracy in Africa
archive 6
archive 7
archive 8
archive 9
archive 10
archive 11
archive 12
archive 13
archive 14
archive 15
archive 16
archive 17
archive 18
archive 19
archive 20
archive 21

 

 

Friday May 25, 2012 - Mass selective amnesia takes hold  - Fifteen years ago today on May 25, 1997 the democratically-elected government of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was overthrown by the awful horror that later came to be known as the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil. Fifteen years on - all the excesses of the beasts are slowly resurfacing, degrading the tenets of good governance. Selective justice puts on an even bolder appearance on the law and human rights front. Aziz Carew - although he was attacked in his own home and beaten to a coma, he ended up in Ernest Bai Koroma's Nazi courts convicting him while his attackers remain free and were never charged to court.

Fifteen years ago today, as Saturday rolled into Sunday a band of soldiers, wearing green military tunics covering red APC t-shirts stormed the central prison at the heart of Freetown - Pademba Road and released all those awaiting justice. They ranged from hardened criminals, armed robbers as well as rogue soldiers who had committed grave human rights abuses against the civilian population in their various areas of operation. All were given arms, deadly weapons of war as confused residents tried to work out what was going on amid the sounds of heavy guns and automatic weapons fire. By daylight, roaming bands of soldiers and armed men could be seen racing about town in commandeered vehicles pillaged from owners' garages as well as from the homes of international non-governmental organisations serving various sections of the Sierra Leone community.

And so was the Armed Forces Revolutionary Force, the AFRC formed on a May 25 date which Africa celebrates as Liberation Day - turned on its head by a band of savages in military attire who believed that once their masters, the APC, was handed power, the incoming civilian government of the APC would absolve them of all their crimes and make them heroes - for the rampant and random murder of civilians, the rape of women and girls and all those who crossed their bloody trails.

It must be stated that not all soldiers warmed up to the idea of another coup as they realised that soldiers had been given their marching orders to the barracks by civilians who welcomed them after the April 29, 1992 but would rather have them now back in the barracks.

Seeing that they were not getting the kind of support they witnessed when the NPRC was formed, the clearly disoriented and frightened soldiers as well as their supporters turned to their arch enemy, an enemy they had been fighting for six years - the Revolutionary United Front, the RUF of Foday Sankoh.

Using peace and dialogue as the pretext while in reality wanting to have more men join their ranks, the new man at the helm of affairs, one Johnny Paul Koroma invited the RUF to come out of the bush and to form their so-called Peoples' Army as mounting resentment from civilians continued.

The rest as they say is history - but what we all would not like to happen is to see that awful history repeating itself.

Then there is the man who presided over the comprehensive looting of the Central Bank, the self-styled Dr Christian Kargbo who has instituted an official policy of cleansing all institutions employing suspected non-APC members and in one instance relating to the dismissal of one member of staff, a Mr Peter Kuyembeh, wrote that he was acting on the advice of one Khadija Sesay, the OGI Director whose duty, among others is to precede the President whenever the magician goes abroad.

 "I had in the past spoken and written letters to the Director General about my observations at the Mission. This Mission is flocked with Anti-Government Operators. Until all of them are removed, the purpose for which we are sent out here will NEVER be achieved. They have a fixed mindset. No matter what we do or say makes no difference. I have been saddled with them for over three (3) years now and I know them all”.

The police is now an instrument of repression, oppression and murder aiding and abetting crimes against the opposition as impunity rears its head once more. The recent episode relating to one Aziz Carew who has been convicted of crimes only Gestapo Chief Munu knows best about is a clear indication that all is not well and unless and until the international community puts a halt to the creeping excesses of the Ernest Bai Koroma awful horror, Sierra Leone would be back to the same atmosphere which led to the country's first armed open rebellion since the country's independence in April 1961.

MORE


Friday May 18, 2012 - Four African leaders invited to the G8 meeting on food security by President Obama - and the smoke and mirrors President of Sierra Leone is not among those African leaders believed to be serious about ensuring food security for their people. Is there a message for President Dr Dr Dr and more Dr Ernest Bai Koroma - that the international community is becoming disenchanted with his smoke and mirrors tactics?Basic inputs for food security and nutrition mired in corruptionTanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete - He was in invited by the Obama administration

Today Friday marks the beginning of the G8 2012 meeting of the world's most powerful economies to be hosted by US President Barack Obama at Camp David and today the G8 will be looking at food and nutrition security and how this can be achieved in Africa. To help this meeting of like-minded individuals concerned with food security on the continent, President Obama has thought it fit to invite four African leaders who could well be seen as serious people when it comes to achieving food security for their people.

This page gives a brief profile of the speakers at this important meeting. President Yayi Boni of Benin, the present African Union Chairman will be joined at the G8 food and nutrition security meeting by Ghana's President John Atta Mills, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia. Under the theme - "Advancing Food and Nutrition Security at the 2012 G8 summit" this Chicago Council on Global Affairs meeting held in collaboration with the World Economic Forum will hear from, among others US President Barack Obama, the four invited Presidents, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as well as from key interest groups and actors dedicated to making Africa really food and nutrition secured.

According to the organisers of the meeting, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs it is hoped that this meeting of similar minds - "will bring together senior global leaders to discuss new G8 efforts on food security and the opportunity and benefits of private sector investment in African agriculture and food sectors. Sessions will identify ways business, civil society, and international organizations can complement and amplify G8 action on agricultural research and innovation, markets and trade, and nutrition."

US Secretary of State Clinton did not mince her words - going straight to the point as to why President Obama and his administration are putting the emphasis on food and nutrition security.

"We know the statistics: nearly a billion people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger; 75 percent of poor people live in rural settings and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. So by improving agriculture, we can together strike a powerful blow against both hunger and poverty. And that’s why food security is a priority of the Obama Administration. It is both the smart thing to do and the right thing to do. It is a moral imperative to help people escape hunger and poverty. It is an economic imperative to spread prosperity, create rising incomes, give people the chance to give their own children a better future. It is indeed a strategic imperative. We want to support and build up countries who have leaders like those here before you to take their rightful place of leadership regionally and globally.

President Barack Obama in his speech emphasised the need for more investment in Africa to help the continent achieve food security and nutrition. This part of his speech is bound to send tremors through the spine of the corrupt in Sierra Leone

"...we put the fight against global hunger where it should be, which is at the forefront of global development. And this reflected the new approach to development that I called for when I visited Ghana, hosted by President Mills, and that I unveiled at the last summit on the Millennium Development goals. It’s rooted in our conviction that true development involves not only delivering aid, but also promoting economic growth — broad-based, inclusive growth that actually helps nations develop and lifts people out of poverty. The whole purpose of development is to create the conditions where assistance is no longer needed, where people have the dignity and the pride of being self-sufficient.

You see our new approach in our promotion of trade and investment, of building on the outstanding work of the African Growth and Opportunity Act. You see it in the global partnership to promote open government, which empowers citizens and helps to fuel development, creates the framework, the foundation for economic growth. You see it in the international effort we’re leading against corruption, including greater transparency so taxpayers receive every dollar they’re due from the extraction of natural resources. You see it in our Global Health Initiative, which instead of just delivering medicine is also helping to build a stronger health system, delivering better care and saving lives."

That the smoke and mirrors President was left out of the Food and Nutrition Security meeting of serious and truthful minds at Camp David tells it all - he is no longer trusted by those who matter and do care for Sierra Leone. They have seen through his magician's act and no doubt come to the conclusion that for all his posturing, one Ernest Bai Koroma, leader of the APC could well be a charlatan. His praise singers, internet flying toilets and all, would want Sierra Leoneans and indeed the international community to believe that when it comes to food security, their god ernest bai koroma is the best thing that could have hit that patch of planet Earth called Sierra Leone - never mind making his brother a millionaire overnight after that scandalous India rice deal - which in the fullness of time, the people will know all about - more so who profited out of the misery of suffering Sierra Leoneans.

MORE

Update - US President Obama reveals 3bn dollar plan to boost food security and farm productivity as a new body - New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is formed.


Tuesday May 8, 2012 - With the right leadership any nation wracked by war and terrible suffering can rise again from the ashes to even greater heights in all fields of human endeavour - from political emancipation through sport to accounting to the people  on how the country's resources are utilised for the common good. This is the story of a country called Rwanda - a country that was failed by the United Nations, failed by the international community - a country seized by mass murderers who executed more than half a million Tutsis in just ninety days.Award-winning journalist Sorious Samura in one of the clip sequences

Sierra Leone's very own documentary film reporter and researcher is at it again - bringing the good news about Africa - telling it like it is. Exposing corruption wherever found and giving praise to deserving countries as is to be witnessed in a new documentary soon to hit the international media scene. Rwanda-17 - Healing a Nation is, according to the makers - a compelling African success story, told through the inspirational journey of its youngest rising stars: the Rwandan Under 17 football team. Born just after the 1994 genocide, they overcame enormous odds to qualify for the 2011 Under-17 World Cup in Mexico. The first Rwandans to reach this level of world-class football, these young players – more than half of them orphaned by war – show how discipline, determination and uncompromising team spirit leads to the success that can inspire a nation. Their story represents Rwanda’s breathtaking evolution and hopes for a better future, with good leadership and unity at the heart of not only sporting success but also a nation’s efforts to achieve reconciliation and prosperity.

Watch BBC World News TV on 12th or 13th of May 2012 to see RWANDA-17 Healing a Nation. It’s an eye opening 45min documentary about Rwanda’s progress since the 1994 genocide presented by the award winning filmmakers Sorious Samura & Claudio von Planta.

We were hoping that rising from the ashes of war - the last thing any President would wish for in Sierra Leone as the country prepares for crucial November polls was to use tax payers money to purchase war weapons - some ten years after former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah declared the war in Sierra Leone officially over in 2002. Weapons to be used for the sole purpose of entrenching smoke and mirrors President Ernest Bai Koroma whose government's capacity for breathing out falsehood and lies is so ingrained that when his officials and praise singers say "Good Morning" to you, you have to go out to view the sky to be sure that indeed dawn has broken and that it is not another trick from the smoke and mirrors occupant at State House.


Wednesday May 2, 2012 - Those smoking guns and war weapons - why was the contract for these weapons given to a civilian company? Who is behind the company and how much did it really cost the tax payer? Like the reckless and thieving APC of Stevens and Momoh so it is with the smoke and mirrors President Ernest Bai Koroma.Police Chief Francis Munu has now received his weapons for intimidating the opposition.Ernest Bai Koroma - the new face of terror in Sierra Leone

Thanks to members of some sections of the press reporting on events in Sierra Leone, the Ernest Bai Koroma government has been exposed as a lying, self-serving and ruthless entity that would do any and everything to re-introduce the APC tactics of yester years to remain in power - and not only that but to continue the massive and unprecedented looting spree as exposed by the Auditor-General's office. According to those leaked documents, the Inspector-General, the Gestapo Chief Francis Munu would want us to believe that the award of that contract to a particular company was above board, that the award was transparent and in line with regulations relating to the award of contracts. He wrote and we quote

"The Supplier, Messrs Amylam, Sierra Leone Limited, who won the contract on CIF terms, has informed me that the vessel NV AN NING JIANG, is presently at high seas under the shipping agency of OBT Shipping Limited and is expected to arrive by 19th/20th January 2012."

We beg to differ and would want a further clarification on the matter as the UN arms embargo on Sierra Leone had been lifted paving the way for the government to directly use the country's end-user certificate and authority to buy these items from the Chinese manufacturers Norinco. And who, may we ask heads or has links to this new invention called Messrs Amylam? We believe that one Khadi could well have been resuscitated to begin yet another rape of the country's finances just as he did during the Momoh era and during which he gained access to all ministries and key personnel in government to siphon off the tax payers' sweat into his accounts while giving kickbacks to his contacts in government. Kindly take a look at this report involving his operations in the acquisition of fire engines for the Fire Force.

This was just the tip of the iceberg in the massive corruption that reigned then and just to ensure that Sierra Leone is not been taken to the cleaners again using all and any surreptitious means, we would urge the Gestapo Chief Francis Munu as well as the Ministry of Finance to publish all details relating to the tender documents and what informed the government to award such a contract to Messrs Amylam, Sierra Leone Limited. We need to know under what circumstances the stated company was given such a contract and who received the kickbacks that normally are a part of such "contracts".

We are raising this issue because as far as we can see, despite the fact that the Auditor General had published reports highlighting thieving and gross financial malpractices in government, government-related organisations and others, State House, headed by Ernest Bai Koroma has not thought it fit to put in the recommended remedial action that would recover the multi billion leones and more in foreign currencies theft that is now a label of this government. A government that has failed to account to the people, a government that is of the view that the finances of Sierra Leone are easy and should be such a prey to its many thieving and dishonest operatives. The contempt so far displayed by the government for the reports of the Auditor-General hearkens to the days of the Stevens and Momoh era where the badge of good statesmanship and accountability got converted into a vile competition as to who steals the most from the coffers of government.

Allow us to give you a sampling of what was unearthed during the NPRC investigations into contracts - this is a part of what was discovered at the National Elections Commission at Tower Hill in Freetown

Date Supplier Agreed Unit Price le Paid Unit Price Le Total Agreed Price Le Total Paid Le Difference Le
30.10.89 Standard Int. Agency (1,100 pkts Dup. Papers) 950 2,500 1,045 2,275,000 1,705,000
11.90 Standard Int. (4,000 stamp pads) 500 700 2,000,000 2,800,000 800,000
1989 Sonny Co. Int. (3,120 ball pens) 30 67 93,600 208,000 114,400

We would urge Sierra Leone's development partners like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the European Union, the African Development Bank, Donor Countries, Bi and Multi-lateral partners to stop sitting on their hands while pretending that all is well with funds committed to the raising of the standard of life of the ordinary Sierra Leonean - the poor and unconnected whose only crime is to be citizens in their own God-given country, Sierra Leone.

MORE


Thursday March 22, 2012 - UN Security Council meets on Sierra Leone - hears concern over ugly developments in Sierra Leone that could scupper the hopes of the UN, Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone as an example of a success story of a country making a full and admirable recovery after years of a brutal and devastating war. Despite progress made in getting the country on her feet again - questions raised over the recent importation of millions of dollars worth of war weapons for the armed wing of the APC parading as a "police force", the OSD. Calls on the main opposition SLPP to rethink action over the boycott of Parliament and other crucial meetings. Shears-Moses report must be made public.Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister J B Dauda - failed to mention the weapons in his reportFormer UNIPSIL Head in Sierra Leone Michael von der Schulenburg

The United Nations Security Council meeting in a crucial session on Sierra Leone has heard the final report of Michael von der Schulenburg who, until he was forced out of the country by the Ernest Bai Koroma regime, was the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the country and head of all UN operations in Sierra Leone. He praised and indeed paid tribute to the people of Sierra Leone for their many admirable qualities and "for their resilience and their extraordinary ability to forgive and reconcile. Today, victims and perpetrators live side by side in communities all over the country".

Settling on the challenges facing Sierra Leoneans as they get ready for the November 17 General Elections Mr Michael von der Schulenburg expressed grave concern over the importation of weapons worth millions of dollars to equip a section of the police, the OSD noting

"...reports that the Government has imported assault weapons worth millions of dollars in January of this year to equip a recently enlarged para-military wing of its police, the Operational Services Division (OSD), are of great concern. Sierra Leone is under no arms embargo. However, given Sierra Leone's progress in establishing peace and security throughout the country and its relatively low crime rate, it is not clear why the police would need such weapons – especially as this shipment, according to a leaked Bill of Lading, appears to include heavy machine guns and even grenade launchers. I would urge the Government to fully clarify these reports and, if true, explain the intended use of these weapons.

An enlarged, heavily-armed and allegedly also ethnically imbalanced OSD risks undermining the good work that has been done by the Sierra Leonean Police in creating a modern and operationally independent police force serving the people of Sierra Leone – a people-oriented police was one of the important pillars of the successful Security Sector Reforms after the civil war. Because of the country’s painful experience, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had suggested that Sierra Leone abandons all forms of para-military police force. Such lessons from the past should be taken seriously.

Smoke and mirrors Ernest Bai Koroma also came in for scathing comments/criticism on a number of issues relating to good governance, political tolerance, the rule of law and the need to make public the report of the Shears-Moses report into political violence. It was revealed that although the President had even made promises to the diplomatic corps in the country, he had still not kept such.

"The Shears-Moses report that had investigated the events that led to the most serious outbreak of political violence since the end of the civil war in March 2009 must be issued without any further delay. It is now two years since the report had been submitted to the President and despite repeated pledges to publish it - most recently in a meeting the President had with the entire diplomatic corps in October 2011 - this has not yet been done."

The newly-created and so-called independent Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation, the new body that was meant to be a truly national broadcaster free from government control was the subject of more reminders of the Ernest Bai Koroma regime's penchant for grabbing and wanting everything to be either Ernest Koroma or APC coloured. Any other alternative is seen as unpalatable in a set-up still living in the excesses of one-party rule dubiously imposed on a cowered and intimidated public by Siaka Stevens.

"...unfortunately, the SLBC has not fulfilled expectations and bad management practices have begun to impact negatively on the quality and impartiality of its programmes. Recent personnel decisions further raise questions about its political neutrality so shortly before the elections. I hope that the Government will stick to its courageous decision and help bring about the necessary adjustments in the board and management of the SLBC that would make this a truly national and independent voice of Sierra Leone."

We raised concerns over the Act setting up the SLBC which gave the President the final say in the appointment of top members of that body's management and Board as well as drawing the attention of the United Nations to the advertisements for the posts of the Director-General as well as the Deputy Director-General. Both posts were filled by unqualified personnel with the Deputy being a retired School Inspector who has never done any bit of broadcasting, journalism or media related work. The SLBC "management" has sacked all the experienced broadcasters thought to be reading from other books other than the APC red book. They have been replaced by people, and many are not journalists/broadcasters, brought in by APC operatives and party members.

It is remarkable and quite worthy to note that the concerns raised at the United Nations Security Council comes a day before the anniversary of rebel incursion in 1991 when rebels of Foday Sankoh aided by elements from Liberia and Burkina Faso fired the first shots as they crossed from Liberia into Bomaru in eastern Sierra Leone on March 23.

MORE


Sunday March 4, 2012 - The interesting, very interesting Africa Debate held in Freetown on land grabbing by multinational companies in Africa - is it an investment opportunity that benefits the people or is it just another exploitative gimmick that ruins communities, the environment and traditional way of life? Who benefits from it all? The strange but not so surprising loud, very loud silence from the Ernest Bai Koroma (read AFRC Mk2) apologists.Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute - supplied details of deals the government would rather have undisclosedThe oil palm tree - why has it become of such economic and cultural importance in Sierra Leone?

Friday February 24 was a big day for the media, the government and the people of Sierra Leone - for on that day the BBC World Service was in Freetown to broadcast LIVE one of it's Africa Debate series. It was an opportunity for all those concerned about the issue of land being mortgaged to multi-national companies and how this impacts on communities and the ordinary man, woman and child. It was quite a lively and interesting debate with environmentalists and civil society groups on one hand and government agents on the other hand laying out their side of the debate on who benefits from such deals that have seen vast tracts of land in Sierra Leone practically given away to the industrial production of materials that would feed the energy needs of the West.

Into this scenario came traditional rulers, APC mouthpieces and government "parrots" and there was even one man who claimed to be the adviser to President Koroma in the matter of land acquisition and benefits for the affected communities. It was a truly defining moment as students, interest groups and others repeatedly claimed that while investment was good for Sierra Leone, the way and manner in which it was done and continues to be done was just not good enough with Deputy Agriculture minister, one Alie Badara Mansaray admitting that the whole process had flaws that needed to be looked at anew. He conceded that the whole concept being a new programme needed a review that would address the concerns of the people affected.

What emerged from that lively debate was that there was a lack of transparency and consultation with the people directly affected. One woman activist noted that in all of the arrangements, women were kept on the sidelines and were forced to accept the decisions of their men folk who never consulted them noting that women who are the backbone of subsistence farming have not been catered for and that in all the arrangements the social and cultural impact of land use involving rural communities where women play a great part had not been taken into consideration.

However it would appear that the bee in the bonnet of the government functionaries came in the form of Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director of the Oakland Institute, and she, according to one blog article continually pressed the government for concrete figures on the benefits brought to the country. "I think there's debate ...that this kind of investment will lead to food security, will create jobs," she said. "I would love to hear concrete numbers – how many jobs have been created. ...Our research shows that in Sierra Leone till January last year (just in agriculture) over 500, 000 hectares of land were leased. I would love to know what kind of revenue has been contributed to the national budget and where that money is being used." No figures were provided by the government during the debate.

Among the environmentalists taking part in that crucial debate was one Joseph Rahall of the Green Scenery organisation. Joseph Rahall has been one of the enduring activists who had always drawn the attention of various governments to the hazards of unplanned use of land. He was among the first to warn of the massive deforestation and land degradation that was taking place around Freetown that has seen forest covers depleted, catchment areas destroyed and contributing not only to land erosion problems but creating water deserts that are adversely affecting the capital Freetown and its environs. Joseph Rahall has never given up hope on the need to educate people on the hazards of treating the environment with contempt. He has taken his campaign to schools, community groups and quite recently his group Green Scenery did a write-up titled - The Socfin Land Deal Missing Out On Best Practices - Fact-finding Mission to Malen Chiefdom, Pujehun District, Sierra Leone.

On the whole this debate should not be seen as an attack on the Ernest Bai Koroma government (hence the silence from his praise singers) but what should have been done, open peoples' participation before any of these deals were entered into - more so when the general feeling was that the beneficiaries from such deals are government agents, their sub-agents and the land grabbing investors. The need for consultation, transparency and consensus.

MORE


Saturday February 4, 2012 - The horrors of selective justice on the rise again as the government with somewhat frenetic speed hauls perceived opponents before the courts while ruling party members and sections of the security forces become a part of the machinery of impunity. Be careful Ernest, be very careful.President Ernest Bai Koroma - worrying levels of selective justice under his watchRtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio of the main opposition SLPP. He accuses the government of unbridled corruption

The frenetic pace at which the Ernest Bai Koroma "wheels of justice" appear to move when it involves perceived enemies, especially members of the main opposition Sierra Leone People's Party, the SLPP while operatives of the ruling APC as well as their allies caught up in such illegal acts of violence, intimidation and intolerance appear to be enjoying immunity from the courts - thanks to direct orders from State House itself is worthy of note. Again we would remind the government of the constitution, a section of which states

(4) The State shall protect and defend the liberty of the individual, enforce the rule of law and ensure the efficient functioning of Government services.
(5) The State shall take all steps to eradicate all corrupt practices and the abuse of power.

Let us again remind the government of how it has been subverting justice to suit its own agenda - contrary to the provisions of the constitution which it claims to respect and honour - "The All Peoples Congress Party affirms its belief in the supremacy and inviolability of the constitution of Sierra Leone and the sovereignty of our people. As a government we are committed to the strict observance and enforcement of it provisions." - a part of that constitution contains (4) and (5) which is referred to above.

We bring this once more to the attention of the government, Sierra Leoneans and friends of Sierra Leone as well as the guarantors of our fledgling democracy and somewhat fragile peace that these were the same types of manipulation of the constitution that led to our troubles. And this created hell on earth for Sierra Leoneans in their own God-given country and we would not want to go back to a situation where an armed rebellion was the only option left for the oppressed to bring their worries to the attention of their overlords.

We do not want to go back to those days of selective justice, political intolerance and unbridled violence against all those who spoke out against the excesses of the Siaka Stevens, Joseph Saidu Momoh APC governments as well as the awful horror known as the AFRC/RUF coalition of evil known as the beasts and who were routinely brutalised, incarcerated and in the case of the junta subjected to torture, rape, murder and other forms of extreme violence and intimidation.

It is now obvious to everyone except the blinkered that Ernest Bai Koroma is on a mission to prove that he is indeed an apologist for the human rights abusing AFRC/RUF junta. He has never publicly criticised the junta's excesses and while talking about how Sierra Leoneans fought for their rights - has never, ever mentioned the struggle of the people against the brutal junta. He has refused to acknowledge the horrors of January 6, 1999 during which junta forces murdered more than five thousand civilians as punishment for not supporting the junta while they held power from May 25, 1997 to February 1998 until they were forced out of their illegal, vicious, brutal and murderous hold on power.

Ernest Bai Koroma has never acknowledged the struggle of Sierra Leoneans against the murderers and rapists of the AFRC/RUF junta.

On Tuesday October 18, 2011 we raised this issue of selective justice because of real fears that if Ernest Bai Koroma is allowed to get his way, he would think nothing of plunging this country into another conflagration as long as he gets his second term - a venture that he is ready to move all things, do all things to achieve after a rather disastrous first term.

Again, we would remind the government that despite calls for implementation, the Shears-Moses report has not been acted on due to a large part, we suspect, that it holds key ruling party operatives responsible for the mayhem visited upon opposition party members not only at their headquarters in Freetown but in other areas of the country.

A report of the violence involving intra-APC supporters as witnessed in Kono lies gathering dust even though it was he, the President who ordered such an investigation.

Allow us to bring to your attention the worries and fears of the man who would be representing the main opposition party, the Sierra Leone People's Party, the SLPP - Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio. This is his recent statement as carried on the pages of some internet outlets and we would urge all Sierra Leoneans, friends of Sierra Leone and the international to pay heed to concerns he has raised.

This is not the first time that he has thought it fit to do so. Here is one interview broadcast by the BBC Network Africa programme in which he stated that he had observed what he called " a recession in democracy" under the watch of President Koroma.

And just before we go - we leave you with this commentary by another "enemy of the state", the one and only Lans Gberie on matters he thinks needs to be addressed as the country prepares for the 2012 polls. Ah - by the way Lans did another article in the recent edition of the BBC Focus on Africa magazine. The magazine has a picture of the the smoke and mirrors exponent wearing his party colours - red - and holding a microphone. We are not told what he has been saying - oh sorry, he was talking about tackling corruption. Yes - corruption.


Yearning for the mother country?

The right choice is Kevin McPhilips Travel

©Sierra Herald 2002