Samura Kamara’s APC Convoy Attacked 3 Times by President Bio’s Thugs During Bye-Elections
By Abu Shaw
Tension has reached the boiling point in Sambaya Bendugu where a crucial Bye-Election is taking place this month but the govt thugs are being violent.
Yesterday in Samaya Bendugu in northern Sierra Leone, the leading APC party presidential candidate Dr Samura Kamara and his APC party convoy carrying top APC officials were attacked and halted from proceeding forward in their campaign trail by SLPP thugs who were clearly carrying out instructions from the Office of the President Julius Maada Bio. The SLPP thugs in police and military uniforms were bullish and in a brutal mood when they stopped the APC convoy from proceeding. They told the APC officials and supporters that the SLPP government Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh was in the area and that for his personal security they could not allow the APC convoy to enter Samaya Bendugu. But the APC officials reminded the SLPP police and soldiers that it was the APC time to campaign in the area, according to the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone ECSL, so there is no way they (APC) would not be allowed to carry out their democratic rights and duties. (Photo: APC convoy stopped yesterday by SLPP thugs in police and military uniforms).
However, the well-armed SLPP police and soldiers could not understand the simple mechanic of elections campaigns and so they resisted and denied the APC convoy from going ahead. The impasse started and the APC members and supporters told the SLPP police and soldiers that VP Juldeh or not, they will go ahead and campaign because technically, it was their right to do so for the Bye-Elections. Live on social media, you could see on videos many police and military security personnel blocking the street thereby halting the movement of the APC convoy led by Dr Samura Kamara, the 2018 elections presidential candidate and the leading presidential candidate for the APC party come 2023. Dr Samura Kamara was seen talking to SLPP security personnel and telling them that they do not have the right to halt the APC convoy from entering Samaya Bendugu. It was very frustrating for the APC supporters who could not understand why the SLPP government is so afraid of free and fair elections. As tension escalates, Dr Samura Kamara was visibly advising his APC supporters to be calm and law-abiding.
Dr Samura Kamara confronted the police officers along the Bumbuna and Bendugu Road where his APC convoy was stopped and told them that this type of negative behaviour must stop. He told them if this cost his life for sanity and democracy to prevail in Sierra Leone, he is ready to lose his life. He made it clear that Sierra Leoneans should be free to exercise their democratic rights without harassment and intimidation from the security forces. “This is a democratic nation,” Samura Kamara reminded the SLPP security. Yet, there were three loaded trucks of soldiers that were deployed in the area yesterday according to reports from Freetown where it is understood that it was the President himself who had instructed the trucks to go there for reinforcement. But the resistance of the APC supporters won the day after many hours of delay. Late in the evening, the APC convoy entered Samaya Bendugu at last. The SLPP police and soldiers were eventually forced to leave the area to allow the APC party to campaign peacefully without SLPP government violence and intimidation. (Photo: Long APC convoy halted yesterday. Former APC Scribe Alhaji Osman Yansaneh was also part of the APC convoy yesterday).
But from the look of things, the APC supporters’ patience is running out and many could be heard saying “Enough is enough”, as they warned the SLPP government brutes that they would not take the unceasing intimidation and harassment any longer. The violence in Sambaya Chiefdom had started a few weeks ago and this week, it escalated as SLPP thugs used machetes to inflict wounds on APC supporters many of whom were rushed to hospital with head injuries. Yet, President Bio continues to keep silent on the growing bloody violence in Sierra Leone, even though his SLPP thugs continue to attack APC members. And yesterday, the SLPP bandits did just that by stopping Dr Samura Kamara’s peaceful convoy. The ruling SLPP regime is determined to cheat their way into victory at the Sambaya Chiefdom Bye-Election, a stronghold of the APC party and a seat originally occupied by an APC member. But the Bio regime is using violence to put fear in supporters and members of the main opposition APC party.
Such a deafening silence from the Head of State is a clear indication that he is not only fully aware of the systematic attacks being dished out by his SLPP thugs, but it is also making clear that the President and his SLPP government officials condone the ongoing atrocities against the members and supporters of the main opposition APC party and other peaceful Sierra Leoneans. And since April 4, 2018, when his SLPP government took the reign of power, President Bio has never publicly condemned or opposed violence meted out by his SLPP hooligans against law-abiding citizens. Never, up to this day, as tension builds in Tonkolili District Bye-Elections in Samaya Mendugu last this month. In the last few weeks, the situation in Sambay Bendugu has degenerated into bloody chaos as SLPP government thugs in police and military uniforms holding machetes and guns unleashed serious injuries on peaceful APC supporters and members. The only crime of the APC supporters was going on about their campaign trail for the Bye-Elections in accordance with the ECSL timetable. (Photo: An APC supporter was wounded in Samaya last week by SLPP thigs).
But the SLPP bandits could not allow the APC members to carry out their campaign in the Sambaya Bendugu areas. The frustration of the APC supporters stemmed from the fact that when it is the turn of the SLPP party to the campaign, nobody disturbs them as they go around uninterrupted during the campaigns. President Bio knows the Sambaya Chiefdom is very vital and that is why he is using and misusing his police and soldiers to molest and harass the APC party into submission. The winner of the Sambaya Chiefdom Constituency 056 Bye-Elections will automatically give the majority in parliament. At the moment, the ruling SLPP party and the APC party have an equal number of Members of Parliament. So that makes the Sambaya Bye-Election very significant. Reports say violence or not, the people of Sambaya Chiefdom have vowed to vote for the APC party later this month. However, it is a different story when it is the turn of the APC party. That is the crux of the matter. The ongoing violence and conspicuous silence from the government is an indication that the mayhem is the architect of the Office of the President. “The nonsense, foolishness, and insults from the SLPP government are too much. The people should not allow this anymore. I am calling on all the APC supporters and members to go to Sambaya for the Bye-Elections,” are the words of Adebayor, Sierra Leone’s leading social media activist based in Holland.
The Buffoon SLPP Media and Govt Brutes Trying to Pass the Buck of Blame But Everyone Knows SLPP is to Blame for Violence in Sierra Leone
APC has Regrouped and Re-attacked Constituency 056 with Armed Thugs. Having finally realized that the odds are stacked against them, the APC has continued to resort to the use of thuggery and intimidation with the sole objective of dismantling the SLPP campaign machine. Several towns and villages have come under attack as we speak and there is chaos everywhere. One report suggests the thugs are imported from Makeni, Mile 91, Magburaka, and as far as Port Loko. In the presence of Samura Kamara, they have attacked the Constituency from all fronts. Many SLPP officials we tried to reach have their phones switched off but the few people we managed to reach say there is a symphony of destruction -shops and homes have come under attack. We are calling on IG Sovula not to be reactive but proactive about this issue. Regardless of which political party the locals support, everyone’s life is in danger at the moment, according to Analytical Writing.
