The writing was on the wall that victory was the APC’s in 2012 general elections and this was evident the moment the SLPP elected the fake Brigadier and human Right’s abuser, Maada Bio, as their flag bearer.
What some of the youth glamorize is not always necessarily a good thing in certain situations. While Rambo is ideally a principle of choice in movie situations where action may be needed to save the day from hostile enemies, the character, Rambo, is unsuitable to lead a government for successful national development outcomes. And such a mismatch beacons the phrase ’Going against the grain.’
But don’t tell that to SLPP youths who bulldozed their way through the SLPP party to have their Rambo in the name of Brigadier Bio elected as flag bearer. They used intimidation to coarse SLPP elders and manipulated the SLPP flag bearer elections for the fake Brigadier to be elected flag bearer hoping that their self acclaimed Rambo will save the day for the SLPP and resurrect it from the abyss.
Bio was admired by SLPP youths who shared the same ethnic background with him and the same party because of his guts. After all he had two successful coup detats under his belt and got away with treasonable offenses that could have landed him the same penalty of death he dished out to 29 innocent civilians, thought to be sympathizers of the APC party, for allegedly attempting to overthrow his government.
How could Maada Bio have overthrown the APC government and then later he overthrew Captain Strasser of the NPRC government and still walk as a free man was the million dollar puzzling question to SLPP youths. Like Amalinze the cat whose back never touched the ground in a fight until he lost to Okonkwo in the book entitled ’Things Fall Apart,’ Bio had attained the myth of invisibility and was revered for having achieved a seemingly impossible feat for overthrowing the once mighty APC government and later killing APC sympathizers without a thread off his shirt.
So, after the SLPP got defeated in the 2007 general elections by the APC party and angered by that loss it was time to call Rambo for a revenge. In the minds of the radical youth, only the mythically invincible fake Brigadier Bio can discipline the APC and hold on to power for the SLPP. The radical youth wing of the SLPP which later called themselves Pa-O-Pa (meaning by force) then began their journey to have their Rambo to the State house.
Oblivious to the baggage that Bio carries with him and determined to see their man through they paraded Bio, the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing, as a Saint. But little did they know that those attributes they admire in him for his greatness will become his opponents weapon to deny him victory in the general elections.
The SLPP made APC’s job easier for the reelection of His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma by electing Bio as his opponent. The APC made Bio look like Hitler running for elections in Israel by labeling him as a killer with blood stains in his hands.
Flag bearer Bio has a rap sheet the length of a football field among which is that he is a thief and a passport seller. Additionally, Bio’s military training, his aloofness and divisiveness, and his lack of organizational ability were not helpful for the post he aspired for. His baggage depicts a man so morally unfit to lead even a pack of hyenas let alone the beautiful Athens of Africa, Sierra Leone.
The NPRC government which Bio presided over was comprised of indiscipline soldiers out to get their own from what they perceived as their big catch. They looted the government and mismanaged its affairs and yet SLPP failed strategists wanted to pass Bio off as a serious contender with a good plan for governance. They concocted one lie after another to dupe the voting public but their cover was blown by Awarness Times and Cocorioko newsletters so the public would not buy what amount to snake oil.
The writing was all over the wall that the SLPP will lose big in the elections of November 17, 2012. But the mistake of electing Bio has far more repercussions for the SLPP party than losing the 2012 elections. The SLPP has lost many good people from virtually all ethnic groups because of the choice of Bio and it will take a considerable time to win them back, if at all.
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