ANOTHER MAJOR BLOW FOR SLPP : U.S BANS OFFICIALS AND FAMILIES FOR STEALING SIERRA LEONE’S JUNE 24 ELECTIONS
By KABS KANU
The noose continued tightening on President Maada Bio and his illegal Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) government as the United States announced visa restrictions on all members of the government deemed responsible for or complicit in the rigging of the June 24 elections and human rights abuses in Sierra Leone.
Yesterday’s damning announcement was made by no less a personality than the Secretary of State of the U.S, Mr. Anthony J. Blinken , and when the news broke on social media, Sierra Leoneans went wild with jubilation, calling friends and families around the world to inform them and to rejoice with them. Many of them said it was a vindication for the people of Sierra Leone and democracy and human rights advocates inside and outside the country. It was further confirmation that the SLPP Government did indeed rig the June elections.
There has been no official response from the government but SLPP supporters all over the world are stunned , disappointed and angry as seen from their responses at Facebook , WhatsApp and social media platforms. It stunned a lot of them because they had been contending that the recent explosive interview given FM 98.1 by outgoing American Ambassador David Reimer that the U,S. will suspend government -to-government programs , including the Millennium Challenge Corporation ( MCC ) Compact program, was just the opinion of the ambassador.
At State House, the atmosphere was said to have been somber. SLPP officials and supporters keep downplaying the wrath of the U.S. and the international community, but citizens of the country are now expecting the worst, as relations between the U.S and their country continue to take a downward slide. Also, life may become more intolerable for the people if the European Union ( EU), which also condemned the elections as lacking credibility, follow suit with sanctions.
The standpoint of America is that Maada Bio rigged the elections on June 24 and because of such a bold- faced robbery Bio and his band of elections thieves must face U.S wrath as America is the foremost promoter of democracy and the Rule of Law in the world.
Maada Bio and his myopic supporters think they can fight America and the international community but as the sanctions begin to bite in Sierra Leone, the illegitimate president will come to realize that he has bitten more than he can chew.
Many political analysts told Cocorioko yesterday that Bio still has options to stave off a calamitous fall from power through the weight of the sanctions , isolation and the anger sweeping through Sierra Leone. He can cancel the results and order a rerun, as being demanded by the opposition APC .
Public demonstrations against Maada Bio and his SLPP junta are expected this month , especially as the economy also seems to be slipping out of the hands of the government, with prices of food and basic commodities and services escalating beyond the reach of the people.
