By Kabs Kanu
Fears that the ruling SLPP Government orchestrated the attack on Pademba Road Prisons to free inmates and provide future excuse for the government’s failure to account for many political prisoners allegedly executed without trial were heightened on Wednesday by the SLPP Chief Minister Dr. David Sengeh .
Speculations have been rife that the government itself masterminded the Pademba Road Prisons attack during the November 26 shootings and freed the prisoners because they would be in trouble during the forthcoming Tripartite dialogue and investigations during which one of the conditions for peace between the ruling SLPP and the opposition APC would be the release of all political detainees.
The SLPP Maada Bio government has continued to insist that the alleged coup plotters broke into the prisons and freed inmates but it does not make sense that they did because when coup makers did so during the 1997 Johnny Paul Koroma AFRC Coup, they armed the inmates to help them fight and consolidate the coup. But this time, the prisoners were released and made to stroll casually into the streets with their belongings.
Now, Chief Minister Dr. David Sengeh , has seemingly proved the public right. When one of the opposition leaders slated to partake in the forthcoming dialogue and investigations , Dr. Kelfala Marah , took the government to task in a tweet for failing to show up at the start of the dialogue on Wednesday, Dr. Sengeh deviated from providing tangible reasons for the no-show by the SLPP. Rather, he told Dr. Marah : It would be great if the APC could help all listed prisoners return back to prison.
This completely out-of-place response by Dr. Sengeh to Dr. Marah’s enquiries created suspicions that the Chief Minister could not even wait for the dialogue to begin to start pressing home the stage-managed excuse that if the SLPP failed to produce missing prisoners , it was because they were released from jail by the alleged coup makers.
Many Sierra Leoneans responded to Sengeh’s tweet with accusations that he had proved what everybody feared —That the prisoners were released by the SLPP Government to find excuse for the unavailability of detainees the SLPP has already executed extrajudicially.
Many people said that Dr. Sengeh’s response to Dr. Marah was a big gaffe that did not help the government’s denials that it sent troops to attack the prisons and free the inmates. “So, this was the excuse you were waiting for ? ” Ahmed Kamara asked Dr. Sengeh. “These guys are well-educated but they are not smart” , retorted Joseph Mansaray . “He has just exposed his government that it freed the prisoners . ”
