By KABS KANU
Declassified documents from the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) have shown that the U.S Government had authentic information and projection one year into his administration that late President Joseph Saidu Momoh was headed for trouble and doom in Sierra Leone well before his government was overthrown by the military in 1992.
JOSEPH MOMOH WAS HEADED FOR DOOM BEFORE HE STARTED
A careful perusal of the declassified documents shows detailed a lot of early warning signs about deep troubles besetting a struggling African government that was on its way to doom, just one year after Momoh was handed the baton of power by the late President Siaka Stevens in October 1985. The secret documents were published as a memo by the CIA on April 26, 1986 and were classified as secret. They were declassified on DECEMBER 22, 2016.
There is a lot to learn from these documents, which run into 10 pages.
Momoh’s dilemma can be compared to what is presently going on in Sierra Leone under the failed leadership of President Julius Maada Bio. Whether Bio will face a similar end to his rule remains to be seen. But classified information in possession of the COCORIOKO NEWSPAPER indicate that the U.S is fully aware that unless the Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) is efficiently guided to effect deep socio-economic and political reforms, there could be very serious political chaos in Sierra Leone in the long run ( Though in all fairness to Bio, he is a more robust leader than the lackadaisical, laid-back, complacent and lazy Joseph Saidu Momoh ).
The same pressures that built in the army and society during the Momoh era are manifesting also under President Maada Bio. According to classified information supplied to the COCORIOKO Newspaper by Western diplomats in the UN, Maada Bio’s army is deeply divided as soldiers are unhappy with the SLPP ‘s entrenched policy of tribalism and regionalism in determining promotions and appointments within the Sierra Leone army and his inability to address the rapidly declining economic woes in the country.
Despair and general disappointment and frustration run deep within the society , with Sierra Leoneans angry with the SLPP Government for its failure to address bread-and-butter issues, escalating prices of social services like the tollgate and basic commodities including food. The pitch darkness at night due to the epileptic electricity supply , delays in paying monthly salaries of workers , the rigged 2023 elections, rampant corruption and the wasteful foreign travels of President Bio and his wife, especially, tribal hegemony and the human rights abuses of the police and the army could be the tipping point in Sierra Leone under Bio.
Bio has a stronger grip on the army and society far more than the laissez-faire Momoh due his ruthless and repressive governance style and the security situation under President Bio is far more improved and structured and there will not be a rebel army invading the country from a neighboring country as it happened to Momoh before he was swept out of power. But the situation in Sierra Leone under Bio is volatile still and a foreseen danger is an uprising against the SLPP Government by the public.
Another lesson that could be gleaned from the declassified CIA secret documents is that African governments often lack the foresight to redress deep-seated problems in their countries. Presidents erroneously feel that they could continue holding the disgruntled nation at arms length for as long as they desire. They always fail to learn that if you keep an angry people under your thumb for long, a time definitely comes when they will lash out, with deadly venom and consequences.
The Bio government is heading in the same direction as Momoh’s and a word for the wise is enough. The SLPP Government better start putting its acts in order before it is too late.
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