COCORIOKO has learnt exclusively from a diplomatic official, speaking anonymously, that the arrangement by the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) to move former President Ernest Koroma temporarily out of Sierra Leone to Nigeria had nothing to do with the former Head of State’s health condition or the alleged Treason case framed against him.
As far as ECOWAS is concerned and going by the template the subregional group is working with, the diplomat averred, Ernest Koroma has no Treason case to answer . As a matter of fact, according to him, President Bio was supposed to have dropped all charges against the former president as part of the agreement, but President Bio has still not performed his own side of the bargain, he complained .
This international diplomat, who spoke exclusively to COCORIOKO , said that President Ernest Koroma was evacuated to Nigeria on a special arrangement between President Maada Bio and ECOWAS to cool down the political tension in the country. As a fragile postwar country, the exacerbating tension in Sierra Leone between President Bio and EBK was deemed detrimental to the peace and security of the country and the West African subregion, where there is a tendency for spillovers of conflicts. “Something had to be done expeditiously to forestall chaos in Sierra Leone”. the diplomat told COCORIOKO. “ECOWAS therefore sprang into action and decided to broker an arrangement that would ease the tension in the country by giving President Koroma temporary stay in Nigeria.”
It would seem like the SLPP Bio government’s tendency not to be upfront with the truth and its belief in deceiving its gullible supporters are contributing to the public’s ignorance about the ECOWAS/ Maada Bio agreement to stave off chaos that saw President Koroma being temporarily moved to Nigeria.
The diplomat’s explanation seems to make some sense if one considers the fact that there have been recent postings in the social media by followers of former President Koroma , showing him jogging , running ( in sports tunic ) and engaging in other forms of exercise, as well as attending church services, which contradicted the narrative that the erstwhile president was gravely sick. While it cannot be disputed that President Koroma has problems with his heath —health problems associated with his advanced age—the pictures could lend credence to the belief that EBK is not on sick leave in Nigeria, according to our source.
Another issue that makes it likely possible that the anonymous ECOWAS official was speaking the truth is the fact that in both the civilian trials and the military court martial going on in Freetown, no credible evidence has been produced to link President Ernest Koroma with the so-called coup attempt of November 26, 2023 in Sierra Leone. No witness whatsover has testified that President Koroma had foreknowledge of the coup plot, which would have sustained the charge of MISPRISION OF TREASON. Also, no witness has testified that President Koroma took part in any stage of any planning or execution of the so-called plot. It is very strange that nobody has mentioned the former president at all, if he had links to the coup.
In law, it is not complicity to be linked with so-called perpetrators of a crime. Even if some of the people being accused of engaging in the so-called coup are his relatives or present and former employees of the ex-president and they even visited him , that does not sustain the charge of HARBOURING , once the former president had no knowledge of their alleged enterprise.
This SLPP Government is well known for bribing accused and putting words in their mouths to implicate targets in alleged crimes but everybody in Sierra Leone and even international diplomats are confident that Ernest Koroma would not have plotted or joined anybody to destabilize the country, not to mention try to stage a coup. If nobody else did, as an ECOWAS diplomat himself, Ernest Koroma knows the ECOWAS aversion and opposition to coups and he is aware that any coup in Sierra Leone would have been overturned by ECOMOG, the military wing of ECOWAS, with the full support of the U.S. and Britain, who continue to invest huge funds, resources and personnel to ensure the success of democracy in the country.
Sierra Leone’s former Ambassador to the U.S, His Excellency Mr. John Leigh, responding to Cocorioko’s initial publication of this story at Facebook, affirmed that “The medical leave granted EBK was merely a face-saving gesture ordered by ECOWAS to avoid embarrassing Bio and Bundu. Bio was clearly getting crazy with his junta trial of EBK on trumped up charges lacking any factual foundation. Bio wanted to impress his gullible tribesmen how powerful he was by putting EBK on trial on fake charges. Rather than risk allowing Bio’s craziness to get out of hand, ECOWAS intervened and saved the day by compelling Bio to insure EBK leaves SL peacefully. His lame excuse that EBK was granted medical leave was for his benefit to avoid his embarrassment to his people and tribal military.”
THIS ECOWAS PUBLIC STATEMENT BELOW IS ALSO SELF-EXPLANATORY THAT FORMER PRESIDENT ERNEST KOROMA’S RELOCATION TO NIGERIA HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH A COUP CASE OR HEALTH ISSUES.
MORE REPORTS COMING.
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