By David Kajue
When I was taught letter writing in primary school in the 90s, I had used to bother my elderly sister who was a teacher of the very primary school with too many letters. To some point my sister had to say this to me; “Congratulations young man, I have known that you can write a letter”. I must emulate my sister for obvious reasons to start congratulating Rt. Brigadier Bio for proving to Sierra Leoneans that he is good in letter writing. I believe this is not his first or even second letter admonishing President Koroma to uphold the tenets of the country’s 1991 Constitution, the very constitution they had conveniently suspended in 1992 when they unscrupulously overthrown the democratically elected civilian government.
MAADA BIO : IS HE SERIOUS ?
Excerpt in paragraph one of Mr. Bio’s open letter to President Koroma dated 6th May reads thus; I especially emphasized that the country will be strengthened and its administration respected only if its government leads by scrupulously respecting and upholding the tenets of the nation’s Constitution and the Rule of Law.
Bravo to Mr. Bio for being conscious and very alert when it comes to the country’s national Constitution. But perhaps what plays in the minds of reasonable and intelligent Sierra Leoneans over Mr. Bio’s letter is the question of: Is Mr. Bio the right person to write such a letter emphatically urging the president to respect the country’s Constitution? I am pretty sure the answer to this question by Mr. Bio is just YES for the simple reason that he is a Sierra Leonean and besides a defunct political party flag bearer.
If YES could at all be the answer of Mr. Bio to the above question, could he also endeavour to write an open letter to the people of Sierra Leone to unambiguously explain Clause V1 of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) to show how serious he is about his so-called open letter to President Koroma? Political analysts are of the firm belief that if, and only if, Mr. Bio could take the courage to conspicuously explain the said clause to sound minded Sierra Leoneans, I mean sober-minded Sierra Leoneans and not the narrow-minded ones, will help bring an end to the long standing impasse within the party. Or is Bio just concerned about the national constitution and not that of his party’s constitution?
For the benefit of those who do not know the interpretation of the aforementioned clause it reads; Clause VI of the SLPP Constitution dealing with National and Local Elections clearly stipulate that in the event that the Presidential Candidate loses the presidential election, both the Presidential Candidate and running mate shall become Ex-officio members of the National Executive council.
You may recall that Lawyer Alpha Timbo former Minister of Labour of SLPP on Monologue popular programme frankly spoke of the said SLPP Constitution which Bio and cohorts are violating with impunity and no comprehensive explanation or statement of the constitutional violation has ever been given by Mr. Bio, the purported champion of democracy and cohorts. This obstinate and recalcitrant behaviour of Maada Bio and cohorts, Mr. Timbo said, has undoubtedly caused the ongoing stalemate within SLPP.
The myriad of questions glued on the lips of reasonable Sierra Leoneans are; how can you discipline someone if you are not disciplined? How could Mr. Bio frivolously preach about upholding constitutional tenets when he could not give an iota of respect to his party’s constitution? What a comic? Is Mr. Bio really serious and mean business? Or he is just playing the political gallery to mislead his few narrow-minded supporters?
Anyway, it’s good to be patriotic. Seeking the interest of your country is certainly an obligation of every patriotic citizen. But however, fighting a cause that has to do with the affairs of the general populace should be done with all sincerity and honesty. Sincerity that is devoid of clandestine plans for self gains and dividends.
Candidly, Mr. Bio you are a good letter writer as you have demonstrated it on several occasions. But if you really want serious people to take you seriously, you have to uphold the tenets of your own very party constitution to show good example. Mr. Bio you can convince me and other Sierra Leoneans that you have darkened walls of a tertiary institution if not in Sierra Leone but elsewhere as that might be the reason behind your numerous letter writings. But one thing for sure I believe and even fellow Sierra Leoneans do believe, you will never and ever succeed using your likely tertiary education to mislead the people of Sierra Leone as you are aiming. Sierra Leone has far grown beyond the way you and your few recalcitrant supporters may think. I think the vital role expected of you and your supporters for now is to bring lasting peace to the SLPP and leave the issue of third term, no third term plan with patriotic Sierra Leoneans to accordingly handle. Besides, President Koroma the nation’s favourite has time without number denied any third term plans.
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