By KABS KANU :
Since the news came out that some army officers alleged to have been planning a mutiny had been arrested , one crazy theory has been floating on social media , courtesy of some detractors of the Ernest Koroma Government. The theory is so base that you feel a sense of awkwardness to repeat it .But for the fact that very troubling allegations made on the social media must be addressed speedily with a view to clarifying issues to the thousands on the media, these are the kinds of assertions that would have been fit only for the dustbin of one’s mind.
President Ernest Koroma and APC Party and Government are still enjoying massive goodwill, popularity and support from the people of Sierra Leone and if an election was held again today, the APC will score another resounding victory over the SLPP. Maada Bio, it has been repeated countless times, is no match for President Koroma or the APC. And even the President’s successor will beat Bio in 2018 because Bio has never been a presidential material or challenger . I know that like in other countries, there are many challenges in Sierra Leone but President Koroma’s earnestness , commitment and genuine efforts to continue transforming the nation for the better and his achievements make the APC for now the preferred party of the people. Call any elections now, the APC will win again as they did in 2012.
The recent SLPP Convention is not a game-changer. It is not as if anything remarkable happened to suggest that the SLPP are on the upsurge. In fact, the manner the Convention ended should worry any genuine SLPP supporter because the convention left the SLPP more disunited than it was before the event. Therefore, for now the APC sill holds the vital edge and advantage in Sierra Leone.
Given all these facts, why would the government stage-manage a coup attempt to incriminate Bio ? The suggestion sounds so foolish it is demeaning even to the mentality of SLPP supporters touting it. Why would the government want Bio in trouble or jail when first of all, he is not a threat to the LONGEVITY of APC rule ?
During the run-up to the 2012 elections, these same people were full of all kinds of false confidence and the swelling words from them made it seem like the elections would be a mere formality and Bio will march easily to State House. People were even fooling themselves and deceiving Bio by calling him PRESIDENT-IN-WAITING. The genie or Kashilla that gave them such false confidence is the same genie
expatiating such distorted and exaggerated importance of Bio. Let it be known that Bio is not fit and has not reached the level where any serious government will bother itself to try to implicate him in a stage-managed coup plot. Even if he rises to that level, it is not the Ernest Koroma Government’s style to stifle opposition outside the ballot box. If the APC wanted Bio in jail, they would have arrested him long ago. Bio has given enough cause for any government to arrest him.
Secondly, the APC Government is very democratic. How else must President Koroma prove to his detractors that he breathes and exudes the spirit of democracy. Democracy is the centrepiece of everything that defines President Koroma. This is the first government in the history of African politics that has served five years without having any political prisoner . Not even the humble and tumble and passions of the dirty electioneering campaign provoked the government to crack down on opponents . Even when Bio provides the cause , he does not get arrested because the Government wants to remain democratic and accountable to the people.
Thirdly, this is the most peace- LOVING government that has ever ruled Sierra Leone. President Koroma has ruled so peacefully that he is the toast of the international community . The Government is so peaceful that it will not try to stir chaos in the country by employing such a foolish and worthless strategy.
Sierra Leoneans are implored to wait patiently for the investigations to be concluded. If the soldiers planned a coup or insurrection, the facts will come out. The APC Government is a government of laws that respects the Rule of Law. The Government must be trusted to come out with the truth once all the investigations are concluded.
Sierra Leoneans must enjoy the democracy that has become our way of life and join forces with President Koroma to continue rebuilding the nation. This is action time, not time for harbouring outlandish suspicions that are antithetical to the governance style and nature of the Ernest Koroma Government.
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