Bye-election violence in Kailahun : Scores flee into bush as SLPP burn homes and murder young man

By COCORIOKO REPORTERS

Kailahun was a war zone last week during campaign for the forthcoming Constituency 010 Parliamentary bye-elections , as the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP) candidate , Madam Zainab Kama Brima took armed soldiers and thugs to Banbaru Village, Penguia Chiefdom to attack and burn the homes of perceived supporters of her opponents—The All People’s Congress ( APC ) and independent candidates.

Video footages showed women, men and children with their belongings on their heads escaping into the forest. According to the women who were weeping and screaming in agony on the footages, the armed soldiers and thugs came and brutalized and terrorized them, burning their houses and forcing them to flee , in the process killing a young man, whose name was given as Foday Morie, who was beaten to death. A pathetic video footage saw a female relative crying over his blood-stained body.

The SLPP Government of President Maada Bio has said nothing about the violence and mayhem. Many Sierra Leoneans opined on social media that President Bio is slowly driving the country back to war.

https://www.facebook.com/soblyden/videos/108021024561185

Sylvia Olayinka Blyden 

 Fellow Sierra Leoneans, what has happened in Kailahun Constituency 010, in this February 2021, is scary.

The photos of Women and Children fleeing their homes in to the forests and bushes, have haunted me over the past few days but this video breaks my 💔heart completely.

See our Kailahun sister weeping over the corpse of her son killed during those Elections Campaign Violence. I wonder what kind of country I am living in where we all look the other way as Women & their Children are terrorized like this?

I’m so worried for my #SierraLeone as the various elements (including Civil Society, Journalists and Democratic Opposition Political Parties) that should make a Democracy functional are not properly working.

Where is the LOUD condemnation of what happened in Kailahun? Where are the press releases from the Women’s Groups and the Child Rights activists? Where are the Civil Society Organisations? Where is the Human Rights Commission? Where is the National Commission for Democracy? Where is the All Political Parties Association? Where is PPRC? Where are ALL OF US for God’s sake? Is everyone 🙈blind, 🙉deaf and 🙊dumb to this UNACCEPTABLE state of affairs? Do our Kailahun people deserve this SILENCE from us? No, they don’t. My heart bleeds.💔💔💔💔💔

Idrissa Salam Conteh

  Â· Breaking News: 21st February 2021

APC Takes Kailahun by Storm

The APC is building momentum across Kailahun district which traditionally is the powerhouse of the ruling SLPP party. The new phenomenon sweeping across the district has become a cause for concern for the ruling SLPP party which finds itself shaken on its stronghold.

In Manowa and in several villages that make up Constituency 010, in Kailahun district, APC supporters and those of an independent candidate were chased out of their villages by SLPP supporters and security personnel for their refusal to support the ruling party.

In one of the remote villages, a village chief reportedly asked the people to swear on a heap of sassahs that they would vote only for the SLPP. The people however overlooked the sassahs and executed their independent thoughts which propelled the outbreak of violence across the constituency. Most of the non SLPP supporters were not able to vote due to violence unleashed on them by the security forces and SLPP supporters.

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