IF INTERNATIONAL DECISION TIME EVER COMES, CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES WILL NOT SAVE PRESIDENT BIO AND HIS GOVERNMENT
By Kabs Kanu
Let us assume that the congratulatory messages from the UN and Commonwealth are not fake. Let us assume that they are authentic . Will they count if the SLPP Government fails to still the floundering ship and the time comes for our international partners-In- progress to take action against the government of Sierra Leone for sensationally rigging the presidential and General Elections ?
Let us all just pray for our country that the present impasse between the SLPP Government and the international community does not escalate further and the U.S and the EU , out of sympathy for our suffering masses, ultimately pipe down and let bygones be bygones.
I am yet to believe that serious economic and diplomatic actions that will cripple our country will be taken at a time like this when our country is already hovering at the brink . Yes. You can never second – guess the international community. They might or they might not impose sanctions if Bio foolishly remains on his high horses . But whatever decisions are taken, be sure that congratulatory messages will not play a role.
When all the evidence from the Carter Center, EU, U.S. and NOW are collated and presented to the UN, EU, Commonwealth etc that the Sierra Leone elections were rigged spectacularly, the congratulatory messages will sink into oblivion. They will avail nothing.
To congratulate a president for “winning” an election is just a diplomatic courtesy ; it does not mean an acceptance that the elections were free and fair . Nor do they superimpose any duty or obligation or diplomatic clout on the senders of these messages to support the recipient president when decisions will have to be made to impose sanctions or travel bans.
I noticed that SLPP supporters are even jubilantly sharing a clip about the UN also congratulating President Bio. Again let us be clear here..There is no way the UN congratulatory message will transform to victory for Bio if his feuds with the U.S and UK especially are not resolved.
The European Union ( EU) alone is comprised 27 countries and the most powerful among them, U.S, UK and France have VETO POWER in the UN Security Council .
If you understand how the Veto works, these congratulatory messages will not help Maada Bio escape sanctions , if they will be imposed. That is why we in the African Union ( AU ) Committee of 10 ( C-10 ) which I helped coordinate when I worked on the UN Security Council Reform system for 9 good years were pushing very hard for veto power for Africa. Without the Veto, Africa’s voice in the UN , when hard decisions that impact international peace and security and economic development are taken , is muted. Holders of the Veto enjoy all the powers and President Bio happens to be quarrelling with the countries that enjoy the most power in the UN.
Make no mistake, U.S and UK are the most powerful countries in the world who prevail in UN debates and decision-making. What America, backed by the UK , says is stone -cold law. You have to be there to understand. The Veto power is humongous . These countries have the power to veto any DECISION that runs counter to their strategic interests. And even if for argument’s sake, the congratulations transcend to support –i.e, the countries congratulating Bio vote against sanctions, U.S or UK alone can veto any decision to have Bio escape sanctions. We have seen that in the Israel-Palestinian conflict when Arab states are unable to have voted decisions that favour Palestine stand. They are vetoed.
Imagine during the sessions of the UN, EU or Commonwealth ,a diplomat stands up and propounds : ” Well , since you congratulated President Bio when the results were announced, you accepted that he won the elections and you are bound to reject the evidence before you that the elections were rigged and stop the government from facing sanctions ” . First of all, no diplomat in his right senses will put up such a silly argument. Diplomats are not as stupid as Maada Bio’s supporters. The first thought that will come to the minds of the hearers will be whether that diplomat is sane, or went to school ! ! A mere congratulatory message is just a courtesy. It does not assume total acceptance and support for any criminality exposed in the electoral process. It is just one of the COURTESIES that leaders extend to one another in the name of the fraternal relations between them and their countries.
Bio is smarter than his advisers and the myriad of sycophants supporting him. That is why he fired all of them or no longer trusts his bootlickers who cannot see beyond their noses. . The President knows that :
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES ARE ONLY COURTESIES THAT MEAN NOTHING IN THE NITTY GRITTY WORLD OF DECISION-MAKING IN INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY . Bio, for all his sins, is not a moron like his supporters.
Throughout this imbroglio , it is interesting to note that President Bio and his misguided supporters, puffed up by the spirit of impunity, have been claiming that Sierra Leone is a sovereign state, meaning that she can do whatever she likes. Oh yeah ? How foolish we think in Sierra Leone. On paper, yes. Sierra Leone is a sovereign state but in reality she is not. Sierra Leone is not an independent country yet, without economic independence. If other countries have to pay her salaries and feed her people, how sovereign is the country ? Can Sierra Leone stand alone as an independent nation if hard times from sanctions begin buffeting her ? Can we ever do without handouts from the countries and organizations we are insulting today ? If the answers are NO, we must get off the claptrap that we are a sovereign country. We are not. We depend for our survival on these very countries we are challenging now. Without them , we will not eat. Without them, our public sector workers will not receive their monthly pay. So, how independent are we?
You want to talk about real sovereignty and you want to know a truly sovereign country ? Try the U.S and the UK. Even with all their problems, they can stand alone and not sink under the mire. Secondly, their hands are on the levers of international assistance to poor countries. So even if the UN and Commonwealth approve Bio, one of these two countries, acting alone, can bring down the Bio government. The U.S and UK do not need any organization to help them achieve their goals against an impoverished and hapless country like Sierra Leone now thumbing her nose at them. Just sanctions from the U.S or UK , not to mention the EU , can bring proud and pompous Bio and his haughty and arrogant supporters to their knees.
Bio and SLPP supporters must therefore look for better ways to get out of the hole they have dug for themselves and the country than to depend on cheap consolations like messages of congratulations from countries and presidents. The only solution is to make the illegal legal and the illegitimate legotimate.Of that is not done, unless the U.S and UK back down in sympathy for our people, Bio and the SLPP are in deep, deep waters that could drown them.
THE AUTHOR OF THIS ARTICLE SERVED IN A SENIOR DIPLOMATIC POSITION AT THE UN FOR NINE YEARS.
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