By KABS KANU
The unrelenting drama of Power politics is playing out in Freetown today when President Maada Bio’s SLPP Government dragged former President Ernest Kroma to court for Treason shortly after social media went viral with a letter from the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) announcing the intention of the subtegional group to evacuate the ex- President to Nigeria temporarily tomorrow, as agreed between Bio and ECOWAS previously in a closed door meeting in Freetown .
The drama has been stretched to breaking point with possible friction looming between ECOWAS and President Bio after Foreign Minister, Timothy Kabbah acknowledged receiving the ECOWAS letter published below, confirming the belief of many Sierra Leoneans on social media that the SLPP hastened to charge the former President in defiance of the ECOWAS letter, which the foreign minister has intimated is unacceptable to the SLPP Government because it is not consistent with the meeting President Bio held in Freetown recently with an ECOWAS delegation comprised of President Macky Sall of Senegal and Ptesident Nana Akuffo Addo of Ghana.
BBC reporter, Umaru Fofana, who broke the news of the Treason charges on the ex- President did say that the Attorney General of Sierra Leone had stood down the charges but later reports indicated that the charges were filed and Dr. Ernest Koroma had been granted bail. He will appear in court again on January 17.
From all indications, it looks like President Bio is heading for a face – off and a potential rift with ECOWAS, who do not seem to approve the trials and tribulations Bio is subjecting Ernest Koroma to in Sierra Leone, especially over the November 26 events in Freetown, which even some ECOWAS member states believe was stage- managed.
We have been reporting that members of the international community are skeptical about the SLPP Government’s story that there was a coup attempt in Sierra Leone on November 26, 2023.
ECOWAS also does not seem to buy the SLPP allegations that former President Koroma is part of any alleged coup attempt.
With the U.S and EU not happy with the Bio misrule and now Bio incurring the wrath of ECOWAS, it remains to be seen where this Bio and SLPP psychodrama will lead Sierra Leone.
