By Kabs Kanu
It was the most hectic three weeks for me and comrades in the struggle.
We participated in two big events that may yet have a cascading impact on the direction our country is heading .
The events —a big APC summit in Virginia and then a closed door meeting at the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State on matters of dire importance affecting our country have significant ramifications for the future of the country.
At the weekend of October 21 , I accompanied comrades of the APC all the way to Springfield, Virginia , to attend the three- day APC USA DISTRICT SÙMMIT, summoned to address pertinent matters arising from recent developments in Sierra Leone.
The theme of the Summit was SIERRA LEONE AT CROSSROADS : THE QUEST FOR DEMOCRSCY, STABILITY AND NATIONAL COHESION.
The summit took the form of lively, objective, interactive panel discussions where panelists discussed
The summit was also largely inward- looking. What did APC do wrong to lose power in 2018? Preparing for the next APC administration . How do we right wrongs ? How do we heal the suffering and bring the country together . Leadership qualities for the next administration.
Panelists breathed fire and brimstone, with no sugar coating of facts also in the questions and answers sessions that followed each panel discussion. What the APC did wrong and continue to do wrong were explosively articulated in saber- rattling venom by exasperated and pugnacious participants .
The Summit also extensively addressed what the APC and the nation need to do to throw the albatross of terrible and acrimonious governance , power abuses and human rights crimes now plaguing our country under the disastrous rule of Julius Maada Bio. A communique on the way forward is being prepared to be delivered to the APC leaders in Sierra Leone and local and international stakeholders.
If the radical spirit that marked the summit is maintained and the upcoming communique emerging from the meeting becomes the guide, there is a big revolution coming in the APC that will change both the kind of leadership and the anemic nature of the APC response to all it has encountered at the hands of the APC since 2018. The diaspora has finally decided to no longer be passive participants in the politics being played in Sierra Leone. Led by a very strong and well-educated man of intellect, Lawyer Suffian Kalokoh and a powerful executive, APC -USA is about to be a thorn -in – the – flesh to the nation – wreckers in Sierra Leone.
By Kabs Kanu…
Maada Bio must be thinking that he has escaped the bullet of regime change but one bullet we can assure him that he will not escape is punishment for human rights and extrajudicial and politically – motivated crimes he has committed in power. Bio can grab and hold on to power illegitimately now , but he is going to surely face prison time in future for the blood he has shed in Sierra Leone.
On October 25, I joined the CONCERNED SIERRA LEONEANS WORLDWIDE to visit the U.S. State Department in New York and to also present a petition / complaint to the U.N Secretary General at the UN Headquarters in New York , highlighting all the crimes that Maada Bio had committed in Sierra Leone since he came to power in 2018, with graphic evidence and calling for subsequent action against him. We were led by Human Rights Lawyer, Dr. Vinod Fullah , who also presented the same complaint to the International Criminal Court in the Hague few months ago. I helped make possible the engagements with the UN and the State Department . Also in the delegation were firebrand human rights advocate, Imran Turay , famous journalist and Editor of the ORGANIZER newspaper in the UK, Abu Shaw, activist Ishmael Hedd , Fatmata Turay, Salamatu Turay and two others who want to be anonymous because of threats by the Bio government on them.
The reception we received was fantastic. The session at the UN was held in closed doors and our complaints, read by Dr. Fullah, the Chairman of the Concerned Sierra Leoneans Worldwide, were keenly listened to in over one breathtaking hour of presentation and we got a commitment that these complaints will be looked into by the UN Secretary General and principals . During the presentation, one member of our delegation wept bitterly and moved everybody in the closed door meeting.
Though we were strictly forbidden from taking photos of the meeting because of reasons of UN protocol and because it was a close door meeting, we were later allowed to take group snapshots inside and around the UN.
I will be bringing you more reports of the two big events , with accompanying photos.
