EBK ( A CIVILIAN ) IS MAADA BIO’S MASTER AND CHAMPION IN POLITICS , SO WHAT MAKES BIO A CHAMPION IN COUP- MAKING ?
By Kabs Kanu
The only reason Fatima Bio is bragging about the assumed invincibility of her husband , President Maada Bio, is the term limit provision in the Sierra Leone constitution. Bio’s most feared foe, former President Ernest Bai Koroma, constitutionally cannot contest any presidential election again .
If Ernest Bai Koroma was still available to contest, our PH.D in coup making would not have seen any light in Sierra Leone politics . EBK would have beaten him hands-down in 2018. EBK will beat Maada Bio any day of the week, any month of the year in any election in Sierra Leone and without any runoff.
And Bio did not have the panache and wherewithal to overthrow EBK. Koroma was so popular even among the security forces of the country that it would have been suicidal for Bio to have attempted a coup against him. Bio would have been 6 feet under the earth by now. He should thank God that he did not attempt it.
Fatima Bio can boast today because EBK is no longer eligible to contest . No name evokes fear in Maada Bio than Ernest Koroma’s. Koroma is his master and he knows it. That is why even when Ernest has no time for him, Bio has been harassing him unnecessarily.
You can see that EBK is Maada Bio’s master by the fact that Bio has done everything to diminish EBK’s relevance and even dent his political profile but tried as he had, Bio has only succeeded in making EBK more popular in the nation and more respected and wanted by the international community. The UN, EU, AU, ECOWAS and British and American ambassadors all keep knocking at Ernest Koroma’ s doors in Makeni to engage him because they know he is a very important piece in the problem – solving mechanism of our nation.
Also, Fatima Bio can boast about Bio being invincible because Ernest Koroma has decided to be the better and more matured person by keeping a low profile for now in the interest of national peace and stability . Ernest Koroma decided to go silent not only because it is his nature to say very little and to only speak when it is absolutely necessary . Ernesto is silent now because he wants to keep the peace in Sierra Leone. But the dynamics will change as the months go by and when EBK starts talking again , we will see the fragility of Maada Bio.
Even for Bio to be President today, it took the extraordinary magnanimity and good heart of Ernest Koroma for it to have happened. EBK had every reason and opportunity to have sent Bio packing to Tihun and prevented him from contesting the 2018 elections . The inquest on the murder of Bambay Kamara and others would have put paid to Bio ‘s presidential pretensions but EBK tried to be the better and the more democratic person by not pushing the inquest. It is also a fact that EBK generously provided largesse to Bio in his desire to br democratic that Bio used to his advantage . EBK would have also used the power of incumbency to deny Bio victory in 2018 but he went all out to avoid such excesses.
So, when we brag about Bio being a PH. D in coup making , let us realize that it is because ERNEST KOROMA and APC decided to be democratic.
Let us realize also that President Joseph Saidu Momoh received assurance from Guinea ‘s President Lansana Conte for a counter -coup . Sierra Leone had a defence pact with Guinea and platoons of soldiers and logistics would have been provided by Guinea to overturn the NPRC coup but then President Momoh said it could have caused loss of lives and if restoring him would cause such pain and grief, he preferred not to fight back and that was how the coup stood. It was not because our soldiers were great. The Sierra Leone army was I’ll-equipped and did not have logistics and trained men to withstand Guinea. But Momoh eschewed violence and so the NPRC survived . And we thank God for him because we do not want violence or bloodshed in our country.
Maada Bio played a minimal role in the coup against Valentine Strasser. I covered the coup for the WEST AFRICAN JOURNAL magazine and my articles are still in the archives. I interviewed the major players of the coup and Bio’s name did not feature prominently. He was only made leader after the coup because he had the highest rank among the plotters . So, how could he have a PH.D in coup making ? What coup planning skills and masterdom in military arts has he demonstrated ? Bio does not even look like a soldier .
Better trained soldiers , whose boots Maada Bio is not fit to wipe, with more furbishly equipped military have been overthrown in history . It is only because coups have been outlawed in Africa that the likes of Bio are surviving . One has to have the IQ of a gnat to brag about invincibility in today’s military landscape. The greatest military power in the world , America , could not stop terrorists from wreaking havoc in their country. Russia is still unable to defeat Ukraine , despite her military might. Anybody can be overthrown . Coup makers have been toppled before in counter – coups. No man is unassailable .
The PPP demonstration was not meant to be a coup so people do not even understand where this pettiness about PH. D in coup making is coming from in this day and age of democracy . Nobody in his right mind will plan a coup because it will not stand. Coups are unconstitutional and undemocratic and we the people condemn them and want no part in them. We want every change to be done through the ballot box.
