Ady Macauley Condemns President Bio’s Statement Against the US Government.
Former Anti-Corruption Commissioner (ACC) in the erstwhile All People’s Congress (APC) government, Ady Macauley has criticised President Julius Maada Bio for statement made against former US Ambassador, David Reimer.
“Whoever advised President Bio to make the statements he made at the American University has not done him, his regime and the country any favours,” the former ACC Commissioner said.
He added that the statements Bio’s administration lacks “self reproach in regard the stolen elections”, human rights abuses and the state of the country’s economy.
He said Bio’s statements have heavy consequences including the end of any dialogue to resolve the political impasse between his party and the ruling government.
Please follow LEONE VIEWS ♥️🇸🇱
*Bio’s Offensive Strategy: A Replica of Trump’s*
In a keynote speech at the American University School of International Service in Washington, DC, President Julius Maada Bio lashed out at the US government, accusing it of pressuring him to interfere in the counting process of the June elections and inviting a coup.
Bio said that the Election Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) had completed all its calculations and collations, but the US government had asked him to stop the Commission from calling the result.
“They are an independent, semiautonomous body,” Bio said of the ECSL. “I declined, and I said I have never called this institution, I am not going to call them now.”
“When the United States casts doubt on the credibility (of the election), you are calling for a coup,” Bio said.
Given the extenuating circumstances facing Sierra Leone, one would have expected Bio’s speech to be diplomatic and conciliatory. Instead, he turned the tables on the US government right in their face, on American soil.
Whether Bio’s allegations against the US government are genuine or false is beside the point. The point is that the Bio administration has taken to attacking the credibility of anyone who attacks the President or his government. This was evident in the suspension of the Auditor General, Lara Taylor Pearce, after her audit report showed mismanagement of funds in the offices of the President and the First Lady.
The Bio government’s use of the strategic offensive principle has become its primary weapon against adversaries. As the saying goes, the best defence is attack.
This strategy is not new. It is a replica of the Donald Trump leadership playbook. When attacked, Trump would react with a hostile counterattack, no apologies. He used social media to strengthen and promote his narrative, and his supporters amplified his messages on social media in a bid to promote his narratives.
Like Trump, we are also using government institutions to reinforce our narrative. We set up a commission to look into the issues surrounding the 2023 elections, headed by the Vice President. Likewise, the Judicial and Legal Service Commission was used to suspend the Auditor General pending her current investigation.
For the longest time, this strategy of responding to attacks with hostile counterattacks worked for Trump as President, and it still seems to be working for him outside the Oval Office. Whether it will work for President Bio is not so clear, but what is clear is that we learn all of our bad tricks from the far right in the US.
TALKING TOUGH IN PRIVATE BUT BEGGING AMERICA
In one moment you were bluffing and boasting about being a sovereign country and accused the US of interference yet in another moment, the President was going to the corner and making commitment to the same US officials to work with the US towards promoting democrcracy in Sierra Leone.
In view of the above, was the US and other International observers including NEW right to raise concerns over lack of transparency in the election results tabulation process?
Why should you commit to a country that tried to belly you or went to the extent of interfering into your elections, and even places a visa ban on some of your people perceived to undermine democracy in your country, a thing you said is against International law?
It is because of the same reasons you made this commitment to the United States, after making all the fiery outbursts against the USA, that made me hold the view that the US is a bigger fish for you to pick a fight with especially when you know you are not treading on the right path.
Talking tough in public yet holding a meeting on the sidelines of UNGA78 where you promised to do what the US asked you to do ie addressing the US and other stakeholders’ concerns regarding democracy in Sierra Leone, make me believe you were just wasting energy in blasting for the US unnecessarily..
I rest my case.
Saikujohn Barrie
Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 Democracy under threat now. …Civil Society leader Abdul Fatorma expressed concern after the country’s president accused the US of election interference
Alleged US interference in Sierra Leone’s elections poses a grave threat to the country’s democracy, Abdul Fatorma, who heads up the UK-based Campaign for Human Rights Development International, told RT on Tuesday.
“If the allegations are true, then they’re very serious threats to democracy,” Fatorma claimed. He believes that the US has a problem with “the transparency part of the tabulation of the result and also the European Union.”
The US has been accused of pressuring Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio with the aim of influencing the outcome of his country’s June 24 election.
During a speech event at American University in Washington DC on Friday, Bio said that “when the elections were at the height of calling the results … this is when the problems started.”
Please follow LEONE VIEWS ♥️🇸🇱
