By KABS KANU
Social media is seething with anger for President Maada Bio by vengeful supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ) after the High Court granted former President Ernest Koroma bail on medical grounds and permission to travel abroad for medical treatment.
Anger, the likes of which has not been heard for long, has gone viral in the Sierra Leone social media, with even some Maada Bio’s extremist supporters predicting that it would come to a time when President Bio will be driving by and his car will be stoned and his eyes and those of his wife and children gouged. Other angry supporters are calling on the army not to help Bio when he gets overthrown, for what they are describing as a betrayal and cowardice by Bio for succumbing to what they believe are pressures from the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS ) to have former President Koroma go on exile in Nigeria.
AN ANGRY SLPP SUPPORTER POSTED THIS PHOTO AND DERISIVE CAPTION OF HIM ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Some of the very angry audios being peddled on social media are too nasty and macabre to be listened or related verbatim as Maada Bio’s own supporters are wishing him a fate worse than the one suffered by former Liberian President Samuel K. Doe, who was captured by rebels and his ears and body parts dismembered alive , with the ex-military leader dying one of the most painful deaths known to man.
SLPP supporters and some renegade members of Ernest Koroma’s own political party , the All People’s Congress ( APC ) , who fell out with him after the party lost power in 2018, are intensely incensed , after they had been on cloud 9 jubilating during the past weeks for what they thought was the downfall of the former President, after the Maada Bio government implicated him in the November 26 shootings across Freetown , which the government described as a failed coup attempt , and charged him with Treason.They were even fantasizing how much they would rejoice when ex-President Koroma would have been found guilty and put behind bars for charges the former head of state has denied and his supporters described as bogus and a witch hunt. Their morbid hatred of the former President , which was palpable, boomeranged yesterday , when instead of Dr. Koroma’s bail being rescinded, as they wanted and the 70-year old man sent to prison, he was virtually a free man , waiting to be flown out to Nigeria. Dr. Koroma did not even attend court yesterday and was represented by his lawyers.
It is such a riveting drama on social media , as while Bio’s supporters are expatiating virulent and spiteful anger , others, including supporters of Ernest Koroma and the opposition All People’s Congress ( APC ) are rejoicing and mocking SLPP supporters and enemies of Ernest Koroma in retaliation for how the latter had been mocking them, since the CID invited Dr. Ernest Koroma to the Police station in Freetown for questioning about the alleged coup.
If ever there was any graphic evidence about how deeply and dangerously Sierra Leone has become divided since President Bio came to power in 2018, the present explosions of passions on social media absolutely demonstrate it.
Some SLPP supporters clearly said yesterday that Maada Bio is not showing that he is a retired military man . They said he is a coward and deceitful leader who keeps raising their hopes about robust actions against the opposition APC but he has not been delivering on his promises. But the question every reasonable Sierra Leonean is asking is why such extremism and why SLPP supporters are so fixated on their government going the deep end with the opposition, instead of pursuing peace, unity , democracy, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.
” The SLPP came to power to revenge”, says APC man Alimamy Sesay on Whatsapp. They are fixated on destroying Ernest Koroma, who they consider as the driving force behind the APC. They also want Maada Bio to destroy the APC . They do not believe in multi- party democracy and peaceful coexistence with other parties and ethnic groups ” .
Abraham Kamara, another APC supporter, said that all the SLPP want in Sierra Leone is a one party and one ethnic group state. ” They do not believe in inclusive governance and sharing power with others. They believe in the winner -takes- all philosophy , which is not possible in today’s world ” .
SLPP supporters, for their part, accuse ex- President Koroma of not reclining into the background after his party lost power and the APC for not giving the SLPP chance to rule. But APC supporters counter this allegation by saying that the SLPP has no interest in good governance and promoting democracy and human rights and are only interested in ruling Sierra Leone as their fiefdom.
