That UN trip we made in November 2023 would have caused President Bio serious problems if the Tripartite agreement had not been signed

THAT UN TRIP WE MADE IN NOVEMBER 2023 COULD HAVE CAUSED MAADA BIO SERIOUS PROBLEMS IF THE TRIPARTITE AGREEMENT HAD NOT BEEN SIGNED

When I facilitated our ( Concerned Sierra Leoneans’ ) trip to the UN in November 2023 to report President Bio for rigging the 2023 elections, we were well received, listened to and action promised . We had a very compact and solid case and the UN listened to us.

I used every contact at my disposal at the UN to make the meeting possible. I made sure that the UN agreed to host a good number of the Concerned Citizens, most of them traveling from the UK.

The statement we presented highlighted very serious concerns about the rigging of the 2023 elections, the destruction of democracy in Sierra Leone by the Bio Government, the horrific human rights abuses and impunity by the Bio government , with specific examples of bloodshed by the government in various localities in the country . We also raised critical concerns about the government of exclusion being conducted in Sierra Leone by Mr. Maada Bio. These are matters that the UN takes seriously.

We presented the statement to the U. S. State Department also . The United States is also concerned about democracy and human rights around the world.

All the members of the Concerned Sierra Leoneans whom I took to the UN ( with Dr. Alfred Fullah heading the group ) can honestly attest to the veracity of what I am saying here. The meeting with the UN Secretary General’s representatives went on well. I had stressed to them the seriousness of the crisis in Sierra Leone so much so that even when some members of the delegation were late, I was still able to convince the UN officials to wait for them to join us the team.

I worked at the UN for 10 years in a senior diplomatic position so I know how the UN works. The UN would not have received our Concerned Sierra Leoneans team if they thought our case was frivolous and inconsequential . That we were given a keen hearing was a sign that the case for electoral justice was taken seriously by the world organization .

The UN promised to launch an investigation that would have led to an outcome that would have delighted all progressive Sierra Leoneans, especially if APC MPs , mayors and councilors had continued their boycott of Parliament and all governance procedures by the illegal Bio government.

Today, some SLPP members are making sarcastic remarks that we went to the UN and the U. S State Department for nothing and that President Bio remained in power after all. Let me clarify here why the UN and the State Department have not continued pursuing the strong case we presented to them ( Yet ).

The AGREEMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY and the Tripartite Committee which the APC engaged in with the SLPP ( And the 85 recommendations ) , whose final agreement documents were signed by both the APC and the SLPP gave the UN and State Department the impression that the concerns we raised had been resolved by the agreement signed by both the APC and the SLPP. When the APC contrived to sign the bogus Tripartite Agreement, it muted the concerns we had raised at the UN.

Also, when APC MPs , the Mayors and councilors ended their boycott and returned to their posts to resume working with the SLPP government, that also created the illusion to the UN and the State Department that APC had dropped its case against the SLPP .

Since high – profile propaganda is the forte of the SLPP and Sierra Leoneans are quick to gullibly accept the false narratives the SLPP peddle in Sierra Leone , it is very important to make this clarification here. Our case was not disregarded . Our case is still active at the UN . THE CONCERNS HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECORDED AND THE RECORDS ARE NOW UN PROPERTY.

Let me also state here that the UN does not act as ignorant people would want them. They are not there to overthrow governments. They do not interfere blindly in any country . The UN believes in thorough investigations and timely resolution of matters through diplomacy and consensus. The UN does not take sides with contending parties without first investigating . The UN serves the interest of all parties. The UN will only intervene adversely as a last resort when all else have failed.

I want to assure everybody that if the SLPP rigs another election in Sierra Leone and the pattern of bloodshed is continued by the Bio government , our case will return to the UN tables. The UN and State Department are watching with keen interest the progress of the implementation of the 85 recommendations .

It is good to know that segments of the APC still believe in the efficacy of the Tripartite Committee and the implementation of the 85 recommendations.

My only concern has always been that those who continue to believe in the Tripartite should go all out to ensure before going into any further agreement or another election with the SLPP and Maada Bio that the Elections Commission ( ECSL) and institutions like the PPRC are ethnically purged. We cannot continue to have bodies thrust with the responsibilities to conduct elections in an ethnically – polarised country like Sierra Leone to be controlled by one tribe and ethnic group. This anomaly should be corrected because it is a recipe for existential elections disaster.

I do not see in any of the 85 recommendations any clause asking for the ECSL and PPRC to be purged and this is a serious omission. Mohamed Konneh should be kicked out of the ECSL and a tribally and ethnically- balanced ECSL and PPRC made up of citizens of proven integrity reconstituted . If we do not do that, everything else will be cosmetic.

I pause for now.

More anon.

WILFRED LEEROY KABS- KANU ( AMBASSADOR )
CONCERNED SIERRA LEONEANS
NEW JERSEY, USA