By Farook Abdul-karim Sesay
The unfortunate mayhem and fatality that unfurled on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, in Sierra Leone – were narratives just waiting to happen! The omission to have acted swiftly by the government when the rumblings and manifestations bring to a halt the nation is a lack of a duty of care! Wherever there is smoke – there is fire! A strong, capable commander in chief, would have immediately cut short his travel and be at the helm back home, to show sturdy leadership. Yet, he stayed in London with his family. Even if his travel had been warranted by government business obligations – nothing was as more immediate and important than being in the country to oversee the wellbeing and welfare of the people and the nation!
When a country is under siege!
The interests of the state and the people are unconditionally more paramount. Mr Maada Bio has failed woefully in that department. Like it has been robustly stated many a time, President Bio is clueless, spineless, and has a soft underbelly like a snake! As a former soldier, who ruled the nation once (no matter how short a stint) – has shown the nation that he is not fit for purpose! He should bow his head in utter shame! A responsible and reputable security apparatus should always be either awake and take serious note of any incipient rumours or incidents brewing. A stitch in time saves nine! A weak and cowardly ruler, who only depends on the outcome of the Commission of Inquiry(COI) and the lapdog agency, the Anti Corruption Commission ( ACC) to muzzle his political opponents – so as to get a second term in office is a disgrace. An ignominy.
But, the axiom: you cannot give what you do not have – applies starkly and sadly, here! President Bio is an unwittingly consequential product of a botched strategy by the erstwhile APC president, Mr Ernest Bai Koroma! Had Mr E.B. Koroma, done the needful, and a more credible and star power candidate had been responsibly chosen for the 2018 presidential race, Mr Julius Maada Bio would have stayed in his wife’s East Street council property in South East London. Probably checking out the ads (advertisement section ) online for a security officer job! Even with his purported degrees! Mr Bio should be equally held responsible for all the deaths, loss of properties and financial setbacks that the nation has plummeted to within these few days.
He has illegitimately shirked his responsibility to serve and protect the nation. For what he took the oath for! Why spend billions of leones on the ONS, military and police intelligence units, and NATCOM? When these interlinked agencies cannot ferret out any brewing trouble and nip it in the bud! To play the waiting game and arrogantly assume or believe that incitement from certain nefarious quarters will not be a wrecking ball is a cardinal sin that warrants or justifies no excuse worth its weight in gold! The government has the legitimate power – but, lacks the political will to resort to taking action. For the good of the nation! Only to serve its own narrow political and economic interests! Blood is surely in the hands of the Bio government. For being clueless, spineless, and not fit for purpose to govern! Security Conspiracy gives way to conspiracy! ( Cassius in Julius Caesar) The arrogance, the condescension, the frivolity of this government – will plunge this nation into untold chaos!
Mark my words! Maada Bio must go! – is a slogan I am subscribing to, too! By any means necessary. He is more baggage than an asset! A political loose Canon holding the reins of power to our destiny and immediate future! A very clear and present danger to our nation’s stability. And, future! He has failed woefully. What a shame. Today, I bow my head in shame. And, and weeping. For all those who have lost their lives, senselessly today! And, probably in the few days ahead! A man I once rooted for as a game changer! Has gelled into nothing more than an embarrassing failure! To his party. And, the nation. He is nothing more than a political sponge. A man with no moorings or a road map to handle storms of such magnitude that just reared its ugly head today! Today will be etched in our history as a day of infamy!
