By Titus Boye-Thompson, London As the elections approach, the forebodings of many a political observer seem warningly predictable of a more sinister outcome than what the present situation outline. The abuse of state power to restrict the opposition leader has become an own goal. There is nothing more that could be done to hide the pure unadulterated fact that there are only two horses in this race. For the first time, the people are going to have to choose a President because of who he is not because of what he can do for them. In such a popularity stake, it should be a foregone conclusion that a clear winner must emerge before the polls but the sad fact is that life events can never be that predictable. This will be a personality contest, a battle for the hearts and minds of the people of Sierra Leone. On the green corner, we have the incumbent President, the dancer and frequent flier who has done nothing but shut down the leakages by creating much bigger potholes to fix the state of austerity he inherited. On the red corner is the proven technocrat with a plethora of experience having served almost all hues of Government since after the War. So where we have a hitherto unemployed former soldier who was recently declared by his own wife as a man with the PhD in coups, now dressed in civilian clothes, facing a man of very vast experience at local, regional and global levels, feted by all and sundry, equally in high society as well as within the grassroots of society and now recently given an overwhelming ovation overseas. One can only hasten to say that the rational conclusion anyone can draw would be a win for common sense, the technocrat should have it. The former soldier walked away from peace This has been said before but it is crucial that we revisit the pragmatic indicators again. The tendency for violence and conflict is warming up incessantly and the suspicion that the Electoral Commission is bent on rigging the elections in favour of the incumbent ex-soldier is pervasive. The issue that concerns everyone centres around the possibility that the institutions charged with maintaining a level playing field would for whatever reason be attempting to subjugate the lawful conduct of these elections when there is every likelihood that the state may be pushed to conflict otherwise. Those who have studied these scenarios would tell you that anything short of a free and fair election in Sierra Leone has a very high possibility of plunging the country into war and this time, the war will be tribal and wholly barbaric.  In the context of this likelihood of violence, the Marlborough Dialogue was invoked to bring the two horses to the barn, so to speak, to get them to understand why they should adhere to the parameters of the race. Taking the soundings from both camps, the former soldier brushed off the meeting and refused outright to sit and engage with his adversary while the technocrat welcomed the opportunity to dialogue , insisting that all he is asking for is a level playing field and let the decision be left to the genuine will of the people. For some reasons and a twist of fate, the dialogue did not hold. This happened despite the fact that government institutions frustrated the technocrat from leaving the shores of the country, attempted to eve stop him from travelling from the brand new airport built by the former soldier upon which intelligence the technocrat had to travel via Guinea and then got held up somewhat.  Upon all the barriers placed in his way, the technocrat was able to arrive in the nick of time, had some fruitful engagements with the Sierra Leone business and political communities and then held a massive town hall meeting in London to the welcome assurances of all on his vision for peace and development for the whole country. The former soldier had to leave London as unannounced as he came and was unable to sit and talk to the technocrat who had been a friend and colleague all this while. In any event, the former soldier walked away from peace.

By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop) Forget about hisirritating comic performances as a sort of an amateur National Dance Troupe dancer. Even if President Julius Maada Bio wins a Grammy Award for the seemingly ‘stone gee me road/jiga dae kam’ public dances; that will not distract majority of ordinary Sierra Leoneans from the real issues which will define the June 24 general elections. If he likes, President Bio could transform himself into a sort of a comic relief at every political rally or event, organized by the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), with the seemingly hope that he might become the next Michael Jackson. But that will not make majority of ordinary Sierra Leoneans laugh their guts out, forgetting that their pockets and stomachs are still empty and their dining tables barely bare! And I don’t care a hoot about President Bio prefacing most of his political rallies or events with Humpty-Dumpty-like dances. Maybe, one of his plans for his retirement is to create a Dance Troupe. But after every stage performance, reminiscence of a tired ‘Ngorboi’ tip-toeing home after a colourless show, our Commander-in-Chief always comes out more like a recycled joke than someone on whose shoulders rest the destiny of a nation which appears to be sitting on a keg of dynamite. Without any attempt at mincing my words, President Bio appears to have reduced the presidency to a tasteless comedy show which the audience always finds humourless!   And President Bio and his flatterers could wallow in their Joseph Goebbels-like lies and half-truths for the SLPP gallery. They could cook-up and sex-up data to give themselves the “feel good” feeling that the SLPP government has improved the lot of their lots. They could create lies and still believe in those lies like ex-President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” brigades. Butordinary Sierra Leoneans will not be cajoled or bribed into believing that their lives are better-off today than they were six years ago. They who wear their shoes know exactly where those shoes are pinching them.  If President Bio and his toadies are now claiming that Sierra Leoneans should be grateful to the SLPP government for improving their lives; then why are they afraid of creating a level political playing field for the June 24 general elections? Why are they constantly throwing spanners in the works of the All People’s Congress (APC) and its Leader and Presidential candidate Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara? And why is the Bio-led government trying every political trick in the sun, which appears to be pointing at rigging the upcoming elections in favour of a sitting President who claims to have completed all his 2018 Manifesto promises and he is now graciously doling out bonuses to the starving masses? And if the SLPP government has realistically fulfilled “61%” of its 2018 Manifesto promises, as claimed by one Civil Society Organization (CSO) which appears to be always conducting surveys that seem to be at variance with the realities in the country, then why is our “Tok En Do” President not ensconced at the comfort of State Lodge every day eating ‘Pemahun’ or ‘Tangajessieh’ (Sorry reader, I didn’t ask my Sherbro mother if that is the correct spelling of that much-cherished Bonthe Island food.)? If the Bio-led administration has fulfilled “61%” of its 2018 Manifesto promises, then why is our Head of State so jittery that he has suddenly found out that he loves Port Loko, Tonkolili and Kono Districts more than the APC? And if the SLPP government has fulfilled “61%” of its 2018 Manifesto promises, as claimed by that “independent” CSO, then why is it that majority of ordinary Sierra Leoneans are desperately desperate to see the back of President Bio with his SLPP government through the ballot box after June 24?  I have been waiting for some of these ‘independent’ CSOs to do credible surveys on the human rights record of the Bio-led SLPP government. I have been waiting for their surveys on whether the Humpty-Dumpty-like dances by President Bio are in sync with the ethos of State Protocols. Or even do reliable studies on the cost of living in Sierra Leone. And have been waiting for some of these “independent” CSOs to do credible surveys on the fairytale rags-to-riches statuses of most members of the Bio-led administration within five years. But promoting the SLPP’s agenda appears to be their main concerns which they always cloudily wrap in “independent” surveys and opinion polls! And they have been shamelessly shameless about it. But they do not want us to point it out because it will expose their SLPPness like unclothed buttocks of baboons. But if the Bio-led administration has realistically worked to the satisfaction of ordinary Sierra Leoneans, according to one of our independently ‘independent’ CSOs, let them allow the electorate to show their gratitude in the ballot box without any intimidation in the north-western strongholds of the APC! When a man has worked; he needs not shout his workaholic-ness atop the Freetown City Council building (now the tallest building in Freetown). But if he has worked and still working, it means he has not worked the work that needs to be worked! And the humourless punch-line of the Bio-led administration is that the SLPP government inherited a “battered economy” from the erstwhile All People’s Congress (APC) government of Ernest Bai Koroma. This colourless humour has become tastelessly tasteless when one considers the fact that the claimed, inherited, “battered economy” has now been soullessly battered by battered-brains ‘Drunkard nomists’. And when one flings a dancing President, who appears not to have an iota of idea on Home Economics let alone Macroeconomics, into the cauldron of ineptitude; the resulting soup will be unpalatable! Well, if you tasked an inexperienced ‘Kekeh’ rider to pilot a plane, with Okada riders as his co-pilots and airhostesses; then the only thing that you should expect from that crew is a crash! People can’t give what they don’t have.

Kabs Kanu writes The petition against Dr,. Samura Kamara is a well planned conspiracy by APC rebels secretly financed by SLPP. It had been coming. We knew that would be the next step after the dangerously obese Judge Adrian  Fisher deferred the bogus court case. It had been coming. We are not deaf or stupid. We have been following the insinuations for long, since Dr. Samura Kamara was nominated by the opposition  APC. Well, if they do not want elections and democracy what do they want ? Then , let patriotic soldiers take over the country because we want accountable people to govern us. Maybe, military rule is what they are pushing us into gradually. If no good governance, just corruption, beatings, killings and maiming  of people, tribalism , hardships and human rights abuses and people cannot be allowed to stage  democratic elections, what options are being  left for them ? That is how we provoke things that we do not want. We are tempting the soldiers to seize power in Sierra Leone. I hate military coups but at times, civilians themselves invite them. Look at what President Bio is allowing to happen under his watch. If it is not bogus court cases, it is subterranean and high- tech conspiracies , even substandard, wretched voters registration cards, to make it difficult for the opposition to compete freely and fairly. If it not that, it is tear- gassing, lynching and beating of supporters of the opposition who dance for their candidates.  They do not really want a credible election to take place. The international community has warned  until its  voice has become hoarse.  Our people would not listen. They want to disqualify Dr. Samura Kamara from the race because he is wanted by the people. They want President Bio to go unopposed as they have been suggesting for ages. Why are we so allergic to good governance and democracy now after three peaceful changes —2 of them bringing the opposition to power — through the ballot box ? Why don’t we want the people to decide who they want to govern them ? Why can’t we let the elections play themselves out and let who should win go on and win fairly ? We are not a serious people anymore under this satanic SLPP government . I am sorry for international stakeholders, goodwill organizations and countries wasting millions of dollars on us, thinking we are a serious nation that wants to move forward like other progressive nations of the world. My contention is that certain people do not want civilized governance, democracy. the rule of law, accountable and transparent statehood,  peace, civility and unity to prevail in our country. On one hand, we have diabolical opposition APC rebels that are very restive and their demonic anger and disloyalty to their own party  just cannot be assuaged. On the other hand, we  have an ungodly government behind the scenes, craftily orchestrating these plots and using APC rebels as fronts.  President Bio will yet regret using these traitors and loose cannons of the APC to undermine democracy and peaceful coexistence in our country. What do these people  really want in Sierra Leone ? Are they  really serious about seeing progress  in our country ? We all  preach peace but is it in our hearts ?

Fourteen (14) Paramount Chiefs and Thirteen (13) Paramount Chiefs in Moyamba and Port Loko District respectively on Monday 15th May 2023 in the presence of the Political Parties Regulations Commission (PPRC), witnessed by representatives of political parties, Office of National Security, the Sierra Leone Police, the media and other key stakeholders signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to Support and ensure unhindered and unrestricted access in their communities, to all Political Parties and their candidates. This will allow political parties and their candidates to conduct their electoral campaigns and other lawful electoral activities, throughout the campaign period. The Paramount Chiefs also committed themselves to educating their subjects on political tolerance and the need for peaceful coexistence and to working with the police, Electoral Management Bodies, and Senior District Officers in their respective districts to forestall and contain any threat of electoral violence and political intolerance. They also commit to working towards the maintenance of law and order in their communities and interface with the leadership of all Political Parties in the said Communities for the attainment of that objective. These commitments were made at the start of the PPRC nationwide engagement with Paramount Chiefs and key stakeholders ahead of the start of campaigns for the 24th June 2023 Presidential and general elections in Sierra Leone. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was preceded by presentations and discussions on the role of Paramount Chiefs during elections, The Impact of Hate Speech on National Cohesion, key changes in the Political Parties Act of 2022, and guideline on political parties’ processions during the campaigns