By Saa Emerson Lamina
The volatility of our country’s security culminating in the November 26, 2023 coup attempt and the alleged involvement of former President Ernest Bai Koroma, to me, is the penultimate of our security crisis.
Our state security apparatus and the judiciary have done the needful in their manifestations of handling justice with the commencement of trials of the alleged culprits including the former President.
Inasmuch as I respect the views and opinions of those who wish to see the former President continues to face the full force of the law unabated, I admire and stand by the magnanimity showed by HE President Julius Maada Bio in allowing, through the judiciary, for the former President to leave the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone to seek medical treatment in Nigeria.
In my candid view, President Bio’s decision is well thought out and such a deliberate decision can only be taken by a leader that has at heart the genuine interest of his country. If what pessimists are alluding to as a tactics by ECOWAS to free the former President from the yoke of the apparent evidences the state has against him, and in the estimation of leaders of the sub regional body, let bygones be bygones, so be it.
Yes, we are a sovereign state; yes, we are covered by the United Nations’ Charter that guarantees our sovereignty from non-interference, but again, we are Africa and we are ECOWAS. We are not a state in isolation. We are part of the wider community of civilized nations. Yes, we are Sierra Leone.
I beseech fellow Members of Parliament to take a deep breath and see the decision of the judiciary to evacuate Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma as the best on the faces of the following considerations:
Foremost, when our Sierra Leone was engulfed in that senselessly eleven-years fratricidal war, we benefited immensely from the intervention of the regional block, ECOWAS which spent their human and financial resources in defense of our democracy to restore sanity. Hundreds of their men and women in uniforms lost their lives in the cause.
Secondly, Ernest Bai Koroma’s presence in Sierra Leone has put a lot of pressure on our security budget just to maintain the peace by augmenting logistics, morale booster and other paraphernalia. Can you imagine that?
His presence, which has been creating tension on a daily basis for our country’s security sector, will soon dissipate leaving our security sector to focus more on internal security maintenance and protecting lives and properties of citizens.
Furthermore, it would have been very unfortunate for the Government of Sierra Leone to blatantly deny any such beckoning of the other 14 ECOWAS States to continue holding on Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma as a ransom for the country’s peace and stability. Should any unfortunate scenario occur, do we think ECOWAS will ever come to the aid of Sierra Leone? This brings me to an old Krio adage that says: “if wan man cook for 14 man dem, den go able done am; bot if 14 man cook for u….”
I don’t think any well-meaning Sierra Leonean will want to see this country turned into a pariah by sister countries should there erupt any inferno as a consequence.
Additionally, the Ernest Bai Koroma/APC relationship will soon face the reality of “nearest is dearest.”
Trust me, all the APC fanfare around him has died along the departure of Mr. Koroma. His die-heart loyalists will now find a safe cocoon away from their waywardness and reckless behaviours.
A soon-to-emerge new radical leader of the APC is sure to put the final nail onto his popularity coffin; a situation that has also been an anathema for the progressive movement of the APC.
Finally, this unfortunate situation of November 26, 2023 should teach us a great lesson to strengthen our relationship as a nation with our grassroots, domestic stakeholders, regional bodies and other external bodies like South Africa with whom our political ideology of “One Country, One People” so resonates.
Releasing the former President on humanitarian grounds to seek medical attention therefore, demonstrates that Sierra Leone and President Julius Maada Bio are respecters of a community treaty signed many years ago.
I stand with your magnanimity, Mr. President.
Hon. Saa Emerson Lamina GCOR is the Member of Parliament in Kono District, eastern Sierra Leone. He is also a Member of the ECOWAS Parliament.
