I could vividly memorize all the ashes of divisive statements made by leaders of the main opposition All People Congress (APC) Party immediately after the 2018 Multitier Elections that brought H.E. President Julius Maada Bio to governance to date.
However, this piece will not attempt to make mention of those inciteful expressions.
My question is what if these opposition leaders would have used the lost opportunities before August 10 to ‘civilize’ our democracy instead of fanning a flame of hate, region, and tribe?
By civilizing our democracy, I mean to enlighten followers and citizens to perceive the highest standards of democratic behaviour that upholds peace and development, and not to aid self-serving interests that have tendencies to revert our hard-earned peace in harm’s way.
By civilizing our democracy, I also mean to orientate young people to believe that they can participate more effectively in the public realm if they leverage on the country’s Free Quality Education Initiative and viable entrepreneurship skills, two among critical opportunities which President Bio’s Government is far advanced in terms of implementation, despite Covid-19 pandemic.
We MUST allow citizenry to choose their government through reflection and a choice that is validated through the ballot box rather than depending on seemingly accident or the use of force.
Here are some ways H.E. President Julius Maada Bio has civilized Sierra Leone’s Democracy in critical moments:
1. For the first time in the history of Sierra Leone, elections day was announced one year ahead. What a beautiful way to assure transparency and accountability, two twin tenets of democracy?
2. President Bio got power in 1996 against the face of people who committed treacherous atrocities. Yet, he facilitated a peaceful transition to civil rule 3 months later, unlike other Military leaders in Africa who could not think about Democracy.
3. In 2020, President Julius Maada Bio signed a law revising the country’s 1965 Public Order Act to remove measures that criminalized publications deemed libelous or seditious, a 55-year-old law that distorts good governance and freedom of speech and press freedom.
4. In 2021, President Bio asserted our belief in the right to life by abolishing Sierra Leone’s Death Penalty from our law books, which was otherwise used by the opposition APC as an instrument to silence dissents.
5. And in 2022, days after a ‘faceless insurrection organized against his democratically elected government on August 10, H.E. President Julius Maada Bio once again demonstrated his never-ending commitment to peace by commencing engagements with tribal heads in Western Area and Council of Paramount Chiefs and CSOs to map a way forward following an attack on the country’s democracy and rule of law.
What a disservice to the 4th most peaceful country in Africa and 46th in the world, according to the latest Global Peace Index?
The souls of men in uniform, and civilians who lost their lives from merciless groups of insurgents wanting to overthrow a democratically elected President in the guise of a so-called protest would not rest if they (insurrectionists) are not brought to book?
By Aminaash Nyande Brima