By Sorie Fofana
On 7th July, 1999 President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the RUF leader, Foday Saybana Sankoh, signed the Lome Peace Accord.
The Lome Peace Accord made provision for power-sharing between the Government of Tejan Kabbah and the RUF of Foday Sankoh. The RUF leader was accorded the status of a Vice President and some of his henchmen became Cabinet Ministers in the power-sharing administration headed by Tejan Kabbah.
After signing the Lome Peace Accord, Tejan Kabbah fell out with a good number of his friends (both in and out of government) including his Finance Minister at the time, Dr. James Jonah.
One of President Kabbah’s senior advisers at State House, Dr. Peter Tucker, advised President Kabbah not to sign the Lome Peace Accord with the RUF. Dr. Peter Tucker, in a scathing resignation letter from the position of Presidential Adviser noted that, with the Lome Peace Accord, the RUF leader had been granted everything except a ticket to heaven.
A good number of prominent Sierra Leoneans (both in and outside of the country) were opposed to the signing of the Lome Accord. Ambrose Ganda, a Sierra Leonean writer and journalist based in London, at the time, wrote that, Tejan Kabbah was coerced by the Americans to sign the Lome Peace Accord against the interest of his country.
After signing the Lome Peace Accord, Kabbah’s party (the SLPP) refused to roll out the red carpet for him when he returned from Lome. Kabbah had the strongest desire to end the civil war in Sierra Leone. He was prepared to sacrifice his Presidency just for peace to reign in Sierra Leone.
His Vice President, Dr. Albert Joe Demby, on many occasions, complained bitterly that, Tejan Kabbah had embarrassed him by according Foday Sankoh the status of a Vice President.
Foday Sankoh was given a diplomatic passport, a police escort and a furnished apartment in the west end of Freetown as part of his emoluments. That decision did not sit well with VP Albert Joe Demby.
With the death of 50,000 Sierra Leoneans, during the civil war, Frank Kposowa of the “Unity Newspaper” criticized Kabbah for “handsomely compensating” the RUF after “killing our people”. Kabbah took that open criticism in good faith.
In the name of peace, Tejan Kabbah brought the RUF into his government and appointed its leader Foday Sankoh as Chairman of the Commission for Strategic Mineral Resources with a Vice Presidential status. Some of Sankoh’s key allies like Mike Lamin, and Peter Borbor Vandy joined Kabbah’s Cabinet in the power-sharing arrangement.
Kabbah argued at a press conference in Freetown that, at the time he signed the Lome Peace Accord, the national Army (or a large section of it) was not loyal to his government. In his opinion, the Lome Peace Accord was the best route out of the civil war. Tejan Kabbah turned out to be right.
Koroma Leaves For Nigeria
Before the failed coup of November 26, 2023 the Sierra Leone government had concluded that, former President Ernest Bai Koroma was primarily responsible for all the disturbances taking place in the country. His presence in the country was considered to be a threat to national security.
In December last year, immediately after the failed coup of November 26, the Sierra Leone government pleaded with ECOWAS leaders to take the former President out of the country.
Ernest Bai Koroma, based on abundant circumstantial evidence, was charged with four counts of treason, misprision of treason and harboring. He was granted bail on his first appearance in the Magistrate Court.
Efforts by the ECOWAS Commission to facilitate Koroma’s departure from Sierra Leone to Nigeria were undermined by the legal action pursued against him (Koroma) by the Sierra Leone government.
All along, President Dr. Julius Maada Bio made it very clear that, he would not interfere with an ongoing legal matter as it was a matter for the court.
Koroma’s lawyers applied to the court to grant him permission to travel to Nigeria on medical grounds. His personal physician made a compelling case for him to be allowed to travel out of the country for medical treatment.
The government’s decision not to block former President Koroma from leaving the country has been commended by the ECOWAS Commission.
In a communiqué dated 20th January, 2024 the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja commended the Government of Sierra Leone “For granting permission to the former President of Sierra Leone, His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma, to travel out of Sierra Leone on medical and health grounds”.
Thank You, President Bio
President Bio should be commended for allowing his immediate predecessor to travel out of the country on medical grounds even though he faces felonious offences like treason and misprision of treason.
Since he was elected President in April 2018, Julius Maada Bio has always put the interest of the country above his political survival. Only a statesman behaves that way.
It has to be pointed out that, President Bio, more than anyone else, understands the need for peace in a country. He did not only fight to end the civil war in Sierra Leone, he was the first person (leader) to persuade Foday Sankoh (the RUF leader) to leave the bush and take part in talks aimed at ending the civil war in Sierra Leone.
The decision to allow former President Koroma to travel out of Sierra Leone, in spite of widespread opposition from the people of Sierra Leone, is the price we are paying for peace in our beloved country.
Recently, in a nationwide broadcast, President Bio called on Sierra Leoneans to build bridges, not walls.
May commonsense prevails!