Mr. Bio’s press release statement of February 5, 2012 accused government of “re-armament, deployment and registration of ex-combatants in the South and Eastern province.” It reads:
“It has come to the attention of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) that the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) has embarked on transporting ex-combatants from different parts of the country to register in towns in the South and the Eastern Provinces, the strongholds of the Opposition SLPP. Ex-combatants armed with weapons and other offensive instruments have already been ferried to Moyamba, Bo, Kenema, Pujehun, Kailahun and Zimmi. In addition, foreign nationals and ex-combatants from neighbouring countries are also being transported by Sierra Leone’s Ambassadors accredited to those countries for the purpose of swelling APC votes in the elections.”
What motivated Maada Bio to make such public statements he knows are untrue? The principle of relativism applies to individuals and organizations alike. An individual determines right from wrong depending on variable criteria—personal feelings, experiences, situations, culture, ethnic, social positions etc. The ‘Reactance’ Mini Theory of Motivation says that, when people feel that their freedom to choose an action is threatened, they get an unpleasant feeling called ‘reactance’. This also motivates them to perform the threatened behaviour, thus proving that their free will has not been compromised, (Brehms, 1966).
Mr. Bio is intrinsically and extrinsically motivated to become President of Sierra Leone by all means necessary. Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual. Extrinsic motivation comes from external or outside rewards, such as power and money. Mr. Julius Maada Bio has been intrinsically motivated to lead Sierra Leone before or after the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) overthrew the APC government of President Joseph Saidu Momoh.
After Mr. Bio realized that, then head of state, Captain Valentine Strasser was getting ready to conduct elections and hand over power to a civilian government he (Bio) was intrinsically motivated to overthrow Strasser and install himself as head of state. However, his leadership was short lived for only four months but he never gave up his intrinsic motivation which has now led to him being the presidential candidate of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), the second largest party after ruling All Peoples Congress.
Maada Bio’s flag bearer-ship of the SLPP provoked anger and discussions about his actions while he served as head of state for a little over four months. Notably, the extra-judicial killings of James Bambay Kamara and others; the selling of passports and the looting of the country’s national treasury became regular discussions in the media.
These reasons are enough for Mr. Bio to feel that his vying for the presidency of Sierra Leone has been threatened. He gets an unpleasant “reactance” and is now motivated to perform the threatened behaviour to prove that his free will is not compromised. To put it more succinctly, he feels threatened and fears that if he fails in his bid for the presidency his freedom could be at the mercy of the Sierra Leone government – he is therefore fighting tooth and nail by any means necessary (PA.O.PA).
This press is disappointed to learn that the Hon. Minister of Information did not cite national security concerns in his recent statements to Associated Press (AP) which reported that Hon. I.B. Kargbo said that, Mr. Bio’s statements were “an attempt to tarnish the image and good works of the ruling party”. The actions of Mr. Bio are more than “tarnishing the image and good works of the government.”
It can be argued that, “tarnishing the image and good works” of a government is political propaganda. That is what political campaigns are all about. However, when a leading opposition political party selected a man with a history of violence, who along with others committed the act of treason by overthrowing a government of the current ruling party in 1992, and subsequently overthrew his own illegal military government, the Hon. Minister should have gotten the hint that Mr. Bio is setting the stage for another civil war and mayhem in Sierra Leone – a national security concern.
Mr. Bio has deliberately set the stage for violence against supporters and members of the ruling APC party. Bio knows that his statements could cause those who reside in those areas he cites but whom are not indigenous South Easterners to be treated as a suspected combatants, rebels or sympathizers of the ruling party. Such suspicions will expose them to potential violence where they are minorities. To understand the danger and severity of Mr. Bio’s statement and the implications of such statements could trigger impending national security risks, let us examine his opening statements.
“It has come to the attention of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) that the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) has embarked on transporting ex-combatants from different parts of the country to register in towns in the South and the Eastern Provinces, the strongholds of the Opposition SLPP. Ex-combatants armed with weapons and other offensive instruments have already been ferried to Moyamba, Bo, Kenema, Pujehun, Kailahun and Zimmi”.
The above quoted words were deliberately uttered to set the stage for political/ethnic unrest in Sierra Leone. Note how the South Eastern Provinces and “strongholds of the opposition SLPP” are prominently cited all over the press statement of Mr. Bio. See also how Mr. Bio says the so called ex-combatants are “armed with weapons and other offensive instruments” and “South Eastern Provinces” and “strongholds of the opposition SLPP” are qualified with “Moyamba, Bo, Kenema, Pujehun, Kailahun and Zimmi.”
Mr. Bio knows that under the able leadership of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, the ruling APC party has made inroads into the SLPP strongholds of the South-East; The last elections held in the South-East was in Moyamba where the APC cleanly won a Local Council elections seat previously held by the SLPP. Unlike the recent Bye-Elections in Fourah Bay which was full of violence and intimidation, the Moyamba Bye-Elections was won easily by the APC with the guidance of Hon. Musa Tarawalie even though SLPP’s Maada Bio had personally launched those elections campaigns for the SLPP.
The president has taken his massive developmental agenda for change to all corners of Sierra Leone and he has shown that he cares about all Sierra Leoneans. This is why the people of South-East are warming up to him and his APC party. Mr. Bio wants to throw a monkey wrench in that growing relationship between South Easterners and government.
Mr. Bio knows that the APC has its stronghold in Northern and the Western Area of Sierra Leone so he has deliberately set out to incite a civil war by accusing the APC-led Government of attempting to destabilize and disenfranchise voters in Southern and Eastern Provinces – the supposed opposition SLPP strongholds. He is also inciting a possible tribal war because those areas are dominated by members of the Mende tribe; many of whom are strong SLPP supporters.
Here is how Mr. Bio closed his statements. This writer must admit these are powerful words that were deliberately crafted to curry support from the international community when the opposition party might carry out its strategy of violence. Mr. Bio said,
“The SLPP is formally requesting UNIPSIL to kindly transmit this Press Statement to the Security Council of the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to draw the attention of these bodies to the potential danger that this extant action of the Government poses to the credibility of the forthcoming elections as well as the peace and security of the State of Sierra Leone.”
Mr. Bio has implemented a two-prong approach in his communiqué. First, note the phrases “potential danger” and “the peace and security of the State of Sierra Leone”. Mr. Bio’s target audience are two groups of people, innocuous South Easterners and uninformed members of the International Community interested in the progress, peace and stability of Sierra Leone.
The violent flag bearer is sensitizing South Easterners towards violence while at the same legitimizing future violent actions he may embark on to the International Community and other stake holders. What an evil and violent genius the opposition party choose for a flag bearer! Devilishly brilliant!
In continuing his plans of jeopardizing the national security of Sierra Leone by inciting violence and civil unrest between Western Area/Northerners and South Easterners, Maada Bio uses one of his main propaganda news outlets, Global Times, to incite problems between government and the respected Poro Society of the South East. In an article titled, “Sierra Leone Government To Ban Poro” Global Times seems to have been directed by Maada Bio to write as follows:
“The move to suspend the activities of the Poro society came in the wake of several reports that agents of the ruling government were deploying able-bodied men, mostly ex-combatants in the opposition stronghold, where Poro is seen as the rallying point for men.”
The above excerpt from the Global Times article is clear evidence that the opposition party is determined to incite tribal war in Sierra Leone. First, it was the press release by Mr. Bio and then the secret male society, the Poro Society story reported by Global Times. The false allegations that government is using respectable Paramount Chiefs to determine the policies of a respected secret male society is also deliberate and part of the oppositions party’s strategy of violence and an ethnic war.
The only reason Mr. Bio would do this is to instigate war in Sierra Leone, with the hope that the international community would step in and call for an inclusive (shared) government. The SLPP’s political strategy is centered on violence, civil unrest and perhaps war so government must not underestimate what Julius Maada Bio could do. This press is now calling on government to pursue legal action citing national security as crux of the lawsuit, in addition to the seditious lies.
CULLED FROM THE APC WORLDWIDE PRESS NEWS WITH SLIGHT EDITTING BY OUR EDITORIAL TEAM
© Copyright by Awareness Times
Newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
