On Thursday 14th May 2020, Sierra Leone’s National Grand Coalition (NGC) party, said the word “terrorist” used recently by President Bio, in a speech about the spate of violence in the country, might come back to haunt government’s development agenda. During a press conference at the NGC headquarters in Freetown, the NGC described the series of violent incidents as grave developments that threaten the peace and stability of the nation. They said the violence hinders the image of Sierra Leone and its citizens when received by an international audience. The NGC also mentioned that it is interesting that propagandists on the APC side have been blaming their leadership for not resisting and defending their incarcerated comrades and their party. Those supporting the SLPP have been complaining that the President has not been tough enough in defending the State against the so-called APC detractors. “Each side is convinced of their own truth and believes that the other has not been treating them fairly.” “It will be of benefit to no one for blood to flow again along the streets of our towns and cities and in the bush paths of our villages. Whatever it takes, we need to avoid violent conflict in Sierra Leone,” the NGC said in a press statement. The NGC explained the society is now extremely polarised and people are so stuck in their positions that it is now a situation of… “either you are with us or you are with them”. The division is even more frightening that it is increasingly taking a regional or tribal character; and the social media has become the main arena of the conflict with propagandists on both sides calling for violence or some form of action. “The NGC’s fight is for all of us to take action to silence the drums of war and pull our country back from the precipice,” they maintained.
AK/14/5/20
By Abdulrahman Koroma