As of press time yesterday, there was no official statement by the government in response to a letter from Dr. Omar Allieu Turay, president of the ECOWAS Commission, which, among other things, called for charges against former president Ernest Bai Koroma to be dropped and for him to be allowed to leave the shores of Sierra Leone on temporary asylum in Nigeria. Dr. Turay’s letter referenced a high-level engagement between ECOWAS and President Julius Maada Bio which took place in Freetown last December.
However, in an interview with Voice of America (VOA) last week, Information Minister Chernor Bah said President Bio indeed met with a high-level ECOWAS delegation, which included President Macky Sall, President Nana Akufo-Addo, Dr. Omar Turay, and Dr. Abdel-Fatau Musah, ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security. He noted that they had fruitful deliberations centred around strengthening peace and stability in the sub-region and the regional bloc’s support for Sierra Leone’s democracy following the failed coup attempt, including the deployment of an ECOWAS standby force to Sierra Leone to help maintain peace and security in the country. Minister Bah was very much convinced that the deliberations did not include what the ECOWAS Commission president was requesting, giving an inclination that Dr. Turay’s letter could be deceptive or misleading.
The ECOWAS letter has been met with mixed reactions at home, with some applauding the regional bloc’s calls for the discontinuation of all legal proceedings against Ernest Bai Koroma and for him to be flown out of the country, which they believe is necessary and timely. However, others have criticised the bloc for what they describe as its double standards and sentiments toward Ernest Koroma, as well as its lukewarm approach toward unconstitutional changes of government within the community. Critics contend that ECOWAS erred in this matter, wanting sentiment to take preeminence over the law.
Ernest Bai Koroma is under preliminary investigations in a Freetown magistrate court on four counts of treason, concealment of treason, and harbouring. His lead defence counsel, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara (JFK), said the charges are “trumped-up charges under a political vendetta,” but Minister Bah disputes this claim, arguing that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute the former president and that this evidence will be exhibited during the trial. Added to that, lawyer Kamara’s remarks were met with an even hardened response from Chernor Bah’s deputy, Yusuf keketoma Sandi. Sandi wrote on X that JFK’s comments are a ‘cavalier attempt to politicise the case and create sensationalism in the media’, admonishing him not to mix the law with politics.
Additionally, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, Chernor Bah’s deputy, responded harshly to lawyer Kamara’s comments. JFK should not combine law and politics, Sandi said in an X post, calling JFK’s remarks a “cavalier attempt to politicise the case and create sensationalism in the media.”
