By Kelvin Jay
President Bio has swallow his pride by agreeing to broker peace with the Opposition All People’s Congress party.
The President display of willingness was manifested by the Executive Secretary of the Independent Peace Commission, Hawa Samai.
Hawa samai, in her address to the usual Government press briefing said that President Bio has pledged his commitment to mend fences with the APC through international arbiters.
“President Bio has agreed to engage the APC through international mediators, in the interest of peace and national cohesion”, Hawa Samai revealed, adding in that direction, they have invited the Commonwealth, AU and ECOWAS to see how they can facilitate peaceful settlement between the APC and the SLPP government.
A day after that statement, a team of international mediators arrived in SierraLeone and started engagement with members of the APC and SLPP Government. The team of international mediators arrived on Wednesday 6th September, 2023 and started the ball rolling on Thursday by engaging key stakeholders in the APC and SLPP.
On Friday 8th September, 2023, a cross section of Commonwealth, AU and Peace Commission met with former President Ernest Bai Koroma at his Makeni residence. Although the outcome of the engagement with the former President is yet to be known, but it has been perceived that the former President is a key player to any roundtable peaceful dialogue if it is going to happen between the APC and SLPP.
However, the APC has expressed its willingness for a peaceful dialogue with the SLPP Government through international arbiters and that was demonstrated in the party’s previous press releases. The APC has demanded inter-alia for a fresh election as one of the prerequisites for them to accept any peaceful negotiation with the SLPP Government.
During his meeting with the international mediators on Friday 8th September, President Bio said: “I had fruitful discussions with the delegation from the Commonwealth Good Offices for Peace and the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, on my Government’s commitment towards deepening democracy, the rule of law and enhancing peace in Sierra Leone.
“I’ve reassured the mediating parties, including the Economic Community of West African States that my Government is open to working with all Sierra Leoneans, including the Opposition Party, APC. We believe that though we may have chosen different paths, our collective interest is the peace and progress of our country,” he assured.
The President also assured that his government would continue to pursue a common ground for the advancement of the country, adding that he wanted to invite the main opposition All People’s Congress, APC, “to work with us in strengthening our democratic State Institutions by encouraging their elected officials, including Members of Parliament, Councillors, Chairs, and Mayors, to take their rightful seats and responsibilities entrusted to them by our citizens.
“Participating in the comprehensive and independent review of all Election Management Bodies and subsequent implementation of recommendations, to be conducted with the support of our national and international partners.
“Participating in broader governance improvements for state institutions, including the justice sector reform and our constitutional review processes. I also call on all the security sector personnel to protect the right to life and freedom of all citizens.
“As the Commander-In-Chief, I remain committed to our national values of peace, unity, freedom and justice. May God protect Sierra Leone and its citizens,” he concluded.
According to some school of thoughts, the Commonwealth intervention has not been centered around any roundtable dialogue between the SLPP and APC, but rather embarking on fact-findings, aiming at getting a comprehensive account on the outcome of the June 24th elections from the APC, the unaccepted SLPP-led Government, the Inter-Religious Council, and Mohamed Konneh of ECSL that has left the country in a state of standstill.
Sampling the opinions of some political analysts about the recent strides of the Commonwealth, they argued that Commonwealth is a diplomatic international organization and their presence in the country is not for any playfulness, but to see how they can facilitate a peaceful negotiation between the SLPP and APC, a move that will return the country to normalcy.
“Commonwealth already knows the time bomb SierraLeone is currently seating on as a result of the disputed June 24 elections and their intervention is not for anything but to strike peaceful settlement between the two main political parties and return the country back to normal business”, says a political commentators, noting that this move taken by Commonwealth to meet with key stakeholders in the political landscape is anchored around exhausting all channels in the negotiation process and to examine the root causes of the problem in order to facilitate a win-win resolution.
it is important to note that the strides taken by commonwealth to mediate between the SLPP and APC has been widely accepted by SierraLeoneans at both home and abroad as they await the resolutions that could be in the interest of peace and national cohesion.
