Sierra Leone Telegraph: 8 December 2021:
Yesterday, the National Chairman and Leader of the NGC Party, Dr. Dennis Bright was invited by the Inspector General of Police to report at the Police Headquarters, Freetown. He was invited based on statements Dr. Bright made on Radio Democracy 98.1FM on Tuesday 7th December 2021, in relation to the forthcoming midterm census which the NGC and the CoPPP are objecting to.
Today, Wednesday 8th December 2021, Dr. Dennis Bright was accompanied by his Lawyers, and National Officers of the party to the Police Headquarters to respond to the call of the IG.
Dr. Bright and team arrived at the Police Headquarters at exactly 9:30am and were ushered into the office of the IG. The IG welcomed Dr. Bright and his team and spoke about his purpose of inviting the Chairman.
The IG said he has tremendous respect for authorities and all citizens, but he had called Dr. Bright to advise him of the way he puts out messages to the public.
The Inspector General was not clear and specific as to the exact statement that warranted the invitation of Dr. Bright to the Police Headquarters, but said he will hand over Dr. Bright to the Head of CID, Mr. Richard Patrick Gabriel (RPG) who will conduct a fixed, long and premeditated interview questions and answers with Dr. Bright.
The Head of CID, Mr. Gabriel, together with his team from CID moved Dr. Bright and his Lawyers to another room for the said interview. The interview lasted for two hours. The media and other party members were not allowed to witness the interview.
After their interview, Chairman Bright was released and said to have had another ‘friendly chat’ with the IG.
According to NGC media reports, Dr. Bright remains steadfast in his determination to continue to oppose the Mid-term Census proposals, which are not a priority for the long-suffering people of Sierra Leone.
In another development, the Acting APC Regional Chairman, Northeast – Mr Alie Commoner Kargbo and the acting APC District Chairman of Bombali – Mr A.R Mansaray were yesterday arrested, allegedly under the instructions of the IGP of Police, Ambrose M Sovula and are believed to have been taken to CID headquarters in Freetown.
It is not certain as to why they were arrested, but the APC Secretary General Dr Osman Yansaneh has also been invited to CID for statements made about the midterm census and his party’s decision to call on supporters to boycott the census.
In my personal opinion, I think Dennis Bright is a desperate politician who needs to take a break and do some Introspection. He instigated Dr. Kandeh Yumkella to leave the SLPP and form the National Grand Coalition (NGC) Party, but unfortunately as Chairman and leader, he was unable to deliver even a single counsellor seat in the Western Area. He is now a professional crier for the lifetime leader of the APC party based on the fact that his former propagandist and incitement officer Cornelius Deveaux is now a fugitive.
Unfortunately after losing the election for the chairman of the All Political Party to Chairman Victor King, he decided to form another Coalition Of Political Prostitutes (COPP) which is mainly financed from the brown envelopes from the lifetime leader of the APC.
Finally, I hope and pray that Freetownians will learn from our own January 6 when APC incitement caused untold consequences in our city which used to be the pride of civilization in our region, but has now been reduced to one big Slum.
Dr Emmanuel Johnson, you hit the nail on the head. One can even go further and argue, the lack of separation of powers between the three branches of government, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary, has been and remains the main hindrance to the advancement of our democracy and our countrys development goals. Unlike the United States, where there are clear definitions of the role of each branch of government, in Sierra Leone, and majority of African countries, there is too much concentration of power in the hands of the executive branch. Although the separation of powers and check and balances are embedded in our constitution, the issue of how much power the executive branch has in exircising its powers has always been abused by the individuals that occupies that postion, in our case the president.Sometimes the way our politics is practice, as a State we are confused which system of government we have in place.
Is it the American presidential system of government, or the Westminster style parliamentary democracy?Traditional chiefs, or an outright dictatorship? Right now we are more of the latter, or slowly but surely under Bio working towards that goal. The only thing that seems to be working for us. Hitting opposition leaders head with Bio’s big hammer, anytime they raise their voices opposing his out of touch policies, has becomes the hallmark of his presidency. Why do we put up with it? Maybe, the African tradition of respecting your elders especially our chiefs, might be in a permanent state of collusion course with how Western democracy is practice. Some countries like Uganda and Swaziland have tried to blend the two together, but recent events have shown is not practicable. Bio and past presidents might see themselves first as elected leaders, then toiling with the idea that they are also our traditional chiefs.
The power grabbed mentality of the president has effectively rendered our Parliamentians toothless and unable to do their jobs they are expected to do for the people that elected them to represent their national interest. Dr Brigth case highlights how our system of democracy is flawed. In a Westminster or American style democracy, he has every right to raise his concerns about government proposals on behalf of his constituency. It is the responsibility of the ruling party, in this case the SLPP to allay his fears and reassure those that elected Dr Bright that the midterm census will not undermine the elections outcomes. I think the inspector General of the Sierra Leone police, and his men needs to be school about the separation of powers and how they are interpreted. We saw the same issues with Dr Blyden back in 2020 Unless of course the Sierra Leone police force is now acting like the Stormtroopers in the gripped of Nazi Germany.
By 2000, Mugabe had maintained a sustained ‘campaign of terror’ to maintain power–consequently causing many citizens to flee his oppressive rule and thus systematically ruining what we once considered one of the more prosperous African states? In response to opposition and international criticism, he threatened to enhance his violent campaign and become the “black Hitler” against any opposing forces. Illustrative of this, in 2005 he moved out “Operation Drive out the Rubbish,” which involved raiding Harare’s townships, which coincidently was home to those who supported the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. This raid destroyed thousands of homes, clinics, and small businesses. With this broad spectrum of violent non-state actors and state-starting terrorism in mind, it is useful to review how the history of terrorism in Africa has had many prominent domestic and transnational dimensions. Look in the rear-view mirror of history.
Terrorism is just one of several types of political violence that states and their citizens, in
Africa and elsewhere, have had to grapple with. In fact, from a macro perspective, someone may not universally see terrorism as the most important security challenge faced by African states and their citizens. Famine, free speech, drought, endemic poverty, diseases and other natural and man-made disasters that threaten human security have also been at the forefront of recent policy discussions on Africa among Western governments and international aid organizations.