September 9, 2021
By Dadson A. Musa
West Africa has the potential for so many things great in the world. The region is super rich in minerals diamonds, gold, rutile, bauxite, rubber, marine resource and oil etc. which is a priced commodity in the world now.
The region has produced some of the best talents when it comes to human resource in academia, music, politics, football and the list goes on.
Democracy and constitutional rule has been gaining grounds in the region with countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, and Liberia operating under multi-party democracy.
Coups of any kind and for whatever reasons are not good for a country and history has proved that it is never the right way to effect change in any country.
Freedoms are never enjoyed, dissent is likely to be suppressed and dictatorship hold sway when a country experiences coup. Even human rights are abused at will.
Experiences about coups in West Africa and the world over has never been good and so citizens have resisted and prayed for coups not to happen in their countries anymore. In Sierra Leone we have had experiences of coups and memories have been bitter. Guinea is our next door neighbor and when any upheaval happens there the effect is felt always whether positively or negatively.
And as a member state of ECOWAS and the MRU, we cannot sit back and be indifferent to their current state of affairs and at the same time not meddle into their internal politics. Whatever we do now as a country in respect to Guinea must fall within international law.
Our war saw the influx of refugees to Guinea and most foreign embassies dealt with us from there. But comparisons should not be made about the circumstances in these two neighboring countries.
After decades of the rule by Sheiku Turay and Lansana Conteh, Guineans had the chance to experiment with democracy and for over a decade now they were democratic.
Democracy is not the perfect form of governance but it has not had any alternative system yet to be preferred over it. So it is the system of governance in the world that most citizens prefer to live under. Professor Alpha Conde, some people would say invited this on himself. This is because after serving two terms in office decided to change constitution for his selfish political interest. It was least expected of him after living decades in the political wilderness and suffering from a dictatorship that treated him badly, it was hoped he came to change the system.
Conde had international and local backing which saw him serve two terms of his mandate in accordance with the constitution of Guinea. He should have done the honorable thing by stepping aside and allowing the democratic process to flow. This was why after the coup there were jubilations on the streets of Conakry not because the people support the soldiers to be in power but because Alpha Conde had outlived his usefulness or overstayed his welcome.
The crushing of dissenting views to his third term violently has been the turning point in his political life. Dozens were killed and the constitution had been tampered with by Conde to the chagrin of so many Guineans. And he did seem to read the hand writing on the wall he toyed with the welfare of those who were protecting him by going ahead with a pay cut. The last straw for him has been the reported sacking of a senior military officer of the Special Forces.
Also age was never on the side of Conde so attempting to emulate Sheiku Turay and Lansana Conteh to stay in power until death was very wrongly calculated. He toyed with the hopes and aspirations of Guineans. In this day and age people are getting used to democratic tenets and they want to enjoy their freedoms, rights and international respect. So the soldiers might be apparently welcomed now by the people but time I predict will run out fast for them if they fail to do the right.
So should Sierra Leone be compared to Guinea as another destination for coup? The answer is hell no. We are on democratic and constitutional right path. What really should we be talking about now is for president Bio to serve his first term well and in the event he succeeds in winning a second term hands over power honorably and not to attempt to tamper with the constitution as Conde did.
Four elections have been held and twice we have seen the governing party handing over power to the victorious opposition. We have institutions that are thriving and a free press has been doing their job without fear or favour.
Has there been any constitutional breach? No. And the country is on course for another multi- party elections very soon.
So prophets of doom should stop talking of or fanning the flames of coup in our peaceful and democratic country since the end of the war. The justice system has also seen relevant reforms as opposition members are winning court cases against the government in power. Sierra Leonean relatives who had fled to different countries abroad are returning home and have expressed satisfaction with the way the country is progressing since the war ended. It will be very unpopular and even suicidal for anybody to think of coup here in this country.
So the argument must end about any reason for a coup in this country. Maada Bio has stellar credentials for constitutionality and democracy. His military background aside, I don’t think there will be coup in this country as the circumstance right now does not warrant it.