Maada Bio to bring his lies, false promises and spirit of impunity to the U.S, but why should anybody care ?

We live in a geopolitical world of shocks and unexpected happenstances  , so why are Sierra Leoneans surprised that Maada Bio, the man who butchered 29 innocent Sierra Leoneans and was part of a junta that committed grave humanitarian crimes, has been granted a visa to come to the United States to continue spreading his campaign of lies against President Ernest Bai Koroma and the ruling All People’s Congress ( APC ) Government, his false promises to the vulnerable people of Sierra Leone and his spirit of  impunity  ? The only good thing is that whatever Maada Bio says in the U.S. will make no difference to the people of Sierra Leone whose votes on November 17 will decide who becomes President of Sierra Leone from 2012 to 2017.

MAADA BIO

Maada Bio made heavy weather of selling his lies , false promises and spirit of impunity in Britain, but what did he achieve ?

Few weeks after he spewed all manners of lies against President Koroma and the APC Government , the United Nations Security Council sent a high-powered delegation to West Africa and Sierra Leone ( made up of the UN ambassadors of all the stakeholders of the country’s destiny ) to assess the situation on the ground.

Some of the terms of reference of the UN team were an evaluation of preparations for the 2012 elections and the situation on the ground in terms of the performance of the government in meeting the expectations of the people and in promoting fundamental human rights and other ideals of good governance that impact on peace and security in the country. In Sierra Leone, they met with members of the ruling government, the opposition parties, civil society , women’s groups and the press. After all the meetings , the team put together all the views received  and their own observations and what was the result ? ANOTHER MONUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT FOR PRESIDENT ERNEST KOROMA. The UN Security Council  had nothing but praise for the President and the government for their outstanding performance in delivering socio-economic and political developments and respect for fundamental human rights. . Last week, the team reported its findings  to the UN in a specially-convened Security Council session and what they said about Sierra Leone was encouraging and heart-warming. This is a stark demonstration of the fact that Bio’s campaign of lies and falsehood against President Koroma is not working . This is the most important fact that Sierra Leoneans  have to consider in this issue. Nothing Bio and his team have done has changed the picture that President Koroma is doing a great job and the the international community respect and commend him for that.

Whether Bio holds a town meeting at the Ukranian Center in New Jersey or not or a huge dance and meeting in a masonic temple in California or not, it will not make a difference with respect to REALITY , the dynamics among members of the international community and the situation on the ground. This was probably why the U.S. granted Bio a visa to insulate  themselves from suspicion of interferring in the internal matters of Sierra Leone. They know that Bio will not make a difference . President Koroma’s popularity with the people and his respect with the international community are too entrenched. Therefore , they may have argued, why risk a bad name for something that will not make a difference ? Many people are blaming  the U.S. for giving Bio a visa. But this is what I think. I may be wrong.  Our stakeholders are doing everything to help stave off unnecessary tension in our nation and to promote peace and stability. None of them wants to be perceived as the barrier to peace and stability in Sierra Leone.  Bio did not deserve the visa , but the U.S.  had to avoid anything that would create the perception that they are interferring in our country. They also may have concluded that Bio’s trip to the U.S. will have no effect on the elections.

In fact, many Sierra Leoneans are accusing the  media of  being the real ones bloating and over-hyping Maada Bio’s relevance and impact. They complain that the media is making Maada Bio look more important than he really is.  Left to them, the press should say nothing about Bio’s overseas trip, lest it be given some importance. Some people even believe that Bio is actually coming to the U.S.  for nothing else but to generate funds for his electioneering campaign. The lukewarm reception he received in Britain and the chastisement and re-education he  got from a BBC  reporter that interviewed him must have taught Maada Bio the lesson that he is just wasting his time in the diaspora.

Therefore, let Bio bring his lies, false promises and spirit of impunity in the U.S. It will not make any difference on the ground in Sierra Leone. President Koroma will still win in November.

© 2012, COCORIOKO. All rights reserved. – Discuss this and other related articles on the Salone Forum