By Our Reporter in Freetown
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly certainly did not expect the fireworks he saw at a press conference in his honour in Freetown yesterday in which Sylvia Blyden, a local opposition politician and journalist, directly attacked Lisa Chesney, the resident British High Commissioner in Sierra Leone who she accused of meddling in the politics of the country.
Opposition politicians in Sierra Leone often call Western diplomats in the capital to help resolve an issue instead of directly engaging the government. When they issue press releases they often copy western diplomats, visit their offices or even homes. They almost never copy African or Asian diplomats. African or Asian diplomats almost never comment on local politics anyway.
The Chinese, for example, almost never comment on local affairs although a huge amount of Chinese money and other forms of Chinese assistance pour into the country every year.
Sylvia said at the press conference that the former mayor of Freetown Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr who is from the main opposition party and who wants to be re-elected in the forthcoming June elections, is being supported openly on Twitter by the High Commissioner, Lisa Chesney (seen on the far left in photo).
Lisa is not as vociferous and combative as the EU ambassador Manuel Muller. She moves around quietly but has been spotted in the homes of many opposition politicians including former president Ernest Koroma who lives in Makeni in the north of the country, about three hours away by car from Freetown. A lot of people think she is a friend of the former mayor who had clashed with the current government several times in the past. To be fair to her, she also has many friends or acquaintances in the government.
Sylvia Blyden
The American ambassador David Reimer is seen as the most diplomatic of the Western diplomats in Freetown. He never publicly criticises the government or gets too close to the government or the opposition but has achieved a lot. For example, his behind the scenes engagements with government officials to bring back an American iron ore mining company that was shut down has been described by observers as an example of classic diplomacy.
Claire Buckley, the Irish ambassador, is also very active but is seen as a benign version of Muller and Chesney. She is involved in many projects and Sierra Leoneans generally love her.
Both Lisa and Muller do not look like bad diplomats but they have to be more discreet, many people we talked to emphasise. In Africa, a stranger or foreigner is expected to be less visible and less talkative even if they are very wealthy and very generous.
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