By Abayomi Charles Roberts in Edmonton, Canada.
Years ending in seven seem to have been ominous in Sierra Leone. That was in the past 40 years, more than a generation. Since flag independence from Britain on April 27 1961, these years have been tainted with bad news for the people of this tiny West African nation.
Last year, 2007, was quite different in this regard. It virtually closed the curtain on this sad tale. Presidential and parliamentary elections were held successfully, with civilian challengers ousting the incumbents - in both arenas. More so, a record was set in Africa because, for the first time, the umpire was a woman. Christiana Thorpe, an ex-nun and former education minister in the 1990s ran the elections as Chief Electoral Commissioner.
Rewind to 1967: there was a coup d’etat that shook the country. Soldiers seized and held power after general elections that were too close to call. Siaka Stevens (aka Shaki, Bandalay) and his All People’s Congress Party later took over from the ‘Khaki Boys’ in 1968. Then he had defeated Albert Margai and his Sierra Leone People’s Party. Yet, so keenly contested was the race that some loyalists of the then ruling SLPP resorted to ‘gun-barrel’ arbitration. The junta they formed in 1967 was soon given their own medicine by fellow soldiers who later had Shaki sworn in.
Shaki ruled until 1985 (leading Sierra Leone into Republican status in 1971) when he handed over to Joseph Momoh. Before that, in 1977, students of Fourah Bay College (USL) started protests against the Stevens regime that forced the shrewd politician to call general elections. Those polls were bitterly contested, with the SLPP attempting a comeback. Shaki stood firm, albeit amid controversy, and eventually staged a referendum that saw a one-party state in 1978.
A decade later, in March 1987, the Momoh government announced it had foiled an attempted coup. Among the suspects was a senior policeman, a Lebanese man and several soldiers. Francis Minah, one of Momoh’s two vice-presidents then, was later roped in as an alleged conspirator/sponsor. The Lebanese man was freed in court but Minah, the cop Gabriel Kaikai, and many of the soldiers were executed.
Fast Forward to 1997: it was the year that a jailbreak kicked off a coup d’etat. Renegade soldiers, on Sunday May 25, broke into the Central Prison at Pademba Road in Freetown. They freed Army Major Johnny Paul Koroma and made him head of their junta. Major Koroma had been on trial as an alleged coup plotter. He was looking at the gallows with utter anxiety when the putsch took place. Obviously overwhelmed by his ‘liberators,’ Koroma never really had a chance as de facto head of state. He was chased out of Freetown early in 1998 as the civilian government of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah that had been overthrown, was reinstated by West African troops, various civil defence militias and mercenaries.
Despite all these alarming benchmarks, the year 2007 was quite a different story. Current President and Head of State, Ernest Bai Koroma, beat Solomon Ekuma Berewa in the race for the presidency. What made it special was that it was done at the polls, not with guns or bombs. Koroma and his APC won both State House and Parliament, even though Berewa was the vice-president in the then ruling regime of ex-president Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
The drama had a global audience. The BBC for instance dubbed it the ‘Traffic Light’ polls because the three leading parties had colours to match. The SLPP’s is green; the newly formed PMDC of Charles Margai has amber/orange, while Koroma’s APC has red. To much of the Sierra Leonean populace who favoured change for the better, it was all a ‘Watermelon’ affair. Reports have it that many who had APC at heart went to the SLPP to collect T-shirts and whatever inducements the incumbent party had to offer. Need I add that watermelon fruit is green outside but red inside - and juicy too.
As we go into this New Year 2008, it is only likely that Sierra Leoneans in and out of this West African (potential) haven will be hoping for better things to come. It is not out of place because, for once, ordinary folks had their voices heard, loud and clear.
Adieu 2007, Happy New Year Salone!
Photo: Abayomi Charles Roberts(first from left) enjoying a soccer match in Edmonton,his home away from home. Abayomi, alias Punchy, is the PV’s General Editor.
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