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Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has dismissed the viral video of President Julius Maada Bio telling supporters of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) in Bonthe District that they “shall die early in the morning,” describing the statement as an “idiomatic expression” that has been deliberately misinterpreted.
The remarks, made during the launch of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) District Office in Mattru Jong on April 5, 2026, have sparked widespread condemnation from opposition figures, civil society groups, and constitutional lawyers who argue that the President’s words amount to a death threat and violate his constitutional role as the “symbol of national unity” under Section 40(2) of the 1991 Constitution.
But Minister Bah, in a social media post responding to the controversy, dismissed the outrage as “faux” and accused the opposition — which has been boycotting governance processes — of also boycotting “nuances.”
Minister Bah began his response by praising the President for reminding Sierra Leoneans of a “classic folk Mende song,” framing the President’s words within the context of traditional Mende linguistic expressions.
“Nu be ba gbwa tokpwei ma oh. Ba ha gewei lor,” Bah wrote, quoting what he described as a Mende folk song.
He then borrowed words from Presidential Press Secretary, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, stating: “Humor has boycotted the boycotters” — a direct jab at the APC’s ongoing boycott of parliamentary and governance processes over electoral disputes.
Bah drew a parallel between the President’s comment and a common Mende idiomatic expression used in everyday conversation when someone is caught lying.
“Dong to we if person dae lie we dae say ‘e go die e yai open.’ E nor mean say we wish for make e die. It’s a simple idiomatic expression,” Bah explained. “But the boycotters want you to now boycott these nuances. #fauxoutrage”
Minister Bah’s defense echoes an earlier statement from State House Communications Director Myk Berewa, who had clarified that the President’s comments were “quite metaphorical in Mende,” implying that anyone “born, raised, and who sticks with the APC in Bonthe is somehow cursed”.
However, critics — including Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden OOR — have rejected both explanations, arguing that declaring citizens “cursed” over their political ideology is equally problematic and that the President’s remarks represent a massive public relations blunder.
Dr. Blyden, in a statement on Easter Monday, pointed to what she described as a pattern of escalating hostility toward the opposition from senior government and ruling party officials.
She cited Deputy Information Minister KakaScatter’s statement, “I want all APC to die,” and SLPP Chairman Batilo Songa’s declaration, “No more APC! No more APC! No more APC in this country!” — in addition to President Bio’s Bonthe remark.
“The above pattern is not a coincidence,” Dr. Blyden wrote. “They seem to be planning to kill some of us in APC”.
The controversy intensified after AYV Media, the broadcaster that originally aired the President’s remarks, deleted the viral video from its social media platforms. The media company later issued a statement admitting that its initial translation from Mende to English “did not convey the full content and context of the President’s remarks”.
AYV stated that translation “requires careful attention to context, idiom, and cultural meaning” and expressed regret for “any misunderstanding or concern it may have caused”. However, the media house did not provide an alternative, corrected translation of what the President actually said.
