The Interim Chairman of the main opposition, All People Congress (APC), Alfred Peter Conteh has said that the party has nothing to do with August 10 violent anti-government protests in Freetown and the Northern part of the country.

Conteh made this stance in an interview with the BBC, responding to accusations made by President Maada Bio and members and supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) that the APC supported the violent anti-government that resulted to the death of 17 police officers and citizens.

In his interview with the BBC and his address to the nation last night, President Bio accused the opposition of aiming to topple his government and that the protests has nothing to do with the rising cost of living in the country.

“This was not a protest against the high cost of living occasioned by the ongoing global economic crisis. The chant of the insurrectionists was for a violent overthrow of the democratically-elected Government,” he said.

“Before August 10th, they had severally identified themselves on social media as APC Warriors, PPP, and persons who are determined to capture political power even at the cost of hundreds of lives,” Bio added.

The Interim Chairman of the opposition, APC however said that they have nothing to do about it.

“It is a political situation according to them, I would like the world to know that the APC is not involved in anything and has nothing to do with that strike or what you called protest,” he said.

When asked if the APC accept responsibility for the dire state of the economy in Sierra Leone, Conteh said that there is no way they can assume responsibilities, adding that there is a reason people run for office.

“In his promises he made, the current president promised to fix it but I can tell you fact that, where we left the country four years ago is ten times better than where the country is today, so to come in after four years and still blamed it on the previous administration is just a clear characteristics of failure,” the Interim Chairman of APC said.

“If you took over office is your job to fix it and since they took over nothing is been right for the people, economically speaking, and every sector of government is been worse. So that is not an excuse. Four years you should have done something that people should appreciate and want to endorse you for another five years,” Conteh added.