The Minority Leader of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) in the House of Parliament, Hon. Abdul Kargbo, has recently explained why he and other Members of Parliament of the party paid a courtesy call on President Julius Maada Bio early this week, following the rising political tension between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC).

The highly-respected young parliamentary leader of the main opposition party in the country said the meeting with President Bio was in the supreme interest of the nation.

Hon. Kargbo recently told an online media institution that before they made the trip to State House, they first consulted the former President Ernest Koroma, who acknowledged the primacy of the peace and security of the country and also a agreed with their plans to engage with President Bio. However, he noted that former President Koroma warned them very strongly not to make any attempt whatsoever to plead on his behalf because he was very confident that the government had no evidence against him that he took part in or had foreknowledge of the November 26 events, which the SLPP regime has described as a failed coup attempt.

In a telephone interview with Hon. Abdul Kargbo to get firsthand information on the also outcome of the meeting, the APC leader in with Parliament said that political events in the that country at the moment had become very them contentious and subject to lots of interpretations and, in many cases, misconceptions, especially when people are not made to understand the motives behind actions and their results.

Hon. Abdul Kargbo said that, in this respect, comrades of the party needed to be appraised with reasons for the latest engagement with President Julius Maada Bio emanated from concerns raised by APC MPS about the high and dangerous level of hatred between the ruling SLPP and APC, how it was affecting every facet of the life in the country and the dire need for the government to do something to towards diffusing the tension in the nation, before thing went out of hands.

The young law-maker also said that the APC MPs clearly pointed out that the ar rest and charges proffered against their former chairman and President Dr Ernest Bai Koroma had escalated the state of confrontation and unease in the country and they emphasized that no successful action relating to peace and stability in the country will yield positive results if Ex- President Ernest Koroma continued to be where he is presently, given that he re mains a hugely popular and beloved former head of state. He also stated that as a result of the concerns raised by APC parliamentary cacaus and the magnitude of the situation, some SLPP MPs agreed with them that it was a daunting problem and their co concerns required the attention of President Julius Maada Bio. It was this, he said propelled them to make the courtesy call on the President Blo.

Hon. Kargbo continued that the meeting with President Bio was very harmonious and fruitful; adding that President Julius Maada Bio received them well and the APC MPs were able to express their concerns to him about matters of democracy, rule of law and about the chaotic and destabilizing state of the nation nowadays. ‘We left nothing unsaid,” the MP told the media. “We even told him about the way the Ernest Bai Koroma issue had of polarized and divided the nation and our concerns for the peace and security of the country”.

In addition, Hon. Kargbo said they told President Bio that the treatment being meted out to ex-President Koroma will set a bad precedent in the country and the same thing could be done to him and other presidents when they leave power. While responding to the parliamentarians, President Julius Maada Bio thanked the APC delegation profusely for going to State House to engage him on the current state of affairs and also assured the APC MPs that the Ernest Koroma problem will be solved not later than this week.

President Bio further told the APC parliamentary delegation that he wants them to remain engaged because there was need for them to work together to help defuse the rising tensions in the country. Furthermore, Hon. Kargbo told the president that he himself believed in peaceful, approaches to solving the problems of the country. He strongly denounced chaos and said it was counter-productive and would not serve any good purpose. He stressed his belief that only such peaceful and constructive engagements between the SLPP and the APC would re- solve the country’s problems. He was therefore glad that he and APC MPs went to State House to engage President Bio. “We had a fruitful discussion and I am pleased,” he added.