Editor’s Note: Earlier in October, it was revealed that former Vice President of Sierra Leone, Sam Sumana exposed the alleged Ernest Bai Koroma led APC Government underground plans to remain in power for the third term. The report titled “Sam Sumana Exposes President Koroma’s 3rd Term Plans And All APC Secrets” was on circulation in all social and print media. Cocorioko Editor, Kabbs Kanu was quick to dismiss the report in his article “Former VP Sam Sumana has nothing to expose”. According to Kanu, Sam SUMANA has no secrets of the government to expose because the Ernest Koroma Government is a government of accountability and transparency. In this rejoinder by Tamba Gborie, the Sierraloaded‘s contributor revisits Kanu’s claim and why Sumana has handful of secrets of the Koroma’s government.

The article above titled “Sam Sumana has nothing to expose about president Koroma” was written by Reverend Kabs Kanu, the editor of the Cocorioko online news and the hardcopy newspaper. I feel oblige to write a rejoinder and dismiss the suggestions of Reverend Kabs Kanu and ask whether he would react differently if he was in the same position as the elected vice president Chief Alhaji Sidique Abubakarr Sam Sumana.

Reverend Kabs Kanu is a prolific writer with insight, lately he refuses to acknowledge the dangers and the lawlessness associated with president Koroma’s leadership particularly the murder of the national constitution, denial of fair political playing field to opposition parties, suppressing and victimising Sierra Leoneans on a massive scale yet Reverend Kabs Kanu see nothing wrong with the direction the president is taking the country to.

Chief Alhaji Sidique Abubakarr Sam Sumana spent seven years in governance as vice president to Earnest Bai Koroma, he knows every nook and cranny about the president. It is therefore preposterous for Reverend Kabs Kanu to say? Sam Sumana has nothing to expose about president Koroma?. Besides the elected vice president is an excellent professional, courageous and disciplined he finds it repugnant to expose the president because the public already know who the president is and what he is capable of doing.

Sierra Leoneans and the international community lost respect for president Koroma the day he made these utterances? By the powers vested in me as the Supreme Executive Authority, I hereby relieve Chief Alhaji Sidique Abubakarr Sam Sumana of all duties as vice president with immediate effect?. Many see him as a lawless leader who has no regard for the laws that brought him and his running mate – the vice president to power.

What these utterances imply is the president sack himself as there is no clauses in our constitution which empowers the president to relieve the vice president of his duties save for sections 50 and 51 of the 1991 constitution respectively.

The Judges who gave president Koroma an insurmountable power through the wrong interpretation of the national constitution are at the centre of president Koroma’s lawlessness have gone into hiding for fear of public humiliation and attack. Their ruling brought the Judiciary and the entire governance into disrepute allowing the president to act outside the confines of the laws of Sierra Leone.

I therefore urge Reverend Kabs Kanu to look away now or else he will get the shock of his life to read what the public know about the president ranging from his third term bid, his shady deals and why he will not reshuffle the cabinet.

Both of these gentlemen came to office from the same political party, the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) in September 2007 in elections which, according to well held public views, Sam Sumana bankrolled the campaigns for Ernest Bai Koroma.

Things were fine between the two men until 2009 when governance input from the VP on issues of finance and administration of the country were ignored by the president.

From the first quarter of 2010, Sam Sumana’s supremo began ignoring the advice and input of Sam Sumana into the administration of the state mainly because he was now dealing with shady parties, financial and money laundry conduits, opening foreign accounts with Barclays Bank in Accra, Ghana, taking bribes from Koidu Holdings Diamond Company and Timis’ African Minerals while using persons of doubtful characters. For example former opposition party leader, Mohamed Bangura of the UDM party and Ministers such as Zianab Bangura, Minkailu Mansary, Musa Tarawallie and Alpha Kanu to surrender oil exploration deals to fake foreign business interests.

At the same time recommending his political and district Bombali friends to the Rokel Commercial bank as board members and senior management to receive unpaid loans with no collateral interest.

The extraordinary tax rebates to Frank Timis’ African Minerals, covering corrupt Ministers; all these became stormy issues between the elected vice president and his boss?.

By December of 2014, the Rokel Commercial bank with 51% government shares of interest had reported loss of Le98 billion ($19.6m), while African Minerals was paying less tax to government as it continued to report huge tax payment to their foreign Chinese counterparts.

In 2013, because he has shares in the country’s National Petroleum (NP) the president refused an European Union project to renovate and revamp the country’s Oil Refinery in Kissy, East of the city of Freetown by allowing his inexperience brother, commonly called ? What-a-man? to take over the country’s dilapidated oil refinery?.

This is a preface of what the public know about president Koroma, Reverend Kabs Kanu should prepare answers to challenge the opinion the public hold about the president rather be worried about the elected vice president having nothing to expose about president Koroma.

Indeed the elected vice president has so much to expose about president Koroma but needless to do so as the public already know everything about the unsavoury political deals of the president.

 

DISCLAIMER: This article expresses the author’s report only. The opinion, views and facts expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Sierraloaded or its administrators.