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Former Cabinet Minister Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden has issued a sharp rebuttal to Alie Kabba, challenging his recent comparison between his 2015 incarceration and the current detention of APC National Secretary General Lansana Dumbuya.
In a statement released on Sunday, February 15, 2026, Dr. Blyden accused the former SLPP minister of “distorting history” and “manufacturing comparisons” to malign the record of the former All People’s Congress (APC) government.
The exchange follows a public appeal by Alie Kabba, who urged the current administration to grant bail to Lansana Dumbuya. In his appeal, Kabba drew a parallel to his own arrest in 2015 under former President Ernest Bai Koroma, describing his denial of bail at the time as a “grave abuse of state power” where “justice was distorted”.
Dr. Blyden, however, contends that the two cases are fundamentally different. She argues that while Lansana Dumbuya is a locally based political figure and “not a flight risk,” Kabba’s denial of bail in 2015 was legally justified by his status as a foreign resident.
To substantiate her claim, Dr. Blyden released a certified court document from the United States. The document, a “Judgment for Dissolution of Marriage” filed in the Circuit Court of the Twelfth Judicial District in Will County, Illinois, is dated September 27, 2013.
The court filing explicitly states that “Petitioner, ALIE KABBA, was a resident of the State of Illinois at the time this action was commenced and that residence has been maintained in the state of Illinois”.
Blyden asserted that this document serves as proof that “at the material time of Alie Kabba’s legal issues, his foreign residency and flight-risk factors were part of the legal context”.
“Leadership requires the discipline to not take advantage of two issues that are superficially similar but fundamentally quite different,” Blyden wrote. “For Lansana Dumbuya, he is not a flight risk. Two situations with stark difference.”
Dr. Blyden also defended the administration of former President Koroma, stating that narratives suggesting the APC government unjustly targeted Kabba “do not align with the historical facts”. She claimed that, on the contrary, the APC government often disadvantaged its own members, such as Diana Konomanyi, to accommodate Kabba.
Warning against further “inaccurate comparisons,” Dr. Blyden stated she reserves the right to publish additional records “strictly for public education and factual clarification” if the current narrative continues.
“The APC Government of President Ernest Bai Koroma… should not be portrayed as something it was not,” she concluded. “Facts matter. Records matter.”.
