Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio Engages Council of Paramount Chiefs and Paramount Chief Members of Parliament On Way Forward After Recent Fatal Violence

His Excellency President Dr Julius Maada Bio has engaged members of the Council of Paramount Chiefs who are visiting the presidency to register their solidarity with the government and commiserate the deaths on 10 August resulting from violent insurrections that also destroyed properties.

Chairman Paramount Chief Members of Parliament, PC Alie B. Marrah, said their hearts were heavy because of that bloody insurgency, and told the President that he had set the standards of democracy very high and, therefore, a shame that a few people were trying to undermine that hard-won achievement.

He said all those responsible for the violent attacks on that day were shameless individuals, especially so, when they failed to make positive use of their education. He said the essence of education was to transform society and called it shameful for any educated individual who failed to transform their society.

While he reiterated the call for an investigation, he also announced that they were prepared to meet political parties on the possibility of a national dialogue and were also ready to form auxiliary bodies to protect their chiefdoms and mount awareness around government’s development messages at chiefdom levels.

On behalf of the Council of Paramount Chiefs, PC Fasuluku Sonsiama III, said they had nothing like regionalism, noting that they were a united force that would always seek the interest of the government and the country in particular.

He assured President Julius Maada Bio and the nation that they would do anything required of them by the state for as long as it was in the interest of the country and within the laws of Sierra Leone. He called for the empowerment of the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion, established in 2021 to take measures to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts and to build, promote and maintain sustainable peace in the country.

In his remarks, President Bio thanked the revered leaders for being knowledgeable about the 10 August 2022 insurgency in the country that attempted to undermine democracy, peace and stability and peaceful cohesion.

He reminded them of how, as a nation, we had all agreed that violence would be a thing of the past, but that the actions of some individuals on that day were not in good faith. He called on the Council of Chiefs to be part of national cohesion, despite the fact that there might not be a permanent solution to all the issues.

The President said the country was experiencing violence lately as a result of politics that saw the use of abusive languages on social media and the use of children to perpetrate violence all in the name of cheap political gains.

“My programmes for the country are meant to lay the solid foundation that we need as a nation to move forward and not a mere vote-taking programme. These actions like human capital development, women’s empowerment, electricity, healthcare, national cohesion, among others, are the only way to the country’s future,” he said.

“Under my watch as President, anyone that breaks the law, going forward, I will follow you even in the grave. It is my duty to protect the lives and properties of this country and to ensure national cohesion is consolidated,” he concluded.