UNHAPPY ARMY
Sierra Leone: Uprising the work of ‘bunch of dissidents who plotted failed August coup’ – source
Posted on November 27, 2023 16:16
State security forces arrested members of an armed group that attacked a military base and prisons in Sierra Leone on Sunday in what appears to have been an attempted coup.
Most leaders of the armed group that attacked a strategically important military base and broke into prisons in Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown on Sunday morning have been apprehended.
The armed group targeted the armoury at the Wilberforce Military Barracks situated about 15 minutes from the Presidential Lodge, and freed prisoners from Pademba Road Prison.
Following news of the attack, President Julius Maada Bio imposed a nationwide curfew that has since been lifted.
“The peace of our beloved nation is priceless, and we shall continue to protect the security of Sierra Leone against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability,” read a statement issued by Bio from his official residence.
The move is seen as an attempt to unseat Bio, who was elected to a second term earlier this year in an election contested by both opposition members and international observers.
August surprise
President Julius Maada Bio’s government is rejecting opposition party claims that the attacks on the armoury at Wilberforce on 26 November and subsequent running battles in Freetown were orchestrated to scupper political negotiations after the disputed elections in June.
A source close to the Maada Bio government told The Africa Report: “This operation was launched by a bunch of dissidents who had plotted a coup in August … but on both occasions, their actions didn’t win support among the army.”
Asked why President Bio had declined to describe the operation as a military coup, the source said: “We’re looking at how this played out and the threshold for a coup is quite low – some of the players can be civilians.”
“This operation doesn’t seem to have got beyond a group getting into the amoury, pulling out weapons, releasing some prisoners but then failing to win people to their side,” added the source.
Bio’s Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) signed a peace accord last month under which a committee to review the elections would be set up and all political prisoners would be released. The APC had agreed to instruct its representatives to return to parliament and local councils.
Some leading opposition figures close to APC leader Samura Kamara and former national President Ernest Bai Koroma accused the Bio government of sabotaging the political accord and ordering attacks on senior opposition politicians.
Late yesterday ex-President Koroma posted on social media: “I’m deeply concerned over the unfolding events in Freetown and I condemn the grave breaches of state security. I also condemn the tragic loss of Corporal Eddie Conteh, a dedicated military guard assigned to me who was killed on duty at my residence.” Koroma added that Warrant Officer John Swarray was taken away from his residence in Freetown by “armed men”.
Pressure cooker
In the five months since Bio resumed power, Sierra Leone has been the site of intense post-election violence, government boycotts, and is on the receiving end of strong criticism from both inside and outside the country.
The results of the June polls were rejected by opposition candidates and condemned by international observers, including the US and the EU, who pointed to a lack of transparency in the electoral process.
This year’s election was the fifth since the 11-year civil war which came to an end in 2002.
Bio, 59, faces mounting pressure as economic conditions in the country continue to deteriorate.
Surge of coups
These latest developments in Sierra Leone come after a string of military takeovers in West and Central Africa – eight in total since 2020, with the latest putsches taking place in Gabon and Niger this year.
The region has struggled to shake off its reputation as Africa’s so-called “coup belt”, which is home to a stretch of military-run countries from the Red Sea to the Atlantic.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has thrown its support behind Bio’s government, saying in a statement on Sunday that the bloc has “zero-tolerance for unconstitutional change of government”.
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