Commentary
By Patriotic Vanguard Staff Writers
We note, with satisfaction, the visit of the African Union Chairman, Moussa Faki Mahamat (photo) in Freetown on Monday and his meeting with President Julius Maada Bio.
Even though he was not in the country to discuss the recent provocations from neighbouring Guinea, we are sure he and President Bio discussed the issue in private.
We also note that a recent communique issued by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) never mentioned the blatant violation of Sierra Leonean sovereignty by Guinean troops even though President Bio mentioned it in his speech at the meeting. ECOWAS is known to wait until things get out of control before they intervene in any West African crisis. We saw it happen in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the past.
If Guinea’s octogenarian leader, Alpha Conde, think he can easily win a war against Sierra Leone, he needs to think again. Sierra Leone has a lot of battle-hardened and experienced troops that had fought against murderous Liberian and Sierra Leonean rebels and against rebels in Somalia and other places in Africa.. A word to the wise is sufficient.
But Sierra Leoneans do not want a war with Guinea because there any many things that should unite rather than divide us. A lot of the ethnic groups in Sierra Leone can be found in Guinea and both countries are poor and still struggling with the Corona virus pandemic after the devastating Ebola epidemic a few years ago.
Conde should try to rebuild and unite his highly divided people rather than forcing Sierra Leone to go to war against our brothers and sisters in Guinea.
He should also reopen his border with Sierra Leone and other West African states and stop accusing our Vice President of interfering in Guinean affairs without evidence. If he has evidence he should take it to ECOWAS or the AU. He has headed the AU before and knows what to do.
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