A press release from the Ministry of Information and Civic Education dated 7th December, 2023, has stated that “at around 11:00 am today, 7th December, 2023, the Sierra Leone police served a summon to the former President of Sierra Leone, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma – inviting him to report at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department in Freetown within a period of 24 hours.”
According to the press release, “the former president is invited to assist the police in the ongoing criminal investigations into the November 26th failed attempted coup in Sierra Leone.”
On Sunday, November 26th, 2023, a group of assailants stormed and attacked several locations in Freetown including the country’s military armoury and central prison. Hundreds of prisoners were released. Security personnel as well as innocent Sierra Leoneans were killed in the melee. The attacks were however repelled by state security loyal to the government of incumbent President Julius Maada Bio.
President Julius Maada Bio himself has in a recent address to the state described the incident on November 26th as, beyond any doubt, an attempted coup d’État.
“Their action was premeditated and coordinated, and was executed to unseat the democratically elected government by violent and unlawful means, topple constitutional order and reverse our decades of investment in peace and democracy,” he said.
He has instructed a full scale investigation into the incident, noting they will go to wherever the investigation leads them.
Amongst the arrests made so far, the government has indicated some key members of the security architecture of former President Ernest Bai Koroma.
A press release from the office of former President Koroma on December 7th, 2023, has acknowledged receipt of the invitation, and pointed out the former president will be traveling to Freetown to honour the said invitation.
“I maintain an open mind and stand ready to support the police investigations to the fullest. Let the rule of law reigns supreme in our democracy. In this respect, former President Koroma appeals for calm, for public support for the police investigation, and for the due process of the law,” former leader and chairman of the country’s main opposition All People’s Congress- APC- has stated in the release.
Sierra Leone experienced a political stalemate after June 24th, 2023, national elections.
The results of the elections were disputed by the main opposition APC .
An agreement was later met between the two parties in October this year following mediation by the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS.
President Bio himself had led and been part of coups in the 1990s before handing over power and returning to politics as a civilian years later.
