POLITICS SLPP's Ingratitude and Berewa’s Vicious Attack on Ex-President Kabbah....What A Shame(Part 1) Posted by on Mar 11, 2009, 09:16

Solomon Berewa .....Finding A Scapegoat in Tejan Kabbah For His Demise

The Sierra Leone Peoples Party convention concluded this past weekend in the Eastern Part of the country and the District Headquarter town of Kenema.  The convention ended with more enemies created than expected and cracks became explicitly visible for all to see. Contrary to the preaching of the SLPP, that it is a party with unity, love and care for its members and the people of this country, hence the slogan “One Country One People” what was demonstrated in Kenema prior to the election of 31 officials to serve in various positions within the party was enough to tell the whole world that the party is not yet ready to put the past behind and rebuild itself for future national contest and above all, cohesion.

The convention provided a platform for some of its members to blackmail, humiliate and tear some people apart, and all was done for personal reason and personal achievement. Ex-president Kabbah was the black sheep that Solomon Berewa sacrificed to make his day and wipe the tears of election sadness on his face for not clinching the presidency. Ex-President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was scapgotized, disgraced and accused of manipulating the process to Solomon Berewa’s disadvantage and the SLPP.  This message was bought both by power-thirsty party stalwarts and supporters of the SLPP to the point that no opportunity was given to ex-president Kabbah to defend himself, and all what he received from them was a big boo, which left him with no alternative but to return to Freetown together with his team of security personnel.

Solomon Berewa...Congratulating Ernest Koroma....Now He Blames Kabbah For His Demise

First, the SLPP and Solomon Berewa have no moral right to accuse ex-president Kabbah for their demise or for not winning the 2007 election and second, it was very improper for Solomon Berewa and his supporters to boo at their leader and the former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone.  The action was a complete show of disrespect to statesmanship and authority, which should not be tolerated.    Organizational Communication specialists would describe such unfortunate situation displayed as mental fixation by Solomon Berewa, who had assumed that he had undisputable right to the presidency after Ahmad Tejan Kabbah had taken his exit from the seat of power. 

His inability to succeed Ahmad Tejan Kabbah at all cost perceived him as his biggest obstacle and bitterest enemy, which he was unable to conceal in Kenema. His feelings that Kenema was the most appropriate venue to announce to the world and the gullible voters of that part of the country how ex-president Kabbah deprived him of the golden and enviable seat was evident in his ranting like an infuriated lion who was out to devour anything. The signal sent tells how over ambitious Solomon Berewa was and still is for the presidential seat, and also featured how vicious he can be to his fellow man. If only age and time were to his advantage and the opportunity of becoming the next President of this country is afforded to him by the voters’ ex-president Kabbah would definitely be in trouble.

Winners and Losers....APC.....SLPP After the Elections

This piece is not begging favour from ex-president Kabbah or to appease him, but meant to inform the people of this country about the true nature of a man called “Solomon Ekuma Berewa”. A man who was raised from nowhere to the height of prominence and all he could reward his master with is public disgrace and humiliation. It was good by every imagination that Solomon Berewa lost the 2007 election.  It was good that he did not occupy the enviable seat at State House and it was good, destiny changed the course of event, if not innocent and harmless Sierra Leoneans would have been languishing at the Pademba Road Prison or be killed because Solomon Berewa had perceived them wrongly.

Solomon Berewa, without looking back or took a deep reflection of the past presented ex-president Kabbah as his destroyer of his political ambition and victory of the SLPP.  One is still lost as to what he was expecting Dr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah to do that would enable him clinched the presidential trophy.  Before delving into all that took place before the election, let me refer Solomon Berewa to the convention in Makeni which was chaired by the out gone Ombudsman lawyer Francis Gabbidon. Ex-president Kabbah’s appearance at the 2006 SLPP Makeni convention for the leadership of the party changed event; if not lawyer Charles Margai would have won the election and became the leader and 2007 Presidential candidate.  But Kabbah got Francis Gabbidon to manipulate the show in favour of Solomon Berewa. What about former Vice President Joe Demby who was torpedoed by Kabbah for Berewa’s sake.  Why did he not show gratitude for that?  Instead, he took the podium at Kenema last weekend and lashed out at the ex-president of being the destroyer of his hope and success story.

It is sad for Solomon Berewa at this time to accuse somebody like Tejan Kabbah who had contributed immensely to what he is today.  Such an individual only has a place in the devil’s kingdom as both of them can think and act alike.  As a former school teacher, Solomon Berewa never imagined in his life time that he would one day become one of the most feared Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Sierra Leone.

After studying law, he worked at the Law Officers Department to acquaint himself fully with the legal system.  Later, the three of them, the late Garvas Betts, Solomon Berewa and Ahmed Tejan Kabbah established “The Betts and Berewa Law Firm.  Tejan Kabbah was not too active at the time, concentrating on an assignment he had received from his past employer, which is the recruitment of middle level man power to send to Somalia and other war torn countries.  He was busy performing this assignment with his late wife, Mrs. Patricia Kabbah when the NPRC took over the reigns of government from the APC through the barrel of the gun and not the ballot box, a coup sponsored by John Oponjo Benjamin. The khaki boys described the coup as bloodless. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was later appointed Chairman of the National Advisory Council, with Solomon Berewa his Deputy Chairman. All this period, Solomon Berewa saw nothing bad in Kabbah until 2007 when he lost the Presidential election.  They worked together like twins, including lawyer Banda Thomas and some other Sierra Leoneans.  The blame about the killing of Salami Coker and others who were accused by the khaki boys of organizing a coup to overthrow the NPRC was heaped on them by the public including this writer for not advising the regime.  But their defence was simple, they did advise them but the young and inexperienced boys could not listen to them.

Ahmad Tejan Kabbah resigned as Chairman of the National Advisory Council and went with Solomon Berewa and the NPRC dismantled the council. Solomon Berewa did not point any accusing finger at Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of destroying his chance, in fact he was little known until Kabbah popularized him when he appointed him as the country’s Attorney General and Minister of government.  The only group of people who knew him and appreciated him is the Commodity Trading Company (CTC) and Arif Halloway.  This is because he had legal retainer ship with them.  The relationship became thicker and sweeter when Solomon Berewa realized that Mr. Muckerzel, the Grand Chief Commander and financier of CTC was a friend of Ahmad Tejan Kabbah who was also involved in the coco-coffee deal that caused the exit of Mr. Kabbah from Sierra Leone for over twenty years and came back home when he retired from the United Nations.

During the reign of the NPRC, Dr. James Jonah was appointed Interim National Electoral Commissioner (INEC).  This was after Ahmed Tejan Kabbah and his former team at the National Advisory Council had recommended him to the Strasser regime that he can do the job for them. Dr. Prince Harding, Thorlu Bangura, Emmanuel Grant and a handful of other members of the SLPP approached Mr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah to contest for the leadership of the party.  This was after Dr. Karefa Smart had turned down the offer that he too had an intention to register a political party. He informed them that he would only accept it if they change the name of the party (SLPP).  It would be recalled that ex-president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, Solomon Berewa and other members of the Advisory Council of the NPRC had already recommended in a draft constitution that the names of both political parties (APC & SLPP) should be changed if violence among supporters of the two oldest political parties is to be minimized.

The condition of Dr. Karefa Smart was rejected by the emissaries who were sent to cajole him for the leadership position of the SLPP. Mr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, this writer was told asked them to see him at a later date and that he was going to hold consultations with his late wife and other members of his family as his principal reason for coming home was to enjoy his retirement benefits and live a peaceful life in Sierra Leone.  During this period the APC was fragmented after the devastating and unexpected bang it had received from the khaki boys. For one to even identify himself as an APC or a supporter of the party was like committing crimes against politics, only few individuals like Serry Kamal, Eddie Turay and others had the gut to re-register the party and stood the test of time. 

Mr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah later agreed to contest for the leadership of the party, including Dr. Sama Banya, Harry Will, and others.  But every arrangement was in place for him to win.  The conference at the Bintumani Hotel at Aberdeen was a clean sweep for him as Dr. Prince Harding, Thorlu Bangura; Emmanuel Grant had already removed the road blocks.

The only party that could have contested and won the election if not fragmented was the APC, but the khaki boys were not prepared to hand over power to neither the APC nor to Dr. John Karefa’s Smart UNPP Lamp Party.  In fact, most of the khaki boys were from the south-east with Valentine Strasser from the western area who was used as a pun and later dumped.  The allegation was that Valentine Strasser had refused to prepare the way for democracy.  Maada Bio and others were ready to do that, so the only way out was to tie Valentine Strasser, bundled him into a military helicopter, dumped at Guinea, took away every thing from him, ransacked his house and cannibalized his vehicles.

The election was conducted in 1996 using the Proportional Representation political system, which was introduced by Dr. James Jonah, a system that was very akin to the voters but for the exigency of time it was accepted.  Ahmad Tejan Kabbah won the election amidst suspicion of electoral fraud and other electoral malpractices, which prompted Dr. Abass Bundu to write a letter to Julius Maada Bio advising him to cancel the results.  But as indicated, everything was planned; Dr. James Jonah was compensated for conducting a fraudulent election that saw the presidency won by his United Nations colleague.  He was appointed Special Representative to the United Nation, Cabinet rank and later Minister of Finance.  At the Ministry of Finance he was able to build a house in Sierra Leone, after a contract was awarded to Femi Turner to rehabilitate the Ministerial building. Solomon Berewa was brought in as the country’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice. (Read next edition for more details)