One Thing & Another
Time For Atonement On The Biriwa Chieftaincy And Similar Quagmires
By Alie Formeh Kamara
May 9, 2008, 01:45

Nine months have past since the SLPP government of ex-president Kabbah was relieved of the seat of power, but some of the capricious acts committed under that regime remained  needs to be cured in the society. Some have threatened the peace and stability as well as the thriving democratic system. The APC government of his Excellency Ernest Koroma inherited a society marred with a lot of negative baggage. But as promised, His Excellency Ernest Koroma has long begun work on a number of vital national economic and political reforms, if succeeded, he may score pretty high marks in some areas such as corruption, national welfare, electricity, and restoring stakeholder confidence in Sierra Leone once again. But to maintain the current level of rating, as the government forges ahead, more may need to be done particularly in confronting social and cultural issues connected with the people’s confidence in government or else Sierra Leone may produce a new breed of individuals disgusted with politics.  

One significant cause for the fall out with government stemmed from the long tradition of political meddling with the revered position of chieftaincy. Many well deserving claimants to the sacred cultural position of chieftaincy in many localities were reportedly sidelined and have remained sidelined even today. Succeeding governments have capriciously manipulated the chieftaincy for their selfish ends. They have influenced the elections of chiefs for the purpose of using Chiefs to obtain votes in Presidential and Parliamentary elections. And under the leadership of ex-President Kabbah and Vice President Berewa political meddling into the chieftaincy reached monumental proportions.      

The Biriwa chieftaincy quagmire which saw about 90% Biriwa Limbas loosing the position of Paramount Chief, because of the  gross and open manipulation of ex-president Kabbah of the SLPP government in what could be referred to as a sham election which was opposed by the Electoral Commissioner and boycotted by Biriwa Limbas. The resolution of the people of Sierra Leone will go down in history as the most politically self damaging action by the past government. The Biriwa Limba quagmire achieved international recognition and is now documented and used by scholars as an example of the excesses and abuse of political power by African governments.

In the Biriwa debacle it would be recalled that on August 12^th 2006, the Minister of Local Government, Mr. Sidike Brima and the Provincial Secretary Northern Province, stormed Kamabai, the Chiefdom Headquarters with a contingent of armed Police officers, who reportedly fired several rounds of live bullets into the air prior to the elections. Ironically, the election was conducted at the Butcher Market instead of the usual Court Barray where the Electoral Commission usually held elections and Maggie Cartoons were used as ballot boxes.

When violence erupted and a number of people were axed with machete, the election was reportedly postponed. But one particular act by ex-president Kabbah’s government that edified its overzealousness in the conduct of the Biriwa Chieftaincy elections was the postponement of the elections for just one day. No one would agree that a one day postponement of the election was adequate even if electronic communications were available for purposes of issuing notification to the general public. In the Biriwa Chiefdom, adequate notification of a postponement would require foot patrol over rugged terrain that range in excess of twenty miles in some instances to the abode of some voters. This was clearly not done. Thus, many voters were disenfranchised, a complete  violation of the laws of Sierra Leone that grant the right to equal treatment to all Sierra Leoneans in the conduct of the business of government. At the end of this shameful exercise, a tribal kith and kin of the Ex-President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah were pronounced the winner. 

What could have easily escalated into a tribal war was controlled by matured minds who decided on a non-violent approach. It took nearly eight months following the sham elections before President Kabbah with his military, armed to the teeth, decided to travel to Biriwa for the crowning ceremony. He was expecting confrontations, but Biriwa Limbas who had seen the merciless political killings of several Limbas over the years were not ready to sacrifice more blood and so residents of Kamabai deserted the town for the suburbs and ex-President Kabbah arrived in a ghost town for a ceremony of a Paramount chief, uncle of Isata Jabbie without subjects.

The fighting spirit of Biriwa Limbas against cultural subjugation was exemplified in the ensuing court battle with the government. But, as it turned out, even the court at the time was not a sanctuary or a reservoir of justice, under the watchful eyes and reign of the SLPP government.

Sierra Leone, it seemed was under the heavy clutches of an overzealous government that would stop at nothing when promoting itself. And so the Biriwa people got a second beating but this time by the court which was supposed to act as a protector of civil rights.

The promise of change by his Excellency, Ernest Koroma, resonated in many quarters in the days leading up to the 2007 national elections. Sierra Leone was reeling with anger and torments everywhere reminiscent of the forces that led to the historic defeat of the SLPP party in the 1967 general elections. For the victims of the SLPP machinations, the only recourse was to fight first through the courts and next through the ballot box if necessary.

And so it was that this once powerful government of the SLPP that seemed so untouchable and relentless under ex-President Tejan Kabbah and then Vice President, Solomon Brewah was forced to its knees like Goliath in the biblical story of David and Goliath. No where else was voting for the exercise of political vengeance so apparent than in Biriwa. The political battle lines were clearly drawn. The Biriwa Limbas, who were the victims of the SLPP political machination, voted solidly for the APC. Nearly 100 percent of Biriwa Limbas voted for the APC party. Statistically, the Biriwa constituency vote was one of the top five greatest votes for constituencies that contributed to the victory of His Excellency, Ernest Koroma.

Despite their grief and the incessant whaling over the decision, Biriwa Limbas continue to regard their strangers in Biriwa land, the Mandingoes, as their brothers. This is captured in several spiritual verses written by Biriwas in North America for the 100 years celebration of the death of the revered King Suluku of Biriwa.        

The national elections are over and the victory of the APC brings with it light at the end of the tunnel for them. One writer for the Concord Times Newspaper, on August 28, 2006, in an article entitled ‘Over Biriwa Election: Ernest Koroma Challenges Local Government Minister’, wrote that the leader of the APC challenged a statement by the then Local Government Minister that the Biriwa election was final. Like his statement that he would defeat Vice President Berewa in the general elections, even his most cynical critics would have no reason this time to disbelieve that his Excellency, Ernest Koroma, would restore sanity in Biriwa and confidence on the government of Sierra Leone.