Chernoh Bah speaking at Roosevelt University in Chicago
National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Spokesman, Chernoh Alpha Bah on Monday addressed a crowd of students and academics at the Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois on the upcoming elections in November.
Bah, who was speaking on the impacts iron ore and potential oil exploration would have on this year's polls, said the international community “must help the people of Sierra Leone to have a free, fair and transparent elections”.
He said the current elections in Sierra Leone were not just about the consolidation of democracy but “a fierce contest over the control of the country’s immense natural resources” by a political class that had led the state for the last fifty years at the detriment of the masses.
He said the current government had signed numerous mining and oil exploration agreements with many multinational corporations already engaged in extraction and exploration activities in the countrywith “most of
these agreements...signed under the most questionable conditions and circumstances”.
Bah said the mining agreements had given more benefits to government ministers and other public officials while the conditions of the ordinary masses remained “abysmally poor”.
“These officials who are benefiting from these questionable mining agreements will not easily give up power even if they are genuinely voted against during the elections,” he said, pointing that the world community must pay closer attention to the forthcoming elections in Sierra Leone.
“The current government of Sierra Leone has created worrying signs ahead of the elections. They armed the police force few months ago amidst numerous complaints of repeated violence against opposition activists across the country during the last five years,” he said, while pointing out that all freedom loving individuals and countries across the world have an “obligation” to ensure the elections are held under a peaceful and transparent environment.
“The current government is desperate to retain power so they could continuously enjoy the benefits flowing from the rogue mining contracts they have signed during the last five years, and we have no illusions that they might be tempted to resist against the democratic will of the people” Bah said, adding that five years in office had worsened the conditions of ordinary citizens.
Bah is currently on an international campaign tour to win global support for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) program ahead of the elections. He is scheduled to speak in universities and community centers across the United States. His next stops will be Oakland, Saint Bruno, Dallas, Austin and Houston.
