By Politico staff writer
Politico can authoritatively reveal that high level talks have begun between the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party and the main opposition, APC. Sources who should know about the meeting told Politico that Hon. Mohamed Sidi Tunis, Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament and John Oponjo Benjamin who was sacked from his job as a Senior Adviser to President Bio on Wednesday, met former president Ernest Bai Koroma at his home in Makeni.
Our sources believe the meeting was approved by President Julius Maada Bio.
When contacted on the matter, the ECOWAS Speaker confirmed that they met the former President but refused to be drawn on the issues discussed and their conclusion but he described the meeting as “exploratory”, noting that further meetings are planned as a way of “bringing the political temperature in the country down”. Hon Tunis said “everything should be done to maintain peace and national cohesion in Sierra Leone and for all political parties to play their part in the governance of the state”.
The meeting happened at a time the APC said they will boycott all governance activities in the country in protest over the outcome of the 24th June General Elections.
The leadership of the APC had claimed lack of transparency and irregularities in the electioneering process and had rejected the results of the Presidential Election announced by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) which certified incumbent President Julius Maada Bio as winner.
ECSL has dismissed the accusations as a ploy to undermine their credibility.
A list that bears the names and signatures of the elected APC Members of Parliament and Local Councils, giving their assent to the party’s stance to boycott governance, has surfaced on social media.
Former President Koroma left his role as chairman and leader of the APC just before the elections but remains an influential figure in the party.
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