By Abubakarr Bah, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
On Sunday evening, July 4 2021, many Sierra Leoneans, home and abroad, were astonished to be informed of the return of Captain (retired) Valentine Essegrabo Melvin Strasser to Freetown after successfully undergoing medical treatment in Accra, Ghana. Well, I say many Sierra Leoneans were astonished by Strasser's return, especially when photos of his welcome ceremony at the Presidential Lodge in Freetown flooded social media as this was a man many people rumoured had died as a result of the government’s alleged neglect.
At the Presidential lodge, Captain (rtd) Valentine E. M. Strasser thanked President Bio for the care and support during those “difficult moments”, adding that the Sierra Leone Embassy in Ghana was exceptional in looking after him during his surgery and physiotherapy in Accra,” State House release stated.
President Bio was happy to receive his brother and former colleague, and that progressed to the handing over of keys to his newly built and furnished apartment situated at Grafton in rural Freetown. His Excellency congratulated the former military leader on his recovery after a protracted illness. “While you were away, I built you a house that can serve your prestige as a former Head of State. Whatever it is for me to do to make you happy, I am still here and ready to help,” President Bio assured.
Well, as many Sierra Leoneans have been commending President Julius Maada Bio for the generosity and compassion he has shown to his former boss, others who for some reasons would never give praise where praises are due, are again twisting the entire matter saying “the new house that was handed over to Strasser wasn’t built by the Government of President Bio”. This is biggest joke of the century because a recorded video and audio on social media empirically show Strasser being thankful to President Bio for not only giving him a newly built and furnished house but also the care and support accorded him throughout his treatment in Ghana.
Sadly, the same people making such false claims were the same that have been accusing President Bio of neglecting Strasser to die in Ghana, while others paraded fake news of the latter’s death. I shall be narrating a true perspective of my encounter with Captain Valentine Strasser in 2010 in part two of this write up but let me first highlight some historical facts about Captain Strasser and how he was used in 2012 and subsequently dumped by the former APC administration.
Captain Valentine E.M Strasser became Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) on April 29 1992, following a coup that toppled the All Peoples Congress (APC) that had been in power for more than three decades. The coup was popularly welcomed by many Sierra Leoneans as many people were tired of the regime. At 25, Strasser became the youngest leader in the world.
After 4 years in office, he was toppled in a bloodless palace coup by the Supreme Council of the NPRC led by his Deputy Chairman, Brigadier General Julius Maada Bio. Bio served for 3 months, and as he had promised, conducted elections and handed over power to a democratic civilian Government of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) of Dr Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabba in 1996.
In the United Kingdom, Strasser enrolled for a law degree at Warwick University "as part of a United Nations-brokered peace deal, but he didn't complete the course due to persistent attacks from some Sierra Leoneans in U.K which made him leave the U.K.
After dropping out from Warwick, he sought asylum in the Gambia for a short period and eventually returned to Sierra Leone.
At his Allentown residence in Freetown, Strasser's situation deteriorated to an extent that one wouldn't imagine he was ever a Head of State in 1996. He had no money and was separated from his wife, Gloria. In fact, on August 16 2001, the BBC reported that people were throwing stones at Strasser and booing him when he ventured out on the streets of the capital, Freetown.
The Kabbah regime, at the time, issued a statement urging people to stop jeering and throwing stones at Strasser. Some people advocated for him and made a case to President Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabba (of blessed memory) for the latter to be given a pension as former Head of State to restore his dignity. Nonetheless, the proposal was dashed because the Kabbah government viewed it as unconstitutional as Captain Strasser was a junta leader, not an elected President.
When the APC of Ernest Bai Koroma came to power and in 2010, Strasser's name catapulted in the media again following an exclusive interview I had with him regarding a proposed inquest into the NPRC executions, which would be explained later. For now, let me point out that when Strasser broke his silence on CTN radio in 2010, the APC regime succeeded in getting him on their side for the 2012 elections, an election Dr Ernest Bai Koroma wanted to win desperately.
The APC was tactful and knew that Strasser would be appropriately used against Koroma's main challenger, Brigadier (rtd) Julius Maada Bio in the 2012 Presidential elections. Strasser was whisked to David Tam Bayoh's popular radio Monologue program 24 hours to polling day in which the latter was given a wide platform to endorse the incumbent President Koroma and vilify Bio.
During the Monologue program, Strasser endorsed President Koroma for a second term but did not vilify his former NPRC colleague during the entire interview. After Koroma was announced as the winner of that Presidential election, Strasser was again left in the cold to suffer until Koroma appointed Victor Foh following the sacking of Chief Sam Sumana as Vice President of Sierra Leone.
Vice President Foh travelled with Strasser to Kailahun and other areas of the country, making a lot of people believe that the APC government would change Strasser's story by restoring his dignity as former Head of State. But a few weeks later, Strasser was again abandoned to suffer.
The BBC's Umaru Fofana interviewed Strasser and got him to narrate his ordeal and how he had constructed a makeshift structure as a technical and vocational school and that he was seeking support from organizations in and outside Sierra Leone to support his initiative.
To be continued. Read next edition in which the author explains his encounter with Captain (rtd) Valentine Strasser in 2010.
Abubakarr Bah, Information Attaché
Embassy of Sierra Leone, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
+966567766322
Email: abubakarrsalieubah@gmail.com
Copyright © 07/07/21 Politico Online
