By James Koroma

National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Spokesperson, Chernoh Alpha Bah has told an audience in Chicago yesterday that the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) government of President Koroma will not be willing to easily give up power even if they are voted against during the upcoming November elections.
Bah, who was speaking during an interview with the Bloom Collective’s popular television show, Xcavate, reiterated concerns he expressed during an address to a crowd of students and academics at the Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois on Monday evening.
He says the current elections in Sierra Leone are not just about the consolidation of democracy but they constitute a fierce contest over the control of the country’s immense natural resources by a political class that has held the state for the last fifty years at the detriment of the interest of the masses.
“The current government has signed numerous mining and oil exploration agreements with many multinational corporations that are already engaged in extraction and exploration activities in the country,” he said, adding that most of these agreements were signed under the most questionable conditions and circumstances.
Bah said the mining agreements have given more benefits to government ministers and other public officials but the conditions of the ordinary masses remain 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 told the Xcavate TV shows.
He said the world must pay closer attention to the forthcoming elections in Sierra Leone and ensure that they are held under a peaceful and transparent environment.
“The current government of Sierra Leone has armed the police force few months ago amidst numerous complaints of repeated violence against opposition activists across the country during the last five years and we believe this constitute a worrying act,” he said.
“The desperation of the current government to hold on to power is extremely alarming and we have no illusions that they might be tempted to resist against the democratic will of the people” Bah said, noting that public opinion has weighed heavily against the government because its five years in office has worsened the conditions of ordinary citizens.
He said his international campaign is to inform the international community that there is a need for democratic transition in the country and that the resources of Sierra Leone must not be enjoyed by a few rogue politicians alone but should be used to transform the living conditions of the people,” he stated.
He is also scheduled to speak at a Skyline College in St. Bruno California on Friday afternoon.