After strenuously denying the inevitable fact that the ICC has invited the illegal President Maada Bio to a meeting, the disgraced SLPP regime has finally confirmed receiving the invitation letter from the International Criminal Court. The SLPP regime’s delay in accepting the fact was because of the shock that the State House has experienced in the last couple of days since Maada Bio received the ICC letter dated 18 August 2023. (Photo: Autocrat Maada Bio is in hot waters).

This is the first time a sitting President has been invited by the ICC to discuss complaints of human rights abuses by his own people. As published yesterday, this newspaper knows about the veracity of the letter even though SLPP supporters and even SLPP government officials were all over the place denying the reports on social media.  Last night, however, the Bio presidency let the cat out of the bag by agreeing finally that Maada Bio has indeed received the ICC invitation letter to meet with the ICC Chief Prosecutor Mr Karim AA Khan KC next month in New York.

The SLPP Information Minister Chernor Bah aka Ceebah confirmed the reports on his Twitter page yesterday. It reads thus: “The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has requested an opportunity to meet with President Bio to discuss Sierra Leone’s leadership regarding matters related to the ICC and the country’s tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.” Sierra Leoneans are aware of the shock State House has experienced since Maada received the ICC letter. But it is also interesting to note how Chernor Bah is downplaying the seriousness of the ICC letter. This letter comes four days after Concerned Sierra Leoneans Worldwide presented a petition letter of complaint to the ICC in The Hague on August 14, 2023. (Photos: ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and the protesters in The Hague with King Adebayor, the most popular social media activist, yellow hat).

Fantastic news as far as Sierra Leoneans are concerned. Citizen Sal Jay wrote: Two things – The Sierra Leone government has confirmed receipt of an invitation from the International Criminal Court ICC for President Bio to have a meeting with them in New York. Also, the government has also confirmed social media rumours that the government is in talks with a Public Relations Firm in the United States (Mercury) for an undisclosed amount. Reports are that the government is about to go into an agreement for fifty million dollars an amount yet to be verified..This is happening when the Bio SLPP government is not in the good books of the West because of controversy surrounding the recent June 24 Polls.

ICC has issued this letter with the blessing of the United Nations. State House, the seat of power is currently topsy-turvy following the major development from the ICC to the Bio presidency. Last week Monday, July 14, Concerned Sierra Leoneans Worldwide CSLW conducted a massive protest in Den Haag (The Hague) where protesters physically handed over a petition to the ICC, a complaint against Maada Bio and his violent SLPP regime. Four days later, the ICC responded positively by inviting the Sierra Leone leader Maada Bio. Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Sierra Leone Christians piously prayed after hearing the ICC invitation. Good Muslims to continue to pray for the country. (Photos: Chernor Bah and the Sierra Leone protesters in Holland).

Ostensibly, the ICC revelation is good news for most Sierra Leoneans as news of the invitation letter reverberated in every nook and cranny of Sierra Leone. As information filtered through that the ICC has formally invited the bloody-thirsty SLPP President Maada Bio in consultation with the United Nations, there was and still is a huge sigh of relief in the Sierra Leone communities around the world. And coming when the country is at a stalemate exacerbated by the fraudulent June 24 general and presidential elections, most citizens see the ICC invitation of Maada Bio to the United Nations next month as a step in the correct direction to get justice for all victimised Sierra Leoneans in the last five bloody years of the Bio regime.

The invitation letter is invariably the first step of a long road to facilitate the arraignment of Maada Bio before the ICC for crimes against humanity, charges that will surely fit the failed leader and his cohorts.  The ICC letter dated July 18, 2023, was to notify the presidency about the complaint against Maada Bio. It came out just four days after the submission of the petition to the ICC in The Hague by Concerned Sierra Leoneans Worldwide. The ICC responded positively by inviting the principal accused Julius Maada Bio to a meeting next month. This fight to get real justice for victims of human rights violations in Sierra Leone is a solemn fight coming from different fronts. But the Concerned Sierra Leoneans Worldwide protest on July 14, 2023, was the catalyst that finally ignited the ICC letter. (Photos: Below are the SLPP denials and the SLPP confirmation).