Former Sierra Leonean president Ernest Bai Koroma was summoned by the Police on Thursday December 7 within 24 hours to be questioned about the events of November 26, described by the Government as an attempted coup d’état, according to the Ministry of Information and its services.
Mr. Koroma, who led Sierra Leone from 2007 to 2018, is due to visit the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department in the capital, Freetown. He is “summoned to assist the police in the ongoing investigation” into the events of November 26, says a statement signed by Information Minister Chernor A. Bah. The services of the former head of state confirmed his summons in a communiqué sent from Makeni, a town in the north of Sierra Leone where he was on Thursday, according to his entourage.
The current president’s predecessor, Julius Maada Bio, states in this press release that he will travel to Freetown, without specifying a date. “I am keeping an open mind and stand ready to cooperate fully with the police in their investigations. The rule of law must reign supreme in our democracy”, he declared, quoted in the text. He called for calm and asked the population to support the police investigations.
According to the Sierra Leonean authorities, some of Mr. Koroma’s former guards are suspected of involvement in the November 26 disturbances. In the early hours of that day, men attacked a military armory, two barracks, two prisons and two police stations.
The fighting left 21 people dead, 18 members of the security services and three assailants, according to the Minister of Information. Sixty people were arrested in connection with these events, most of them soldiers, according to figures provided by the authorities.