By Titus Boye-Thompson, London

In a surprising twist, the Marlborough House Dialogue that was scheduled to hold on Thursday 4^th May 2023 has been rescheduled to a date to be announced late this afternoon. The reasons for the rescheduling were mainly due to security concerns around the area of Pall Mall in Central London. Pall Mall and its environs are the locations of major Government buildings including Lancaster House used for negotiations with former colonies as they prepare for Independence. The Marlborough House venue which is the Headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat is located in an area of significant security in consideration of particular areas of importance to the monarchy, the King being Head of the Commonwealth among his other important roles and responsibilities. To demonstrate the importance to the Commonwealth to the Coronation of King Charles III this weekend, thousands of forces personnel would join the parade during the ceremony with contingents and battalions from countries of the Commonwealth. 

President Bio attempts to thwart full and frank discussions

The Marlborough House Dialogue should have taken place between the President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio and the All Peoples Congress Leader and Presidential candidate Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara and was billed as an opportunity for full and frank discussions on the trajectory of violence and instability that is threatening democracy and the rule of law in the run up to the general elections of 2023 in which Sierra Leone is expected to elect a new President and Head of State.  This meeting is expected to be set against the backdrop of some key issues that has constrained the political space such as the constant harassment of the opposition APC Party, its flag bearer and officials,  police restrictions on their movement and freedom of assembly as well as other fundamental rights to free and fair electoral procedures guaranteed by the Sierra Leone Constitution. The Sierra Leone government is also known to have attempted to castrate the election process by restricting and manipulating the voter registration exercise as well as the Constituency representation procedures, introducing a Proportional Representation system without proper consultation with the opposition parties as mandated by extant law. Even with all of these barriers, the APC Presidential candidate, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara and his campaign team have acted with full compliance and respect for authority even when such authority have been known to have been unlawful and improper. However, just yesterday 2^nd May 2023, he was practically refused the freedom to attend this Dialogue because his passport was unreasonably withheld by the Sierra Leone judicial system, with a tactical aim to get him to miss this dialogue meeting while President Maada Bo who was also invited would have come in by private jet to answer to his invitation. This tactic has now been seen as an uncanny ploy to thwart the full and frank discussions necessary for a free, fair and non violent election process in Sierra Leone. In the event, this plan has now backfired. 

Saved by the bell

Despite the roadblocks put in his way by the Sierra Leonean authorities, Dr Samura Kamara was in a manner speaking, saved by the bell when a man, believed to have some mental condition was arrested in the precincts of Buckigham Palace, just a stone’s throw from Pall Mall on the evening of Tuesday 2^nd May 2023. He was caught throwing what was reported as shotgun bullets into the grounds of Buckingham Palace. He was arrested by police and found to be carrying a knife. The incident was reported as not uncommon and was not regarded as a terrorist incident but all the same, the Metropolitan Police had to raise the threat level of security around the Coronation on account of this abortive attempt. As a consequence, the area around Buckingham Palace had to come under a security cordon which included Marlborough House. Evidently, it was considered impractical for a major meeting of the two major Presidential candidates of Sierra Leone to be hosted i that vicinity, especially as the British Government have it on good intelligence that the opposition candidate Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara has a very large and dedicated following.