There is no need to take SIM Turay's piece thread by thread to expose his blatant attempt at creating what can only be described as a tribal divide in the mother country. We do shy away from ethnic and tribal differences that divide. We all belong to one land that we love - our Sierra Leone.

That being stated, it is but right that we give those who were not yet born and even if so but were too young then to be given an opportunity to set the records straight so that posterity will not judge us harshly who refuse to correct the misconceptions and falsehood in that piece.

Kindly read through his piece carefully, without any hint of anger, without any rancour and we daresay without any pre-conceptions and you have a gem. A gem that tells you about how the nation was held hostage under the APC one-party monster that thinks nothing of consuming even its own children should it become politically expedient.

Also do not forget to notice that it is all about "I, I, I, and I SIM Turay, the Head of MIB and upon whose shoulders the preservation of the APC government lies."

So vain. So full of self-importance that could be the consequences of.....no we are no medics.

Kindly read through SIM Turay's piece one more time and you will see how he has woven a trap for himself as he justifies the murder of a fellow Sierra Leonean, because in his view Sahr Sandy rose against the state!!!

This paints a picture of the mindset of the APC security apparatus that repressed, suppressed and obliterated any imagined enemy of state. To such an extent that even when in relaxation spots, the Sierra Leonean and all within the borders of the country have to watch their tongue and see who is around lest they be arrested for an APC crime known as "careless talk".

Read SIM Turay's article again and see him justify the murder of a colleague as he takes upon himself the role of judge, jury and executioner even though the courts were still in place. He does not even realise that he is justifying and defending the extrajudicial execution of 2nd Lt Sahr Sandy!!!

"It is an undeniable fact that Lieutenant Sandi met his death while he was engaged in the illegal and unconstitutional overthrow of the previous democratically elected APC government, an act of treason which carries the maximum penalty of death.......In fact, Lieutenant Sandi’s death was a blessing in disguise for this country..."

We have put on this page part of a picture of the RPG man, one Jalloh as it appeared in a Focus on Africa magazine. He was killed during his attempt to "crush the coup". The picture shows you a man who was so sure of himself that when he was hit, he could not believe that he could die from gunshot wounds. The picture shows his many "protective" charms that he wore - and yet he fell when challenged.

SIM Turay claims young Sahr Sandy was killed in an exchange of fire involving his men. What a fight it must have been heh? ..and with some thirty of his men in a civilian area of town!!!

First things first as we jog his memory out of his selective amnesia. Can SIM Turay recall what happened when they tried to get to State House using the wall surrounding the then Paramount Hotel and how they were beaten back?

Can he recall the shout of one of the coup plotters to his RPG man when his man's back was turned towards the advancing coup plotters?

He should - because they did not want to finish him by shooting him in the back as he had been firing RPG bombs into civilian areas. The shout "Soja" was employed so he could turn round and face his tormentors who dispatched him or has SIM Turay forgotten how they fired those RPG grenades into civilian residences so that they could get a clear field of fire...and all this under his hand?

Or has SIM Turay quite forgotten that there were civilians who watched the unfolding scene up to the time he shot dead 2nd Lt Sahr Sandy? Has he forgotten that the coup plotter, as he would have him called, fell without a sound when he killed him causing his comrades to speed away because they never thought that SIM Turay would dare kill him?

Think again, SIM, think and remember that concrete slab over an open gutter along upper Wesley Street where the unsuspecting young soldier was standing...think. It was never a fierce battle as you would want others to believe and you know it.

"While actively engaged in the execution of the coup plot, Lieutenant Sandi died in a fierce gun battle in the capital, Freetown involving over thirty soldiers, including rebels of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), who had been recruited by the NPRC for the purpose of violently overthrowing the previous APC government" 

SIM Turay has cast aspersion on all his senior officers accusing them of being "tribalists" and anti-APC etc etc but again he has forgotten to tell readers that then Major Jusu Gortor was for a time the Chair of the military court martial which tried soldiers roped in by his section, the MIB with Captain Lymon serving as a panel member. Or has he conveniently forgotten?

SIM Turay keeps referring to some constitutional document relating to the military "as amended" and deliberately fails to state what was amended - the offending item that was amended.

We shall remind him. It was that section of military law which gave those found guilty at courts-martial the right of appeal. This was removed because it was considered an annoying hurdle and a waste of time by a Stevens regime that wanted all such opponents found guilty and executed without the right of appeal!!!!

Now watch this assertion as he gives the option he could have used to suppress a coup he knew about.

"Option two was to set up a crack force of around 250 officers and men to crush the coup anytime the plotters decided to strike.  In this regard, I volunteered to command such a crack force.  Option three was to compulsorily retire all the officers involved in the coup plots."

Our interest is on option three and many victims, career officers and men still alive as well as their relations can tell you how they lost their jobs after SIM Turay and his type accused them of plots they were not even aware of and were simply fingered because they were not considered worthy of the APC army. The national army mark you!!!

Indeed these were the lucky ones. Others were implicated and executed while yet others were sentenced to long prison terms. Ask surviving relations of soldiers who served in the signals section of the military!!!

This sentence takes the cake

"A few weeks before the coup, Kelly Conteh attempted to placate me in order to win my patronage.  He explained we should ask Momoh to step down, failing which we were to arrest him." 

Can you imagine this under SIM Turay's MIB?

The hapless Kelly Conteh would have grown a few inches taller had he said this as the Pademba Road prison gallows would have ensured the separation of his spinal cord from the rest of his brain. If Kelly had dreamt that, he would have woken up in a cold sweat and would be on his way to his mystic man to avert what he would have believed to be a sign of things to come. What - tell SIM Turay of all people you want Momoh to resign?

That was treason requiring the head of Kelly Conteh!!! That would have been the end of the volley ball playing days of the man.

One last point from SIM Turay

"The 1991 Constitution and the laws of this country are there to be judiciously practiced and respected.  They are, without any doubt, the instruments that guarantee democratic constitutional governance, respect for human rights and the rule of law." 

Indeed. It was this same constitution which clearly forbade the heads of the military and police to sit in Parliament as MPs and Ministers of State that was ignored by Momoh who kept Tarawallie of the army and Bambay of the police  sitting within the halls of the law-making body.

And to conclude, it would be interesting to know what story SIM Turay told the UK authorities when he applied for asylum. If he is now admitting that he executed young Sahr Sandy without the benefit of a trial, then this takes a different dimension.

PS: This would be the first and last response on our pages to any future "academic" rant from one SIM Turay, the genocide preacher!!!!

(Credit all pictures to BBC Focus on Africa magazine)