By: Alhaji Abubakarr Bah

Bio Brings Koroma to One Stage – How a President United a Divided Nation at Bintumani

I sat attentively at my Embassy office in Riyadh on Monday, 26 October 2026, watching the live streaming of the National Unity and Social Cohesion Conference 2026 taking place at the Freetown International Conference Centre, Bintumani, Aberdeen, via the Facebook page of the First Lady, Dr. Fatima Maada Bio, as history was in the making.

Given the country’s recent political history, it was a spectacle many believed would never happen any time soon. But it is happening in our lifetime due to the astute leadership and magnanimity of His Excellency President Dr. Julius Maada Bio. The event itself was organized by the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion (ICPNC), an entity created by the Bio administration to foster peace and national cohesion.

For the first time in years, President Bio and former President Ernest Bai Koroma shared one stage: a sitting President and his predecessor on the same platform not a political debate to score points, but each making very strong commitments to peace.

That image from the Bintumani Conference Centre, spoke far more than a thousand communiques would have captured. The former president, who is a strong member of the main opposition party, the All Peoples Congress (APC), while responding to President Bio’s gesture, declared: “Anytime you call, I will be ready to work with you to bring our country together. I am just one call away. ”

And, make no mistake, that stage was created and choreographed by President Bio. Two years ago, many people -including myself- doubted this would ever happen in my lifetime given the compelling accounts we all heard about the November 26 attempted coup plot against the current government and the treason trials that followed.

Two years ago, many people even doubted the significance of the ICPNC that was established in April 2023. Some people described it as “just another commission.” But events of the 26 and 27 October at Bintumani, that commission achieved an unimaginable feat. It brought our country to one table.

President Bio went further to acknowledge the past wrongs of the country and apologised on behalf of the State. “On behalf of the State of Sierra Leone, I apologise for the suffering you endured and for the protection you did not receive during the war. I AM SORRY.”

The hall went quiet and solemn. You could hear the drop of a needle. This was not politics. This was the mind of a sincere and honest leader.

The President did not stop there. He directed the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA) to fix the reparation programme for amputees, for women who suffered sexual violence, for child soldiers. And he gave a deadline: “publish the full report on how we implemented the TRC recommendations by 18th January 2027.”

Twenty-four years after the war, justice still matters. You see, Bio knows the adverse effects of war. He was there in 1996. As a young Brigadier Head of State, he invited the late rebel leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Foday Saybana Sankoh out of the bush. He sat with him in Yamoussoukro on 25th and 26th March 1996, under President Bedie of Ivory Coast. That meeting paved the way for President Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah (of blessed memory) to continue with talks in Lome in 1999, which eventually ended the war in 2002. So, when President Bio talks peace, he is not quoting a book. He lived it and that’s why he is often referred to as “the Architect of Peace and Father of Democracy” in Sierra Leone.

This is why his six-point plan makes real sense: a Peace Action Framework in 90 days, a Peace Basket Fund with Le25 Million to start in 2027, a stronger Inter-Party Dialogue Committee, a Code of Conduct for 2028 elections, teaching peace in schools, and a National Peace Week.

“Peace must become part of our national culture,” President Bio said. At Bintumani, even the UN, ECOWAS, and the diplomatic community agreed. Sierra Leone is trying to do something different – institutionalize peace. However, for those still worried about 2028, President Bio was blunt again:

“I will complete my constitutional mandate and hand over power peacefully. I will not be a candidate in 2028.” Spinoza, the Dutch philosopher, said peace is not the absence of war, but the presence of justice and institutions that protect citizens. That is exactly what His Excellency did with the ICPNC.

The Bio administration has excelled in many fronts- including road infrastructure, human capital development, etc.- but this latest feat has set a very solid foundation for peace, national cohesion and development in Sierra Leone.

Former President Koroma even acknowledged these strides, describing the conference as “a serious national moment requiring the commitment of every citizen.” He thanked President Bio for facilitating his return and acknowledged his successor’s contribution to peacebuilding, including the establishment of the Peace Commission.

When President Bio leaves office in 2028, his legacy will not be measured by infrastructural development alone, but by the robust architecture of peace he leaves behind. As I have already noted, I have written extensively on the goodies of the Bio Presidency ranging from roads, the Lungi Terminal, and the Free Quality School Education (FQSE), Health care and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GEWE) Act, to name but few. But all those “goodies” stand on one foundation: Peace.

By establishing and empowering the ICPNC, President Bio did not just preach unity – he institutionalized it. The ICPNC stands as one of the ultimate “Goodies” of his Presidency – a permanent, independent institution designed to defuse political tensions, mediate local disputes and prevent conflict before it starts. By building the stage where even rivals can reconcile, President Bio has ensured that Sierra Leone’s stability is no longer fragile or dependent on political whims.

This landmark “goodie” of peace and national cohesion would be catalogued in the portfolio of President Bio’s leadership trajectory by historians, political and social commentators for many, many years to come, something future leaders and governments will definitely learn very good lessons from.

Copyright –Published in Expo Times News on Monday, 2nd November 2026 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)