Zachariah Johnson Kamara Escapes Death Threat

By Thaimu Thullah

Zachariah Johnson Kamara, a resident of 32 York Road, Waterloo, Western rural district of Freetown narrowly escaped mob justice at the hands of angry SLPP youth alongside military officers, who descended at his home on the 10th of August Protest, while desperately haunting APC supporters and members of the PPP.
This happened few hours after youth of eastern took to the street and stop all government and private operations preventing businesses , vehicular and commuter from going about their normal businesses.
The protest started with hundreds of thousands of youths taking over the street of Freetown in the east shouting the slogan “President Julius Maada Bio must go”. They were protesting against the rising cost of goods in the country and expressing frustration over bad governance, harassment, and political intimidation by the SLPP led- government of President Bio.
Government and private offices were unable to open for work, as business places were looted, ransacked, and destroyed. Police Stations were also not spared, as supplies of bags of rice, motorcycles, and others items were stolen by youths who were angrily protesting against the ruling SLPP-led government of President Julius Maada Bio.
The youths ensured that there were blockades on every main street or corner leading to the highway. Commercial and private vehicles were prevented from plying the streets, and if caught, drivers of those vehicles trying to bypass the blockages were at risk of being killed, irrespective of their gender. ZachariahJohnsonKamara, is well known for supporting APC. His address at Waterloo is known to be populated by Opposition supporters belonging to yhe All Peoples Congress. He is said to have come to the eastern part of Freetown on that very morning to do a private job for one of his customers. On his way home, he met stiff resistance along Portee junction, where a police officer was beaten to death by angry youths. He attempted to rescue the stranded officer, denouncing the way and manner the officer was being treated, when he became a target. Some of the youths rushed at him and gave him slaps, but one of his friends, who was part of the angry protesters, managed to help him escape from the scene. After three days, Zachariah Johnson Kamara photo was among those declared wanted by the police. His whereabouts remained unknown as we go to press.
The government, in a press statement, described the protesters as ” terrorists”. Two days after the situation returned to calm, there was massive arrest of suspected protesters, with over five hundred people detained in different detention centers across the country.
Civil Society Organizations have expressed grave concern about the manner of the arrest. They claimed that the police were working with SLPP supporters identifying people who have nothing to do with the August 10 protest.
The August 10 protest was bloody, battle-tested, and is known to be very bad in the history of Sierra Leone.
However, recent developments are that at the time Zachariah Johnson Kamara was trying to rescue the police officer, his photo was captured and was misrepresented as one among those who had unleashed terror and mob-justice against police officers. This led to his house being put under surveillance by the police whilst the APC National Headquarters was under the protection of the military. The police alongside the military embarked on operation arrest, detained and punish suspects behind the August 10 protest.
Zachariah Johnson Kamara could not be reached for his comment but family sources disclosed that his whereabouts remained unknown. Several arrests were therefore made at his house. We are investigating the matter…