{"id":55449,"date":"2026-02-20T13:24:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:53:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:53:02","slug":"military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio","title":{"rendered":"Military Must Protect Not Rule the People President Bio"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Aaron Parker<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>In a powerful address to the nation\u2019s military, President Julius Maada Bio has emphasized that Sierra Leone\u2019s armed forces exist to protect the people, not to govern them.<\/p>\n<p>His remarks came during the 17th Armed Forces Day celebrations at the Julius Maada Bio Parade Ground, Wilberforce Barracks, where he served as keynote speaker and Special Guest of Honour.<\/p>\n<p>Marking a day dedicated to remembering soldiers who gave their lives during the nation\u2019s 11-year civil war and celebrating Sierra Leone\u2019s historic contributions in the Second World War, President Bio underscored that discipline, professionalism, and loyalty to the Constitution must guide the actions of the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMilitary leadership is about service, not control,\u201d President Bio told troops gathered in honour of fallen comrades and veterans. He highlighted that the transformation of Sierra Leone\u2019s military extends beyond modern equipment, stressing that the core of a professional force is rooted in ethical conduct, values, and adherence to constitutional governance.<\/p>\n<p>The President also addressed the wider regional context, noting the recent rise in military coups across West Africa. As current Chairman of ECOWAS, he reaffirmed his commitment to regional stability and the rejection of unconstitutional power seizures. \u201cSierra Leone must lead by example. Our armed forces must demonstrate restraint, professionalism, and fidelity to the Constitution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>President Bio concluded his address by warning that any attempt to bypass democratic processes would be unacceptable, reinforcing that safeguarding peace and strengthening democratic institutions is a shared responsibility of all citizens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe era when the military interfered in governance is over,\u201d he stated, pledging to continue working for stability both within Sierra Leone and across the region.<\/p>\n<p><b>Source: Sierraloaded<\/b><\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Sierra-Leone<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Aaron Parker Africa-Press &#8211; Sierra-Leone. In a powerful address to the nation\u2019s military, President Julius Maada Bio has emphasized that Sierra Leone\u2019s armed forces exist to protect the people, not to govern them. His remarks came during the 17th Armed Forces Day celebrations at the Julius Maada Bio Parade Ground, Wilberforce Barracks, where he served [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":55448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[292],"class_list":["post-55449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Military Must Protect Not Rule the People President Bio - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a powerful address to the nation\u2019s military, President Julius Maada Bio has emphasized that Sierra Leone\u2019s armed forc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Military Must Protect Not Rule the People President Bio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a powerful address to the nation\u2019s military, President Julius Maada Bio has emphasized that Sierra Leone\u2019s armed forc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T13:24:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-20T13:53:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/02\/sm_1771582932.741716.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"628\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Military Must Protect Not Rule the People President Bio\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T13:24:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-20T13:53:02+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\"},\"wordCount\":306,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/02\/sm_1771582932.741716.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/military-must-protect-not-rule-the-people-president-bio\",\"name\":\"Military Must Protect Not Rule the People President Bio - 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