{"id":56350,"date":"2026-04-07T14:21:52","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:21:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:31:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:31:46","slug":"minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment","title":{"rendered":"Minister Chernor Bah Defends Bio’s APC Comment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has dismissed the viral video of President Julius Maada Bio telling supporters of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) in Bonthe District that they \u201cshall die early in the morning,\u201d describing the statement as an \u201cidiomatic expression\u201d that has been deliberately misinterpreted.<\/p>\n

The remarks, made during the launch of the Sierra Leone People\u2019s Party (SLPP) District Office in Mattru Jong on April 5, 2026, have sparked widespread condemnation from opposition figures, civil society groups, and constitutional lawyers who argue that the President\u2019s words amount to a death threat and violate his constitutional role as the \u201csymbol of national unity\u201d under Section 40(2) of the 1991 Constitution.<\/p>\n

But Minister Bah, in a social media post responding to the controversy, dismissed the outrage as \u201cfaux\u201d and accused the opposition \u2014 which has been boycotting governance processes \u2014 of also boycotting \u201cnuances.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Bah began his response by praising the President for reminding Sierra Leoneans of a \u201cclassic folk Mende song,\u201d framing the President\u2019s words within the context of traditional Mende linguistic expressions.<\/p>\n

\u201cNu be ba gbwa tokpwei ma oh. Ba ha gewei lor,\u201d Bah wrote, quoting what he described as a Mende folk song.<\/p>\n

He then borrowed words from Presidential Press Secretary, Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, stating: \u201cHumor has boycotted the boycotters\u201d \u2014 a direct jab at the APC\u2019s ongoing boycott of parliamentary and governance processes over electoral disputes.<\/p>\n

Bah drew a parallel between the President\u2019s comment and a common Mende idiomatic expression used in everyday conversation when someone is caught lying.<\/p>\n

\u201cDong to we if person dae lie we dae say \u2018e go die e yai open.\u2019 E nor mean say we wish for make e die. It\u2019s a simple idiomatic expression,\u201d Bah explained. \u201cBut the boycotters want you to now boycott these nuances. #fauxoutrage\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister Bah\u2019s defense echoes an earlier statement from State House Communications Director Myk Berewa, who had clarified that the President\u2019s comments were \u201cquite metaphorical in Mende,\u201d implying that anyone \u201cborn, raised, and who sticks with the APC in Bonthe is somehow cursed\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, critics \u2014 including Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden OOR \u2014 have rejected both explanations, arguing that declaring citizens \u201ccursed\u201d over their political ideology is equally problematic and that the President\u2019s remarks represent a massive public relations blunder.<\/p>\n

Dr. Blyden, in a statement on Easter Monday, pointed to what she described as a pattern of escalating hostility toward the opposition from senior government and ruling party officials.<\/p>\n

She cited Deputy Information Minister KakaScatter\u2019s statement, \u201cI want all APC to die,\u201d and SLPP Chairman Batilo Songa\u2019s declaration, \u201cNo more APC! No more APC! No more APC in this country!\u201d \u2014 in addition to President Bio\u2019s Bonthe remark.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe above pattern is not a coincidence,\u201d Dr. Blyden wrote. \u201cThey seem to be planning to kill some of us in APC\u201d.<\/p>\n

The controversy intensified after AYV Media, the broadcaster that originally aired the President\u2019s remarks, deleted the viral video from its social media platforms. The media company later issued a statement admitting that its initial translation from Mende to English \u201cdid not convey the full content and context of the President\u2019s remarks\u201d.<\/p>\n

AYV stated that translation \u201crequires careful attention to context, idiom, and cultural meaning\u201d and expressed regret for \u201cany misunderstanding or concern it may have caused\u201d. However, the media house did not provide an alternative, corrected translation of what the President actually said.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has dismissed the viral video of President Julius Maada Bio telling supporters of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) in Bonthe District that they \u201cshall die early in the morning,\u201d describing the statement as an \u201cidiomatic expression\u201d that has been deliberately misinterpreted. The remarks, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":56349,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[292],"class_list":["post-56350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nMinister Chernor Bah Defends Bio's APC Comment - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has dismissed the viral video of President Julius Maada Bio te ...\" \/>\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\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Minister Chernor Bah Defends Bio's APC Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, has dismissed the viral video of President Julius Maada Bio te ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\" \/>\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=\"2026-04-07T14:21:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-07T14:31:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/04\/sm_1775559675.684247.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\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=\"3 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\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Minister Chernor Bah Defends Bio’s APC Comment\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-07T14:21:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-07T14:31:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\"},\"wordCount\":587,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2026\/04\/sm_1775559675.684247.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/minister-chernor-bah-defends-bios-apc-comment\",\"name\":\"Minister Chernor Bah Defends Bio's APC Comment - 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