AFTER ABASS BUNDU- WHO NEXT IN THIS SQUERRELGATE AFFAIR ?
We need a leader who teaches our youth honesty... we [Bio's proposed SLPP led Government come November 2012] will not engage in dubious contracts to fleece this country and squirrel the loot away in foreign bank accounts"- JULIUS MAADA BIO IN HIS MAIDEN SPEECH (September 2011)
 Dr Bylden has again provided us with food for thought. Who would have thought that Dr Abass Chernor Bundu, former Secretary General of the Economic States of West Africa (ECOWAS) would this day be in the disgraceful position he finds himself. Before he left The Commonwealth Institute in the early 1980s where he served as Administrative Director?? Abass was the President of the APC UK and Ireland Branch and also President of the SIERRA LEONEAN (UK) STUDENTS' Union. Both bodies saw their own under his service until Dr. Siaka Stevens stepped in . The demise of the Students Union was laid. In 1982 we revitalised the work of the Party in the UK with me as President of the UK Branch and Chairman of London Unit, until the 1992 coup by NPRC. This put paid to the Party's operations until late 1990s when the rebel war began to cool off.Abass went home "to serve [his] country" But oh ya! all we have had for several years -beyond the nine years of this Passport saga is dismantlement surrounding his sincerity, role as a leader, and honesty in matters relating to serving his country. He appears to have served every government since he left the Commonwealth Secretarial job 1982: at one time, playing combining roles as a member of the Sierra Leone Parliament, and as Secretary General of ECOAWS. I hasten to say, with no less controversy than the rest of his politics- always forging ahead with an air of bravery, boldness and a determination to defend himself under the guidance of THE LAW, even if and when he he certainly and clearly culpable. Abass is a cleaver man: he was one of the Officials who went along to 'fix' the Constitution of the country- Bellies. He was one of the Officials who dealt with the troubles of Uganda - during the post Amin/Obote/Pre Mussiveni years. So, why would Sierra Leoneans not expect good from a cleaver constitutional lawyer like him. He did not only earned his legal ducation in the UK but also in Australia; so he was already internationally exposed at an early age. Why should he be doubted to give leadership to his people? Remember, he went home 'to serve his people" But, Oh ya! Abass has failed me in many respect!! Why? My friend nor de satisfy! For over 9 years I stayed away from making ant commentary about Abass. His engagement with the NPRC was a matter of personal choice especially when close colleagues with whom he worked in the APC before the coup fled for their lives and had been killed. 'HE IS A MAN OF THE CONSTITUTION' and yet engages himself by serving as Foreign Minister in an illegitimate , treasonable "Boy sojas' Millitary Junta. SHOKING!! But again- Abbass had gone home "to serve his country'. How brave! How bold!. Should we believe Dr. Bundu in his cry for mercy at this ninth hour? Should we see him as a man 'exonorated??? or is it "helped" by the Ahamed Tejan Kabba Government, which did not allow TRIAL for "THEFT" yes "THEFT" ( well, OK - Larceny) not to go to TRIAL. So they compromised under a meeting of the heads (Pa Shaki kul am eng ade) not to let BIG MAN GO JAIL!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!. You see cleverness!! This how it works. So now, Abass feel confident, bold, brave, to call a Press Conference to "Tell the Truth". So that we all can clear the air, and allow restoration of his dignified image: and in fact, he will not bother to claim restoration of the agreed payment of $105,000 he was 'forced'? to pay back to the state? because he is so rich now, he does not even need the money: and he believes or pretend to believe that he has the legal right to sue the state to court! Well, I wonder! I truly wonder what Pa Kabba feels right now? I deeply wonder what the NPRC Attorney General at the time feels right now? I just wonder what the Chief Justice at the time feels right now? after hearing or reading this comical explanation Abass give to the Press. Sometimes, cleverness could be inimical to the individual... You see, in UK now, the double jeopardy rules have been changed. Here, cases can be re-opened and suspected criminals can be re-called to court. This confession by Abass is very intriguing but meaningful. In fact, it is a very helpful statement on two main grounds: First, Abass wants to turn ''a new leaf''. (Or is he?) I welcome that and I am sure a good many Sierra Leoneans would welcome that too. The Good book preaches REPENTANCE and there is nothing short of a HUMBLE repentance. But, when Repentance is warped up in the clock of pomposity, pig headedness, clouded by a pretence of boldness and verbosity, I do not believe such repentance is worth the paper it is written in, nor that it flows smoothly from the heart of the Repenter: I do not believe the Repentee(s) to whom it is directed, will receive it with open and gladsome heart which in the end, renders such act of bravery worthless, vile and insulting to the people whom the actor wants to impress!! Secondly, Abass's confession (or repentance) will aid the shifting the "chaff from the grain." We begin to know the true players and their part in this "boy soja" period and game of "WINNIMALOSY " in Offshore Investment Banks. We have started to see WHO IS WHOM! and what role each played. It may take a long while yet; but the road is open and the TRAFFIC HAS BEGAN TO FLOW. A word for the wise - COME OUT NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!! Please read Abass Bundu's Press statement below
Members of the
Press,
Ladies and
Gentlemen:
It is my pleasure to
welcome you all to this my first Press briefing since I returned home in August
last year. I have invited you here today in order to set the record straight on
a matter of great public importance, a matter that has been in the public domain
for the past nine years. It is the matter of the Immigration Investment
Programme (IIP), generally dubbed by the Press as the “Passport Saga”, and my
prosecution for larceny in 1996.
During the past nine years,
much has been written and said about the IIP. I have never been able to get the
Press away from harping on what has been perceived as the greatest scandal ever
to be associated with our country’s passports. Almost every public mention of my
name was viewed in some quarters of the Press as offering an opportunity to
remind their readers about the scandal. For others it triggered an invocation of
derision. In short, my name became synonymous with the alleged “illegal” sale of
Sierra Leone passports in Hong Kong. Only a few publications resisted the
temptation of employing defamatory language. Some even went to the extent of
insinuating guilt and of wishing to see me put behind bars. I blame no one for
this. Most of these publications were more a function of the dynamics of the
moment than a deliberate attempt to slur. All I ask now is for the record to be
set right so that the general public can get to know the
truth.
1996, the year I was
arraigned for larceny, should be noted as a particularly difficult period. The
brutal war, unleashed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in 1991, was then
ravaging the country, leaving in its trail despicable and unfathomable
atrocities, having no parallel in the country’s history. Freetown, which
hitherto had escaped the ravages of the war, was rapidly becoming enveloped in a
frenzy of anxiety as nervous residents in the outskirts came increasingly under
serious threat. Fear and anxiety thus became the order of the day, and lurking
just beneath the surface was generalized disaffection for the NPRC junta, which
had then failed to make good its promise to rid the country of the rebel war; it
had also failed in its desperate bid to succeed itself in office.
It was against this
backdrop that the new SLPP Government acceded to office in May 1996. The public
was demanding vigorous action against corruption and more particularly against
rampant allegations of sleaze on the part of the NPRC and their associates. I
had served in the NPRC Government as Foreign Secretary for 18 months from
November 1993. Even though I had resigned in July 1995 to form my own party, the
People’s Progressive Party, and to become its flag bearer for the 1996
Elections, my name continued to be associated with the NPRC. Whatever public
opprobrium was reserved for them, it rubbed off on me too.
Neither did my
outspokenness about the 1996 Elections help matters. On the contrary, it raised
my profile and made me stand out as a visible target. And that probably
contributed to the circumstances leading to my prosecution in July
1996.
The case never actually
went to trial. Contrary to Press reports, there was no guilty verdict nor was I
sentenced to pay a fine by any Court. Instead, the matter was settled
extra-judicially by way of an agreement between the parties. Under
that agreement I was required to pay immediately US$105,000, being one-half of
the total monies I received from a Mr. Frank Yiu, who was then the Contractor
responsible for the execution of the IIP in Hong Kong. The other half
(US$105,000) was to be paid later. The assumption the Prosecution made in
preferring those charges against me, was that the monies I received had come
directly from the IIP; in other words that they were funds belonging to the
Government of Sierra Leone which I had compelled Frank Yiu to part with.
The key question is: Was
the money Government money?
I had argued vigorously
that the funds were not Government funds. Neither did I at any stage seek to
pressurize Mr. Yiu into giving me Government money. I argued,
though unsuccessfully, that Mr. Yiu had led me to believe that his contributions
to my electioneering campaign fund (totalling US$210,000) came from his private
business interests in Hong Kong and worldwide, including South America. I spent
all the monies he contributed on my election campaign in 1996 including the
purchase of vehicles for travelling in the country, rent for buildings for
temporary campaign offices, and on the usual electioneering expenses. Nothing
was done that was contrary to law.
The fact that Frank Yiu’s
contributions did not come from the proceeds of passport sales is plain from his
letter to me of 29 March 1995 regarding the means by which the donations would
be made by his brother. That letter reads in part: “In addition, please be noted
[sic] that I have a personal arrangement with you in US Dollars for TT to London
will be done in between April and May, and which will be done by my brother from
S. America.” It was solely on this assurance that I had agreed to accept his
donations to my campaign. However, I must admit that I had difficulty proving
conclusively that the funds I had received from Mr. Yiu had indeed come from
sources other than the IIP. I had only his letter of 29 March to show and this
was not adequate. New and more convincing evidence was needed.
In the circumstances,
therefore, I had no choice but to pay under protest. The letter from my
Solicitors, dated 12 September 1996, which accompanied the payment, made the
point that I had agreed to pay only to underscore the contention that I had had
absolutely no criminal intent whatsoever in all my dealings, official or
private, with Mr. Frank Yiu.
Upon this understanding the
Government duly received, by way of a Bank Draft, the sum of US$105,000. So,
again, contrary to widespread speculation in the Press, I did not issue a
personal cheque to the Government which subsequently bounced.
Relationship with Frank
Yiu
You might wonder what my
relationship with Mr. Frank Yiu was. Why was he ready to give me so much money?
Well, let us remember that Mr. Yiu was a prominent businessman in Hong Kong. He
had investments worldwide. He also had businesses here in Freetown as well as
business associates. I first met him in March 1994 when he visited Freetown for
an official briefing. Our second meeting took place in August 1994 when he told
me that he had been informed by his business associates about my plans to run
for president. He said from what he had been told, he had come to develop
respect for my leadership qualities and would like to be associated with my
political plans. He also said he was particularly impressed by my desire to
forge closer links with the tiger economies of South-East Asia as a possible
source of new investment capital for Sierra Leone and asked to be made a key
player in that project if I won the presidency. He further explained that
although he was not a rich man, he was not without substantial investments in
Hong Kong, China and South America, and that his passport business with Sierra
Leone constituted only a fraction of his overall business. He then offered to
finance my campaign. In the process he made several contributions, all
totalling US$210,000.
The new
evidence
The new conclusive evidence
I needed to prove that the funds from Frank Yiu were not Government funds did
not come to hand until 1997. Although the documents containing that evidence had
been sent to the then Government since early 1996, I did not get to know about
them until 1997. This evidence is in the form of two Financial Statements on the
IIP that Frank Yiu submitted to the Government on 31 January and 7 February 1996
respectively. They provided the evidence I sought all along. Even though the
Financial Statements were addressed to the Director-General of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, I did not know they existed.
This was because at that point in time I was no longer with the NPRC Government,
having resigned from that Government on 14 July 1995. Nor did I know of their
existence when I was charged to Court in July 1996. So I could not use them to
defend myself at that most crucial moment.
As you will have deduced,
monies did change hands in Hong Kong and other places for Sierra Leone
passports. Whether we call it a “sale” of passports or a “fee” for
administration is really immaterial. The practice of charging some money for new
passports or for the renewal of old passports is unexceptional and is indeed
universal. Every country in the world demands some sort of payment. Rather what
are of great significance are the following three questions: First, who “sold”
the passports? Second, why were they sold? And third, what were the proceeds
used for?
Let me now deal with each
of these questions in turn.
First, who sold the
passports?
Well, again contrary to
Press speculations over the past nine years, the passports involved in my case
were all sold by the Government of Sierra Leone. The Immigration Investment
Programme (IIP), under which passport were sold, had been adopted as State
policy by the Government of President Momoh in early 1992. The NPRC Government
maintained it after it overthrew President Momoh in April 1992. For national
security reasons, and, as will be elaborated later, because of the purpose for
which it was conceived, the IIP was operated in the utmost secrecy by both
Governments. The public was never informed and they had good reason for
that.
Thus seen, the IIP was put
in place long before I joined the NPRC Government as Foreign Minister in
November 1993. I neither ran the Programme nor had primary responsibility for
it. The only major thing I did was to introduce some changes in the
implementation of the Programme when I became Foreign Minister. I transferred
responsibility for the custody of the passports from Mr. Frank Yiu to a Sierra
Leonean indigene, Mr. Sahr Johnny, whom the NPRC Government appointed as
Consul-General in Hong Kong and established there a Consulate-General. Frank Yiu
was appointed as an Adviser to the Consul-General.
The Programme was based in
Hong Kong for a simple reason. Britain’s lease over Hong Kong was about to
expire. The citizens of Hong Kong were getting nervous about the future of the
Territory once it changed hands from Britain to China, and naturally they were
concerned also about their own future. A large number of them decided to
emigrate. The wealthy among them were offered citizenship by developed countries
such as the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The less wealthy ones
sought refuge in other parts of the world, including Africa. In Sierra Leone the
Government adopted the IIP. It was aimed at the citizens of Hong Kong who wished
to emigrate. For a fee they were offered naturalization and a passport to go
with it. They were required to come to Sierra Leone with their wealth and
expertise to invest in small-scale industries in order to boost our
industrialization programme. So the IIP aimed at achieving two objectives: to
attract foreign investors into Sierra Leone and to raise much needed revenue for
the country.
Why were the passports
sold?
The plain truth is that the
passports were sold to raise money for the prosecution of the war against the
RUF rebels. The whole world knew that Sierra Leone was fighting a war against
the RUF insurgents. But the IMF, which was a major contributor to the national
budget, was not happy that the Government was using the budget to fight the war.
It therefore imposed a conditionality. It said that the Government
must not use the budget and the support the IMF was providing, to fight the
rebel war. Faced with this conditionality, the Government found itself in a
serious dilemma: either it used the budget to fight the war and lose the support
of the IMF or find new extra-budgetary avenues to raise money. Either way, it
could not risk losing the war to the RUF, for the consequences were just too
grave to contemplate. So the Government was compelled to look at extra-budgetary
avenues to raise money for the prosecution of the war. And the main avenue it
found was the “sale” of Sierra Leone passports in Hong Kong and elsewhere. And,
as already stated, this sale had started as far back as early 1992.
What were the proceeds
of passport sales used for?
As will be seen from the
evidence provided by Mr. Yiu in his Financial Statements, the total income
earned from the IIP up to the end of 1995 amounted to US$5,640,890.00 while
total expenditures made on behalf of the Government stood at US$6,909,683.78.
The deficit of US$1,268,793.78 was financed by way of a loan from Frank Yiu to
the Government, using the passports as collateral. These entire funds were
disbursed as directed by the NPRC leadership for the purchase of arms and
ammunition and other sinews for the prosecution of the war.
The next question one might
ask is why did I not say all this before, especially when I was charged to
court for offences I knew I did not commit?
The answer is two-fold.
First I did not have this evidence then. I did not even know it existed. Second,
there was no way I could have mounted a defence against the charges without
divulging information that was guarded by the State as “top secret”. Imagine if
I had gone into the witness box and stated in my evidence in chief that the
Government did not have the financial capacity to prosecute the war against the
RUF and that it had to depend on the sale of Sierra Leone passports to raise
money for that purpose, and that information had got to the knowledge of the RUF
while the war was still raging in 1996. Imagine also that the RUF became
energized as a result of this disclosure and decided to take Freetown by force.
What would have been my fate and that of my family in the hands of the residents
of Freetown when they come to know and believe that my disclosures were
responsible for energizing the RUF to venture to take the city? It takes little
imagination to know what our fate would have been. Remember what happened to the
many unfortunate victims whose only crime was that they were suspected, merely
suspected, rightly or wrongly, of collaborating with the enemy!
In the circumstances, I
opted to protect the State by guarding its secrets. At the same time I also
protected the lives of myself and my family by agreeing to the out-of-court
settlement mentioned earlier rather than risk making such disclosures at a
trial. In the process, I have suffered socially in that I have had to live with
the social stigma that the Indictment visited upon me over the past nine years.
I also suffered financially in that I had to part with US$105,000.
When subsequently new
evidence came to hand, represented by the Financial Statements of Frank Yiu, I
took immediate steps to bring them to the attention of the Government. On 28
September 2005, a meeting was held with the Honourable Vice-President, in the
presence of the current Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, where the
exonerative value of the new evidence was accepted. This was followed by an
exchange of letters between my humble self and the Honourable Attorney-General
dated 30 September and 7 October 2005 respectively. At long last, after nine
painful years, the truth about the passport saga has prevailed. And I hope, from
now on, my good name, character and reputation will be restored.
I wish to take this
opportunity, therefore, to record my deep appreciation to President Ahmad Tejan
Kabbah and Vice-President Solomon Berewa for agreeing to accept the new
exonerative evidence which in turn will facilitate the restoration of my good
name. Such happenings are indeed very rare in Africa. The exoneration is that
if, as alleged in the Indictment, it was true I had forced Frank Yiu to part
with monies he was holding for the Government, nothing had prevented him from
disclosing that fact in his Financial Statements. The fact is that he did not.
And that is sufficient evidence to show that the monies he provided to my
electioneering campaign fund did not come from the IIP.
What this also means is
that it is open to me to claim from the Government a refund of the amount of
US$105,000 I paid in 1996. Although it is my legal right so to do, I have been
persuaded for a variety of reasons not to pursue that claim. I have agreed, not
because I did not need the money – of course I do – but simply because I
consider the vindication of my good name and reputation as far more important to
me and my family.
I thank you, Ladies and
Gentlemen, for your kind attention. It is my fervent hope that, with this new
development, this matter of the so-called “Passport Saga” will be allowed to
rest for good. And if you have published before based on rumours and hearsay
resulting in tainting my character reputation, I bear you no grudge. All I ask
now is that you be good enough to consider it your professional duty to make
amends and repair the damage.
http://www.cocorioko.net/?p=25819 Mother-of-all-corruption exposed in Sierra Leone by Ex-President Kabbah : Maada Bio, Strasser and Abbass Bundu should have been behind bars ! ! ! ****************************************************************************************************** Sierra Leone Opposition Party Embroiled in Squirrelgate Scandal over Passport Sale By SYLVIA OLAYINKA BLYDEN & HER TEAM Mar 30, 2012, 21:21 | |||||
The main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) is currently embroiled in what is turning out to be the biggest political corruption scandal to hit Sierra Leone this century. The scandal has been dubbed as the SQUIRRELGATE.
"We need a leader who teaches our youth honesty... we [Bio’s proposed SLPP led Government come November 2012]will not engage in dubious contracts to fleece this country and squirrel the loot away in foreign bank accounts". - JULIUS MAADA BIO IN HIS MAIDEN SPEECH (September 2011)
| The Green NPRC-SLPP Squirrel |
In his first address to the voting public upon his election as SLPP presidential candidate, Bio spoke of criminals fleecing from the State to "squirrel" such funds in foreign bank accounts. The Squirrelgate Scandal concerns squirreling of our country’s money into NPRC junta pockets and foreign bank accounts over a prolonged period spanning years.
We are publishing copies of three of the numerous documents currently in our possession. The first one is the authenticated, signed and stamped Statement of Disbursement of Funds directly to certain individuals or their proxies.
The second is a sworn statement from Hong Kong citizen Frank Yiu saying that he personally handed over US$50,000 in cash [from the sale of our country’s passports] to the then newly sworn in Deputy NPRC Chairman Julius Maada Bio in June 1993. It is interesting to note that this was the month in which late SAJ Musa was cleverly manipulated out of office and replaced by Bio. All information currently in possession of the investigators show SAJ Musa was never involved in the scam to squirrel our country’s money. His name appears nowhere in the Statement of Disbursement of Funds.
Strasser was involved. According to documents in our possession, Strasser collected US$200,000 in cash from the proceeds of the passport sales during the time SAJ Musa was still his deputy. However, no evidence exists that SAJ Musa ever collected money from Frank Yiu. Until this day, no one has been able to give a credible explanation as to why SAJ Musa was forced out of the country and replaced with Bio. How come Bio received US$50,000 immediately SAJ Musa was forced out? SAJ Musa was known to be a strict disciplinarian but whether he was prone to be corrupt is not known.
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| Late SAJ Musa: NPRC's Disciplinarian |
This newspaper has many more of such documents. Friday March 23rd 2012 was the anniversary of the day the first bullet was fired in Bomaru in a war that came about mainly because of Squirrel Politicians and their squirreling of funds into foreign bank accounts. On that day, Awareness Times received a bundle of legal and bank documents in a sealed envelope anonymously delivered to our offices with a message inside simply saying: "In the name of this sacred March 23rd date, please do not let the people of Sierra Leone be fooled a second time by squirrels and grun-pigs. Examine these documents and do the correct thing for Mama Salone. Expose them in your widely read and well respected newspaper".
Awareness Times spent the last one week trying to verify and authenticate these documents and we can now confirm these are the documents used to indict former NPRC Foreign Minister Dr. Abass Bundu but for which he had said he was exonerated in December 2005. These documents which are now floating in other media houses show money transfers to Channel Islands Account of P. Banga Investments and also in the name of Julius Maada Bio. They include incriminating bank documents and Bank Transfers from Hong Kong to Ghana and from Hong Kong to Channel Islands over a period spanning many months between the years 1993 and 1996.
They also include illicit payments from New York’s BANK AMERICA into Bio’s foreign bank accounts. Similarly, banks like the famous HSBC, TSB (Lloyds of London) and Midlands Bank (St. Helier, Jersey), Bank of East Asia and others are all shown in the huge paper trail of documents highlighting illicit and criminal cash flows into secret foreign bank accounts held in name JULIUS MAADA BIO or in name of P. BANGA INVESTMENTS LTD, which is the company the former SLPP Government had alleged was a front for Julius Maada Bio who is interestingly now SLPP presidential candidate.
Apart from the huge volume of documents detailing the secret bank transfers into Maada Bio’s foreign bank accounts this paper also has in our possession, the Legal Report to Sierra Leone Cabinet from the then Attorney General’s Office (dated September 1996). This report was prepared and submitted shortly after Bundu was charged for larceny of State money which Bundu was accused of taking into his pocket rather than use it for the judicious use of development the State. Here is a section of what the SLPP Government Cabinet Paper says:- "Out of the passport transactions relating to Frank Yiu, Captain Strasser received a total of US$602,000; Brigadier Bio received US$380,000 and Dr. Abass Bundu got US$210,000...".
Another section of the SLPP Cabinet Paper of 1996 states: "These amounts were paid at different times into designated foreign accounts or in cash. In the case of Captain Strasser, his own share was paid to him personally or into a designated Swiss Account. Brigadier Bio had his paid into the Meridien Bank, Accra Ghana or into an account in Channel Islands, UK. Dr. Abass Bundu’s share was paid to him partly in cash or by transfer to his London account. Dr. Abass Bundu now faces trial for his own role in this transaction. Captain Strasser and Brigadier Bio would have been in the dock with him but the facts became known when both were now well outside the jurisdiction".
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| The Statement of Disbursement of Funds. This is part of the huge bundle of Sworn Affidavits handed over to the SLPP Kabbah Government in July 1996 by Frank Yiu. |
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| A Certfied Statement which was part of the massive bundle of Sworn Affidavits given to the Kabbah SLPP Government in July 1996 |
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| Two documents concerning the payment of US$50,000 into Julius Maada Bio's secret offshore account in the UK's Channel Islands (Account Number 503400 with TSB Channel Islands) |
It can be recalled that a famous Anti-Corruption Lawyer now retired in London, R.H.O. Robbin-Coker had written to the SLPP’s Presidential Candidate shortly after his maiden speech demanding answers to all these questions but Robbin-Coker had been ignored.
[ CLICK HERE FOR ROBBIN-COKER LETTER ]
[ CLICK HERE FOR ROBBIN-COKER LETTER ]
It is not very clear if Bio will continue to ignore the calls for clarification now that all these documents are now out in the open.
However, unlike Maada Bio who has simply ignored the calls, Abass Bundu had respected Sierra Leoneans enough to face them and give his own explanation of the transactions back then. It can be recalled that on Tuesday December 13th 2005 at the Sierra Leone News Agency (SLENA) offices at Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown, Dr. Bundu had called up a Press Conference in which he had accepted that he indeed received such monies as laid out by Frank Yiu, a Hong Kong citizen. However, in Bundu’s prepared Statement as read out on that day, he denied that the monies he received were from the amounts meant for the State. In the process of explaining what Bundu described as "my prosecution for larceny in 1996", this is what he had said back in December 2005 about the issue:
"You might wonder what my relationship with Mr. Frank Yiu was. Why was he ready to give me so much money? Well, let us remember that Mr. Yiu was a prominent businessman in Hong Kong. He had investments worldwide. He also had businesses here in Freetown as well as business associates. I first met him in March 1994 when he visited Freetown for an official briefing. Our second meeting took place in August 1994 when he told me that he had been informed by his business associates about my plans to run for president. He said from what he had been told, he had come to develop respect for my leadership qualities and would like to be associated with my political plans. He also said he was particularly impressed by my desire to forge closer links with the tiger economies of South-East Asia as a possible source of new investment capital for Sierra Leone and asked to be made a key player in that project if I won the presidency. He further explained that although he was not a rich man, he was not without substantial investments in Hong Kong, China and South America, and that his passport business with Sierra Leone constituted only a fraction of his overall business. He then offered to finance my campaign. In the process he made several contributions, all totalling US$210,000".
Dr. Abass Bundu confessed to receiving the US$210,000.[CLICK HERE FOR THAT CONFESSION] He did not deny the authenticity of documents showing the monies entering into his bank account. He however respected Sierra Leonean voters enough to try to give an explanation of why he received such cash into his foreign bank accounts. It is not clear if Julius Maada Bio will respect Sierra Leoneans enough to speak to us on the issue. Attempts by journalists to get Mr. Bio's own side received death threats this week from Bio's supporters at the opposition headquarters.
If Mr. Maada Bio does speak, it is not clear if he will try to deny ownership of his secret foreign Bank Accounts in Ghana and Channel Islands or if he will confess that indeed he is nothing but a big human NPRC Squirrel now running as SLPP presidential candidate.
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| The Green NPRC-SLPP Squirrel |
[ TO BE CONTINUED ]
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