Sierra Leonean Vice President Sam Sumana has applied for asylum at the US embassy in Freetown and is in hiding while his request is considered, a source close to him said.
Sumana, 52, was expelled from Sierra Leone’s governing All People’s Congress (APC) party this month for what were described as “his anti-party activities, including fomenting violence,” although he denied the allegations and has appealed against his suspension to the party leadership.
Sumana “is now in hiding at a secure location awaiting a reply to a request he has made by telephone to the American embassy for asylum for himself and his wife,” a member of his entourage said.
Heavily armed soldiers stormed Sumana’s hilltop residence on Saturday, but he was not there, witnesses said.
The soldiers left with bundles of files, one witness added.
The BBC on Saturday said it had spoken to Sumana and reported that the vice president and his wife had fled their home in Freetown and requested asylum at the embassy. Their current whereabouts were not clear.
Reporters were unable to reach Sumana and the US embassy declined to comment.
Sierra Leonean deputy government spokesman Abdulai Bayraytay told reporters that “the vice president is not under any threat,” amid reports that Sumana believed his life was in danger.
In a statement issued late on Saturday, the APC said it “has been informed by the American embassy in Freetown that Vice President Samuel Sam Sumana has requested to seek asylum... alleging that his life is under threat and that his residence has been looted.”
The party denied that Sumana had been threatened and his home vandalized, adding that Sumana’s allegations and conduct were likely to embarrass the party and bring it into disrepute.
Sumana’s house was under military surveillance on Saturday, according to a reporter who visited the site, but was unable to approach his residence. Military checkpoints in the neighborhood were seen turning away people who attempted to go to the house.
Witnesses said troops had disarmed Sumana’s guards.
“Some officers then went into the house, but after about an hour or more of searching they left with bundles of papers,” one neighbor told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Late on Saturday evening, the military presence was reduced and the house was deserted, residents said.
“There is no evidence that the house was vandalized,” a neighbor said.
Announcing his expulsion on March 6, APC Secretary-General Osman Yansaneh said the party accused Sumana of falsely claiming to be a Muslim, and claiming to hold a degree from a US university.
He is also accused of being responsible for “frequent unrest” in his eastern home district of Kono, and the party believes he was plotting to set up a breakaway political party.
Sumana’s expulsion came a few days after he had quarantined himself due to the death of one of his bodyguards from Ebola.
Sierra Leone has registered almost 3,600 deaths in the nine months since the Ebola outbreak spread across west Africa.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese