Freetown - Sierra Leone's Chief of Defence of Staff, Major General Robert Yirra Koroma, warned the military to stay out of politics in a directive issued on Wednesday ahead of next year's polls.
The directive, which was read to soldiers by Joint Forces commander Mohamed Sesay, warned all soldiers to be “non-political” and to “display political maturity”.
“We have evidence of people trying to politicise the army but these people should learn from the past civil war when politics got into the army,” Koroma told reporters.
“Service personnel should not participate in any political activity including political campaigning, speaking at political meetings and under any circumstances wear party colours,” the directive said.
“All service personnel, their spouses and dependents are forbidden from wearing political party dress or insignia or hosting political party meetings in the barracks,” it added.
Sesay reminded the soldiers that “a lot of accolade was accorded to the military by both the local and international observers during the 2007 elections and such achievements cannot be undermined in the upcoming elections”.
At a separate event, Defence Minister Major Palo Conteh also urged all Sierra Leoneans “to stop politicising the army”.
“The armed forces is a professional force and should remain that way,” the minister told a press conference. “Politicising the army is not good for the peace and development of the country.”
The date for the elections has still not been announced by the country's National Electoral Commission (NEC). - Sapa-AFP