Abraham John

In part one of this series, I highlighted the qualities of Late President Kabbah and his transformation of Sierra Leone’s post-war economy to a developmental one. Much of his developmental strides were not appreciated by many until after the end of his Presidential tenure and death.

President Kabbah was a straight shooter. He did not mince his words on critical national issues and party affairs. At one time, he angered his party members when he wrote that he was at that time, the President of Sierra Leone and should not be regarded as the President of the SLPP. His statement to my understanding, was made to ward off any attempt of state capture by party elites. Furthermore, He wanted to dispel the notion of political patronage and aggrandizement of *” na we yone turn this for betteh.”*

Although his words were a statement of fact, some party members interpreted it to mean that it was a show of ingratitude and disrespect to a party that had made him a President. Some even questioned his “SLPPness.”

In another instance, he made a audacious statement during his *Meet the People Tour* in Makeni that the Northerners should apologize to the Southern-Easterners for the agony of the rebel war led by Foday Sankoh (who hailed from Tonkolili District). In my view, he was audacious enough to utter such a statement because he too hailed from the north (Kambia District), a President from another region would not have made such a policy statement.

President Kabbah understood the shenanigan and dirty politics of hate, backstabbing and deceit. This led him to conclude that “Sierra Leoneans get bad heart.”

President Kabbah had a broad based government and worked to diffuse ethnic and political tensions in the country. I am told he appointed a number of Cabinet Ministers he was less acquainted with but believed had the capacity to deliver. By this way, he created a broad based government which helped to strengthened national cohesion.

# To be continued#