By Dadson A. Musa
Politics is quite an interesting field, and it is where good men and women sometimes become bad people. The advantage that it gives the one who wields it makes it always a battle ground career.
Having studied politics here in Sierra Leone and across the globe I come out with the conclusion that a politician will want to make people believe that black is white as long as it served his best interest and not because it is true. Barack Obama was talked out of going into politics by a neighbour on the grounds that politics is not for nice people. In every political party, there are good and bad people. And every sober political party would want to deliver good things to people.
Recently in Sierra Leone, two key players in the SLPP government, Chief Minister, David Sengeh and the President himself Dr. Julius Maada made public statements pertaining to governance issues which some sections of the populace have decided to give their own interpretation. As the electricity situation in the country became challenged and government officials were scrambling for solution it was discovered that there is electricity theft across Sierra Leone so the Chief Minister named some individuals and institutions stealing electricity and depriving government of funds, and Dr David Sengeh in his usual bluntness cited some churches and mosques. This was seized on especially by the opposition and twisted to make him look ungodly and bad. Dr David Sengeh as a result was pounced on by some segment of the public including some civil society groups and even religious groups. Was he wrong in his statement? I’m afraid, no. But this was taken out of context by religious charlatans who were acting “more catholic than the pope” to give his statement a different meaning.
Then came President Julius Maada Bio at the coronation of Paramount Chiefs in Bo. First, he made it clear that elections come in 2028 and therefore any attempt by any group of people to do otherwise to gain political power will be met by strong reaction. In his words, “if you come with bullets, you will meet bullets.” This is a president who spoke these words because attempts have been made to disrupt his regime or to even overthrow his government. He has tried to avoid being militant in his actions and words but with the persistent threats of the peace of this country, he was forced to make statements like that. That doesn’t imply at all that he is on the war path. For eleven years, former President Ernest Bai Koroma ruled this country uninterrupted. His regime was, for some reasons, far from perfect but we let his terms run out, and he was never ever threatened to be overthrown. Sierra Leoneans must stop fanning the flames of discord or war for selfish gains. We have come some way with our democracy and should not allow any groups to throw spanners into the works. Let us criticize the government without the political lens if we truly love this country. Sierra Leone has so much to offer to all of us if we stop being petty, narrow-minded and tribalistic. That curse of tribalism and regionalism must be gotten rid of. In case we don’t know, foreigners like Lebanese, Nigerians, Indians, among others, are taking advantage of our division and ripping us left, right and center. For them they want us to stay divided so they continue to steal our natural resources. Let us wise up, Sierra Leoneans.
Copyright –Published in print in Expo Times Newspaper on Friday, June 5th , 2024 (ExpoTimes News – Expo Media Group (expomediasl.com)
