For the struggling, suffering and hard-up people of Sierra Leone, the 24 June elections could not have come at a much better time. The Sierra Leonean voters say with elections just two months away, they want both the ruling SLPP and main opposition APC to do all in their power to avoid the violence that has come to define our election cycles.
They said no other political party in Sierra Leone is more responsible for the violence that happens before, during and after elections than the SLPP and APC. They blame both parties for causing all the violence associated with the elections cycle in Sierra Leone.
Unfortunately for the people of Sierra Leone, election violence is nothing new; they have come to expect it during every election period, be it general or bye election. Violence is so tied to and has come to define our political process so much so that it is expected and plays a leading role in all other elections, be they for schools, organisations and communities.
The APC and SLPP are being called upon to bring an immediate end to all the issues responsible for elections violence, including the people they routinely hire to effect this dastardly act that disenfranchises whole communities.
One would seriously consider the opposition party to want to use violence to get their way. But in Sierra Leone, the incumbent or ruling parties are accused of fomenting the violence to ensure that they maintain their grip on state governance. Since they have much to lose they employ violence to avert such a loss.
However, the SLPP and APC should have known by now that for the presidential elections, there are no losers as we are all expected to rally behind the winning team after the votes are counted. Politics ends when the votes have been tallied and the vanquished congratulates the victors. After that we are one country again moving forward on our national development agenda. The new government of Sierra Leone is the people’s government, and all is expected to support the president to succeed.
But why is it that the APC and SLPP are so bent on using violence every election cycle? Well, it’s all about interests; the parties’ interests as opposed to the people’s and nation’s. The loser of an election considers loss of revenue or work opportunity than, say, that his plans for the people would have to wait another term.
Lacking ideas to impress the people with or proof of having delivered on their campaign promises, such leaders use or resort to violence; both APC and SLPP have party thugs or gangsters that do their violent dirty work across the country. We know such people and some police officers with a penchant for violence are being moved to strategic locations across the country by the parties before 24 June. The hope is to cause maximum damage with minimal chances of being recognised by the community members.
Both the APC and SLPP have not only since Independence endangered the lives of the people of Sierra Leone during elections, they have also threatened our peace and security as a state. By allowing violence to get out of hand in and out of the parties and especially during elections both parties continue to embarrass us internationally.
However, the elections period wouldn’t have been so violent had the politicians not focused our politics on regions and tribes instead of on delivering on campaign promises. With the focus being protecting tribal interests, we can see how partisans can go as far as murdering another fellow citizen for not belonging to his or her party or tribe. Violence quickly replaced ideas and development, and the nation has been worse for wear as a result ever since.
Unscrupulous politicians from the APC and SLPP have now come to see violence as an electioneering tool; they employ it so well that every five years they descend on their constituencies they had long neglected, take care of the people’s most pressing and immediate needs like rent, school fees, jobs, cash, favours, all in an effort to get their votes, get re-elected, only to ignore the people and abandon them during their difficult times.
For the 24 June elections we are calling on the SLPP and APC to avoid any kuskas that will result into violence or loss of life and property. The APC and SLPP are not enemies; they are actually partners in development. They represent two different ideas on how to successfully run the economy and develop the state.
It is time we start respecting people’s rights and freedom to associate with whoever they choose to, including their choice of party or candidate. They should not be injured or killed for this, which is their constitutionally guaranteed right, hence a duty of the government of Sierra Leone to ensure.
