If the All Peoples Congress (APC) party and the people of Sierra Leone are to bounce back and rise from the ashes of opposition and insecurity, then, there is every need for the party to embrace and adopt Dr. Kaifala Marah’s model of the phoenix mentality, espoused at the inauguration of the 6TH District Chapter in Phoenix, Arizona in the United States of America last week. The phoenix is a bird that symbolizes resurrection.
Anyone who is familiar and comfortable with the light and change believes in the resurrection. Sierra Leone and her citizens from all walks of life are in desperate need of resurrection. This call goes beyond political, tribal, or regional lines as it is a matter of existential necessity for the whole nation to see itself in the ashes, down for the count, but not out, and to believe that all will be well again and even better.
As a party of light (the Red Sun), the call for members and supporters of the APC to embrace the phoenix mentality should be reassuring. In the words of Dr. Kaifala Marah, at the recent inauguration of the Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America Chapter of the party by the Diaspora 6th Region was not a coincidence, as it was a cursory event pointing to a definite turn of event, or a second coming of sorts, a resurrection of the party and nation from the ashes of stage-managed elections defeats, violence, political trickery, and disunity.
As a party that represents grassroots Sierra Leoneans, the APC must get itself together or put its house in order to make a planned or calculated march to State House in 2028. It is of a truth that a house divided cannot stand, let alone succeed. Disunity defines a situation where nothing is concerted and there is no consensus. Even when there is consensus, the very members of the divided household would go about tearing themselves apart in private and in public with disparate and disjointed statements that only adds to the confusion of a house without a unified leadership goes through or experiences.
The problems of the people and country are too great for the APC to be caught up in disarray; to be stuck in a position where people care more about their personal interests or ambitions than what their fellow citizens and beautiful land that they love are being forced to put up with. There is a much bigger picture or fight for the party to quickly come together and incorporate the phoenix mentality necessary for its rise from the ashes.
The people of Sierra Leone from all tribes, regions, and parties are suffering. There is no “get meal cheap ticket”. Everyone is expected to pay the same prices for goods and services no matter who you voted for. Any home, family, party, father or leader that is not moved or made remorseful by the current experiences of the suffering people of Sierra Leone since 2018 is not worthy of fit to be a leader or political party or household.
The economic, social, and political experiences of the people under the President Julius Maada Bio/Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) leadership are in stark contrast to their experiences before its inception. Under Ernest Bai Koroma’s presidency, Sierra Leone was the fastest growing economy in Africa, south of the Sahara. Ernest Bai Koroma fulfilled his elections promises to the electorates through economic stimulus packages that made use of the fundamentals at play at the time. He built up on the successes of his predecessor, the late SLPP President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. However, since Bio took over, he has treated the economy, State House, the Bank of Sierra Leone, the ECSL, local banks, the legislature, the judiciary, state security, the consolidated revenue fund and a whole lot more, as if he is entitled to use them as he pleases, without care or concern about how it affects the generality of the masses. Domestic interest rates and the rate of inflation continue to make a mockery of all of President Bio’s plans for the people, which have all proven to be short-sighted hence, only crafted to benefit the President and his band of merrymakers. And when the people voted to change their situation, there votes were hijacked and Bio was announced winner by the head of the ECSL.
This situation calls for serious introspection. Sierra Leoneans are down for the count, but not down and out. Though it looks insurmountable, the situation can be fixed. With unity across the board and the knowledge that replacing a nonperforming regime that is also a threat to the rule of law, constitutionality, democratic good governance, and the peace and security of the state is a matter of existential necessity; the people of Sierra Leone will be made to believe that they can rise above their death-like situation and resurrect by joining hands to vote the elephant out of the room.
The whole nation must embrace the phoenix mentality if Sierra Leone is to get a leader at State House that will work on behalf of the people and the state. This is beyond the APC and goes all over the country where men and women who are patriots and nationalists who see beyond political colours, are encouraged to join the APC to address the issue of the big elephant in the room that no one is willing to admit is there.
The time the APC has spent in the political wilderness should galvanise the party; it is a time for the party to learn from their experiences to ensure that they are never repeated. This is why the call to embrace the phoenix mentality, envisioned by Dr. Kaifala Marah is not just about reaching out to the grassroots but also to extend the olive branch to all Sierra Leoneans turn down the temperature and galvanize to vote for change.
Therefore, the APC has a great campaign slogan for 2028: “The Phoenix-Rising from the Ashes”. This can create a groundswell, where every citizen would see it as his or her civic call and a moral duty to vote for another Sierra Leonean that will do well the job that Maada Bio has not done and cannot do in the interest of every man and women on the territory of Sierra Leone. The call therefore for the APC rank and file and Sierra Leoneans to embrace the Phoenix Mentality is non-negotiable; it should be a must. Lonta!