By Yusif Moigua
Conventionally Civil Society Organizations are considered as watchdogs of society, national and global democratic governance. CSOs do serve as intermediaries between citizens and the state as it is always the cases in developed and civilized democracies.
In that light, they are also expected to serve as overseers of society by way of articulating concerns relating to the mitigation of corruption, rights to social service deliveries such as education, health, regular water and energy supplies, self-food sufficiency, the list is long, making sure that such essential human needs are constantly provided for the people by the government of the day, as it is supposed to be in any democratic governance.
CSOs are obliged to be constantly engaging their governments and international development partners on significant national issues that have to do with the defence and protection of human and people’s rights, good governance, advocate for the upholding of constitutionality, the rule of law, stage constructive criticisms with proffered recommendations and solutions to government policies, and where necessary come strongly against policies and programmes with propensities of being against the wishes and aspirations of the citizenry and the country. They can as well position themselves as credible arbitrators between the state and the populace almost everywhere in the world.
Add to their highlighted roles and functions above, we have also come to know and seen the roles of CSOs as non-state actors charged with the tasks of articulating civic concerns and raise awareness, around the gender equality, environmental degradation and climate governance, the proliferations of small arms and light weapons, advocate strongly for the consolidation of peace, the country’s foreign, multilateral, bilateral relations and international cooperation.
They can as well propagate national development agendas in their continuous protective, articulatory, participation, control, relief and democratization functions in modern democratic state governance across the globe. That is why before now it was widely noticed that the pro-activeness of CSOs in Sierra Leone’s democratization process was very much vibrant, in that, their calls for transition from military rule to democracy through elections in 1996 were heard and abided by state actors, including the then National Provisional Ruling Council and international systems.
That is why we commend Dr Kadi Sesay, former lecturer at Fourah Bay College University of Sierra Leone, a feminist and pro-democracy activist, who also contended as vice presidential candidate of then SLPP presidential candidate president Bio for the 2012 elections. Dr Zianab Hawa Bangura, the co-founder of Campaign for Good Governance, also later became APC politician in the last Koroma administration, Festus Minah of Civil Society Movement who also abandoned civic activism for politics.
They played their various parts in building the democratic space that seems to be madly destroyed now by the powers that be, all because of their want of jobs leading to the death of democracy in Sierra Leone. As the saying goes …when the voices are silent the democracy dies. They used to be the voices of the masses but later went after their personal interests in seeking employments, sold their souls and vocal voices to politicians for political appointments, except for the likes of Charles Mambu, Director, Health for All Coalition and few others who have continued to stand for the rights of the masses.
It could be vividly recalled that CSOs were very vocal with advocacies during the 2014 deadly Ebola virus disease outbreak onto the 2018 general elections, when civic organizations used their collective voices and ensured a smooth transition of political power through a regime change, from the then ruling All People’s Congress-APC to the former opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party-SLPP as was widely expected by all and sundry.
That besides, CSOs’ advocacies furthered ensured that the 2018 went on peacefully by way of preaching peace and unity messages to the electorate and the APC and SLPP contenders, bearing in mind that Sierra Leone is bigger than their various political parties.
With support from donors, development partners and government through the past leadership of former president Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, CSOs won the hearts and minds of people by enabling compliance with the rules and regulations that governed the last election through their collective partnership and collaborations.
Such is lacking in the present democratic dispensation rather, Sierra Leone’s CSOs atmosphere is rapidly transforming into governments and presidential spokespersons, with civil society activists always seeking the attention of the incumbent government for job offers and other means of daily survival. Similarly so, certain sections of the media, so there is no way corruption can be fought entirely.
As at now CSOs’ major tasks are anchored on praise singing of president Bio for his free education and the selective anti-corruption fights-chasing campaigns against opposition politicians of the last APC administration. In fact, they have in the last two years of the SLPP remained silent on essential national issues as if they have all turned blind eyes and given deaf ears to the harsh realities faced by Sierra Leoneans in the hands of the Bio led SLPP government.
Yet they keep praising the government as if this is the very time children are receiving free education in Sierra Leone, just because they want the president’s attention so that they as well extort moneys from him, despite Joseph Sannoh of Heal Sierra Leone being quoted grumbling to First Lady Fatima Bio saying that former president Koroma used to give him huge amount of money compared to what he now receives from his tribesman president Bio.
Likewise, in the last regime, CSOs’ extortion of moneys from the former president with the pretext of hypocritically supporting his policies and visions whereas they do not and at the same time take classified information from him and his government officials to the then opposition party presidential candidate now president Bio. They are all being rewarded now for their loyalties to the SLPP party.
Owing to his high level of political tolerance and open-handedness, former president Koroma encouraged all manners of humans around him, including pro-opposition CSOs as well as his personal critics, to a peak that most of them served as mere moles around him. Koroma’s heart is big enough to hold no grudge against his political opponents, not even his worst critics in the media and among CSOs activists.
No wonder when power changed hands the likes of speech deficient-Joseph Sannoh, Robert Kondema Kargbo, Asmah James Kamara, her husband Ambrose James, their closed allies and relatives have been rewarded by the present government for their various loyalties to Bio and the SLPP party. Others in the persons of Andrew Larvaley of Institute of Governance Reform didn’t get a government job but receives logistical support including huge chunk of funds to the tune of thousands of United States dollars, and also recommended his sister, Patricia Larvaley, for a cabinet position she now holds at the Ministry of Finance.
Don’t ask me about the whereabouts of CSO leaders as Abu Brima of Network Movement for Justice and Development, John Caulker of Fambul Tok, Women’s In the Media Sierra Leone, Fifty-Fifty 50-50 Group, Campaign for Justice Mining and Women’s Forum, among host of others, who have all gone into silence on national issues. That is, Sierra Leone’s civic activism landscape is dead and activists have lost the people’s advocacy battle to the powers that be.
Moreover Moses Mambu of consortium of CSOs, Victor Lansana Koroma of Health Alert, Charles Mambu of Health for All Coalition, Alphoson Manley of Civil Rights Coalition are now very active praise singers of president Bio and the SLPP government, having been full time recipients of thousands of United States dollars and millions of leones from former president Koroma.
These are people the Bio presidency and the SLPP government must be wary about now, because this is the same way they were pretending to the last regime and former president Koroma. Whereas now they are all fully dressed in ‘green’ suits as if they were never in league with the last APC system and its leaders, in the name of working with any government in power and the government of the day.
As for low level and shameless ones like semi-illiterate Bernard Conteh of Anti-Violence Movement, secured business contracts from government; Conteh was a very close friend of former president Koroma, former Youth Affairs Minister Bai Mamoud Bangura and so many APC members.
Meanwhile all standard of professionalism have its own ethical guiding principles, which am pretty sure SCOs are no exemptions as civic activists belong to families and their professions, they must work within its moral high ground, but nowadays Sierra Leonean CSOs care less about integrity and their credibility in their desperate pursuit for money and attention grabbing.
By way of guiding the government, the SLPP party and president Bio he must be very careful with such people in civil society organizations and the media. For experiences learnt by the last administration from CSOs are enough lessons to guide the present system and the president. So, watch your back President Bio! Stay safe.
Long live President Maada Bio
Long live Her First Lady, Fatima Maada Bio.