With the exception of Presidents Kabbah and Bai Koroma, for a very long time politics in Sierra Leone has been a recurring nightmare of failed promises. After making grand promises based on elaborate public relations spins that speak to the people’s heartfelt hopes and desires, leader after leader have failed to deliver. But as soon as their mandates are about to expire, just as expected such leaders would start throwing money, rice, cars and other mundane things to the people they have made to suffer under their tenures, all in the hope of using this temporary relief to gain the people’s confidence hence votes. For too long the people of Sierra Leone on both verges of the political divide have suffered this indignity and insult to their collective hope of a developing, safe and prosperous nation.
This culture of political parties and politicians using cash violence against a poor and needy people has come to define our politics. Time without number politicians who failed to deliver on their promises would resort to throwing cash and favours around during the electioneering period just to be given further mandates to do nothing. In Liberia, during the election won by George Weah, the news media made a concerted effort to speak against the culture of a $100 and a bag of rice to buy people’s votes. The people were told that politicians consider them to be so stupid and gullible that for just a piece of bread they would sell their right to a bright future under a capable leader. The politicians consider the people of having a simple cast of mind that would make them believe anything someone with the stature of a president, representative or councillor would say. Politicians consider themselves to wield such great influence and power that they expect the people to be blinded by such and forget their misery under such leaders.
But times are quickly changing for such class of leaders. Instead of using cash violence on them, the people are now demanding continuity in the governance and development of the nation for a sustained betterment of their collective lot. The people may not be educated enough to understand the intricacies of the constitutional democratic setup, but they are seeing other nations making great progress despite being less endowed with the kinds of mineral, human and environmental wealth Sierra Leone is blessed with. In Guinea they see a country being developed with proceeds from bauxite. In landlocked Mali they see road construction fast tracked although they already have flyovers and other such road construction marvels we see in the west and Asian countries. They see people demanding results from their leaders, not more promises after failing to deliver. They now know that the cash politicians throw around is theirs in the first place, and that it won’t last them for long. They are demanding that CONTINUITY INSTEAD OF CASH VIOLENCE be repeated here in Sierra Leone. Unfortunately for political parties and politicians that depend on splashing out cash instead of development and jobs, the people now know that the only way they can get what they deserve is to vote the failed leader out and replace him or her with someone who is speaking to their issues.
Sierra Leoneans from the APC, SLPP, C4C and the other political parties know that when leaders fail, they all suffer regardless of their party affiliation – only the politicians and their teams of technocrats and other hangers on benefit. The people know that President Bai Koroma continued the fine works proposed and started by President Kabbah. They are not seeing that under this current SLPP government headed by President Bio. Apart from the failed promised New Direction, they see a forceful governance style that has failed to recognise the suffering of the people. They see a government that is not creating jobs but is instead creating more ministries and jobs for their friends by inflating the already heavy government wage bill, passing draconian laws, fostering tribalism and political and regionalism, that wouldn’t speak out against corruption and violence within its ranks, that has not continued with the developments the past regime under President Bai Koroma is still being praised for. Instead, the people are seeing shuffling and reshuffling of sacred cow SLPP politicians, while the opposition leaders are being hounded, threatened with prosecution and jailed using trumped up charges.
Tired of the culture of entitlement and violence that dishing out money encourages, the people are demanding that instead of spreading cash around, this government should focus on delivering on its campaign promises. And the only way that PAOPA can assure them of that is through continuing with and expanding on the developments of the previous regime. If this government style we are suffering under continues, the only way the SLPP can win 2023 is through cash, physical and ballot box stealing violence. Lonta!