By Ralph Sesay
Sierra Leoneans are heading to the March 7th, 2018 polls as a divided people and nation more than ever before. We have imbibed regional/tribal considerations in everything we do, hugely betraying our nationality and oneness, which should be the guiding principles of every civilized nation.
Tribal and political parameters have been increasingly used to recruit workers into the civil service despite several attempts at reforms within the sector over the years. These considerations have also hugely influenced political appointments into Government and other national institutions over the years. Governments after governments have failed to govern the country as one nation and people.
A very good number of government agencies and parastatals are flooded with party faithfulls from whatever side of the political divide. Some even underperform and sabotage regimes of which political parties they do not belong when they are serving at the expense of the state. They would leave the country and look for other jobs whenever their party is not in power. This is the more reason why we normally witness huge sacking of civil servants from these sectors whenever there is a change of government.
Very seasoned experts in various fields, that is, engineering, education, law and the economy, etc., have hugely involved themselves in mainstream politics, thereby depriving the country from their expertise whenever their party is not in power. Those who attempt to serve in governments, they are not affiliated to, are often hunted by their very party members.
These huge divisions, mainly around tribal/regional and political considerations, have seriously affected our development trajectory over the years. Even the distribution of development programs and projects has been largely impacted by these considerations.
We have witnessed, in recent times, where certain areas in the country have been hugely affected in terms of development due to their political leaning.
The “winner takes all” syndrome in our national polity is a huge cause for concern. The composition of our cabinet, major parastatals and national institutions, over the past years, has not reflected a united country with a regionally balanced composition that would seek the influence of all tribes, regions and shades of opinion. This is the more reason why the issue of elections in Sierra Leone has always been a ‘’do or die’’ affair.
This state of affairs has slowly manifested itself in every sector of the Sierra Leonean society not even excluding the Church, which is an agent of socialization.
We have recently seen a very old Christian mission in Sierra Leone grappling with the issue of appointing a very senior member within their ranks to serve in a certain area in the country, as a bishop, rejected on the basis of his region of origin, even though this was not tabled as a reason. But one could easily smell regional sentiments around his appointment as a bishop to serve in another region he is not from even when he is a full fledged member of that mission for the past twenty years or more.
With this state of affairs, what has our moral guarantors done to heal the nation of this wound or are we waiting for another war? The Civil Society and the media are themselves part of the problem and cannot do anything towards solving it.
Many countries in West Africa, including Ghana, have promoted their oneness as a nation even though they belong to different political parties. Their national flags have been flown in most public places and one would hardly hear party slogans, hence elections are over kids in primary and secondary schools are taught issues around patriotism and loyalty to their country.
This is further sustained by National Youth Schemes that post graduates to different areas in the country to serve their people before taking up their first employment. You would hardly hear public officials promoting party programs over the national interest as it is the case here.
It is difficult to draw a line between party and Government issues here in Sierra Leone. We are aware that political parties form Governments, hence when they win elections they should be able to put on a national face and work for the country and its people and not be subservient to their political party alone. Why should I gain employment because I belong to party A or B not based on our qualification?
Our moral guarantors should work very hard to promote national unity and cohesion. Whatever way they do it is another issue all together. This is needed now more than ever before.
As we approach the March elections it has even become clearer. Slogans of some political parties purely depict tribal words of certain tribes in Sierra Leone.
A very good start would be targeting the younger ones in the schools. Reintroducing civic education into our school curriculum and emphasizing on the significance and importance of national symbols, such as the national anthem, the national pledge, coat of arms, our national flag colours and what they stand for would help a lot in instilling nationality and sense of patriotism in our kids. The National Commission for Democracy should take the lead alongside other key institutions like the inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone.
The incoming administration should make very frantic efforts at mainstreaming the critical issue of national cohesion into its programs. This is very critical for national development, peace and stability. We should in any way not depend on a foreign solution to this menace but develop a local approach that would work for us a people. If the composition of our cabinet and appointments in parastatals and other national institutions is devoid of political or ethnic/regional considerations, this would diffuse the huge tensions around elections.
As a nation we should move away from the ‘winner takes all’ syndrome as it is a flashpoint for violence.