Tribalism shouldn’t be a problem in Sierra Leone. The people have been intermarrying and living with each other for centuries as power shifted from the different empires and tribes that dominated this part of the world before the advent of white adventurers, slavers, and the ungodly.
The two dominant tribes, the Mende and Temne, although they wield enough political power and influence in electioneering due to their voting power, have never ruled this country but can be singled out for forming the largest voting blocks for whoever ends up victorious in presidential elections.
This has led many people from the smaller tribes looking to gain political power to use either Mende or Temne, maybe because they were born and raised in Mende or Temne line, or moved there when young enough to learn the language without sounding like an outsider.
These people are accused of fomenting the tribalism that political parties in power are routinely accused of.
As the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is engaged in its lower level elections for section / zonal, constituency executive, student chapter, district executive, regional executive, national young generation conference and elections, national women’s council election, and delegates’ conference between now and May, the party is being warned to be aware of tribal infiltrators and saboteurs who may use the language of the dominant tribal grouping, the Mende, to gain political power or get involved in untoward activities that would mislead someone into saying it was the work of a Mende person.
A saboteur is one who is engaged in sabotage: to deliberately destroy, damage, or obstruct something especially for political or military advantage.
“It is without a doubt that Mendes and Temnes don’t have a problem with each other. There is no problem unless when politics and opportunities are concerned. But these two tribes have been intermarrying ever since. The Mende man loves the Temne woman and the Temne man loves the Mende woman. Their offspring are some of the most successful people in the country. These two also mingle and mix with all others including the Krio, Fullah, Limba, Loko, Yalunka, Kuranko, Mandingo, Sherbro, Kono, and others. Therefore we should not be having a problem with tribalism,” noted an SLPP strategist that spoke to this medium on the role of tribal infiltrators or frauds who pass for members of the dominant tribes only to gain political and other power while hiding or concealing their true identities.
In Sierra Leone there is the perception that if you don’t belong to either Mende or Temne, depending on who is in power it would be difficult even impossible for you to get a job or government contract.
This has led many ambitious young men and women from the smaller tribes seeking an advantage either political or otherwise to pass for either Mende or Temne, while setting aside their true cultural and or linguistic identity.
“Now that the SLPP is in power you have many people in the party that speak Mende very well, but are not, getting opportunities you would be expecting to go to a Mende person. But the SLPP is not like this. We choose the best person regardless of your tribe. But the tribal infiltrators who think you have to be Mende or Temne to be a success have successfully used these languages to win votes. The president is Sherbro and his vice president is Fullah but they both speak Mende and Temne respectfully very well. The Sherbros, the Konos, the Yalunkas pass for Mende when seeking political power. But when they get power, they bring in their own people. So there are others who get jobs and other opportunities while the real Mendes are out of work and end up becoming the opposition within the party,” the SLPP strategist informed this medium.
Also commenting, a member of the APC executive said they also have the same problem in the APC. The APC stalwart blamed the people he called “tribal infiltrators and frauds” for all the tribalism that the main political parties are being accused of. He said based on their numbers the Mendes and Temnes have political power, but don’t have a problem making others powerful by choosing anyone of their liking to head the country.
“In the APC we have the Limbas, the Lokos, the Kurankos, and the Fullahs who all speak Temne fluently without an accent because most of them were either born in Temne line or grew up there. These people should know that you can still be yourself and be accepted in Sierra Leone. The fact that we have never had a Temne or Mende or Fullah president says a lot that we are an accommodating people. But we do notice that now that the SLPP is in power a lot of Temnes who grew up in Bo and Kenema and speak Mende fluently are passing for Mendes. These people never speak their home language just feel as if they belong,” the APC strongman stated.
Commenting on people ending up as opposition within their parties, the SLPP strategist warned that this trend was started by upset Mende and Temne people in both parties who felt ignored, bypassed, overlooked for positions or opportunities for which those with the education that may not be real Temne or Mende are benefitting.
“This is the real problem. Whenever you have this one party in power there are people within that party that would pass sensitive information to the media and others about the party or leader. These are those who feel like they are outsiders within their party while those that they consider outsiders are passing for them and benefitting,” both the ranking APC and SLPP partisans averred.
The Sierra Leone patriots advised that both the Temne and Mende should see each other as brothers and not practice tribalism against each other. As the two largest tribes in the country they advised that their focus should be on making the country better regardless of who is in power.
“It is a great thing that we all speak each other’s language. This should be good and not bad. In our political governance history all our presidents have been from other tribes while depending on the Mende or Temne vote to win the seat of the presidency. Now we should focus on real politics, not tribalism and other isms with the potential to derail our progress. If not we will have our parties hijacked by tribal infiltrators who use Mende and Temne just to get power to develop them and their people as if they are preparing for a bad day in the future. They should seek power to empower all and sundry not their narrow tribal outlook. We should be a people that consider the national outlook and I think this is why the Mendes and Temnes have no problem with who becomes president. As long as you have the nation’s interest at heart they will vote for you,” stated the SLPP strategist.
The ranking SLPP planner said for the past six years people have been suffering without jobs, food security while their party is in power. He advised that the electorates should know who to vote for.
“Now that the SLPP is in all these lower level elections leading to the delegates’ conference where we hope we will know about the flagbearer, our people should know who to vote for when it comes to the district, regional, constituency, various councils and eventually the flagbearer. We have to elect people with the country and not any tribe at heart. We should promote the idea of a country that uses its entire tribal complement to push the country forward, not those who want to gain political power and other opportunities using the Mendes and Temnes as powerbrokers or makers,” he concluded.
Tribalism, regionalism and politics should have no place in our body politic. We have been through so much as a people of different tribes who belong to this modern nation state. Let us use all our education and connections to empower the rest of us, not just those belonging to our tribes.
“This is a message for the smaller tribes that the Mende and Temne make president and others: Unlike the Mendes and Temnes, you are the ones promoting tribalism. The Temne and Mende accept you enough to vote for you to become president. Now we want you to see how magnanimous the Mendes and Temnes are and do likewise. Our national politics will never progress if we feel the need to infiltrate and pass for others while concealing our true identities. Let each man take credit or blame for his or her actions,” the APC strongman advised.