By Felix Khonte “IF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN, YOU ARE. IF YOU THINK YOU DARE NOT, YOU DON’T. IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE LOST, YOU HAVE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN BUT THINK YOU CAN’T, IT’S ALMOST CERTAIN YOU WON’T. FOR OUT OF THE WORLD WE FIND THAT SUCCESS BEGINS WITH A FELLOW’S WILL; IT’S ALL IN THE STATE OF MIND”!
The situation that is currently confronting the presidential flagbearer of the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party, Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara, and some senior executive members of the same party, needs to be looked at holistically, and weigh them between “the good, the bad and the ugly”. These could open up platforms where patriotic citizens can come on board, and try to persuade these belligerent forces within themselves, as a way of salvaging democracy, good governance and the rule of law. But if the opposition that is supposed to put the ruling government on their toes decides to form an alliance of ingratitude, then, we could be heading for doom with dire consequences that could lead to the death of democracy in our society!
“HE WHO DWELS IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL ABIDE UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY. HE SHALL SAY OF THE LORD, ‘HE IS MY REFUGE AND MY FORTRESS; MY GOD, IN HIM I WILL TRUST’. SURELY HE SHALL DELIVER YOU FROM THE SNARE OF THE FOWLER, AND FROM THE PERILOUS PESTILENCE. HE SHALL COVER YOU WITH HIS FEATHERS. AND UNDER HIS WINGS YOU SHALL TAKE REFUGE; HIS TRUTH SHALL BE YOUR SHIELD AND BUCKLER. YOU SHALL NOT BE AFRAID OF THE TERROR BY NIGHT, OR OF THE ARROW THAT FLIES BY DAY, NOR OF THE PESTLENCE THAT WALKS IN DARKNESS, OR OF THE DESTRUCTION THAT LAYS WASTE AT NOONDAY” (Psalm 91 verse 1—6 respectfully).
What we are witnessing today in Sierra Leone is the state capture of all public institutions. The arbiters of justice that are supposed to seek the welfare of its citizens have compromised their responsibilities. These institutions have today turned blind eyes to the injustices that are being perpetrated by the government to certain groups of people that they perceive to be in their bad books. As the situation continues to deteriorate with no signs of improvement in our democratic dispensation, the citizens are left at the mercy of political wolves operating in human shields. These people have ganged up in their pursuit to carry out ‘unconstitutional mandates of governance structures’ against the will of the people.
LORD, HOW THEY HAVE INCREASED WHO TROUBLE ME! MANY ARE THEY WHO RISE UP AGAINST ME. MANY ARE THEY WHO SAY OF ME, ‘THERE IS NO HELP FOR HIM IN GOD’. BUT YOU, O LORD, ARE A SHIELD FOR ME, MY GLORY AND THE ONE WHO LIFTS UP MY VOICE…AND HE HEARD ME FROM HIS HOLY HILL” (Psalm chapter 3 verses 1—4 respectfully).
“The truth is a bitter tree, but it yields very delicious fruits”. To that end, it is our collective and robust responsibilities to fight for just causes, which are the restoration of democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Then the good Lord in his mercy will surely pour out his blessings upon the nation so that peace, love, unity, justice and fundamental human rights and freedoms of the citizens will once again blossom, and that could lead us to national cohesion and a peaceful coexistence as enshrined in our sacred constitution.
“AFTER THIS I WILL RETURN AND WILL REBUILD THE TABANACLE OF DAVID, WHICH HAS FALLEN DOWN; I WILL REBUILD ITS RUINS, AND I WILL SET IT UP; SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD. EVEN ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SAYS THE LORD WHO DOES ALL THESE THINGS” (Acts chapter 15 verses 16—17 respectfully).
Brave sons and daughters of the Lion Mountains, derived from honourable loins of gentle manners, the executive of the All Peoples Congress have become the exorcists to have conjured up their mortified spirits to strive for things impossible. As they move along the crude road of injustices and accusations of double-crossing levied against one man, the flagbearer Dr Samura Kamara, the truth has begun to emerge of how these people have messed up themselves against the wishes and aspirations of a good number of Sierra Leoneans who voted for change in the 24th June, 2023, elections.
“O LORD MY GOD, IN YOU I PUT MY TRUST; SAVE ME FROM ALL THOSE WHO PERSECUTE ME. LEST THEY TEAR ME LIKE A LION, RENDING ME IN PIECES, WHILE THERE IS NONE TO DELIVER ME. O LORD MY GOD, IF I HAVE DONE THIS: IF THERE IS INIQUITY IN MY HANDS, IF I HAVE REPAID EVIL TO HIM WHO WAS AT PEACE WITH ME, OR HAVE PLUNDERED MY ENEMY WITH CAUSE, LET MY ENEMY PURSUE ME AND OVERTAKE ME; YES, LET HIM TRAMPLE MY LIFE TO THE EARTH, AND LAY MY HONOUR IN THE DUST” (Psalm chapter 7 verses 1—5).
Their nakedness and deceitfulness were brought to the fore, when the visiting delegations of the moral guarantors met with the APC party executive at their Old Railway Line, Brookfields offices, to get first-hand information about progress made so far in the implementation of the terms of agreements that were signed by the flagbearer, Dr Samura Kamara, and president Bio at State House on the 18th of October, 2023. The party chairman, who has of late misused that position and now brands himself as the “Chief Executive Officer” of the party, took no strains to answer the questions put to him about the progress of the Tripartite Recommendations. His answer was swift to say, “2028 is not far away from the current year of 2023”. But what baffled most people in the hall was their non-recognition of the flagbearer, who should have made a comprehensive report of the situation surrounding the agreements.
“I WILL PRAISE YOU, O LORD, WITH MY WHOLE HEART, I WILL TELL OF ALL YOUR MARVELOUS WORKS. I WILL BE GLAD AND REJOICE IN YOU: I WILL SING PRAISE TO YOUR NAME O MOST HIGH. WHEN MY ENEMIES TURN BACK, THEY SHALL PERISH AND FALL AT YOUR PRESENCE, FOR YOU HAVE MAINTAINED MY RIGHT AND MY CAUSE. YOU SAT ON THE THRONE JUDGING IN RIGHTEOUENESS.” (Psalm 9 v 1 -4).
The drama between the Secretary General of the All Peoples Congress, and the Inspector General of Police, was another complete show of self-inflicted ridicule and guilty conscience with damaging consequences of unprofessionalism as a legal luminary. The man who had taken his lethal pen to summon the police to go and guard their party offices on the day the moral guarantors were to visit them, has momentarily lost his credentials. At the end of the day, it became clear that up to 28 members of their grassroots supporters were arrested and taken to the CID for merely holding their placards in support of the visiting team. He is this same man now blaming the police of arbitrary arrests meted out to their members. But before that, the party spokesman had gone on radio that those arrested were not All Peoples Congress party members. The conflict of betrayal from the executive to their supporters has reached a crescendo of vote of no confidence to their senior executive members.
“BEHOLD, THE WICKED BRINGS FORTH INIQUITY; YES, HE CONCEIVES TROUBLE AND BRINGS FORTH FALSEHOOD. HE MADE A PIT AND DUG IT OUT, AND HAS FALLEN INTO THE DITCH WHICH HE MADE. HIS TROUBLE SHALL RETURN UPON HIS OWN HEAD, AND HIS VIOLENT DEALING SHALL COME DOWN ON HIS OWN CROWN.” (Psalm chapter 7 verses 14-16).
“THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY” side of the episode takes precedent here, from my analysis. In my opening paragraph, I made reference to these three situations that the APC are currently facing as a party and the political landscape of the country on the other hand. If the situation remains as it is, it will be ‘GOOD’ for the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), who has made history to have won elections, including, of course, the presidential elections; without the ‘constitutional disaggregated data’ to support the victory! No result to authenticate the announcement as proclaimed by the Chief Electoral Commissioner.
The executive of the opposition APC, who are supposed to join the bandwagon of the majority, together with the flagbearer to fight for electoral justice, have since surrendered to the ruling SLPP, in an election they claimed to have won, but decided otherwise. A very ‘BAD’ precedent has been set in our democratic credentials. Again, with a deep sense of reflection, I begin to wonder, if this ‘UGLY’ situation could not lead to the beginning of the death of the APC in the governance structure of the nation.
“WHY DO THE NATIONS RAGE AND THE PEOPLE PLOT A VAIN THING? THE KINGS OF THE EARTH SET THEMSELVES, AND THE RULERS TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER, AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS ANNOINTED, SAYING, LET US BREAK THEIR BONDS IN PIECES AND CAST AWAY THEIR CORDS FROM US.” (Psalm 2 verses 1—3 respectfully).
After the events of 24th June, 2023, there was a lot of noise made by the accredited international observation missions that came to oversee the elections, EU, the CARTER CENTRE and a good number of other reputable organisations condemned the elections. Even our local elections monitoring body the National Elections Watch (NEW) came up with a statement that nobody got the required constitutional mandate of 55 per cent to avoid a runoff! The United States, seen as the beacon of democracy, came out openly condemning the elections and promised to take decisive measures against all those individuals involved in the fiasco of electoral theft. A lot of noise was made, sanctions pronounced, travel bans proclaimed, and many other punitive measures were promised against all those responsible for the misconduct of the flawed elections. Sixteen months down the line, “So much was said, but nothing done”!
“REMEMBER, O LORD, WHAT HAS COME UPON US; LOOK AND BEHOLD OUR REPROACH! OUR INHERITANCE HAS BEEN TURNED OVER TO ALIENS, AND OUR HOUSES TO FOREIGNERS. WE HAVE BECOME ORPHANS AND WAIFS, OUR MOTHERS ARE LIKE WIDOWS.” (Lamentations chap.5 ver. 1 -3).
May The Good Lord redeem our beloved nation from evil, corrupt, slanderous, deceitful, destructive, mean, and bad politicians, in Jesus Christ’s mighty name, Amen!