Titus Boye-Thompson. London
The elections in June 2023 will altogether signal a turning point for politics in Sierra Leone. For the first time, the elections are not being fought on policy – the bread and butter issues are not as important here as the survival of a tribal group has been made to become. The narratives that are now exploding on the political space are those of “do or die.” It is a mark of this current government that the discourse has degenerated to such unpalatable and incendiary invectives, with open gestured threats of the cutting of throats and ritual murder. Let’s face it, these elections would either be the bloodiest this country has ever seen or they would be the most divisive and undoubtedly tribal as has ever been imagined. Long story short, the political landscape in Sierra Leone after June 24th 2023 would be a very unknown path to tread.
A reduction of rationality
The journey to this abysmal depth of social morass has been reached by a process that can best be described as a “reduction of rationality.” The first act was the temperament of a tribal hegemony with which this government was swept into power. The President’s declaration that “mu gobermenti loh” which loosely translated from the Mende language means “this is our government, a Mende government, so this is our time to be on top,” set the scene for a tribally dependent, entitlement kleptocracy. From the utterance of those words, the fire of a Mende hegemony was lit. Factually, the entitlement syndrome of the tribal protagonists has long been embedded by the political history of this country and this is one facet of our history that has never been addressed. Political tribalism, to coin a phrase by Oswald Hanciles has long been a mark of our political space but it’s bad influences were always bridled by the exigencies of open transparent government. The uprooting of the APC in April 2018 came with it a windswept antagonism that boiled down to a tribal distancing of all rational thought. This may be where the concept of “reducing rationality” gave root. However, the declining political tolerance was too pervasive bring with it the wash of tribal cleanings that followed the elections, the uprooting of state institutions as bodies were moved helter skelter. There is the celebrated case of a Supreme Court Judge being asked out of his official vehicle and walk home because he was in his vehicle going home at Lumley after 6,00pm. It did not end there!
Weaponizing soft power
The last five years have seen some very troubled behaviour and attitudes towards Sierra Leoneans by those emboldened by political power and thereby felt that they are in a position to divide this nation. The First Lady, Fatima Bio will always be remembered for her very active and abrasive interventions in the political space. Her “Hands off our Girls” campaign very soon became a vehicle for corruption and state looting. She was allowed unfettered and unbridled access to the consolidated fund, a platform to make political statements and engage in state functions to a level that stretched the role and she used that space with very disturbing messages. Her most vile statement was when he stated categorically that “we believe that only those who are SLPP supporters are true Sierra Leoneans,” or her controversial call to “do mob justice” and the now infamous punishment for those found guilty of rape to “cut off their private parts.” First ladies have always been accepted to be a part of the landscape but their influences have always been managed via the Presidency. In her case, Fatima Bio openly challenged all state and party structures, to the extent that she danced to the lyrics, “we talk am, we do am” when it came to the election of the SLPP Women’s leader.
Power corrupts!
Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat who lived through the Renaissance period in Europe. He is most famous for writing what is considered the best book on politics called “The Prince.” Machiavelli believed that, for a ruler, it was better to be widely feared than to be greatly loved; a loved ruler retains authority by obligation, while a feared leader rules by fear of punishment. Even though his book on politics was widely read and admired, many believed that Machiavelli was cunning and power thirsty. He was credited with the saying that “power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In time, Machiavelli’s work became seminal in politics and political diplomacy and he subsequently built up a very wide following. A learned scholar in psychology described the adoption of Machiavellian principles as a condition whereby “People with a Machiavellian personality tend to manipulate, lie, act callously, and disregard morality,” she says. “This is all in an effort to achieve goals or gain power.” They tend to exhibit three main characteristics: they lack empathy, they’re deliberate, and they’re self-confident.
The question of whether the current political dispensation in Sierra Leone is Machiavellian is a matter of conjecture. However, the modus operandi that justifies rule by fear, violence and extra judicial killings cannot be said to promote a higher morality and political tolerance necessary for a state of civilized existence. The egregious corruption is conditioned by the tendency to extract economic rent through the threat of violence or the exhibition of a violence capacity. Such behaviour are akin to the tenets of what North, North & Weingast refer to as characteristics of a closed society, exemplified by violence and barbarism, lacking in transparency justice and freedoms.
We cannot continue to destroy Sierra Leone
The APC Presidential candidate has gone on record, warning that another vote for the current regime would be detrimental to the very existence of our state and nation. When he warns that another term for Preside t Bio would result in an act of continuing to destroy Sierra Leone, he should be paid much attention. Dr Samura Kamara knows President Maada Bio well enough. Dr Samura Kamara has served the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Sierra Leone long enough to know what destructive acts are being waged on this country by this Maada Bio government. If we want to continue to destroy Sierra Leone then another term for President Maada Bio will result in that destruction. Dr Samura Kamara was well placed to sound the alarm that to cast your votes for President Maada Bio mans that you will be facilitating the further destruction of Sierra Leone. Responsible Sierra Leoneans who want to rebuild this country as one nation, to have citizens take responsibility for their destiny and to make way for hope and togetherness amongst all tribes, then a vote for Samura Kamara is the only vote that will save Mama Sierra Leone. We need to accept that good or bad, there are no truer Sierra Leonean, one to the other. We are all equals here, citizens in this land that we love and we are free to choose our politics and political leaders. Politics does not determine our nationality nor do support for a tribal hegemony.
I wonder what opinion Fatima Bio will have of Sierra Leoneans after her husband is voted out of office on June 24th?
