This is the contention of military heads of the west African sub region who said the nation needs to beef up its security apparatus if it is to ensure the peace and security of the state.
The lack of security that is threatening Sierra Leone is predicated on two prevailing issues: the possibility of massive street protests across the country either from continued economic hardship or the unresolved political impasse emanating from the disputed 2023 presidential elections, which matter is still trending and unresolved. The other threat to the peace and security of Sierra Leone is expected to be a trickling or cascading of the Islamic fundamentalism that has set the Sahel and northern African countries ablaze with atrocious violence and political and social unrest.
Since 2018 the economic reality in Sierra Leone for the poor and vulnerable has been getting harder. The cost of living has risen with no appreciable rise in the earning potential of the citizenry nor a government that is equal to the task of fixing the economic problem. Although the central bank has been doing all it can to keep inflation low, rises to the costs of other goods and services that fall outside the economic basket has left many Sierra Leoneans scavenging for food in waste baskets and refuse containers where people deposit unwanted food.
Unable to meet the demands of a rising government wage bill, the SLPP led regime has been forced to raise taxes and other duties, an effort though debilitating to the poor masses has still not been able to meet the government’s need to pay civil servants their monthly wages. Political pundits have blamed the unreliable regime of salary payments for the rise in corrupt practices at government ministries, departments and agencies as detailed in the Auditor General’s reports going as far back as 2018.
On a daily basis the prices of strategic goods and services such as the staple rice and fuel continue to be under threat from geopolitical actions far from Sierra Leone. A nation that was once a net exporter of rice and other agricultural produce Sierra Leone is now in the unenviable position of not only being a price taker but an annual importer of over $300 million of foodstuffs. This continues to rob the government’s coffers of a considerable sum that if the political will was there to renew the people’s relationship with the soil could have been used to offset other strategic needs such as the ongoing plans to scale up the education, healthcare and agricultural sectors.
Politics continue to play a very divisive role in the nation’s body politic, with many people calling its influence toxic. Discussing politics in Sierra Leone leaves everyone more confused than before as political commentators, activists and those trained in politics, public administration and economics continue to be influenced by the politics of the day, which is being ruled by the sitting party government. As the biggest employer, the biggest advertiser, the biggest awarder of public contracts and so much more, the government by the mere fact that it can influence so much of the economic activities in the state is able to control and subdue free speech and expression by such people who have to give consideration to how their correct appraisal of the situation could affect their jobs and businesses.
Sierra Leone’s peace and security continues to be affected by the electoral dispute resulting from the announcement of the incumbent president as the winner of the 2023 presidential election. Several protest actions have been called by grassroots supporters and members of the opposition APC to voice out their disapproval of the announced presidential result that the public is yet to get a breakdown of the vote tallying over a year since June 2023. The voting public who voted overwhelmingly to replace the nonperforming regime have been awaiting a call from their political godfathers for a nationwide protest, a call that has been delayed citing the final outcome of the tripartite process that has hit a snag as the electoral justice phase of the tripod that was agreed on by the contending political parties to settle the June 2023 electoral impasse is yet to release a verdict on the tripartite process. This lack of electoral justice, this slow pace of the process that seems to be allowing the incumbent a carte blanche to finish his second term before its resolution is being seen as a stage managed affair by the electorates, many of whom have harrowing stories of political violence before, during and even after the 2023 presidential election. Judging by the number of street protests and the number of citizens that have lost their lives since 2018, especially due to the security sector’s poor handling of protesting civilians, there is fear that any street protest could topple the state back to the state of bloodletting and mayhem that engulfed Sierra Leone during its civil war.
There is a growing sense that the issues of the Sahel region could spill over to Sierra Leone. A country with a wide expanse of unofficial entry points whose immigration department and military are equally unable to guaranty the territorial integrity of the nation, the threat of Islamic fundamentalism spilling over from the northern countries is a clear and present danger. The security and immigration sectors are both underfunded, ill-equipped and not trained to handle the kinds of security problems we see in places like Nigeria from Boko Haram and in the entire Sahel region due to ISIS and Al Qaeda. Unable to handle the petty security issues relating to our toxic political climate, there is no guaranty that local state security will be able to handle any threat from Islamic fundamentalists should they shift their focus to Sierra Leone.
Noting the possibility of this threat, the military heads of ECOWAS have resolved to send a 1,500 strong antiterrorism force to act as a complement to the 1,200 force to aid and boost local and state security sector to ensure the peace, stability and security of the state. This clear admission of the possibility of an attack by the well organised and funded Islamic fundamentalists further exposes the inadequacy of our state security as it promises and attempts to protect the nation from all threats to its peace and security, local and foreign.
