There is a dangerous national character that has destroyed this country and any chance of progress. The average Sierra Leonean will suffer in quiet, keeping up appearances that all is well while he does not even have a pot to piss in.

This national character of traditionally going with the crowd of primitive loyalists, blindly towing the line without asking questions, of ignoring the facts and focusing on the passion, has killed any chance of Sierra Leone becoming a progressive nation state.

That said, because I support you, because we belong to the same political party and even come from the same ethnic group, region or village does not mean that I am blind and don’t have my own opinions on issues.

This sycophancy continues to kill Sierra Leone as it demands that we ignore the right for the wrong, it demands that we put the interest of our political parties and the personalities of our second-hand leaders above that of the nation.

At present both the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party – SLPP and the heavily embattled main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) have a looming leadership battle in the offing, after ‘president’ Julius Maada Bio and Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara would have exited the stage. While it is obvious that no matter how this presidential electoral impasse is resolved, Bio is on his last lap as an SLPP flagbearer, the APC, however, is still dillydallying about the future of Dr Samura Kamara, who it seems is considering going beyond 2028 seeking the APC flag and presidency of the state.

To say that Dr Samura Kamara has reached his Waterloo is an apt description of where he currently is on the APC pantheon of leaders. He had his moment but he twice allowed Maada Bio to ‘take’ the elections right from under his nose. The fact that Dr Samura Kamara was selected by Ernest Bai Koroma in 2018 has been squashed, as he was elected by the party for the 24 June elections.

While his election as flagbearer says a lot about how the people in the party feel about him, he should not rest on his laurels and think that he is the only one that wants to lead the party and country, or that he should not be mindful of his age, which time is not on his side.

Going forward the APC should at present be looking and considering others in the party with the clout and cash or access to cash to take the party forward. Any attempt by Dr Samura Kamara to want to lead the party into another elections cycle should not be on the table at all. It should not be considered as it will show an obvious dearth of leaders and a disintegration of the unity in the party.

This calls for a new breed of hopeful party leaders. The nation is at a point where Sierra Leoneans have been short changed by the caliber of leaders that have sat on the hot seat at State House. Sadly, the people have not had leaders that will not only lead us in the way but one that will inspire a whole generation. This is the kind of leadership the country and APC need, which individual is out there, but if not given the chance, space, encouragement and opportunity to do the needful, his or her contribution to national development and sound and capable leadership would have died a premature death.

Dr Samura Kamara has indeed reached his Waterloo, and the APC should come to terms with this reality and start directing the party’s affairs away from the Kamalo hegemony to elsewhere. Anyone not willing to see the wisdom in this is only interested in Dr Samura Kamara capturing the party as the incumbent Bio has captured the state.

Lonta!