SAWN Trending: Right and Wrong, Not South-East and North-West

Ernest Y. Tarawalie, Shebora S. Kamara, Ibrahim Mansaray, and Amadu W. Jalloh

When you ask many Sierra Leoneans who they want to win the upcoming (March 2018) General Elections in the country, predictably, they would either point out the APC or SLPP party. Well, of course few apprehensively talks of new third force. All the same, such answers indeed are not surprising to many (or should I just say anyone?) who’ve had the privilege to not only tour the country but of also following development in the country since the only stable phase (in terms ) of late President Kabba’s government (2002). The regional fissure in terms of government prioritization is discernible as such that elections—one of the evincive proof of enduring democracy— are now (in the words of Professor Lumumba) becoming a mere “ethnic and regional census” to ascertain which region(s) has got a more voting population than the other(s) since the last general elections in the country.

Regionalism cannot be ascribed to either two parties (APC and SLPP), but both: it is an undeniable fact that the SLPP when in power, too, had invested most of their energy in developing the Southern and Eastern Regions of the country, less attention was given to even the country’s capital city Freetown talk less about the APC dominant region of the North. Even the population census had favoured the Southern and Eastern region as against the North when the SLPP were in power, information typical used by power-hungry leaders to hold onto power for as long as it may please them. They had the electricity supply, the roads, the top government officials, etc. Basically they had the most impetus to better develop than the raining regions. That is exactly how to have a people indebted to your party: a good way to create an US versus THEM scenario.

The enemy of your enemy is your friend

 Let us face it, late president Kabbah was not a good reformer after all: he succeeded, through the support of international development partners, in his disarmament campaign and in consolidating the peace the country sought. He however reset the foundation for regionalism by favouring the South East over the North West in terms of public service provision, which gradually revitalised political patronage across the nation as the West and North gradually threw their weights behind the once dreaded APC party again. It did not come to many as a surprise that the SLPP which is accorded the first democratically elected party in Sierra Leone could lose to the APC in 2007 general elections.

The APC of course did not discontinue the divide-and-rule phenomena tainting the country’s political sphere. They sustained it at their best: in reverse (as one may have expected), the North and West have this time around benefitted more in terms of public service provision than the Southern and Eastern regions. Makeni is literarily progressing whilst Bo and Kenema are retrogressing—Bo and Kenema now hardly enjoy the somewhat consistent electricity they used to enjoy, whilst Makeni is dubbed the city of light (with 24hour unflinching electricity supply).

At root, however, the real division among Sierra Leoneans at this material time is not between North and West versus South and East, but between hope and cynicism: both divides have tasted the brunt of regionalism and colour politics. At least people are now daring to ask how the two (APC and SLPP) are actually different; they now start to wonder what would could become of the nation if the two could be voted out altogether and allow for a new political party. If you ask most northerners why they rather vote in the APC than the SLPP, they would warn you of possible retaliation by the latter—voters in Makeni are afraid the SLPP could deliberately divert their deservedly electricity supply to other region(s) in order to distort the ongoing development as a vengeance to what the APC disproportionately did to Bo and Kenema when they got reinstated into power. if you talked to voters from the South and East, they would equally assume that voting the APC out is the only way to resurfacing to the position and privilege they used to enjoy during the SLPP regime. This is how the politics of US versus THEM is basically thriving eating the fabric of authentic democracy we yearn for.

Few seem to actually, at now, concentrate on the individuals vying for the all envied position of presidency of the country and, or their manifestos: they are instead bordered with which of the two parties is going to win, and how (in their power) to stop the other(s) from distorting their enjoyed privileges, or their desired vengeance upon the other sides.  The system is such that people are made to believe that the development they see in their community is a privilege rather than their right. The struggle is between those who believe in a third force which bears little or no representation of political cronyism, corruption and misappropriation and tribal politics, and of course those who understandably think that in their troubled regionalism politics, hegemonic rule and corruption embed system is of their best interest.

Best for this country is a multi-party parliament (this time more than two or three political parties) where a ruling party (in terms of presidency) is not in dominance or majority in parliament: that could allow for sincere deliberation and debate of policies and plans of actions that could define the state of wellbeing and welfare of the country: and the only way to obtain that is to permit more new parties into parliament from all the regions of the country. This could help make a perfect mix of opposition and at last undo the yes-men in parliament (I concord parliamentarians). Building an honest and competent government that could manage well and equally distribute state resources is the only sure way to end the ravaging poverty and patronage system in the country: this is obtainable through unsentimental voting in terms of party, tribe/ethnicity and region, but based on milestone achievement and, or capability and trustworthiness of individual contestants for the elections.

© 23^rd Octerber, 2017 SAWN