By Isaac Massaquoi
The most optimistic Sierra Leoneans are heralding the recent meeting between opposition parties and president Koroma as the start of a new approach to politics and governance in Sierra Leone - an era in which the overriding national interest took precedence over the narrow considerations of gaining political power and controlling the people and their resources for personal gain; an era in which our politicians cooperated with each other effectively, in dealing with matters as serious as security, criminal justice, corruption, lawlessness, street trading and job-creation, particularly for the time bomb we call the youth.
So let's all go tell it on the mountain that the NEW DAWN Ernest Bai Koroma promised in his inaugural address in 2007, is here at last. Better late than never, they say.
Those of us who are not easily swayed by set-piece occasions and big political announcements are approaching this with some caution because we feel a sense of déjà-vu. And we also know that throughout our post-independence period our leaders have deliberately used all sorts of tactics to consolidate power around themselves and their cronies to the extent that we should be forgiven for believing in 2014 that building and maintaining national consensus on these very important questions is impossible. And that, in any case, it takes more than a set-piece occasion over lunch at State House, a few days into a New Year, to change attitudes in the direction the president expects us to believe he now wants to move.
The trouble is this: our governments, past and present, have lost so many opportunities to make governance broad and inclusive that many ordinary Sierra Leoneans are now very cynical, even dubious about any hurriedly assembled 11th hour project from nowhere touted as the master stroke to lead the people of Israel across the Red Sea.
Ernest Bai Koroma told the nation in his New Year's day speech that "we will build upon networks of goodwill but we will dismantle networks of indiscipline and lawlessness". I take it that his recent meeting with the leaders of political parties represents a first attempt at building those networks that would "dismantle networks of indiscipline and lawlessness".
I believe the president was genuine when he spoke about his readiness to defeat the forces of lawlessness and corruption but is it not too late in the day for him? He has about four years to run on the job but everybody knows that by next year, he will be a virtual lame duck as power will shift to his anointed successor. By the way I have good reason to believe that Koroma will be able to anoint his successor, at least within his party. What happens after that with those who are bound to disagree with him is a matter for another day. I offer as reference the last APC convention in Freetown.
When I mentioned lost opportunities earlier in this piece this is what I meant: Every Sierra Leonean living in Freetown in particular and other urban centres in general can feel what the president calls lawlessness in a personal way. They can feel the daily effect of corruption on the streets and in institutions. Some people may not readily accept this and I understand why, but the "networks of indiscipline and lawlessness" the president mentioned in his speech are gradually carving out spheres of influence in important parts of Freetown. Every self-respecting resident of this city has avoided those places. These spheres of influence will continue to be extended until ordinary people have no room to carry on normal business anymore.
Street traders are everywhere and somehow they believe their votes alone took Koroma to State House. Just one encounter with them is enough for anyone to understand why many people are now asking the Mayor to clear the streets of able-bodied young men selling rat poison and razor blades the whole day, and women selling charcoal along the Hill Side by-pass road which is still under construction. Some of these roadside traders are violent and are complicit in the corrupt practices of some police officers.
Instead of the city council organising car parking and collecting millions monthly, criminals have taken over the streets and are instead collecting the money while putting pressure on the few facilities in the Central Business District of the city. Is the council really telling us they can't act in this situation? Those who have travelled to much more organised countries know how much municipal bodies are making from parking alone. Why is Sierra Leone different?
Look at the issue of land grabbing. The government, with all its powers is clearly unable to even begin to understand the land mafia at work in Freetown and the peninsular. Even when the government allocates land to ordinary people, they are unable to develop it because the mafia which is well connected throughout society has more power than government. So there's a lot of fighting, killing and corruption over land all over the place.
Even a former president was chased from his own property at Tokeh not too long ago. There are illegal settlements all along the Freetown bay with people crudely reclaiming land and building shacks. Today Freetown looks like a huge parking lot surrounded by slums. There are a few exclusive areas but how many of our people live there?
The people's cries against the criminal elements in the motorcycle taxi business have gone unattended. Some Okada Boys are daily distressing their passengers mostly in daylight without any consequences.
I believe these are the issues Koroma now wants to address with more vigour. And it is on issues like these that the nation expects their political leaders to cooperate and not seek to score cheap political points by manipulating, even pampering criminals because they too have the vote. Both parties are guilty of this and it shouldn't surprise anyone that we are where we are today - lawlessness is so endemic that for two years running, the police have effectively banned the annual inter-secondary school athletics meeting because after every such event school pupils would always go on the rampage, loot shops and snatch bags and mobile phones on the streets while still in uniform. Instead of dealing with such naked lawlessness, the police have forced the people to retreat.
The point is, this is not the first time our political leaders are making a pledge to work together in the interest of the country. After unnecessary political disturbances, two years into Koroma's presidency, they signed a communiqué with the UN as guarantors committing to a bi-partisan approach to the kind of issues I have just outlined.
In April of 2009, president Koroma said this in one of his many speeches following the signing of the communiqué. "In the end, the most important action that we can undertake is to achieve development. It is development and the eventual end of poverty that will once-and-for-all deliver peace and prosperity for our people. With the youth employed, our people fed and our children educated, we can ensure that we do not go back to the dark days of conflict and division. That is why my biggest commitment today is to work with people from all sides of the political spectrum, in order to ensure that we deliver on our National Anti-Poverty Strategy, the Agenda for Change. My new cabinet know that I will not allow us to rest until this has been achieved, as the consequences of failure would be too damaging for all Sierra Leoneans, whatever their political affiliation".
Now, five years later, the president and his political colleagues are pledging to do what they committed themselves to doing in 2009. My doubts about the effectiveness of set-piece events and big political speeches comes out of this background.
However in the spirit of goodwill, I wish the president and his political colleagues well in this new pledge. The people of Sierra Leone are waiting. They don't want to hear another New Year's day speech in 2015 highlighting the strong desire to have a political consensus to fight the same scourges of our society. Let's move quickly.
(C) Politico 23/01/14
