By Sallieu T. Kamara
I can still recall, with fond memories, growing up in the little but great village of Kagbantama in the heart of Kasseh, Port Loko district, in northern Sierra Leone, in the 70s. Those were the days the late SA Fofana was Member of Parliament for the Port Loko North Constituency, now Constituency 53. Kagbantama was (and still is) a politically-strategic village in this Constituency. It has a commanding influence to make and unmake kings and queens.
Throughout his tenure as the elected representative of the Constituency, SA Fofana held several ministerial positions including Trade and Industry and Social Welfare and Sports. As a founding member of the then ruling All Peoples Congress party, he also held senior positions in the party’s leadership hierarchy.
SA Fofana visited his Constituency every week, except when he was out of the country or attending to some more serious and more compelling official matters. His weekend visits soon became a ritual that everybody - young and old, men and women – looked forward to. Besides doling monies to the numerous people that visited his residence in the village at night, he would move around during the day to greet, sit and discuss with "his people" regardless of age and social status. The people adored him for his kindness, but more for his humility.
He initiated and supported several development programmes that had global benefits to the entire community. These projects included paving of roads, provision of scholarships and employment opportunities, as well as the provision of electricity supply. As a result of these developments, Kagbantama earned the name of "Small London"
Several years later, I moved over to Port Loko, this time, the district headquarter town, to pursue my education. Port Loko is 16 miles away from Kagbantama. This was also the time Sorie Ibrahim Koroma was Vice President of this country. Like SA Fofana, SI (as he was fondly called) was also a founding member of the All Peoples Congress party and held very strategic positions in the party’s leadership hierarchy. He represented Freetown Central and later Port Loko Central (Maforki) Constituencies in Parliament.
As Vice President and chief propagandist of the APC, SI wielded enormous powers and authority, which he used to not only make himself very relevant to the political equation at the time, but also to transform Port Loko into a buoyant township that all its descendants were proud of. He initiated and personally supported several development projects. In fact, he introduced the concept of the self-help project in the country with the Maforki Self-Help Project blazing the trail.
Good quality medical and health facilities, excellent roads, effective electricity and clean drinking water supplies, landmark architecture as epitomized by the Bai Bureh Memorial Hall and the scintillating performances of the Bai Bureh Football Team (the district’s football team) became permanent features of the district during SI’s Vice Presidency.
One of the dusty streets in the main business district of Koidu
A stranger visiting Sierra Leone for the first time needed not ask for the home of the country’s Vice President on stepping foot on the soil of Port Loko. Going to Port Loko, either on business or on pleasure, would make one sees, feels and experiences power and how it could be used as a vehicle for development. In fact, there were times, the news and other programmes from the then Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) were broadcasted right from the heart of Port Loko.
But this cannot be said about Kono under the Vice Presidency of Chief Samuel Sam Sumana, who is the reigning second-in-command at the helm of the country’s political summit. Chief Sam Sumana was elected Vice President of Sierra Leone in 2007 alongside President Ernest Bai Koroma on the ticket of the APC party. His choice as Ernest Koroma’s running mate sparked spontaneous outrage and tense moments within the rank and file of the party.
He suffered outright rejection by his Kono people in the first round of the polls. This suggests that he was apparently not popular amongst his kith and kin at the time of his choice. But he fought back, rallying around his people with the slogan "Kono e Kono fa". Roughly translated, this means Konos should not kill/betray one another. This rallying cry yielded fruits as evidenced by the massive votes that the APC garnered in the district in the second round of polls that catapulted the party to power in 2007.
It’s over four years now since the APC and Chief Sam Sumana came to power. But unlike Kagbantama and Port Loko during SA Fofana and SI Koroma’s reign respectively, there is nothing in Kono to show that they gave birth to the country’s Vice President for the past uninterrupted four years. Clean water supply in Koidu, the district headquarter town, is nil, electricity supply from the national grid is absolutely nil, the roads leading to the township and within the township are appalling and hazardous and unity amongst those that should have the responsibility to chart the development process in the district is evasive.
It is no doubt that the problems of Kono, like many other parts of the country, are many, diverse and all-pervasive. So nobody in their right senses will expect Vice President Sam Sumana to just wave the magic wand and solve the myriad problems afflicting the people of Kono overnight. No, not even his enemies will imagine that, let alone expect him to do that. But certainly, Sierra Leoneans, particularly indigenes of Kono, were expecting Vice President Sam Sumana to have left behind a landmark within the district before the close of his first five-year term.
An abandoned road works, one of many in Koidu
How should he have done that? It’s simple, at least to my thinking. Chief Sam Sumana should have chosen one strategic problem of the district such as water system or electricity from among the numerous existing problems and taken it as a priority. If it is water he chooses, he should go for it and make sure the people of Kono enjoy clean drinking water. Likewise, if it is electricity, he should do the same. If he had done that, he should have been standing on a solid moral and political ground today to face his people once again and ask them with inspirational confidence: "Do you regret voting me as Vice President of the country in 2007?" I am sure the answer would have been an overwhelming NO.
I am a frequent visitor to Kono. Each time I go to Kono, I will ask, out of curiosity, how the Vice President is faring on. But most of the responses I receive suggest that Chief Sam Sumana is fraught with serious problems with his own people. This could mean that the Vice President spent the past four years in either fence-mending with his people or keeping aloof from them. And we are all aware of the adage that a house that fights against itself will grumble.
But this should not be an excuse for the non-performance of the Vice President. If anything, this situation should have provided the opportunity to Chief Sam Sumana to demonstrate his leadership qualities by ensuring that the people of Kono speak and act as one in pursuit of much needed development in the district. He should have used development as an entry point to unite his people and build a solid political base.
Not that SI Koroma and SA Fofana who I mentioned in the opening paragraphs of this article did not have enemies or problems with their people, no, they did have. But because they knew what they wanted and realized that they were the leaders of their people, they used different approaches with the utmost humility to gain the confidence, trust and love of their people. They did not return fire for fire, at least to my knowledge. So, in the end, they succeeded in getting what they wanted.
What is, perhaps, more appalling is the frustratingly unexplained delay in the rehabilitation of selected roads within the township of Koidu. Road works in Koidu started almost the same time with road works in other townships like Bo and Port Loko. But up to today, much progress has not been made in Koidu, as the streets and the frequently abandoned drainages and culverts have become an eyesore.
I am sure the Vice President and other highly placed politicians in the district are watching this ugly development. What I am not sure of is whether they are engaging the appropriate authorities, asking them the right questions and taking the necessary action to ensure that timelines are respected and honoured. This is a simple case of monitoring and being responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
After all, 2007 was a watershed year for the people of Kono. It was in 2007 that God blessed Kono district with the Vice President, First Lady, Second Lady and Bishop of the Freetown Diocese. I believe God did this for a purpose. But has the purpose been fulfilled? Or is it being fulfilled? The answer to both questions is a deafening NO.
I know some people that will read this article will run into hasty conclusions about my motive for writing this article. They will associate this piece with the apparent struggle for who will be Ernest Bai Koroma’s running mate for the upcoming 2012 presidential elections. I care very little about them or their line of thinking. I have nothing against Chief Sam Sumana apart from his conspicuous inaction to make the difference in Kono in terms of development and cohesiveness. Five years as Vice President is long enough to leave behind a legacy.
The purpose of this article is to join the chorus of voices that have been calling on the Vice President to shape up and live up to the expectations of his people and the entire citizenry, and not to undermine his chances of being chosen as President Koroma’s running mate for 2012. In fact, if I have a minute with President Ernest Bai Koroma, I will certainly tell him to retain his partnership with Chief Sam Sumana for the 2012 general and Presidential elections for very obvious reasons.
But the truth must be told.
