By Alhaji MB Jalloh +966567672815 or email: assijay82@gmail.com
On reflection, 2023 was full of many challenges and successes that Sierra Leoneans had to grapple with.
One of the significant challenges was the global economic downturn caused by the Russia/Ukraine war that affected the economies of countries worldwide, including Sierra Leone, where the situation culminated in increases in the prices of essential commodities. Prices soared to the extent that part of the populace started using it as a justification to protest against the government for the economic hardship in the country.
Another serious challenge that is still affecting our society is the rampant use of the drug Kush among Sierra Leonean youths. Synthetic drugs have led many young men early to their graves. The everyday use of the drug among the youths became so alarming that the public called for the government’s intervention to stop the menace affecting the youths.
Police started raiding ghettoes for Kush and drug dealers who controlled those ghettoes. Politicians, youth organizations, and other concerned groups embarked on community sensitization on the dangers of Kush.
Unfortunately, though, the sensitization campaign against Kush was never sustained, and it is still widely used by youths in various communities in the capital city of Freetown and the provinces.
Many of them have lost their jobs through the cause of nuisance; some are on the sickbed while others have passed on. In a town hall meeting held in December last year at the New Brookfields Hotel, the then UN Resident Coordinator, Babatunde Ahonsey, assembled a panel of experts, policymakers, and Kush consumers.
It was very somber that day when people heard testimonies from young men and women who had engaged in this antisocial behavior; some had lost their jobs and livelihood, been abandoned by their families, and become useless in society. This is just a snapshot of the situation that Sierra Leone has found itself in.
Again, the political landscape of Sierra Leone became tense ahead of the 24th June 2023 multitier elections, which the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party and many local and international observer missions described as controversial.
Consequently, the APC challenged the results of the elections, announced by the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone, because the elections were not transparent and were marred by irregularities. Therefore, the elected APC officials boycotted all forms of state governance until the government met some demands of the party. However, I must state that some section of the APC still believes that the government hoodwinked the party and lured it into the Bintumani Peace Talks, which ECOWAS facilitated.
The political impasse lasted for four months, when the Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion and some Moral Guarantors, including ECOWAS and Commonwealth, organized a three-day peace dialogue in Freetown between the Government of Sierra Leone and the main opposition APC party that ended the latter’s boycott of state governance.
But it now remains to be seen whether the Agreements signed by the two parties will be fully implemented in the spirit of finding everlasting peace, stability, and national cohesion for our beloved nation.
Apart from the aforementioned challenges and many more, which I cannot state due to space, some successes were, however, believed to have been made amidst the global economic challenges still affecting the world.
For example, President Julius Maada Bio officially commissioned the Freetown International Airport at Lungi in the Kaffu Bullom Chiefdom, Port Loko District in March last year. The US$270 million airport, which many say is one of the highest Turkish investments in Africa, was constructed by a Turkish company, Summa Group of Companies, on the condition of Design, Build, operation, and Transfer. In other words, the government did not spend a dime on the construction of the airport; instead, the two parties agreed that the company should operate the new airport for twenty years and transfer ownership to the government as state property.
Though at its embryonic stage, the US$500 million joint Agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone and ARISE Integrated Industrial Platform (ARISE IIP) for establishing the Koya Industrial Zone, where 50 factories that will use local materials are also expected to be constructed. The project has since taken off, and if the agreement is genuine and in the interest of Sierra Leoneans, the project would be completed in less than five years, as I gathered.
It could be recalled that the Bio Administration halted all mining activities in 2018 and reviewed the existing mining policy. The new mining policy, I am told, has started yielding some dividends. A Paramount Chief in the Kono district told me over the weekend that a good number of landowning families and mining communities have started benefitting immensely from mining companies through the payments of surface rents, community development funds, and corporate social responsibilities, which, he said, have increased tremendously under the new mining policy. Other successes were made in other sectors 2023 under social service delivery, though electricity in the capital remains a key challenge.
But the fact is that Sierra Leone is still at a crossroads, and we, as citizens, need to make important choices that will move our beloved country forward as we welcome the New Year.
First, as well-meaning Sierra Leoneans, we should condemn the vices that continue to divide us as a nation and embrace peace, stability, national cohesion, democracy, and good governance.
To sustain peace and stability as a nation, the Government of Sierra Leone must ensure that the critical resolution in the Agreement for National Unity - facilitating an inter-party dialogue - must be implemented to the latter.
The registered political parties, CSOs, and the Moral Guarantors of the Agreement are also expected to ensure that the agreement becomes a reality. At the Agreement's core, the dialogue principles included respect, inclusion, taking responsibility, and action. The Inter-party dialogue must continue to diffuse the political tension in the country.
One cannot propose solutions to the political tension in Sierra Leone without alluding to tribalism and regionalism, which are significant factors in the country's political division.
In his discourse, the learned legal luminary and human rights activist Dr. Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai states: “The politicization of tribal identity that is the root cause of division in Sierra Leone politics is affecting our democracy and national development. Though many Sierra Leoneans believe that tribalism is the fundamental issue, outside the political realms, Inter-tribal marriages, social clubs, and other forms of cross-tribal interactions are evidence that tribalism does not inherently lead to division. Instead, it is the exploitation of tribal identities for political gains that have fueled the destructive forces of tribalism and regionalism.”
The learned lawyer furthered that some senior citizens have emphasized that amending the constitution may not be the most effective approach in considering potential solutions. Instead, they advocate for a focus on reforming the judiciary to address the underlying issues that fuel and give life to tribalism and regionalism. He concluded that the challenge is collectively addressing the systemic issues that allow tribalism and regionalism to thrive. By encouraging a well-meaning dialogue, fostering greater understanding, and implementing reforms that promote equality and meritocracy, we can work towards mitigating the destructiveness of tribalism and regionalism and alternatively build a more united and inclusive society.
As we welcome 2024, I will entreat all citizens to hearken to the admonition of President Bio in one of his recent speeches when he said: “Let us come together as one people, one nation. Our strength lies in our unity; with solidarity, we can overcome challenges that come our way.
I, therefore, call on all political leaders, traditional leaders, civil society, and citizens across Sierra Leone to continue working to preserve the peace of our country.”
It is against this backdrop that I wish to plead with our political, religious, and traditional leaders to come out of their cocoons and openly preach unity and national cohesion because political intolerance in any way, shape, or form must not be tolerated in society; it is the most significant hurdle to national development.
Therefore, I wish to see May 2024 become a prosperous year for all Sierra Leoneans. I wish to see a Sierra Leone where people are not labeled by their tribes.
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