By:
Ibrahim Jalloh (Jallomy) +232 768860 akempi@yahoo.com
Democracy has definitional variations. That said, the core
elements of democracy are people centeredness in governance, the right to
belong and be part of a political shade of opinion, loosely called political
party and, of course, the right to aspire for a political position including
but not limited to the presidency of a state as prescribed in a document
intentionally called the constitution.
Democracy is mostly a theoretical
construct and its applicability varies from state to state; therefore its
universal relevance cannot be consistent across states in the world. For some
countries in the world, that which is called democracy is nothing but a
hopeless political ideal.
A beautiful example of such a country is North Korea,
a country where some few years ago, the country’s Premier was executed under
the expressed order of the country’s leader for sleeping during a meeting
presided over by the leader. Back home in Sierra Leone, we approximate the
practice of democracy not necessarily out of conviction but as a demonstration
of being part of the global political order. The reality is thatpracticing
democracy or pretending to practice democracy determines the level and depth of
foreign aid that a country would receive from especially the rich western
nations.
Sierra Leone has got its own political culture that is not
necessarily modelled on democracy but obviously rooted in the over
concentration of power in the political figure that epitomizes the leadership.
All our traditional leadership structures ranging from town or village heads,
section chiefs to paramount chiefs exist in a quadrangle of over concentration
of power in the leadership.
Leadership therefore is based largely on discretion
rather than a prescribed set of laws, rules and regulations. This is the
obvious disconnect between democratic-tenets and the reality of the
traditional understanding and practice of power and leadership in emerging
African states. We can draw very clear parallel here between Sierra Leone as an
African state and countries in Asia.
The Chinese president and North Korea
leader are the be all and end all. Understandably, Sierra Leone and Africa by
extension have a political culture modeled on the communist political ideology.
The presidency is the greatest political office in Sierra Leone.
Occupancy of the office of the presidency therefore stands to be a serious
engagement but not one that anchors on the periphery of mediocrity.
The
presidency is a serious business and therefore occupants of that office must be
correspondingly serious and of sterner stuff. Occupying the presidency is not a
mad political joke and it is not for political jokers. The theory of democracy
dictates that every citizen of a defined age and with certain fulfilled
criteria has the democratic right to become president.
In Sierra Leone, this
had opened to door to many compatriots to aspire for the presidency. Certainly,
this is the insulting part of democracy. For some people, by merely aspiring to
become president of the republic of Sierra Leone is in itself a calculated and
unpardonable insult to the office of the presidency of Sierra Leone.
When
certain people that we know and know very well aspire to become president then
we must think that the country is in trouble.
Like gender, there are prescribed roles for prescribed people in
society. This order must be maintained for there to be peace and progress in
society. Political leadership does not exist in a vacuum. Occupants of the
office of the presidency must have a sense of the big picture and must broaden
their outlook beyond the narrow boundaries of region and tribe. This is often
difficult and challenging in a nation polarized along lines of tribe, political
party and region.
The polarization of the nation of Sierra Leone is
historically conditioned by political elitist preservation of the status quo.
To the extent that tribe and tribalism and not real but dramatized elements
applied to secure and maintain clusters of interest groups in the corridors of
power. The scary thing is that often they build threatening scenarios to
politically subjugate the tribes’ men and women to a political agenda that
compounds their misery and strengthen their chains of poverty.
The drift into the pool of economic woes started in the eighties
with the hosting of the OAU by the late Siaka Stevens. Against the better part
of the national judgment, Siaka Stevens proceeded to host the OAU in 1980. It
was a glorious moment and one that heightens the egoistic character of a first
generation member of post independent leaders of Black Africa. For unbroken
seventeen years, Siaka Stevens largely misdirected the national cause of events
and landed the fledgling West African State into unpardonable economic
catastrophe.
When he became thoroughly exhausted, Siaka Stevens for want of
safe exit and political protection forced through the throats of unsuspecting
Sierra Leoneans an army general, Joseph Saidu Momoh, who later proved to be
more of a political tourist than president of a sovereign state. His reign can
be best described as a lost political era. He threw and left the country in a
hopeless and senseless war.
The overthrow of late President Momoh brought in a military regime
characterized as the most popular and anticipated in the political history of
Sierra Leone. On the eve of the military takeover of the National Provisional
Ruling Council, the lives of Sierra Leoneans were a dismissible reality, a
hopeless trifle and unpardonable joke. The overwhelming support for the
military regime, however, did not translate to significant national reforms or
righting the wrongs of the Sierra Leonean society then.
When it became obvious
that the Chairman of the National Provisional Ruling Council was not committed
to the returning the country to civil and democratic governance, the number two
man in that military arrangement, Julius Maada Bio, effected a much needed
palace coup that saw Chairman Strasser packing his bags and rolling out of
political history.
Julius Maada Bio became Chairman of the Provisional Ruling Council
and true to his justification for the coup returned the country to democratic
governance in record time of three months. More than anything, this was the
finest and greatest demonstration of the abounding spirit of democracy in a
military leader that had all it take to have entrenched himself in power for a
prolonged period of time. This was when President Bio built a solid character
of political attraction that saw him becoming president of the republic of
Sierra Leone 23 years later.
Two political promises fulfilled by Julius Maada Bio: returning
the country to democratic governance and upholding the call for elections
before peace at the Bintumani two crowned his statesmanship character and
democratic leadership style.
Sierra Leone has gone through horrific and horrible experiences
from independence to date but our resilient national character and our
abounding national connectors are the greatest hope for a national rebirth and
a return to a cohesive state.
The unjustifiable political denial of the main opposition APC and
the tendency to creating a parallel leadership by the former Chief Executive of
the State are significant causes of the seeming national instability. Change is permanent. Resisting the dynamics of change can be unpardonably
regrettable.
The main opposition APC is a great party and a significant political
force to reckon. Regrettably, the leadership of the APC deluded and has placed
barriers to the membership understanding the call for reforms within the
structures of the party. The political survival of the APC party is thinly slim
if they refused to hearken to the sustained call for reforms.
The current government is progressing on national reforms with
significant progress on the cardinal focus on developing the human resource
capital, revamping the economy with significant control on leakages, fighting
corruption and expanding on power supply. We must call on all to unite around
these cardinal objectives. In the process, we must urge the current
administration to expand the space on inclusive governance and distance from
the temptation to political retribution.
The political wrongs of yesterday
cannot justify the political wrongs of today. The national is on Social
Contract with President Bio and his almost inevitable next political inning
will be contingent on his fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the Social
Contract.
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