THE PRESIDENT AND GOVERNANCE THAT SIERRA LEONE DESIRES

Author: Prince Foday

Sierra Leone, a country that is rich in resources and with an estimated population of 5,485,998 (Source: CIA World Fact Book, USA 2012), is yearning for the right President and governance. The nation has a nice landscape and endowed with natural wealth. The nature of the landscape and the beauty of the nation made a Portuguese Sailor, Pedro da Cintra, to coin the name Serra Lyoa in 1462. The name Sierra Leone, which came into existence in 1896, sprang from the word “Serra Lyoa”……meaning Lion Mountain or Mountainous peninsula. No wonder why the off-springs have the attributes of a Lion, though the national leaders and governance that had ruled and subsequent rulers are frustrating the image. The country gained its independence in 1961 from colonial rule. I happen to witness the post-independent era ruled by Siaka P. Stevens, Joseph S Momoh, the military junta led by Valentine E. Strassa and later Julius M. Bio, Tejan Kabba and Ernest B Koroma. I came to understand that, the nation went through the ruling of Sir Milton Margai, Albert Margai and pockets of military rules, but the truth is that, I was not born at that time. My independent assessments of the string of rulers in the process of my lifespan are as follows:

               1. Siaka P. Stevens (All Peoples’ Congress)

The country was reasonably stable after his come-back from the military overthrow.

He had an autocratic style of leadership, political intolerance and the country was infested with human rights abuses.

There was reasonable immigration control, as I saw raids for illegal immigrants.

Inflation (a general increase in prices of goods and services) was controlled until after the hosting of the Organisation of African Unity in 1980.

Unemployment was minimal and there were strides to engage the people, though key jobs were only given to political activists.

There was a high level of variance in income distribution.....indicating a wide gap between rich and poor members of society.

There was a high degree of regional imbalance, as infrastructural developments were only concentrated in urban areas. Governance was highly centralised in the western area of Freetown.

Government spending on research was infinitesimal and there was a sustainable blockade on innovation and invention.

Education was encouraged, though there was much room for improvement. Scholarships were highly offered to undeserving people and by favour.

I experienced an element of sanitary concern, though lethargy on environment issues was alarming. The people were vulnerable to high health risk and environmental protection laws were ineffective.

There was no independent judiciary system. There was a high level of interference in the rule of the law.

The foundation of dominant interest, that every nation is supposed to be built on, was ignored and replaced by an edging self-interest.

He promoted a one-party state and the stage for democratic governance was blurring.

<
             2. Joseph S. Momoh (All Peoples’ Congress)  

He was not democratically elected but forced on the people through a cooked and pre-judged referendum by his predecessor, President Siaka Stevens, and therefore, has the autocratic trait borrowed from the scalar chain style of leadership in the military.  His being to power is like stealing the democratic rights of the people of Sierra Leone.

He started very well and couldn’t continue his vision of a better nation after a few months.

He thought of restoring a multi-party system after pressure was mounted, though it couldn’t come to effect due to a military coup.

The nation was unstable during his reign as a result of the rebel war. The civil war exploded due to his negligence in promoting a peaceful nation through the provision of the peoples’ socio-political rights and weak security apparatus.

President Momoh had all the above issues mentioned about the outgoing President Stevens. He inherited a package that was preconceived and trained to follow.

In general, he was a weak and imposed President that had little or no knowledge of governance...... just a worst national leader that was manipulated by his greedy and self-centred key support group or political activists. He was more of an enjoyer President, who doesn't care about the suffering masses but personal gains.

<
     3. Valentine E.M. Strassa and Julius M. Bio (Military Junta)

They headed the Military Junta after a launching a coup against the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) led Joseph S. Momoh. The military junta came to power at a time most Sierra Leoneans needed a change. The nation felt the Junta could be a saviour and would have been the right weapon to end the war.

They inherited a war from President Momoh and the intensity of the war increased during their tenure in office.

They had minimal control over their subordinates and the style of governance was autocratic and brutal.

Both of the Junta leaders are opportunists and had no sense of direction and dominated by greed. They became so obsessed by opportunities around them, to the extent that, their suffering past and the plight of those meant to rescue (suffering masses) was ignored. The nation was aggressively looted for personal gains and there was total disrespect for the people.

Their system of governance was fragile and untrustworthy within the national and international arena. This can be justified by a coup that led to the Strassa to Bio transition, and this may have continued if the Military Junta had stayed longer.

There was a total break down in the system and issues concerning the political landscape, economy, social outlook and other factors were chaotic.

          4. Tejan Kabba (Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party)

He ended the war in Sierra Leonean in 2001 after overthrown in power by Military Junta headed by Johnny P. Koroma in 1999 and having pockets of resistance from the West Side Boys.  He had high international experience, though not reflected on his performance.

He had a reasonable amount of democratic style of leadership.

He was surrounded by educated but highly corrupt officials. People that acquired the golden rule, but indirectly illiterate in dispensing knowledge acquired for the benefit of the people.

There was a high level of tribalism, weak national cohesion and political intolerance.

He created a weak magnetic field for party members and generally weak in decision making.

Immigration control was weak and the country was open to a high flow of unchecked foreign immigrants.

The rate of inflation was to some degree controlled, though far-fetched from the West African Monetary Union convergence criteria.

Unemployment was high and employment procedures were not fair.

There was a high level of variance in income distribution. There was a wide disparity between rich and poor members of society.

There was a high degree of regional imbalance, as infrastructural developments were only concentrated in urban areas. Governance was highly centralised in the western area of Freetown.

Government spending on research was infinitesimal and there was a sustainable blockade on innovation and invention. 

Education was encouraged to some extent. He built more schools across the country and ignited the increase in the level of post-graduates locally. Scholarships were highly offered to undeserving members of society.

There were high sanitary problems. The lethargy on environmental issues was alarming. The people were vulnerable to high health risk and environmental protection laws were ineffective.

There was no independent judiciary system. The state experienced a high level of interference in the rule of law.

The foundation of dominant interest, that every nation is supposed to be built on, was ignored and replaced by an edging self-interest.

   5. Ernest B. Koroma (All Peoples’ Congress)

He is homegrown and was face with infighting within the party, through legal battles with people that saw him alien to the struggle of the party.

He was lucky to assume power through voter irregularities on the part of the Sierra Leone Peoples’ Party and rumours that he was most trusted by his predecessor, former President Kabba.

He has a reasonable amount of democratic style of leadership coupled with some level of autocracy style, a kind of mixed style of leadership.

He is generally a weak leader that is not firm with pertinent state decisions.

He is creating a strong magnetic field for party members, but couldn’t control the excesses of party stalwarts.

There is a high level of tribalism, weak national cohesion and political intolerance, and human rights abuses.

The country’s stability under his leadership is fragile, due to the continued promotion of national divide, an intolerant political environment and the issue of not fairly making Sierra Leoneans of all strata benefit from their national cake.

The degree of immigration control is weak.

The country is faced with high inflationary pressure. Prices of basic commodities, that form the basis of the peoples’ livelihood, are unreasonably high.

The rate of unemployment is high. Key jobs are only given to political activists and there are unfair employment proceedings.

There is high level of variance in income distribution.....the gap between rich and poor members of society are high.

There is a high degree of regional imbalance, as infrastructural developments are only concentrated in urban areas. Governance is highly centralised in the western area of Freetown.

Government spending on research is infinitesimal and there is a sustainable blockade on innovation and invention. 

Education is very expensive and losing its relevance. Scholarships are highly offered to undeserving people and there is an unfair selection process.

The country is experiencing high sanitary problems and lethargy on environment issues is alarming. The people are vulnerable to high health risk and environmental protection laws were ineffective.

There is no independent judiciary system. There is a high level of interference in the rule of the law.

The foundation of dominant interest, that every nation is supposed to be built on, is ignored and replaced by an edging self-interest.

A critical view of the above points on the Presidents and Heads of State clearly indicates that the nation is yet to have the right leader and governance. The nation is being faced with trier and error in its democratic strides. The Presidential contestants are known to provide beautiful manifestos, upon selection and after a reasonable period of the ruling, it becomes revealed that their actions are not reflective of promises. The nation is forced to undergo a wide range of disparity between promises and actual performance. The past and present leaders of the nation are known for improper transparency and accountability, dominant greed, promoting political intolerance and strategies, not fit-for-purpose, fueling weak economy, promoting social unrest and bitterness, discouraging invention and innovation, and technological progress. The painful issue is those few beneficiaries and party loyalist that continue to defend their leaders, even where there is evidence of defective governance. Most of the loyalists don’t care, as long as their pots are boiling or amassing wealth through dodge means. Worst even, is the process of assessing who to lead their parties. Most of our past national leaders assume power with a minimal asset (both fixed and current assets), and after their tenure in office, come out with a huge amount of assets at home and abroad. Some even connive with investors to syphon funds into their offshore accounts and embark on unfair investment contractual deals. They continue to amass wealth at the expense of the people and don’t care about the suffering masses. It is time for our leaders to search their conscience on the luxurious lives they are living whilst a large proportion of the people are in chronic poverty. We are living in a society where the President and governance need their people and the people, in turn, need their President and Governance. How would our President and governance feel if they are living in a nation with all the wealth without the existence of the people?  The nation will become definitely meaningless. It is on this ground that our leaders should create a society suitable for all to live. The nation’s resources belong to all, so, therefore, it is incumbent on our President and governance to ensure a fair distribution of the national wealth.

The model that one could be urged to develop in order to serve as the basis of evaluating the desired President and governance for Sierra Leone is: D=ƒ (Pˢ, Eᵗ, Sᵒ and O), where Dᴾᵍ = Desired President and governance; ƒ = depends on; Pˢ=Political Scenario; Eᵗ=Economic Trend; Sᵒ =Social Outlook and O= Other Factors

Political Scenario

Development economists had revealed that “an upward push to a nation’s general performance depends on the political factor”. It is the political factor that is responsible for shaping its nation to an enviable end.  The policies designed by the government should be tested, reviewed, updated and capable of achieving national success. The style of governance counts in crafting the road for a happy nation. Democratic style of governance, which involves the people in decision making, is an ideal course of action. Politics should be polite and tolerant. A genuine politician needs to concentrate on promoting the peoples’ happiness, rather creating an unhealthy environment for those serving. Politics should be about providing positive and emulating results. Those in governance need to be seeing a model of honesty and a national passion. The political scenario can be examined through the following questions:

What is happening to national stability?

What is happening to taxation policy?

What is happening to foreign trade legislation?

What is happening to social welfare policies?

Sierra Leone is unfortunate to continue facing a political scenario that is fueling national instability from its action. This situation continues even now. The political gateway is intolerant and volatile. The style of politics is not embracing all strata of society, but creating divisions and discontent. The bulk of the policies are widening the poverty gap and only a small proportion of the populace is enjoying the national cake. The wealth is not fairly distributed and corruption is endemic in society. The political factor is not leading by example, but part of corruption game. If you want to know this, check the assets of the President (both past and present including former heads of state) and those running the affairs of the state, before and after rule. It seems people enter into politics to make fortune at the expense of the people. It is heart rendering for people to enrich themselves by stealing from the state. We expect our politicians to be honest with the people. The taxation, foreign trade and social welfare policies are out of the feasibility region and generally weak. Recently, I read through an investment agreement between a government agency and a Private Investor in the United States of America on the issue of launching a Steel Manufacturing and Semi-Captive Power Plant (see the site http://www.sierraexpressmedia.com/archives/46881). The government agency (Trade Ministry) agreed on the investor has 75% shares and 25% to the unknown. Is the 25% for the nation or who? How there can a government allow such huge share to the investor? What provision did the government leave for our domestic entrepreneurs to buy shares? What are the corporate social responsibilities provisions? This might be the case for agreements with other foreign investments in the country. It is a further heart beating to see that a large proportion of the people cannot have the required calories per day, decent and affordable homes to live, the right and prompt wage/salary to meet pressing needs and save for unforeseen contingencies, fair educational opportunities and other awful social needs.

Economic Trend

The economic position of any nation determines the strength of its President and governance. The answers to the key economic problems below can be a basis of evaluating the state machinery:

What is happening to unemployment?

What is happening to Inflation?

What is happening to Poverty?

It is when the above economic problems fall from higher to lower values, and then we can say, the state is in sound shape. The other indicators to be considered in the assessment basket are the trends in a business cycle, gross national product and disposable income. A view of the statistics in the area of unemployment, inflation and poverty on the country will portray that the levels continue to be unreasonably high. Why such high economic indicators? Explicitly justifies that the nation is yet to generate the desired President and governance. Unemployment is in the increase due to inappropriate policies needed to create jobs. The government, both past and present, seem not to put their acts together to encourage and support indigenous people to be self-reliant, through entrepreneurial development schemes. I definitely agree with John F. Kennedy’s assertion that, “ask not what the country has done for you, but what have you done for the country”. People can be motivated to do something for their country when the right enterprising environment is created. The government needs to trigger the peoples’ appetite for partnership or boost the private sector. The problem that is rooted in Sierra Leone is the dominant culture of the self and lost trust among indigenous people. This particular culture had been fuelled by our politicians. Politics has divided the nation, to the extent that, the concept of trust and patriotism had faded away. The bulk of employed Sierra Leoneans, both at home and abroad, are complacent with the income earned from jobs and do not have the entrepreneurial and partnership spirit. It will be a nice step, if our employed people, at home and abroad, could create an income pool by putting resources together to establish partnership enterprises. Such a move is necessary to supplement the government’s national employment efforts. However, the government has the leading role to play in facilitating this and it depends on the ideal investment inertia. I highly buy the Gambia model of high national interest and resounding spirit of entrepreneurship. There are enticing government policies that encourage indigenous people to have loan facilities for business. I saw many cases of elites and non-elites opening businesses and creating employment opportunities for the people. There is a case of a couple of friends (from different jobs) that came together to launch pubs around the country. Those pubs were able to employ their family members and friends, and it was used as social meeting points. The profit gained from the partnership at the end of the financial year was partly shared among them, partly used to meet liabilities and partly reinvested into the business or used to explore growth opportunities. During my time in the Gambia, the government initiated a loan scheme to all teachers to the tune of D30, 000 (thirty thousand Dalasis). The loan was more accessible to indigenous teachers and few foreign teachers got it. The Gambia is known to give high priority to its indigenous people when it comes to employment and other opportunities. Inflation is experienced when there is evidence of higher prices for goods and services.  Such inflationary pressures are due to increases in the cost of production, consumer purchases, and spill-over effect from countries of imports. Poverty becomes prevailing through unemployment problems and the weak standard of living.  When someone is employed, that enables him/her to generate income to meet recurring expenses and save for unexpected situations. The parameters of a standard of living are per capita income (that is the national revenue divided by the population of the country) and household consumption (that is items of necessities and luxuries). The business cycle refers to booms (increasing income from consumption) and slumps (decreasing income from consumption) experienced from an investment. In simple term, when people are employed, they will earn income to buy the products of businesses, and businesses, in turn, will face a boom period. The increase in disposable income (income after tax) of the people can assist in the circular flow between businesses and the people that form the consumers’ base.

Social Outlook

The elements of every society are the government, people and communities, pressure groups (trade unions, environmental agencies, etc.), and others like creditors, suppliers and the international community. It is the responsibility of the President and governance to ensure a harmonic and satisfactory relationship among the stakeholders that form the social fabric of the nation. Sustainable trust and positive performance in society can only be ensured through transparent and accountable governance. The questions that can be raised in determining the social outlook of the nation are:

Is the governance transparent and accountable?

Are the people happy with welfare package?

What is the state of corporate social responsibilities to communities?

What is the state of the people’s attitude to work and leisure?

What is the state’s position on education?

What is happening to income distribution?

What is happening to social mobility?

What is the position of the population trend?

What is happening to social discipline?

What is the position of its cultural heritage?

    A high degree of transparency and accountability can substantiate governance commitment to sound reporting culture to the public. Looking at the country, one could observe wide communication gap across all the regions. The rural sectors of the nation are highly affected in this case. The weak electricity supply, weak communication gadgets (like television, internet and others) and high level of corruption account for the weak performance in the area of state comprehensive reporting to the people. The Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) is hollow and those meant to benefit from the activities of businesses are sidelined and not incorporated in decisions pertaining to the CSR. Besides, the general CSR to the state, employees, communities, pressure groups and the international community needs a total overhaul. It is observed that the issue of greed on the part of our government is making CRS fail the test of times. Corporate bodies are forced to mainly satisfy the private pockets of the President and governance than the expected targets. The attitude of the governance and employees to work and leisure desires an eyebrow. Lots of time is wasted on irrelevant issues and the many holidays are responsible for the slow economic growth. The high level of bureaucracy and preferential treatment continues to widen the social gap coupled with a weak Gross Domestic Product (income from consumption, private and state investments......using the income approach) trend. Income distribution favours the rich whilst the poor continue to stay in abject poverty. The poverty reduction strategy can be termed as a “white elephant” and having a stagnating effect on the lives of the common man. Only a few proportions of the entire populace are benefiting from the bulk of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In terms of social mobility, the urban sectors are densely populated as a result of the weak decentralisation process. The bulk of the powers continue to be in the hands of the President and the governance, and the move to transfer power across the regions remain slow.  The regions are in the hanging on the issue of empowerment and Freetown remains the hub of opportunities. You need to be in Freetown or connected to the ruling party or politics of the day to be employed, you need to be in Freetown to have access to state and private jobs, and in general, you need to be in Freetown to be informed on the affairs of the state. One needs to be in the cities of the Western, Eastern, Southern and Northern regions to have a sip of a small proportion of the welfare facilities. The rural sectors of the nation are impoverished, disconnected from the welfare basket and used as a laboratory for fictitious projects that are yet to create a real impact on their lives.  The population trend should be controlled, particular the level of foreign immigrants to the country. Policies have to be in place to protect indigenous goods and services. The government needs to be very tactical in handling the explosive issues of nationalisation and globalisation. The synchronisation of nationalism and globalisation should be done in a way beneficiary to the nation and indigenous people. The situation in Sierra Leone at the moment is that indigenous people are sidelined or treated as trash against foreign nationals, purely because of the self-interest of our governance. The Gambia, as a case in point, is one developing nation I admire the most for the immense protection of their indigenous people. The people may have their individual differences but strongly united towards the national interest. Social discipline in Sierra Leone is weak, mainly because of preferential treatments and flexibility in the legal system. There is no social parity in the queue system, as preference is given to the so-called dignitaries or, “who know you syndrome”. The legal system is not fair and favours those connected to the state machinery. The judiciary system has no independence and interfered with by the caucus of governance. The level of orchestrated crimes by the state machinery is so high that, activists for fairness are vulnerable to jail terms at any time. The cultural heritage of the country has faded away and traded-off. The days when societies like “Ojeh,”  “Poro”, “Bondo”, etc., are given higher premium are gone. The cultural fabric has worn-out and the country has nothing unique to be proud of.

Other Factors

The other issues of concern in the Presidential and governance assessment process are spending on research, inspiration for innovation and invention, environmental protection laws, waste disposal, health and safety law and product safety law. Research is the key to valuable state information and it is relevant to the designing of national policy. The amount allocated to research is enough to determine the state dedication to national growth and development. Sierra Leone, a state where incoming and outgoing Presidents and governance structure are highly engaged in exploiting the nation, is not taking research seriously, and this can be substantiated by the minimal spending and lip services to research. The bulk of the researches are prejudged and samples collected do not reflect the population of the study. Information is cooked to serve the interest of politicians and the selfish-core. The nation has a pool of brains with the flair for creativity, but not encouraged to bring it forward for the interest of the nation. We have traditional healers with untapped knowledge. We hear of people that are involved in creating aircraft, guns, human healing and other ideas in the underworld. The governance is not making the efforts to encourage (both financial and non-financially) them to come out of the dark world and make their invention and innovation beneficial to the nation. Instead, the same politicians are using them to gain power and for their self-interest. In Senegal, the government is highly encouraging traditional healers to be part of the mainstream health care system. The issue of traditional healing is not hidden and hypocritical. Environment protection laws and waste disposal are not fit for purpose. The level of pollution and untidiness of the nation are high. All the regions of the nation are vulnerable to serious health problems. The recent outbreak of Cholera and other health hazards are living testimony to the state of affairs. The sewage system across the board is weak and government policy on health desires a total recoup. There is no firm health and safety law and strong monitoring of products sold by firms. It is observed that national consumers are open to being sold outdated products. The product preservation mechanisms are weak, as a result of the horrible electricity supply and other scientific preservation methods.

Conclusion

Sound policy design should be the limelight of a true national leader and governance. The right policy framework can generate national success. The path to positive strategic decisions is through policy research and evaluation. The fiscal policy (taxation and expenditure lines of action like reducing tax and increasing government subsidy) and monetary policy (lines of action on money supply like quantity easing), foreign trade policy (like a free port that encourages the importation of goods in the country.......Guinea and the Gambia are having free ports meant to promote foreign trade with the intent of making the prices of the imported goods reasonable to domestic consumers) and social welfare policies (like affordable housing, free national health care, electricity, etc.) should be manipulated in a way beneficiary to the nation. Most of the policies in Sierra Leone are facing hiccups, due to intensive government interference and the fact that the people are isolated in policy decision. The nation has to revisit its style of governance to a democratic terrain. The people need to be involved in decision making. The parliamentary representatives for all the constituencies need to have surgeries and suggestion boxes to ear peoples’ concern. National stability can be achieved through a tolerant political environment, transparent and accountable governance, sound policy environment, and the satisfaction of peoples’ social needs. Most of our politicians are more concentrated on boosting their egos and accumulating wealth than doing the actual jobs meant to do.....having the national flag on their automobile and showing off to the people, and looking for outlets to steal.....”it is better to be simple than to live your life in vanity or worldly acquisitions at the expense and detriment of the people”. We need our politicians to be down-to-earth and ensure that the welfare satisfaction objective of the nation is met.  I will suggest that all those recruited into public offices declare their assets before commencing responsibilities and further provide quarterly reports on their assets. The government should ensure that a dodgy report becomes a criminal offence. Furthermore, all public officers should declare whatever assistance (whether financial or non-financial) when on official trips within and overseas. The people had lost trust in the governance of the country and this lost trust can only be restored through such transparent action. What belongs to the public is not personal and it is time to be accountable to the people.

The economic trend can shoot up through job creation, inflationary control and fair measures needed to save the lives of the people from poverty. Jobs can be created through the right policies meant to encourage entrepreneurs (whether foreign or domestic) to increase their labour force. Indigenous people should be inspired to create businesses and the spirit of partnership among them has to be triggered through appeasing investment environment. Apart from building up the pure science base in the educational sector, there is the immense need for commercial students in senior schools to set up Business Clubs with the intent of germinating the entrepreneurial flair in them. We need to prepare ready jobs for our children (every child is your child.....United Nations convention on the rights of the child) and this can be done through a business club in senior schools, and thereafter, organising them to take up business and simultaneously encourage them to continue tertiary education. I use to admire my first cousin, Mohamed Dauda (Accounting Graduate), who was in school (senior up to university) and at the same time being a carpenter. We need to make our children have a multi-faceted approach to services, thereby increasing the revenue base of the country.

The social outlook can reach a satisfactory level through the following:

The infrastructural facilities (electricity, water and sanitation, housing, healthcare, education, transportation, communication and many more) are spread in all the four provinces. The country needs a reasonable and affordable supply of electricity (If Mali and Senegal could have 24 hours electricity, why is Sierra Leone still in continuous darkness?), better water and sanitation, free health care for all, a highly educated nation, alternative and efficient transportation facilities including the re-institution of trains accessible to all regions, communication facilities to all and sound reporting culture on state affairs and all those social capital relevant to give a facial uplift to the nation.

The society (stakeholders) benefits and become accountable to, from the activities of domestic businesses.

There is a positive and balanced attitudinal change from the governance and the people towards a favourable and positive national outlook.

Education becomes a priority, fair to all and finance does not become a barrier to it (firms are attracted to invest after a feasibility study on the level of education and skill labour of the nation). This area had really produced mostly selfish and unfair people in the past and this continues even now. One could not imagine the University of Sierra Leone creating the environment for students to do Masters for four years and sometimes even making it impossible. Most of the certificates, and even now, are not awarded by merit but by the syndrome of “lay beleism”. Students that don’t dance to the tunes of teachers and lecturers are awarded horrible grades. The state of affairs in this area had made the nation to fall short of its national income. Students that are meant and having the courage to study further in order to compete for international jobs were and continued to be deprived to make use of such opportunities, thereby stifling the net income from overseas. This sector requires special attention and those from all backgrounds should be encouraged to learn the “Golden Rules” needed to shape the economy.

There is an equitable distribution of income ( a progressive tax system where the rich is highly taxed than the poor and provisions made to uplift the poor from their awful position can be helpful in the fair income distribution);

The right strategies are in place to reduce the density of the population in all the provinces. I will recommend Freetown to be the Hong Kong of Sierra Leone and government offices located to Mile 91 or in another strategic area out of Freetown. I further suggest a decentralised system and government relinquish most of its powers to local councils. The government should ensure towns and villages are empowered for people to find them habitable.

The nation is part of economic integration (like Economic Community of West Africa States, African Union, etc) and there is the issue of globalisation. It is a good idea to be part of the groups, as no one nation can live in isolation. However, the nation has to put its indigenous people first and ensure that there are protective measures to cover them. Your household should be happy before extending gestures beyond. The country has to ensure that foreign immigrants are of benefit to the nation and should facilitate a proper screening process to sieve criminals from non-criminals.

Social discipline should be imperative. Every individual regardless of your background should be treated equally, as we are all equal before the Supreme Being. Queues should be based on first come first serve and there should be an independent judiciary system. Anyone (whether politician or otherwise) found wanting of social disorder and breaching the law should be prosecuted. The government needs to avoid criminalisation of the innocent and activists for fairness. The country had gone through unjust killings in the past and even now, and it is time to stop propagating such national curse from innocent blood shedding.

There is a need to restore our culture back to where it was in the past. We have a unique culture that needs to be maintained and proud of. Shedding that is like forgoing your national identity. The culture was a strong force that held us together and a path to cementing the cracks among us. We need to strengthen our” Poro”, “Ojeh”, “Bondo” and those entire cultural brand that shows our Lion traits.

The nation is advised to take research with a high level of seriousness. All state departments should be given the required funding and support to undertake surveys. The surveys should be reflective of the views of the population of study. Conducting a survey without having the desired result will be just a waste of resources. Department will not have value for money and this will have a negative impact on the nation. The findings from the research should be implemented for the benefit of the country. Innovation and invention need to be encouraged in order to tap the unique intellectual ability of the people. Those traditional healers (mostly called witchcraft......name not ideal for them, as it is a discouraging factor) should be inspired to come out of the dark world and display their talents. There is a need to incorporate them into the mainstream health care system. Living them to operate in the dark world will make them dangerous to society, as this will encourage evil people in society to use them against innocent people. I never realised that the underworld exists, until someone in my region in the Gambia got shot with a witch-gun. As Chairman of Sierra Leone Nations’ Union (SLENU) in Bundung region, I coordinated the taking of a member of our community to a conventional medical hospital, but it was not of help until someone suggested that we should take him to an old woman in one of the villages. We took the sick man to the old Majango woman in Sanyang (I pray that her helpful soul rests in peace. Amen!), who was able to solve the national brethren’s touching sickness. The old woman took the bullets out from the sick (something she knows in their own world) and later asked whether she should send it back to the one that used the witch-gun on him. I told her no, as two wrongs cannot make a right. The man became healed and the old woman fortified him further against subsequent attacks. The other case studies are from the experience of my Dad and younger sister. Someone(name withheld for chiefdom organisation and culture)  took the name of my Dad to a  “Marabou” (spiritualist) for him to be killed but the person couldn't succeed, as the Marabou exposed the culprit. My Dad is a hard core (Ex-Military man and unbreakable) and very strong in the Islamic faith (Alhagi from Mecca and guided by the scriptures, but not a fanatic).  My younger sister, Zainab (a beautiful and nicely caved by God), died recently and sources informed me that someone (a rival) used the witchcraft on her. She was meant to travel to Australia to reunite with her husband. It is this underworld that evil people are using to eliminate people from job competition, political competition, mateism and all sort of worldly conflicts. It is time for our governance to embrace traditional healers and this can transform them from such dangerous acts. Most of the killings, through the so-called witchcraft, is costing the nation huge loss of income, due to brain drain and making loved ones to fade away dishearteningly. They are out there and unless we contain and recognise their importance for the benefit of the nation, they will continue to become dangerous to our society. The environment and waste disposal should be given the needed priority. A healthy nation can promote a sustainable national success story. When people are healthy, they can have the energy to provide services for money and the income raised a contributing factor to the national income. There is the need to institute strong health and safety laws to protect people from possible damage. Products sold by firms should undergo on-going checks by the relevant department, so as to stifle those enterprises with the habit of trading out-dated and misrepresented products. Any firm indulging in such dodgy trade practice should face the law.

It is time for the governance to love its people and ignite their passion for the nation. The reciprocal love from the people can be spontaneous when there are tangible benefits from their wealthy nation. Sierra Leone is so wealthy that, a large proportion of the people should not be allowed to continue facing an on-going hardship within and overseas. The recurring situation is that the country continues to be a nightmare that is scaring away the bulk of the people. This nightmare can only be removed, if and only if, the political scenario, economic trend, social outlook and other factors mentioned becomes evidentially satisfactory. I have to end this road with an extract from musical icons, the Bee Gees,” we going nowhere, somebody helps me”. Furthermore, I have to leave my lovely readers with a song of the 80s, though orchestrated for our country. One of the lyrics says, “I am dreaming of a new Sierra Leone, a land of peace and love”....the name of Artist forgotten and will be grateful if anyone could tell me.   

PRINCE FODAY

INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL EQUITY WATCH (IGEW)

A free institute of independent research and learning