Ibrahim Sourie Mansaray: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 3 October 2018:
This past week has been historic for Sierra Leone and its people. It was the first entrance into the United States by president Julius Maada Bio since his election last March.
Considering his controversial departure from the United States few years ago, Maada is a man whose integrity and movement as a politician has been a hot potato.
Had President Maada Bio been a village son, the Chief of his village would have branded him as an extraordinary son with stubborn good spirit.
Maada Bio has defied all the odds against him during his tenure as an opposition leader of the country. He won the election; he is in good health despite rumours of a minor stroke; he attended the United Nations General Assembly; he delivered speeches outside the confines of the United Nations against all the rumours that the president is not allowed to visit any states beyond New York.
The accusations against him are endless. He has proved critics wrong and continues to do so with humility.
There is still a long way to go. I think the country has started a good fight in beginning to look more systematically at the qualities required by leaders to tackle the onerous problems facing the country.
But the bigger question is, are we interested in who the politicians are or what they bring to the presidency?
Does it matter whether they come from particular groups or are we more interested in whether they are capable of performing their roles well?
And what do we mean by being an effective Member of Parliament or President? It is apparent that this is not something most Sierra Leoneans are unable to address.
Why is integrity so difficult or is it something to do with the politicians themselves, or the political system they find themselves in?
There is a natural tendency for the media to focus on perceived personality because this is a way of describing and labelling individuals. There is a Darwinian culture in politics that assumes ‘the best will succeed’- politicians will do well because of who they are and their innate qualities rather than the support or opportunities they are given.
Clearly, politicians require skills, but the reasons why politicians don’t engage in training and development are fascinating in their own right.
Robert Louis Stevenson once said: ‘Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary.’
I watched president Maada delivering speeches at the sideline of the United Nations and other organizational bodies. Candidly, the president has grown in articulating the woes of the country.
The president is not only making his party proud, but the country; and that should be the cornerstone of the thoughts of all Sierra Leoneans.
If president Maada Bio is an ‘Abiku’ (stubborn spiritual child), he has proven it to the core. He entered Washington with pomp and pageantry, as if to say, ‘You said I will never enter Washington, but here I am’.
It is ironic that since assuming power, president Bio has neither delivered a national broadcast to the nation, nor has he paid visits to the rest of the country to thank and explain his policies to the people that voted him into power.
Rather, Bio’s message to Sierra Leoneans is to thank all those who voted and did not vote for him. His message of reconciliation and dedication towards the national development should be clearly seen in his handiwork towards national politics, including his appointment to key institutions in the country.
Politicians have no managers- they are elected to represent and take decisions on behalf of their constituents. We may not always like the decisions they make, but we respect their right to make them. This also means that there is no single performance measure.
As politicians must mediate between multiple conflicting views about what is right or wrong, there will always be different views about their performance. This is why many politicians say that the election is the only appraisal they need.
The recent demonstrations by some sections of the Sierra Leonean community in New York were a good pointer to our democracy. To some, it was an eyesore, especially to ardent supporters of the SLPP. To others, it shows that a president cannot do what he thinks is unconstitutional and not get checked.
If President Bio is a listening leader, there is an underlying message of caution and nationalism conveyed by those standing in his way. The demonstration may not be to his liking, but he should now begin to rule Sierra Leone with the understanding that the world is watching his government and those steps should be taken to forge national unison and development.
From the demonstrations, it is crystal clear that the country is polarized on party grounds. One does not need to be a scientist to affirm that most of the pro demonstrations are members of the opposition All Peoples Congress, whereas the anti is predominantly members of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party.
The presence of reputable diplomat cum journalists, like the Reverend Kabbs Kanu (Photo), and a host of APC supporters continue to remind people that politics is not a one-way street anymore in the new dispensation.
A party loyalist, Kabba Kamara of Maryland remarked, the SLPP demonstrated against former president Ernest Koroma at the UN Assembly and he smiled in response, so we are repaying SLPP in their own coin.
Although the 2018 general election is gone, it seems as if the country is still in electioneering mode. Philadelphia is like a microcosm of Sierra Leone in the diaspora with ardent, irate and faithful supporters of various parties jockeying for supremacy.
A faithful supporter of the National Grand Coalition’s Kandeh Yumkella in Philadelphia, Mamud Jalloh, commonly called ‘Ghanaman’ of King Jimmy store remarked that, the commission of inquiry will be a blessing for his party, as it would allow the people of Sierra Leone to see the qualities of their leader after the commission would have imprisoned most of the alleged corrupt politicians.
To an ardent supporter of the APC like Abdul Kamara, commonly called CTK, the commission is a genocidal instrument aimed at exterminating the leaders of the party, thereby dismantling the core of the party before the next elections.
For Yahyah Kallon of the SLPP, the party is just being transparent and laying a precedent for sanity to creep into the geo-politic of the New Direction.
The cornerstone of Maada’s message in his town hall message, centres on eradication of corruption.
He propounded on this menace throughout his speech and his determination will be tested as soon as the commission kicks off.
In one of his messages, he informed his audience of individuals engaging in corruption with impunity and his determination to break the chain. Is the commission of inquiry an act of war on corruption?
If it is a genuine war, then this will be a new dispensation in the country’s march towards national development.
It should be a commission that should treat all accused with fairness, sincerity and considered innocent until proven guilty.
The government should not involve any member of the previous government on trips as alleged in the case of Musa Tarawalie, former lands Minister. It smirks of unfairness and suspicion.
I am not sure I could identify an ‘ultimate politician’ – they are all so different, and it just goes to show that there are many different ways to be successful in politics.
Ultimate politicians are not afraid to recognize and deal with the demands of conflicted and complex environments. They inspire others to do better and strive for excellence themselves.
What they do need to do better, however, is to build a far better public understanding of what politicians do, what realistically could be improved, and practical ways in which this might be achieved.
The people of Sierra Leone need ultimate politicians and not the glorification of politicians that borders on sycophancy.
The media and their supporters should stop glorifying leaders and urge them to work in the interest of the people. Over glorifying leaders into ‘Pa Syndrome’ is the best way to destroy good leaders in Sierra Leone.
Maada Bio is the right president for Sierra Leone.
Congratulation president Bio on your first UN meeting. As a citizen I think president Bio is fit to be a leader of this proud nation. Good job president Bio, keep on going – dont give up. You are now the people’s father, keep on the good job to unite this nation; not to discriminate one another. God bless Sierra Leone.
Exactly. The cheap hype by certain journalists and supporters should stop. Let us wait for the man to prove himself. In spite of the rumoured stroke, Maada Bio is determined to rule; and he has got a long way to go.
Most of the comments written in this medium are – to my analysis – written by well educated people. But at times, I wonder whether some of these individuals have lost their sense of reasoning. Education with a skewed sense of reasoning is no education at all – it is ignorance to the detriment of the layman on the streets.
Stop this hypocritical HYPE. It does not matter which party, or tribe, or leader that has the vision for the development of Sierra Leone.
Social media should be used as a corrective tool for our leaders; and a platform to relay ideas of significant importance.
‘The people of Sierra Leone need ultimate politicians and not the glorification of politicians that borders on sycophancy.’ …..This is a passage from the above article. If you stick by this journalistic common sence, then l think we are on the right track. Please avoid the fatal and unconditional bootlicking of Kabs Kanu (Cocorioko) and his ‘cousin’ Sylvia Blyden (Awareness) during Ernst Koroma’s time in office.