Sierra Leone Telegraph: 02 May 2020:
As Sierra Leoneans across the political, regional and tribal divide look for answers to the myriad of economic, social and political problems bedevilling the development, peace and stability of the nation after 59 years of independence, today there is fear of repression, lawlessness and impunity, unbridled corruption, and growing poverty.
The killing of eleven unarmed rioting prisoners at Pademba Road, the arrest of political opponents, the cavalier attitude towards the coronavirus by the political class and those in power, have once again exposed the fragility of Sierra Leone’s hard won peace and stability.
But if there is to be hope, it could be found in the lyrics of many of the country’s musicians – including Emerson Bockarie, Innocent and Steady Bongo.
For the past decade or more, musicians such as Steady Bongo (Photo) have provided solace to millions of poor – young as well as old people – lost in the mist of hopelesness, joblessness, abject poverty and political impunity.
Take a listen to the latest song by Steady Bongo – echoing the phylosophy and development slogan of Dr Kandeh Yumkella – “HOPE, OPPORTUNITY & TRANSFORMATION (HOT):
Let us continue to pray for Mama Salone.
Nasiru -Deem Nekah, please add more flesh to your skeptical statement to win a forceful reply from me. There are no jokes on this platform. A split decision in boxing is still a win for the boxer that is favoured by the judges. A one zero victory in football is still a victory. I eagerly await your response. Thank you very much for taking the time I read my contribution.
Santhkie are you serious.How can Kandeh Yumkellah win a presidential election. A man who barely won a fraction of his own district. You are a joker.
God strong in might and power has a plan for the people of Sierra Leone, as well as Liberians. No regime, army government can overturn what the Lord has in store. Only the people to repent of their wickedness, trust in the Lord. Sin is a reproach to all nations but righteousness exalted the nation. I am praying for these people.
Conscious music.
Sahr Matturi, there was a time when most Sierra Leoneans were in no doubt that APC had such a grip on the nation that they would never be thrown out of power. But then came that fateful day in 1992 when a group of young military boys, some of them hardly out of their twenties, descended on Freetown. In a matter of hours the entire APC super structure were sent scurrying for cover. Momoh ended up in the arms of Lansana Conte’ in neighboring Guinea.
Of course no one wants anymore military coup in our country, I merely brought up that momentous occasion in 1992 to emphasise the fact that nothing is impossible, and that it’s within the realm of possibility that NGC can win the presidency. It’s even held in some quarters that Dr Yomkella actually won the presidency in 2018 but for the shady activities of the electoral commission headed by Nfa Ali Conteh.
If NGC mount a serious campaign for 2023, please don’t bet your life that they won’t win the presidency. My observation leads me to believe that a remarkable number of Sierra Leoneans spanning all tribal and ethnic lines are slowly becoming conscious of the fact that APC and SLPP have been a drag on the nation. Outwardly they profess to be APC or SLPP to the marrow because of peer pressure, but inwardly they cannot wait to see their backs.
Sahr, have you ever heard the expression “giant killer “? Do you know the story of David and Goliath? It’s both in the Quoran and Bible.
Many thanks for taking the time to read my contribution. Our little democratic platform gets stronger by the day, thanks to the Telegraph.
NGC is the best for Sierra Leone
Are you blind to see or taking an illegal gun to a state meeting is by definition criminal violation of Military justice on attempted coup? Conteh you know better.
Wow,I wish Sierra Leoneans love their country and people, the way they love their political parties. They point fingers, insult and kill one another for their parties. The ideas and agendas of the parties mirror each other’s. They engage in tit for tat politics instead concerning themselves with the needs of the people. Some of us in the diaspora, see and enjoy democracy at work, yet we promote violence and thuggery, in Sierra Leone.
They claim patriotism, but I am certain, they mean partisan. Sierra Leone will never prosper with the failure of our politicians, towards the people. Like your party but love your country more. Why do we behave like civilized humans, outside Sierra Leone, but self destruct back home. I implore every Sierra Leonean to please stop this nasty behaviour. Let’s all work for the country and be true patriots.
Bravo to you Mr. Kouyateh; you hit the nail right on the coffin. We have in our midsts unpatriotic and selfish individuals who will kill for their so called party gods, but will never do so for mama Salone. Instead of fighting for a united Salone, they are sowing the seeds of division at any opportunity that comes their way. They are here in this glorious platform spewing hate and venom towards their fellow citizens. What a shame!!
I don’t actually understand why some people so naïve and hypocrites, now the decent man’s name started coming up again. Everyone in this world knew, what APC party in general did to this gentleman(KKY),please I beg for God’s sake if you don’t have someone to campaign for again after APC had eliminated and scrapped(Alhaji Sam Sumana).
Please drop Kandeh Y. Kella’s name out.I am busy right now washing my gravel and I will be back soon. I believe that SLPP led by Bio’s gov’t will fix each and everyone of you in your position. You can say whatever against Bio, but mind you he sacrificed his entire life for this country. We know one another and time will tell. May God bless this country. Paolo Conteh is confessing.
It’s a real educating song not only for Sierra Leone politicians, but for Africa politicians also. Thanks Mr Bongo, more wins!
During campaign,I asked a youth who were in an SLPP campaign team; why can’t Salone vote for different political party and forget about SLPP and APC? The youth told me that SLPP and APC are the two parties they believe in. I predicted to him that Salone will will improve only by voting in new polical parties, SLPP and APC would always come to power to hate against their opponents. It’s time to make that change where leaders will focus on the unity and betterment of Salone and not grudges.
“The killing of eleven unarmed rioting prisoners at Pademba Road, the arrest of political opponents, the cavalier attitude towards the coronavirus by the political class and those in power, have once again exposed the fragility of Sierra Leone’s hard won peace and stability.”
This article leaves me scratching my head as to what the author exactly expects government’s response to the coronavirus to be. The phrase “cavalier attitude” that the author uses can easily be interpreted as a situation whereby government’s response is so disdainful and underwhelming that Sierra Leoneans are dying in large numbers.
Evidently, the reality on the ground points to the fact that even under dire economic conditions, Sierra Leone has done far better than many African countries in controlling the spread of the virus.
The writer also refers to the arrest of political opponents in a way that necessarily suggests that the government of Sierra Leone has become so repressive that it is hauling political prisoners to Pademba Road with impunity. If the writer had the reckless Palo Conteh and Sylvia Blyden in mind, in the case of Conteh, let me state that a gun-toting thug who is arrested at the seat of national power cannot fit the description of a political prisoner. With Blyden, she remains to be charged. Until then, let us allow the investigations to take their course.
Palo Conteh is a quintessential thug. In a repressive state, a man that illegally carries a gun to a meeting with the head of state would have his brains instantly blown away. Thus, Conteh must be one fortunate bandit to be living in a democracy. Indeed, it is a privilege for a potential assassin to only be put in handcuffs and be fed three times a day at taxpayers’ expense.
Further, while I agree with the writer that the peace and stability of Sierra Leone is under threat, I would like to point out that the lawlessness in Sierra Leone is the sole creation of the All Peoples Congress (APC) political party. This is an undeniable fact, given that not only have APC leaders repeatedly revealed their intentions of making Sierra Leone ungovernable since losing the presidential elections two years ago, but that these lawless retards have from time to time backed their diabolical threats with the use of party thugs to provoke confrontations with the police.
Thus, the so-called prison riots can fit neatly into a dastardly pattern of destabilizing behavior on the part of a few desperate men who believe that they have been pre-ordained to rule Sierra Leone forever. What took place at the central prisons could well have been a Palo Conteh rescue effort that went bad. But the good news is that some of the APC thugs involved in the assault on the correctional facility have been arrested and are now cooperating with police investigations.
In closing, it is important to point out that a peaceful and stable Sierra Leone requires that the APC and other lawless element conform with the law. Tellingly, it is the government and not the APC that has a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force.
Unless we give SLPP and APC a break from power we shall never make progress. The only expertise these two have is to eliminate each other while the nation perishes. There is a blood feud between them however much they may wish to cast themselves differently. Bring APC back in 2023 and they will start off where they left off in 2018. Bring SLPP back in 2028 and the mess will continue. When will we learn as a people? The irony of it all is that it’s the people that suffer the most that take the streets to campaign and dance for these people, a case of slaves cheering for slavery.
People are always talking about patriotism without knowing its real meaning. The best definition of patriotism which I ever come across is “my country right or wrong”. We have to demonstrate this definition by kicking out both APC and SLPP in the next presidential election – they are a curse.
I ask Steady Bongo to come up with more songs to urge Sierra Leoneans to give Dr Yomkella a chance at the presidency. Political songs carry enormous power in Sierra Leone; they reach all corners of the country and make people think.
I respect your views as always Mr. Santhkie Sorie. But, I disagree with you, concerning the bringing back of what the APC left off in 2018 comment, although I understand why you are thinking that way. But let’s face facts and be realistic Mr. Santhkie Sorie. The NGC and the C4C are very small and young political parties with credible leadership. But, it will take time before they can reach the status of the indomitable APC under a new progressive leader and the Bio led brutal and barbaric SLPP in terms of popularity and the number of voters nationwide. However, that will change with time. No doubt about that.
So, it’s better to be realistic in terms of election victory and coalesce with the APC for victory in 2023, rather than letting the brutal and barbaric Bio led SLPP to win, which is of course impossible. Unless the SLPP party, elects a credible leader and trustworthy presidential candidate, amongst its most credible and cool headed champions/elites, who respects democracy and the rule of law for the 2023 general elections, they will be mercilessly defeated at the polls. You will witness the overwhelming force of people’s power at the ballot box in 2023. That I will guarantee you. Also, You will get to know that not too from now.
More deaths and injuries have been recorded, through barbarity and violence under President Bio’s two year rule, than the ten year rule of the INDOMITABLE former President, leader of the indomitable APC party, the champion of champions, the greatest commander in chief ever of the Republic of Sierra Leone armed forces and the most successful ex President ever in the history of our country. Can you imagine that? Bottom line, Sierra Leone is now in NPRC Junta part III mode. But that has to stop and change at the ballot box.
The struggle continues to get rid of barbarity, tyranny and violence in Sierra Leone until victory in 2023. No malice Mr Santhkie Sorie and may God bless you. May the souls of all those who were murdered in cold blood, by President Bio’s presidential security guards rest in perfect peace. Justice is on its way. Amen and Amen.
That’s a great song from Steady Bongo, even when the country is in abject poverty, still people think negatively to bring our country down to rubble.
Nice on uncle steady
Steady Bongo,, you are right what you are saying.. Thanks.
Failing to elect fine and descent gentlemen like Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, well educated, who respect democracy and the rule of law as President, has resulted in the mess we now find ourselves. I don’t believe Sierra Leoneans will ever again make mistake to elect any ex JUNTA Commandant to the presidency. It’s because of disillusion that people made mistake in the past elections in my view. That has now changed.
The JUNTA SOJA, erratic and lunatic ideology must be eradicated in 2023. They have to go. Have to. If fact, what happened recently, has just filled our strategy bunker with more political campaign ammunition. Thank you very much Steady Bongo for your consoling voice and message to the people of Sierra Leone. With that, I cease fire for a while. God bless you.