President Koroma Kick-starts His 2012 Elections
Campaign: Is a Second term in the offing?
Abdul R Thomas
Editor - The Sierra Leone Telegraph
14 February 2010
As President Koroma kick-starts his 2012 elections
campaign in the south-eastern region of the country
– the political heartland and nerve centre of the
opposition SLPP - both sides of the political
spectrum are now beginning to raise the ante.
The ruling party’s sponsored media have started
counting the potential electoral gains arising from
the President’s audacious and auspicious visit to
the opposition’s geo-political power base – Kenema
and Kailahun. In response, the opposition SLPP is
denying the validity of those claims, denouncing
them as cheap propaganda.
“If President Koroma consolidates the dramatic
breakthrough he made over the weekend and maintains
a progressive presence in Kailahun , the
incorrigible Patrick Foyahs and Sama Banyas may
still stick to their unsung and unprogressive band
wagons, but one thing is certain: When 2012 comes,
President Koroma may prise away from the grasp of
the SLPP important votes in Kailahun that , added to
his clean-sweeps elsewhere, will definitely ensure
him a second term” – says Cocorioko (10th February
2010).
Whether cheap propaganda or not, anyone reading
Sierra Leone’s newspapers in the last few days –
both on-line and printed, would be forgiven for
thinking that the 2012 elections are here and that
electioneering fever is about to descend upon the
nation. But that’s all the better for the country’s
fledgling democracy, as the main opposition SLPP
party makes up its mind as to whether it wants to
come out of self induced coma.
Perhaps images of the President strolling
majestically along the streets of the opposition’s
heartland, amidst jubilating crowds – including
senior opposition grandees - may very well nudge the
opposition SLPP out of slumber to smell the roasted
northern coffee. There are exciting times ahead for
Sierra Leone’s politics.
The ruling APC party, conscious of the need to win a
second term to continue its ‘Agenda for Change’, is
frenetically desperate to win the hearts and minds
of the Southerners, if they are to win the 2012
Presidential elections in the first round. But will
the opposition SLPP scupper their game plan, before
it is too late?
Sensing that the opposition is not prepared to lie
down and roll over, there are deafening cries and
pleas from the government sponsored media for the
opposition to put politics aside and embrace
Koroma’s APC economic and social development agenda.
But is this good for the country’s liberal
democratic pluralism? This move really smacks of a
possible return to a ‘one party state’.
In its 10th February 2010 edition, this is what
Cocorioko News – one of the government’s sponsored
news media, had to say:
“President Ernest Koroma is doing a marvellous job
in Sierra Leone. Let us forget about partisan
politics and our different political attachments for
a moment. Let us look at the direct evidence. In
just two years, look at President Koroma's
achievements for Sierra Leone.”
Irrespective of the achievements of President Koroma
– whether real or imagined – Sierra Leoneans cannot
afford, nor should they be encouraging or promoting
the return to a ‘one party state’. It will most
certainly be a sad day for liberal democracy in
Sierra Leone, if the main opposition finally wakes
up and finds itself pitching tents with the ruling
party, for whatever reason they may wish to conjure.
Liberal democratic pluralism is about a contest
between competing sets of ideas, values and
principles that underpins the policy framework of
political parties. The people of Sierra Leone
sacrificed their lives during those dreadful ten
years of civil war - in order to witness a return to
the liberal democracy that ushered in the APC party
into power in 2007, after spending twenty years
languishing in the political wilderness. Let us not
forget that.
During his visit to Kailahun and Kenema, President
Koroma promised the people of the Southern region,
that he will bring them much needed economic
prosperity and social advancement. But critics are
questioning whether this is purely aimed at
garnering southern electoral support ahead of 2012,
or a genuine desire by the President, to bring the
region into the 21st century.
Politics is about the allocation of scarce resources
amongst many and diverse needs.
Given the already polarised nature of Sierra Leone’s
politics, will the Northerners and Westerners (Freetownians)
– the heartlands of the ruling party’s power base -
be willing to sacrifice their survival for the
prosperity of their Southern based brothers and
sisters? The President may well be making political
promises he cannot fulfill.
In its 5th February 2010 edition, the Sierra Leone
Telegraph predicted that unemployment and policies
designed to tackle youth joblessness, could be the
battleground on which the 2012 elections are fought.
Since then there has been a flurry of news reports,
mainly highlighting the government’s efforts and
successes in attracting foreign direct investments,
or strategies aimed at tackling the obscene levels
of joblessness in the country.
As the 2012 electioneering drive is cranked up by
both sides, so are the propaganda machines beginning
to churn out headline grabbing news that calls for
closer scrutiny. For example, the on-line
pro-government NewsTime Africa in their 9th February
2010 edition had this to say:
“4,000 jobs Created as President Koroma Secures $400
Million Bio-fuel Investment for Sierra Leone.” The
question on everyone’s lips is; where are the 4,000
jobs? It seems the devil is in the detail. Two days
after publishing that over-enthusiastic headline,
the Press Secretary of State House issued this
statement, as though to dampen any over exuberance:
“The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Dr
Ernest Bai Koroma has witnessed the signing of a
memorandum of understanding between the government,
Addax Bio-energy Sierra Leone and the Addax & Oryx
Group that will see USD 400 million to be invested
over the next few years in the country’s
Agribusiness sector. In keeping with the
government’s drive to create employment
opportunities for the people, 4000 jobs will be
created through direct employment, contracting and
out-grower opportunities that will raise the incomes
of farming and rural communities.”
President Koroma said, “Today is a very special day
for me, the government, and people of Sierra Leone,
especially the people of Bombali and Tonkolili
districts, particularly those in the Makari/Gbanti,
Malal Mara and Bombali Shebora chiefdoms” where this
project will be located.
In another ruling party propaganda spin, Cocorioko
(Wednesday, 10 February 2010) headlined: ‘Sierra
Leone's Hydro-Power Dam Lighting up Freetown’. The
paper said;
“Sierra Leone's first hydro-power dam, almost 40
years in the making, was switched on in November
2009. It now produces 50 megawatts of electricity,
sending regular power to most parts of the capital,
Freetown.”
But is Bumbuna really producing 50 mega watts of
electricity? In an attempt to clarify the hype, the
report mentioned;
“But transmission networks damaged during the
country's civil war are so dilapidated that the
capital can only absorb half of the dam's energy.”
Readers would no doubt be asking themselves; if
Bumbuna is producing 50 mega watts of electricity
and Freetown receives 25 mega watts, what is
happening to the remaining 25 mega watts?
Those figures just do not add up it seems. But then
it’s the start of electioneering and 2012 will be
all about winning the propaganda war, rather than
winning the battle of facts. This is where the main
opposition SLPP is seriously failing, and will
continue to fail, if they persist on the path of
‘quiet rapprochement’.
What is also interesting about the Cocorioko spill
is that prior to “Bumbuna, the country functioned on
an emergency power plan costing $2 million a month
to fuel diesel generators that produced only enough
power to cover essential services.”
This confirms comments made by critics and the
opposition as regards government’s claim that the
entire Capital City was electrified, prior to
Bumbuna, which justify the millions of Dollars spent
to consolidate the ruling party’s political capital,
gained at the 2007 elections.
It now seem as though plans for Bumbuna phase 2 will
also feature highly on the 2012 electioneering
agenda. According to Cocorioko: “The second phase of
the Bumbuna dam project will build a larger
reservoir upstream that could add more than 100
megawatts to the dam's capacity - enough to cover
greater Freetown and parts of the Northern
provinces. But it will be costly. Unless the
government can secure the entire investment cost of
$520 million, the second phase could be a long time
coming.”
Awareness Times, Awoko and Premier News (11 February
2010), reported another major government
electioneering campaign spin. After two years in the
making, the Sierra Leone Investment and Export
Promotion Agency (SLIEPA), in collaboration with the
ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Food
Security, and Trade & Industry, have launched a
three-year investment strategy aimed at attracting
or creating 25,000 new jobs across the country.
The government said they will achieve this, by
supporting 25,000 independent farmers to develop
their capacity to grow and supply crops, required by
the processing plants to be established in the
country by foreign investors. The Strategy was
launched on Wednesday 10th February 2010, in
Freetown.
Although the main opposition SLPP had on several
occasions highlighted the worrying levels of
corruption in Koroma’s government, they would really
need to sharpen up their campaign strategy, and
fast, if they are to put on a strong fight back in
2012.
There have been several calls for the SLPP party to
appoint an ad-hoc shadow cabinet, comprising of
their elected members of Parliament, to begin the
process of constructive parliamentary engagement
with the government, the media and their
constituencies.
It is unlikely that this suggestion would be
implemented until after the party has held its
Presidential candidate leadership election in 2011,
by which time it could be too late to get their
manifesto together, let alone raise funds and begin
campaigning in earnest.
But for now, it seems that the mantle of SLPP
‘politicking’ has been left on the shoulders of the
unofficial peripatetic party spokesman – Dr. Sama
Banya. In response to the government’s sponsored
media frenzy surrounding the opposition SLPP party’s
ability to take on the ruling party in 2012, Dr.
Banya said:
“Our critics often insult us, verbally abuse us,
describe us as senile, refer to us as dinosaurs etc.
But all this is usually to conceal their (the ruling
party’s) inability to respond satisfactorily to the
points we raise; in short, they are usually
confounded by the truth of our position.”
But what is the opposition’s response to the charge
that they too had practiced regional parochialism in
developing the country, when they were in power? In
his latest commentary (11 February 2010), Dr Sama
Banya had this to say:
“The SLPP government had a broad approach to
rehabilitation and reconstruction and development
generally. There was the resurfacing programme of
the Masiaka to Makeni road, the resurfacing of the
Bo to Masiaka Road, the construction of the Rogbere
to Palmelap Road through Port Loko and Kambia.”
He also asserted that; “Funding had been secured for
the hillside road but the hassle over compensation
continues to this day. In the midst of all this and
other developments, that government, which our
detractors accuse of doing nothing for the people
Kailahun, was able to obtain funding for the
feasibility study of the Kenema to Koindu road.”
“In addition and of much importance, it (the SLPP
government) held a donor conference here in Freetown
at which the first 63 million United States dollars
was pledged for the first phase of the work, for
which the APC is now taking credit. In addition,
they want us to keep silent about it! No way. The
Holy Book admonishes that we should not light our
lamp and hide it under a bushel; its gonna be right
on the peak” – says Dr. Banya.
Is this tough talking or shadow boxing by the
veteran politician? To be truthful, this seems like
defensive posturing from an opposition party that is
allowing itself to be caught against the ropes, and
now on the back foot.
SLPP need to be much more proactive, constructive
and decisive as to what they will offer the
electorate - that is different to what is currently
on offer from the Koroma government. As Cocorioko
spurred on:
“President Ernest Koroma is doing a marvellous job
in Sierra Leone. Let us forget about partisan
politics and our different political attachments for
a moment. Let us look at the direct evidence. In
just two years, look at President Koroma's
achievements for Sierra Leone.”
“We did not have electricity .He has brought light
and has completed the Bumbuna Hydroelectricity
Project. We had the highest and the most shameful
and pitiful post-natal maternity death rate in the
world. Since he came to power, President Koroma has
helped to reduce it significantly.”
“Our roads and infrastructure had deteriorated to
stone-age standards but President Koroma has
launched road construction and development projects
all over the country.”
“Mining had been destroyed in Sierra Leone by bad
governance and the war but President Koroma has
revived mining activities and is even bringing back
the Marampa Mines. President Koroma is even
resurrecting the Sierra Leone Produce Marketing
Board (SLPMB), which could be a major revenue earner
and would definitely boost farming. Safe pipe-born
water has been a thing of the past in Sierra Leone
but President Koroma has used government funding to
begin rehabilitating the water pipes.”
The 2012 elections battle lines are now being drawn,
but they are still not as clear as one would expect.
The elections are less than two years away. The main
opposition SLPP has an uphill task to get its act
together, if they are to take over the reigns of
power, especially with rumors from the government
sponsored media, of senior opposition members now
routeing for the government.
Will President Koroma win a second term in office in
2012 - sharp 12?
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