By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
One of the good things about the current Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government is that it has helped critical minds to unearth some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and “independent” pressure groups, which had claimed to be the “voices of the voiceless” during the erstwhile administration of the All People’s Congress (APC), as being covertly SLPP-centric.
With the coming of the administration of President Julius Maada Bio, some of these once-upon-a-time covert SLPP-centric CSOs and “independent” pressure groups have removed their covertness and are now overtly SLPP in their thoughts and doings. They are now so shameless in their shamefulness that most of their current activities are nauseously nauseous which always provoke a dash to the toilet to vomit their ostentatious hypocrisy rammed down our throats!
From its activities, it is now clearly clear that that “credible” CSO, which appears to have been dreaming-up and sexing-up surveys to portray “governance reforms” during the last APC administration, is SLPP-centric in its SLPP-ness. Now I also know that that other one, which professes to believe in “accountability” to stimulate the “rule of law”, has soft spots for the SLPP. Even “Heal Salone” can no longer serve as one of the panaceas for Sierra Leone’s ailment simply because it too has repeatedly shown some SLPP-centricities in recent times! So, I’m not surprised because knowing the backgrounds of these CSOs and the personalities behind them; they are simply who they are.
But what has come as a surprised surprise to me is the renaissance of the Renaissance Movement which was very vociferous during the Ernest Bai Koroma administration but has been frighteningly quiet since President Bio took over in 2018. I’m surprised because for over five years, this “independent” pressure group didn’t notice what appear to be gross violations of citizens’ human rights; the consistent bastardizations of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone; the deliberate and careful SLPP-nization of state institutions; the marginalization of a bulk of the citizenry, and the perpetration and perpetuation of all the negative “isms” and schisms in Sierra Leone.
I would have been surprised if many Sierra Leoneans are surprised at the clay-feet or muteness of the Renaissance Movement when it comes to reading the riot act to the SLPP government. The Movement appears to have been mainly formed in 2013 to remove the APC from power. And once that was achieved in 2018, most of its Executive Leaderships in the last eight years have now been morphed as kingpins in the current Bio-led administration. I will not name names because those names know themselves and they know that I know them but don’t want to name them out of respect for our mutual respects!
Now, looking at some of the key players in the Bio-led administration, I could be pardoned to surmise that the Renaissance Movement was formed to covertly serve as a forerunner to the current SLPP government. That’s why I have never been surprised, all this while, that its members have been maintaining the typical African eating etiquette of not talking when their mouths are full with the “national cake” (to quote Chinua Achebe).
So, the Renaissance Movement’s “Open Letter to H.E. Julius Maada Bio” of 20 February 2024 could be likened to a group of home boys speaking some truths—albeit deceitfully. They are being deceitful because some of the “pressing economic and welfare concerns [which] are weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of our citizens”, that have made the Renaissance Movement so “deeply troubled”, are being caused by a system in which some Renaissance Movement’s members are the kingpins!
And now for the Renaissance Movement to close the stable door after the horse has bolted could be likened to a situation in which Ali Baba makes a formal complaint to the CID for grand theft simply because the Forty Thieves have changed the password to the cave! Most of what the Renaissance Movement highlights, in that “Open Letter to H.E. Julius Maada Bio” of 20 February 2024, under review, have been noticeable in Sierra Leone in the last three years. Why is it only now that the Renaissance Movement is showing empathy to the suffering masses? For the last five years, they have never urged their SLPP government to “take immediate action to address… pressing issue[s] to alleviate the … suffering of ordinary citizens.”
Methinks the tone of that “Open Letter to H.E. Julius Maada Bio” is deceitfully hypocritical. Here is a group of people who have been keeping mum on gross violations of citizens’ human rights and the deliberate and careful SLPP-nization of state institutions; yet could only manage to find their voice to extend their “heartfelt appreciation to the resilient citizens who have shown remarkable patience and fortitude during these challenging times.” As I see it, this is simply clouded provocation!
If majority of Sierra Leoneans are now going through “challenging times”, it is because “independent” pressure groups like the Renaissance Movement and other “credible” CSOs, who had been reading the riot act to the APC government of Ernest Bai Koroma, have been complicit in all the negative “isms” and schisms which appear to be the defining traits of the SLPP government.
But it is never too late for people to repent for their sins and become Born-Again Christians. The Renaissance Movement might have suddenly realised its sins and follies. That might be one of the reasons why it gives those four prescriptions, in its “Open Letter to H.E. Julius Maada Bio”, to “heal Salone”. Whether those prescriptions are prescribed half-heartedly or not; the fact remains that there are prescriptions.
Now that the Renaissance Movement seems to have been a Born-Again; I only hope it might not backslide to its dumb ways when it comes to reading the riot act to the current SLPP government.
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