By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
While President Julius Maada Bio continues to fly out of Sierra Leone like a pilot on a refresher’s course; Chief Minister David Moinina Sengeh appears to be busy parroting his meaningless “Radical Inclusion” like a madman tasked to recite metaphysical poetry. And most government ministers and deputy ministers now seem to have been infested with what I will call the Per Diem-nization pestilence!
At present, President Bio appears to still believe in his seemingly unachievable “Big Five Game Changers” despite they are yet to change anything in Sierra Leone. David Sengeh appears to be building his Radical Inclusion which seems to mean the inclusion of only those who believe in his premature presidential ambition. And most government ministers and heads of MDAs (government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies) are now caught in the dilemma of being identified either with the implementation of the “Big Five Game Changers” or the Radical Inclusion whereas Vice President Dr Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh seems to be shadow boxing in the shadowy shadows!
The current situation in the Bio-led administration appears to be that of everyman for himself and God for them all. President Bio seems to be only interested in seeing parts of the world which he had dreamt of seeing whilst he was supposedly holed-up in a Council flat in London, Britain. The seemingly power-intoxicated David Sengeh is behaving like a starved boy who is suddenly given a plate of hot jollof rice and a chilled “Pure Heaven” juice. And most government ministers and heads of MDAs are now scrambling for pieces of the “national cake” like meaty bones being thrown unto starving dogs!
And in the middle of this rudderless “New Direction” are the numbness and dumbness of Civil Society-dom. No Civil Society activist seems to be talking anymore about “accountability and the rule of law”. No Civil Society activist appears to be conducting sexed-up surveys to highlight the palpability of abject poverty on ordinary Sierra Leoneans caused by the meaningless and soulless policies of the Bio-led administration. And no Civil Society activist seems concerned any longer about giving prescriptions aimed at “Healing Salone”. But I can understand such numbness and dumbness, as it seems un-traditional to vocally flatten Bintumani Mountain when someone’s tribesmen are seated at the dining table—fork and knife in hand coupled with a napkin of regionalism!
At times it pains me why so-called educated Sierra Leoneans can’t understand why President Bio has changed from being an advocate for “plugging the leakages” whilst he was an Opposition Leader to an initiator of opening a “Samba Gutter” of financial wastages when he is now the Head of State. Why can’t they understand why David Sengeh has transformed himself from a dreadlocks aspiring R&B/Hip-Hop rapper into a seemingly power-intoxicated rookie politician now that he is the Chief Minister. And it pains me why so-called educated Sierra Leoneans can’t understand why our once noisy and nosy Civil Society activists are now keeping mum on accountability, transparency, good governance, and rule of law issues. But those who have read Socrates, the ancient Greek philosopher, might have already found out the answer in his words: “Do not grieve over someone who changes all of the sudden. It might be that he has given up acting and returned to his true self”.
Indeed. All along, they have been hiding in a fog. Now that the fog has cleared; they are clearly seen for who they really are! As William Shakespeare says in his play, Hamlet, “If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone”. That summerises the premise of today’s One Dropian dropping!
Sierra Leone is the way it is today simply because President Bio, who should be giving directions to his lieutenants and living by example, appears to be spending more time outside the country than inside it. And it is proverbial that in any home where the father is a sort of an absentee father; the wife and children will always be unfocussed and be law unto themselves—especially if the wife spends more time on social media than actually running the home!
So, it is not surprising that Sierra Leone could now be compared to the main plot in William Golding’s novel: “Lord of the Flies”. With a Commander-in-Chief who seems to love the interiors of airplanes more than those at State House or State Lodge; with a Vice President who appears to be shadow boxing in the shadowy shadows; with a Chief Minister who gives the impression that he is more power-intoxicated than Macbeth in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”; with most government ministers and heads of MDAs being shamelessly sycophantic in their shamelessness, and with Civil Society-dom now as quiet as a tomb; I can’t wait for the dénouement.
It is on that note that I will end today’s One Dropian dropping with one of my favourite quotes from Plato, another ancient Greek philosopher, that: “The measure of a man is what he does with power”. President Bio and Chief Minister David Sengeh appear to be two case studies. But I won’t make any assumption; you are free to make yours!
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