By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
If there has ever been any threat to the tenets of democracy in Sierra Leone, that clear and present threat is the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). And what happened in 1967, when almost all the then existing political parties ganged up against the SLPP of Sir Albert Margai to save democracy and put a check on naked tribalism and supremacist tendencies, would happen again in 2023.
Since 2018 to date, the SLPP has repeatedly proven that it is undemocratic to its core. In fact, the ethos of the current SLPP government appears to have been anchored on the pillars of dictatorship. The imposition of the Clerk and Speaker of Parliament; the beating up and later the expulsions of 10 Members of Parliament from the All People’s Congress (APC) through judicial sleights of the gavel and replaced with SLPP members, and the consistent rape of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone are some of the pointers that the SLPP no longer has a place in modern democracy.
Every passing day, the SLPP does not miss a chance to show the world its dictatorial tendencies. From what seems to be consistent state-sponsored violence to tampering of ballot boxes during by-elections to the appointments of personnel in sensitive national institutions, and even to the “recognition and protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual” (as enshrined in Chapter Three of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone); the SLPP has repeatedly fallen short of expectation!
But I can understand that once a puppy is named Bingo it will not wag its tail when called Rover when it has grown. So, I can appreciate the fact that the “bush” in most of the SLPP stalwarts is something that is innate in them! Just as you cannot learn old dogs new tricks; so you cannot take the “bushiness’” from some of them. Since multi-party democracy was re-introduced in Sierra Leone in 1996, the SLPP is on record to be the only political party from which cabinet ministers will be seen openly attacking polling stations and destroying ballot boxes or interfering with the tallying of votes cast. The Minister of Transport and Aviation, Kabineh Kallon, still has the ghosts of the Constituency 110 by-election haunting him whilst the Minister of Youths, Mohamed ‘Orman’ Bangura, has the ghost of the by-election in Ward 155, Constituency 046 in Koinadugu District in northern Sierra Leone, still haunting him. And in the middle of these allegations; both ministers are still on post to the satisfaction of President Julius Maada Bio!
From the look of things, it appears that the SLPP is determined to maintain its dictatorial ethos. Last week, the National Grand Coalition (NGC) was amongst several opposition political parties that rejected the nomination of Mrs. Zainab Morseray as Commissioner for the Western Region on the grounds that “…serious allegations have been made against her that are still to be cleared at the Anti-Corruption Commission. [And that] her presence at [the National Electoral Commission] will be yet another major reduction of trust and confidence in the current set up at NEC… “(according to the NGC’s Chairman and Leader Dr Dennis Bright); yet Parliament gave her a clean bill of health even after opposition parties staged a peaceful walk out from Parliament!
The dragging of Mrs. Zainab Morseray to NEC, through the tailcoats of SLPP Members of Parliament (so to speak—sorry write), is the latest example of SLPP’s disrespect for our national Constitution. Those who are au fait with the 1991 Constitution are aware that Section 32 Subsection 3 specifies that members of the Electoral Commission shall be appointed “after consultation with the leaders of all registered political parties and subject to approval of Parliament.” But in this case, as in many cases, the SLPP government bulldozed its way.
At times the manner in which the Clerk, Paran Umar Tarawally, and the Speaker, Dr Abass Chernor Bundu, of Parliament are lording over the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone appears to be shamefully shameful! Just last week, Hon. Abdul Karim Kamara of the APC grumbled that, “it has now become a pattern by the ruling party to come with Agreements very late [in Parliament]”. He opined that the action was a deliberate attempt by the SLPP government to bring the documents very late so that they, members of the opposition, could not have time to read the contents of those documents and critic them.
Even the West African Parliamentary Press Corps (WAPPC) is fully aware of the manner in which the Clerk of Parliament wants to “Paopa-nise” everything in Parliament. In a letter, dated 9 September 2021, WAPPC stated that, “…the recent reconstitution exercise of the Sierra Leonean Press Gallery leadership by Parliament, not only interferes with the independence of the media and undermines press freedom, but also speaks poorly of the integrity of Parliament to entrench democratic ideals in its day-to-day deals with the media and public…”
And everywhere one goes, and every institution one visits in the country, the assault on democracy by the SLPP government is palpable. This fact is not lost on the Head of the European Union Election Follow-up Mission, Hon. Norbert Neuser. At the end of their visit to Sierra Leone on 29 October 2021, he noted that, “…there is a significant decrease in trust in the essential bodies which play integral roles in the forthcoming elections. These include the judiciary, NEC, PPRC [Political Party Registration Commission] and the police. Our findings are that these institutions’ reputations are less trusted than is needed….” This is a euphemistic way of telling the SLPP government that its assault on democracy has not gone unnoticed by the International Community and Sierra Leone’s donor partners.
And it is on that note that I will end today’s One Dropian dropping with an African proverb that says, “No matter how far you urinate, the last drop always falls at your feet”. In disrobed language: there will be consequences for the SLPP’s assault on democracy in 2023.
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