WELCOME TO POLITICS

Witness accounts are always questionable because our personal prejudices are brought to bear upon what our actual experiences are so let me start with a disclaimer; the accounts that I talk about are only those that can be substantiated from different media agencies.

Over the course of the day on Monday March 16, 2009, I had various calls asking whether I knew about the situation in Sierra Leone. Having learnt never to trust one media outlet for information that I need, I did a search on all the major competitive news agencies out there and gleaned a lot of information concerning the present situation.

These are the fundamental facts; there is huge tension between the two major parties in Sierra Leone. These tensions heightened to a point where there have been skirmishes between the supporters of both parties. The violent atrocities have been centered around the central office of the headquarters of the opposition party. These have led to a lot of people been injured and a few reportedly raped in the center of the capital city in Sierra Leone.

In consideration of the above facts, how do I balance the concern I have for my country with the damage that would be done by unnecessarily exaggerating minor riots that may have occurred. My rationale for writing is that the damage has already been done, the news is already out there and I am just commenting on it. For those who think I have been misled into drafting this then I apologize for the distress this may cause here but my apology does not extend to any of the contents herein.

I am just now getting accustomed to the people who recognize where I come from as the place where there are lots of diamonds and not the place that could lay strong claims on been the place that hosted the most atrocious and inhuman civil war in recent history. I am just getting to know young Sierra Leoneans full of hope who make up their mind that their place is to be in Sierra Leone where the development is needed and where our contributions are vital. Can we honestly continue to be persuasive with the tension between the two major parties in our political climate that practices the two party systems. Can we tell our aunts, cousins, nieces and friends that they should visit Sierra Leone and enjoy our culture when the government has shut its ear to violence against women (http://www.opcofamerica.org/letters-to-countries/sierra-leone-february-23-2009.html )

This gets me to the point where I believe I owe everyone an apology. I have always fervently believed that the one party system when it was instituted in our country was not much of a change on the political climate as all the politicians just transferred their allegiance and jumped on the bandwagon of that ruling party. I was mistaken. Even though I still believe that the same people who were forerunners in the one party system are the same ones controlling the politics of our nation, I now have woken up to the fact that the climate under a one party system can and should never be realized under a two party system in Sierra leone especially when one of those parties suffers from such insecurity as to formulate its manifesto towards eradicating the influences and even the existence of the other party. Our parents are always trying to prevent us from been sore losers or bullies but somehow some politicians have failed to learn those values.

Therein lies our first conundrum. As much as we believe that the blame for our rapid decline in economic and developmental status, the reason for the unveiling of our civil conflict that cost us so dearly and the continued stagnation of our country in its period of abject corruption and continuing dependence on foreign aid rests squarely on the shoulders of the sorry excuse we have for politicians, the job to restore our country back to its former glory is also dependent on their greater cooperation. For as long as their exists those youth without the inclination to act on their beliefs, those who are easily persuaded to perform the every wish of the misguided politicians for a few thousand leones then there remains a need for an influx of positive influence in Sierra Leone politics.

It is thus a challenge to all our kindhearted young who have sierra Leone’s best interest at heart but who see a venture into politics as the ultimate taboo in life, the grand betrayal from moving towards a position from which we can make those changes we so desperately need, to that point where we are standing in the way of such development; A transition from that body of young intellectuals to the collection of those who practice politricking.

If the experiences of the past few days have taught us anything, it should be that there is no job too dirty and no field should have an exclusion when we are looking at ways to influence change and finally that for a people who have gone through the worst of what humanity has to offer, we seem to have a short memory of our immediate past.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-38535520090316?sp=true

http://cocorioko.net/app/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3005&Itemid=1

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE52F0IA20090316?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7947422.stm