BY REV. GIBRILLA KARGBO
Six decades after political independence, Sierra Leone’s democracy is at crossroads and a very definitive moment is at hand as we choose either democracy or authoritarianism bearing in mind that we are a nation that should be built on the foundational principles of Freedom, Democracy, and Justice in addition to the motto of Unity, Freedom, and Justice. Right before us is a specter of doom and gloom as the events in our nation unfold daily with worrying signs signifying portent warnings for something cataclysmic that is about to happen if left unchecked.
For the last sixty 60 years, our national leadership style has been autocratic resulting in a bloody civil war that rocked the nation for eleven 11 years. It must be noted that it was thirty 30 years after political independence in 1991 that the war broke out with a level of devastation that is still having a toll on inclusive and sustainable national development. Thirty 30 years since 1991, has anything changed to make our leadership style and country more democratic? The honest response is that not much has changed as the causes of the civil war are staring us in the face and everything seems to be happening so fast that it takes the intervention of God to deliver us from the obvious.
Even as intolerance has taken an unfathomable dimension, arbitrariness and lawlessness are competing for dominance with a massive telling effect on the things that matter most in the development of the nation. Whereas the governors consider it a matter of right to wield unbridled power, the governed are fighting back with unprecedented lawlessness that continue to threaten the peace and stability of the nation in the context of a post-conflict country where fragility is the order of the day with serious impact on peace-building and state-building. It must be stated with emphasis that our democracy cannot thrive to impact positively on meaningful national development with arbitrariness and lawlessness as we continue to unleash a reign of terror on the one hand and foster an atmosphere of anarchy, chaos, and disorder on the other. What is worse in frightening proportion is that democratic and human rights institutions that should step up and address the state of affairs concerning the evident show of arbitrariness and lawlessness in the country are being blackmailed into silence with the threat or fear of losing one’s job or being subsumed under some other entity, thus compromising their autonomy or independence to deliver on their governance mandates. The battle for our nation’s democracy continues unabated with far-reaching implications for professionalism and the consolidation of democratic good governance.
It must be pointed out that if our democracy is to work, there must be conscious and deliberate effort to see our democratic and human rights institutions work according to their statutory mandates instead of being adversely regulated to the extent of not funding them adequately and in some instances appointing people that lack the courage to resist and speak against tendencies that are inimical to democracy and human rights. This implies that our democracy should not just be about political parties and politicians, but also it should be about the will of the people in the context of just laws administered according to best practice as we emulate good examples from other countries. It further implies that we should be willing to negotiate our differences using a middle-of-the-road policy with the highest level of civic consciousness that will relegate arbitrariness and lawlessness in our country to the backburner.
It must be considered as loathsome and should be vehemently condemned as we see and watch the pictures of running battles in the streets of our country between law enforcement agents that show highhandedness resulting at times in the loss of life and disgruntled citizens whether traders, bike riders, or even students who at times take the law into their own hands for the right or wrong reasons. In the same vein, we should get tired of seeing our Members of Parliament painting a terrible picture depicting the state of affairs in the country with the show of intolerance, indiscipline, and brutal force in the settling of political disputes. We must get tired of having a legal system that does not serve the ends of justice. Also, we must get tired of sending the message and entrenching the notion that the State House is not willing to engage with other political players in the democratic and human rights spaces of the country. In all that is unfolding in the country, we must get tired of seeing a lack of public trust in state institutions. Also, we must get tired of the situation where it appears nothing is working with far-reaching implications for effective and efficient service delivery across the country.
It must be reiterated that democracy presupposes rights and responsibilities from a balanced perspective with a willingness to accommodate dissenting views. It must be further stated that democracy is not just about those who supported us rather it should encompass the maxim of “live and let’s live” in the best interest of all with equal opportunities accorded to all regardless of orientation. Somebody should be reminded that democracy is that bitter pill that we must swallow to keep the nation peaceful and united.
Anything short of this ideal is a recipe for disaster that will rock the nation to its core. Somebody should also be reminded that the proper and effective governance of the state is not just about us, it is also about others as we turn around the democratic fortunes of the land that we love, Sierra Leone. It must be registered that coming together in the best interest of Sierra Leone calls for “give and take” with the need to drop our egos and show a willingness to engage. It is better to jaw-jaw than to war-war as continued engagement is the true name of the game in the context of democracy as we build consensus on the issues that make for inclusive and sustainable national development.
It must be noted again with emphasis that when the governors think it is their right or entitlement to use instruments of coercion or arbitrariness and the governed think it is their right to display indiscipline or lawlessness, who then owes the other a duty of care and where does that leave the social contract between the governors and the governed? In the context of our democracy and in line with the social contract that is binding between the governors and the governed, there is no justification for both arbitrariness and lawlessness as they impact adversely on peaceful coexistence and mutual tolerance with far-reaching implications for national unity, political tolerance, and social cohesion.
For the last 60 years, we have allowed benevolent dictators to lead us and run the show but see where we are. This should indicate to us that the answer is not in the strong man syndrome but in strong institutions based on good laws with systems and structures that can fuel the engine of sustainable growth and development. The valid question is why not ask for true democrats, not just those that hide behind the name democracy, to take charge of the democratic destiny of our nation?
It is time for true democrats to take a stand for our nation’s democracy so that they can be counted. We must not allow both the governors and the governed to pay lip service to the tenets of democratic good governance but must make a conscious effort to oppose anything inimical to the democratic well-being of the nation. We must spend the 60th Independence Anniversary reflecting on the battle that we must continue to fight for the soul of the nation’s democracy!
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online 26/04/21
