THE ALBATROSSES, THE NEW DIRECTION AND THE GOOD PEOPLE OF SIERRA LEONE
So last week we opened a debate on an issue many people know about but have refused to comment on all this while. This is not out of fear but there is a tendency for people not to try to rock the boat so their friends would stay afloat, with the result that they will continue getting their pennies. We argued that electing Principal was a good decision by the good people of Sierra Leone. We also argued that in just over one year in office, he has said and done enough to convince even his detractors that he means well for this country. We, however, expressed concern that he has appointed some people to powerful positions who either do not believe in his New Direction program or are totally incompetent - they are square pegs in round holes.
We described them as albatrosses around the neck of Principal and unless he is prepared to acknowledge their existence and then take action to throw them overboard, the sheer weight of their incompetency and lack of commitment to the New Direction program would make governance very difficult for Principal.
ALBATROSSES FROM THE DIASPORA
We’ve always had our brothers and sisters in the diaspora coming out here to take positions in government and contribute to the development of this country. It’s not strange at all. Many are highly educated and after many years living mainly in the west, they are very sophisticated so that people back home always expect much from them.
King Messi it was, who actually brought many of them to State House and to many ministries as experts and paid them good money backed by reasonable generous facilities compared to what their local counterparts can only dream of. By the end of his regime, some of those people messed up so badly that people started asking serious questions about their mass inclusion in the governance process back home. Some of them stole huge sums of money and were tried and convicted. Others were so incompetent that they destroyed the very institution they were appointed to lead.
The new group is back with the New Direction and once again doubts are beginning to emerge about the ability of some of them to deliver the goods. And here’s why those doubts still linger on.
1. Some of them have a very condescending attitude towards their brothers and sisters who stayed on the ground through all the bad times, holding this country together. It’s that kind of attitude that says that those from mainly the west are the best and those who stayed home are corrupt and good-for-nothing.
2. They demand and get big salaries, which in all fairness is what everybody else deserves but never gets. They travel in and out of the country all the time. Principal has only just recently had cause to close the door on those per diem expeditions.
3. Some of them owe their loyalty to Sierra Leone and their host countries. They have their return tickets in their wallets ready to book the next flight home in case things go wrong for them.
4. Some are very corrupt. They return home with all expectations of getting big money only to be disappointed. Then they begin the struggle to pay their mortgage and their children’s fees in the west. Corruption becomes the only way out.
5. They want only the best things from the state – from housing to luxury cars. When will Principal clear the other half who fit this description? They are very much part of the inner circles.
ALBATROSSES FROM THE TEJAN KABBAH ERA
The next group is those from the Tejan Kabbah era. These are people who had everything going for them for all those eleven years when Tejan Kabbah was the president. Some performed relatively well while others were abysmal failures. Many have found their way into the New Direction and are now beginning to weigh Principal down.
1. They served anything between FIVE and TEN years in the Kabbah government, went away for another TEN years and still came back to work with the New Direction. In some exceptional cases we have no problem but the way things are going now compels us to wonder if this is Tejan Kabbah all over again.
2. In the post-war Kabbah era, the old man was simply trying to hold an almost failed country together and his ministers were hanging in there snugly. Nowadays things have changed and life moves really fast. The Kabbah era attitude is completely unacceptable these days.
3. Because they are advanced in age now, how can we be sure they are not wholly focused on preparing for their retirement rather than working to develop the state under the New Direction?
4. If we check carefully across Africa, they are the only ones to have returned to frontline politics after serving TEN YEARS and going into oblivion for another TEN.
5. Any reshuffle should send them packing. It’s enough.
ALBATROSSES OF THE ‘PAOPA’ GENERATION
This is the generation that propelled Principal to the big office. They are mostly young, highly educated and ready to go. They have every reason to want to jealously guard their achievement. Getting to where they are now was not easy. They sacrificed almost everything including their civil liberties. But signs are emerging now that something has to be done about some of them before things get out of hands.
1. Clearly, some have embarrassed even their colleagues in the movement with the way they are conducting themselves since Principal entered the big house. This is a serious matter. Attitudes must change
2. Some entered the New Direction with the feeling that it was now their turn to do as they like even on simple matter like obeying traffic rules or their bosses in established state institutions.
3. We don’t yet have any concrete evidence but we believe before we reach two years of the New Direction, Afro Boy will indict a few of them, most for ABUSE of OFFICE and possibly BREACH OF PROCURMENT RULES.
4. They are good at concocting stories against other progressives every time their names are mentioned for roles in society. Their greatest weapon is to tell Principal, without evidence that by appointing certain people, he will be bringing Tolongbo people into his administration.
5. Some are very restless. They want everything for themselves.
We are looking for more Albatrosses for our subsequent editions.
© 2019 Politico Online
