Asks Alieu Kamara
When does it end? The hardship, the struggle, the oppression, the domination, the degradation, the hunger, the poverty, the violation of our human rights, the corruption, and the covert actions of our government. Ever since the liberation of our nation from the governance of our colonial fathers in 1961, Sierra Leone, a nation endowed with tremendous amounts of natural resources, beautiful ocean shores, and a people with hospitality, has been on a steady pace of regression rapidly becoming one of the most deplorable places on earth. Despite all that has happened in this nation, especially in recent years, the big question is: when will the fast descending rollercoaster to damnation of our economy, culture, our beliefs, our faith, and our people be halted, turned around, and propelled in the direction of progress, prosperity, and true freedom.
Where do we go if we have no idea where we are going? We have a government many of whom therein are simply focused on doing nothing but making personal gain. Many of those who lead us are showing signs of corruption at any given opportunity. Consequently, the people are losing their touch with humanity and quickly becoming deviants to society.
In Sierra Leone, heinous crimes are being committed against the masses by those in power. Our resources are being misused to benefit multinationals and other companies by our own leaders in exchange for money that benefits only them. If all our experience as a nation has not taught us any lessons to make us change our ways, the question persist: when does it end?
In the words of our heavenly Father, creator of the universe and everything under the sun, “everything has a beginning and an end”. I believe that it is time for a new voice, a new start, a different approach, and a change of mindset. We must now adapt the attitude that as a nation our government must show the responsibility to work to please the people of Sierra Leone by meeting their infrastructural, social, health, security, educational, agricultural, just needs of our nation.
It is always shameful when I hear people from all corners of the world speaking about the riches of our nation. Yes it is shameful because even though naturally endowed with huge mineral resources, my compatriots go without food, clean water, proper medication, and electricity on a daily basis. The educational system is so corrupt that teachers refuse to teach in schools because they can make more money holding tutorial sessions outside of schools for a small fee. The main motivator for such action is the poor wages they receive from government – their employer.
Children drop out of school on a higher rate than they enrol because their parents cannot afford to pay school fees not to mention purchase school supplies or sew uniforms. Our streets are dug out. Our cities are overcrowded. Transportation system has collapsed and at an all time low causing the flow of business to suffocate. The government has signed several contracts to restore some the roads, build new ones, or expand on existing ones. However, progress on those projects is even slower than a turtle in a sprint cup race. These projects, when monitored closely, one will quickly realize there are so many violations of the constitutional rights of the citizens, neglected safety requirements, and false claims in size, quality and cost of the structures. Bribery and corruption galore. You can hardly get anywhere or do anything in Sierra Leone without bribing law enforcement duty-bearers. Our healthcare is eclectic.
We as sierra Leoneans are aware of the fact that it is not because of the lack of resources that our government is failing us so miserably. It is because of their greed, selfishness, and ignorance that these things are happening. Enough is enough. The people must be prepared to resist the bad old ways that seem to be making a new start if tomorrow should be any better.
