By Umaru Fofana
The presidential Chief of Staff, Dr Kelfala Marrah, reportedly said recently that the ongoing cholera scourge should not be treated as a political issue. I probably understand what he was trying to say in that political points should not be scored by the opposition over the issue. That is debatable because the issue of especially our current cholera outbreak is almost entirely a political issue. This, the worst cholera outbreak since records began here, could have been avoided. Easily avoided. And tell me who else to blame if not the politicians. Yes the lack of personal hygiene shares a portion of the blame but not as significantly as the lack of political leadership over the years.
The other day, last week actually, I went on a lunch date with a colleague journalist. His choice: one of the most highly-rated restaurants in central Freetown. Long time since I had been there but it still looked pretty nice. I used to like it. I think I still do. After putting an order for liver and plantains, I wanted to ease myself and wash my hands and have them properly clean in readiness for an encounter with what some regard as a delicacy.
You know the very good habit of handshake also has its drawback. I do it a lot of times. It is against the true spirit of Sierra Leonean hospitality to reject a hand that is stretched out for greeting purposes. But it has a huge hygiene issue. We don’t know what everyone does with their right hand, do we. So it is always good to wash our hands before we eat; even if we are using a spoon. We still lick our fingers when eating even when we are using cutlery. So it is always good to wash our hands before we eat than refuse a handshake. After all, that is only now being promoted by the health ministry, something that should be engrained in the school syllabuses and in the teaching of health science especially at the nursery and primary levels.
So at this nice restaurant I asked for the rest room. I was shown it. It did not smell badly, I have to say. But it lacked something as basic as soap. Blame that on the management. But it also lacked another basic thing which is anything but basic in Sierra Leone – piped water. A pipe dream in most homes even in Freetown let alone in the provinces. Who should we blame that on? The politicians of course!
Successive governments have let the people of this country down by not prioritising the supply of clean drinking water to homes. They make it appear unachievable simply because of their lack of foresight. The other day my 6-year-old son asked his 16-year-old brother which he preferred: when the taps are dry or when the power cables cannot shock – no electricity.
When we moved to live at Kingtom some four years ago water supply was quite good. In the last one year or so it has been appalling. We sometimes stay up and out until it is passed midnight. Fetching water. And when the taps run, they do so at such an ungodly hour that we have to wake up to collect a few buckets before it ceases again. And we are not among the worst. I know of children, in all parts of town – east central and west – whose parents send them to fetch pales of water at odd hours and from unclean sources.
Electricity is relatively impressive in my neighbourhood. On those rare occasions when there is a power cut, all my boy would need to do is switch on the generator. So naturally, my older son told his younger brother that he would rather there was no electricity than the pipes were dry.
It would seem politicians pay more attention to those things that impress and not those that are vital and save life but taken for granted.
Freetown is a filthy city. Blame that on the politicians who lead us. The cholera outbreak which experts say doubles emergency thresholds, would never have taken this dimension if cleanliness had been promoted by those elected or paid t to do so; If the sewers had been improved by the leaders; If the clogged-up drainage systems had received attention from the politicians; if the slums had been tended to by the elected politicians.
The promotion of personal hygiene is key. But it is a catch 22 situation that while people want to wash their hands once they are out of the toilet, they cannot do so because even in the middle of the rainy season piped water is a luxury for most. Who should provide that – the leaders. What are they – politicians!
Equally significant is this: the government’s response to the outbreak was stupid. Cholera in Sierra Leone is an almost every year occurrence. And has been so since Adam and Eve were eating the forbidden fruit. Every time it occurs governments have approached it with a fire brigade mentality – wait until fire breaks out before responding. Plus, of course, that foolish culture of denial and cover-up by government and the cussing of people who blow the whistle.
When the precocious Salone Times journalists, Thomas Dixon, reported the outbreak early this year, he was bad-mouthed at a government press briefing and called an alarmist, a sensationalist and a liar. Civilised people would people would apologise to him now both for having taken a swipe at him unnecessarily and for not acting at the time to save lives. Needless deaths!
One of the reasons the famous – infamous if you prefer – Titanic ship sank was cover-up embedded in a deep and foolish sense of arrogance. Because they’d boasted that nothing could sink the ship, even when it hit the iceberg and was on the verge of going under they refused to say it or call for help. Invariably, since the latest outbreak of cholera started in February, government officials zipped their lips as if to say “don’t admit to it lest our hard work should be diminished”. It was not until UN and aid agencies started leaking documents to the press that government officials were forced to admit to the scourge. That was followed by the declaration of an emergency on the outbreak by the president.
One would imagine that at the declaration of an emergency the nation’s resources would be put at the full disposal of the fight against cholera. Almost two weeks on, NGOs and the UN are still being awaited to deal with it. Remember schools are yet to reopen and the cholera, experts say, is yet to peak. This simply means the worst is yet to come.
And I bet that when the latest epidemic is contained, the politicians will forget about it, again, like they do with all emergency cases in this country. This is a country where when it rains it is calamitous in more ways than one. And when it does not rain it is disastrous in more ways than four. Who do you blame – the politicians. Even when people settle in slums who is to blame – the politicians. Mabella, Kroo bay, Moor Wharf and the many other slums and squatters exist because of bad political leadership of the country. If our leaders cannot rid these places of squatters when they are inhabited by only a few thousands can they do so when that number increases to hundreds of thousands? Then, when cholera penetrates, thousands will be wiped out. Need i say more! Cholera is a manifestation of a country whose basic infrastructure has collapsed. Therefore blame it on the leaders – our politicians.
