February 2, 2008

Murray Kanneh, Sydney Australia

Blame Game Attitudes

Please brothers and sisters I will like us to ceasefire on these APC and SLPP, debates. I have been fortunate to be following up this episode for some time now. All in the name of the normal blame game in politics.

I am a southerner/Sierra Leonean, who is not interested in the marginal politics of today, because it’s too full of hypocrisy and promises.

"Bo man dem, una lef for hat ona ade for APC EN SLPP." The problems of these two parties are older than your knowledge.

What promises that the SLPP did not make in the sixties, during the Milton  Margai era? They fell gracefully, in the 1967 general election, because they didn’t have the required votes, Kai Samba and his friend sold their votes to the APC, thus created the first coup in our history, the NRC in 1968. To be frank the outcome of that era was not good. Few years later the Bumbuna hydro was born and still crippling, it can't even walk up to now.

Sierra Leone problems started in a downward trend, since the fall of the old SLPP regime of Dr. Milton Margai.

My brothers and sisters please don’t get me wrong, I am not a politician, neither an APC, nor SLPP not even an educationist. I am an illiterate Sierra Leonean. But I have concern in the way things are going on in our beloved country, especially the way the so-called educationists are trampling our well blessed country. Let’s check the ratio of the number of years the two powerful parties have ruled the country. Can any of you guys tell me how long the APC have ruled Sierra Leone, I mean from the Siaka Stevens era throughout the Joseph Saidu era?

At the same time, add all the number of years the SLPP has ruled the country, after that, add also the number of years the APC have so far ruled Sierra Leone.

If we are putting the blame to the party that didn't do well in their term of office, who has ruled the country the most? Let’s be frank with issues, and let us minus the trying days of the NRC, in the 80's, the coming of the Revolutionary United Front of Kortor Foday Sankoh, The NPRC of dynamic Valentine Strasser. They were being misled by the big selfish and power hungry guys; they could have been the best for Sierra Leone. The AFRC of Johnny Paul Koroma, all these guys mentioned above, they are all children of the APC, born and bred by them. But brothers and sisters today, many of them are disgruntled children.

I personally commend the APC, for when they brought the OAU to Sierra Leone although after its activities, it left behind big dents, because the government did not maintain any of its infrastructures e.g., the street lights, OAU villas, hotels, etc., most of the expensive cars they bought ended up in the hands of Lebanese and big tycoons, the stadium, Youyi building and Police Headquarters were great efforts by the APC, but they did not maintain them at all, that is why they are gradually disappearing.

Now with the dynamic leadership of the new APC, I am optimistic they will change the situation in our beloved country, as I hope they will not follow in the rugged footsteps of the old APC.

I am sure the SLPP under the leadership of Pa Kabba didn't do much, and that was the reason they lost in the last election. Look, they even lost in the constituencies that SLPP had never lost in the past .Trust me, Pa Kabba was playing the double standard game, and that is, he was serving two masters, hoping to maintain his standard of living after he left office, even when he leaves power at the detriment of the people and the party. So let us stop blaming the party's name for God’s sake and forget about the individual.

What I suggest for those of us living in the western world, please let us find a way to help our unfortunate country by organizing self-help projects for our war affected people back home. Let us not sit down before our computers to write massive letters blaming what has been done already - mind you “what has been done cannot be undone.”  Please brothers and sisters in the Diaspora; let us search for people who are willing to help our country. I am sure they are out there looking for whom to assist.  Please search for genuine investors and send them to Sierra Leone. Let us stop wasting our time in writing stories that do not benefit us and our country, especially insulting one another and pointing accusing fingers at the APC or SLPP.

For example we have one distinguish personality amongst Sierra Leoneans in Sydney, Australia like Dr Serrie Kamara, who has just completed a library building in his village of Kamba, in the Kambia district.  He also sent a large number of text books and school items, from Australia in collaboration with a refugee group Sierra Unite in Sydney that has just sent a 40' container of assorted second hand items for schools and colleges in Sierra Leone. This is what we want to hear from men and women in the Diaspora, but not the playing of the same old blame game and the wiring of many articles criticizing the APC and the SLPP. 

Please Mr. President let special attention be paid to the generators brought in recently for our energy supply. Can they withstand the high demand of electricity supply in our country? If not, we must activate the Bumbuna project which is the only solution to energy in Sierra Leone. Without energy there will be no proper development.

Let’s all join hands together and build Sierra Leone.

For Gods sake let’s join hands to build a better Sierra Leone and forget about party politics.