18 March, 2008

Sierra Express, Freetown

Political Intimidation - Will It Work In Sierra Leone Nowadays?

I remember when I was a small boy and politics were regarded as a "Do or Die" game. I am talking about in the early seventies. During those times, politics were not meant for those who can exert more violence on the opponent. It was the "survival of the fittest.”

I remember 3rd May, 1977, in Bo. That was when the APC brought thugs in Bo to intimidate the SLPP. Plenty of people lost their lives. Houses were burnt and people displaced. I was standing along Mahei Boima Rroad where Rex Cinema was situated, when a truck loaded with APC youths arrived and started causing mayhem on the people of Bo. Everything came to a stand still and people ran for their lives. Many were killed before the arrival of two men; Babayara and Kaindekah. These two men saved the people of Bo at that time. It was so severe that even the security forces could not handle it. The security forces called ISU were behind the thugs to intimidate the Bo Town people. For several hours the intimidation went on but later in the day, when the people regrouped, things returned to normal.

Before that happened, many people had already lost their lives. Few days or even weeks ago, Bo has not been a stable place because of old type political activities. Some people want to bring back the old pattern of intimidation. Some unscrupulous people, who do not believe in PEACE, want to create problems in a pretext of being new members of a political party. It is not for the good of Sierra Leone that some semi-literate people will use gangs to operate as party loyalists to destabilize a regional headquarters.

In a modern Sierra Leone, intimidation does not work. It can't work for heavens sake. Nowadays, even those in the villages know their basic civil rights. That is one of the positive things the war brought to Sierra Leone because many villagers were displaced from their villages to big cities, and most of them learnt along the line their duties and rights of being a Sierra Leonean. The other thing that makes intimidation difficult to happen is that the young people who are supposed to be used for these missions are not ready to be misused. Most youths do not fancy violence. The youths are now asking for projects that can improve on their socio-economic life.

There are so many private media houses that are assisting to make it impossible for intimidators and violent vampires to succeed. It is very impossible for any group of persons to have all those media houses on their side. So, the media is another "check" to people who have intentions to intimidate. We have some semi-literate people who have started creating that old time intelligence on individuals but it will not succeed. It will not succeed because even the persons that are used as pin-pointers do not like the idea. They are doing it just to survive. The intelligentsia does not fancy things that will lead to chaos. So, they reveal these missions to the persons they are assigned to. The other thing that makes modern day Sierra Leone not to accommodate intimidation in politics is the experience that people have gone through during the war. There is no Sierra Leonean that wants to die a gruesome death.

People are now using the past to measure the present as far as politics is concerned. These people that are dreaming to set up systems that will intimidate opponents should revisit those intentions and transform them into development projects. Sierra Leoneans are ready to support any group of persons that will reduce poverty, bring development to the country.  Hunger and poverty alleviation, infrastructure, electricity, water, etc., are the things that Sierra Leoneans will embrace nowadays, not to start fighting for colour. No one is ready to sacrifice his/her life for people who are not worth it. Some people do succeed because of some other people but ungratefulness and an inferiority complex make them act as they are acting now. Violence is not the answer in Sierra Leone but PEACE!

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