Abdulai Mansaray: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 May 2023:
Politics in Sierra Leone may be reaching its crescendo, but its the political musical chairs that is making the headlines in the rag tags and social media. After Kandeh Yumkella went semantic with forming a Strategic Alliance, three members of the Coalition for Change (C4C) swapped their horses in midstream to join the ruling SLPP government.
We are not surprised at this, as both sets of swingers were scions of our traditional APC and SLPP parties. Both have understandably come under considerable scrutiny and criticism for making these lane changes on our political highways. Equally, they have received the prodigal son treatment from some quarters, while the remaining disciples of C4C accuse the government of preventing them via a High Court injunction, from participating in the soon to be held general elections.
C4C claims that the injunction was served on the eve of their Delegates Conference. Sounds familiar? So, what is the attraction between the High Court and the Opposition Delegates Conferences? Does it begin to feel platonic?
Interestingly, whenever our political situation gets into a quagmire, our politicians and especially the aggrieved opposition parties call on the international community for redress. Whats ironic is that after 62 years of self-governance, we are quick to crawl back to the International Community to arbitrate among us. It is a sad reflection of our incapability to discharge the very self-rule that our forefathers fought for.
As a nation and a people, it shows that not only are we apparently incapable of self-governance but reflective of the fact that, we are still tethered to the umbilical cords of our colonial masters. So, whats the fuss about all this chest beating, flag hugging and lung bursting noise about realm of the free on Independence Day?
In case you did not notice, Alhaji Alpha Khan, former apprentice of EBK has officially joined the SLPP to become the ferryman. The joke on the street is, Alpha Khan is going to ferry across as many converts as possible to the SLPP. Sounds like a contingency plan while waiting for the Lungi Bridge, which is in its gestation period. I guess.
Victor Foh, the man who replaced the erstwhile Sam Sumana during the dying embers of the APC reign as Vice President has also changed his tune. While some see them as traitors and betrayers, others idolise them as patriots. Depends on which side of the bridge youre sitting.
However, Yumkellas strategic Alliance has come in for praise and condemnation in equal measure. While some see his move as selfish, others believe that he has Put Salone Foss, by relegating his own personal ego in exchange for a political bed with his former opposition. Like Churchill once said, some people change their party for the sake of their principles; others their principles for their parties. So, why did these guys change their parties? Did they do so for any of these two reasons? Time will tell.
Those who defend and support our flip-flopping politicians would have you believe that those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything. By joining the SLPP, will KKY and the others change anything or help change some things? That is the fervent hope of his supporters and those who think like him.
On the other hand, when Maada Bio raised the olive branch to KKY, did he see something in KKY that he considers an asset in his government? By returning for Strategic Alliance, did KKY see a room with a view in Bios government that he thinks he can fill? If this alliance is born out of a symbiotically osmotic necessity, who stands to gain from this political alchemy?
This and many more, is one of the questions most Sierra Leoneans would be pondering before they decide on which party is best placed to take their blame. Nevertheless, and even though some see these recent defections, cross carpets, returnee, etc as a common feature of our political DNA, others who might see this as political expediency at its best, sense an insidious car crash towards a one-party state. This is especially so, when you consider that these defectors are seasoned household names on our political playgrounds. Does that tell us anything about the state of the opposition APC party? Is the APC party, all sail and no anchor?
So, why do our politicians cross the Rubicon in our political system?
Many politicians thrive on the notion that if you cant convince them, confuse them. In most parts of the world, politicians and political parties define themselves by ideologies, which form the bedrock of their political parties. Social studies define a political ideology as a certain set of ethical ideals, principles, doctrines, myths, or symbols of a social movement, institution, class or large group that explains how society should work and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. We sometimes use this to bracket our politicians into Democrats, Communists, Socialists, Republicans, despots, autocrats, Conservatives etc.
While some might consider political ideologies as mere time savers that tell you what you think about things you know nothing about, others see them as the yardsticks to calibrate their value-based political beliefs.
In the case of Sierra Leone, other than tribal or regional affiliations, youll struggle to differentiate or identify any of our political parties based on ideological blueprints. Do we as the electorate have any ideology by which we can calibrate these parties? This is not to say that politics needs an ideology to thrive, because ideologies also have the potential to corrupt the mind and even science. Nevertheless, do they have any belief systems other than nepotism, tribalism, regionalism and all the isms that define their relationships with the electorate? By the way, One People, One Country is not an ideology. Nor is Action pass intention or Talk & DO. These can pass for hot air. Manifestoes dont qualify as ideologies either.
There are those who think that defections across political parties dont have any impact. Wrong. When politicians switch parties, it shows there is disunity. Unity is very crucial for political parties. When a party is united, it becomes more effective in passing its policies into law. Political party unity can only be good for the citizens because a unified party is seen as more responsible and trustworthy. History shows that parties that fail to keep their flock together often suffer electoral defeats. In general, defections hurt a partys reputation and, in some cases, even endanger their survival.
With that said, will the recent defections from APC (Alpha Khan & Victor Foh), C4C (Musa Fofanah, Rebecca Yei Sam and Saa Emerson Lamina), NGC (Yumkella Kandeh- strategic alliance) have any implications for the abandoned parties. It is safe to conclude that the defections from NGC and C4C could probably mark their death knell respectively, considering their embryonic nature in political terms.
On the other hand, these parties can go on to prosper during such disruptions. Despite the damage and potential threat to their survival, they can still survive. But first, they urgently need to restore their image by focussing on the valence issues, which are special policy areas. One of the valence issues in Sierra Leone is corruption. Every citizen in Sierra Leone is against corruption. If C4C and NGC, or whats remaining of them can focus their campaign on such valence issues, they might just prove their relevance to a point. But as I mentioned earlier, defections hurt a partys reputation and, in some cases, even endanger their survival.
As if on cue, Last Friday, 5th May 2023, Arthur E Pearce and over four hundred former members of the National Grand Coalition (NGC) Party in the Western Area, including a youth group, the Progressive NGC Youth Organisation East formally joined the All-Peoples Congress (APC) at a ceremony held in the APC Party Head Office, Old Railway Line, Brookfields, Freetown. It is expected that NGC members in other parts of the country will also declare for the APC in their own areas in the coming days. (Sierraleonetelegraph.com). Be Twaa?
When KKY formed his strategic Alliance with the SLPP, his former NGC members were spitting feathers about betrayal. It goes without saying that this alliance between NGC and APC is in response to KKYs betrayal. Do you remember COPP? It was a coalition of NGC, C4C, and APC. In their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), COPP said that The parties maintain that their main aim is to defend democracy in Sierra Leone and to vigorously oppose all types of political oppression, intimidation and authoritarian tendencies. We all said Amen to that at the time.
In my article titled Consortium of Progressive Political Parties (COPP): How Deep is Your Love? (sierraleonetelegraph.com-March 28), I questioned Coalition Parties credentials for longevity and that Their triumphs never last, because they are a compact majority.
Coalitions are a collection of conspiracies. In its MOU, COPP bandied around phrases like harness the collective strength, condemn bad governess, eventually put an end to the suffering of the people of this country, tighten our collaboration as opposition political parties, to function individually or collectively as political parties, challenging tribalism and sectionalism etc. hallelujah.
So, where does the NGC party get its moral right to condemn KKY?
This election cycle has seen the electorate treated to an orgy of coalitions. The recent defections, sorry coalition between NGC members and the APC party should not come as a surprise.
Let us look at this with another lens. If the NGC, C4C and APC had envisioned a coalition under the guise of COPP in opposition to SLPP, does that mean that the NGC is angry with KKY, not because he formed a strategic alliance, but because he did so with the wrong crowd? Having jumped into bed with the APC, are they angry that KKY beat them to it and jumped first? Is this a case of the pot calling the kettle black? NGC andC4C had already declared their intention to jump ship when they formed the COPP. It was just a matter of time, before they signed their respective death warrants as viable political parties.
After completing its last rites as a political party, where does it get the moral rectitude to condemn KKY for doing the same stunt they have pulled with the APC? Indeed, politics in Sierra Leone is too important to take seriously. Where is George Orwells Animal Farm when you need one?
A coalition, in a political term, defines as a conditional and non-significant journey that starts risking the collapse without notice; whereas it also mirrors a hollow and unstable organ, to decide and solve wide-scale subjects and issues.-Ehsan Sehgal.
Now that we are all witnessing a deeply divided body politic, where half of our population believes that our elections are broken and the other half believes that it is fixed, you cannot help but get that sinking feeling that, the more you observe our politics, the more youve got to admit that each party is worse than the other. Such a backdrop should generate apathy among voters. Interestingly, the electorate is more energised to actively participate in the forthcoming elections. This can only be good for our democracy because when we vote, we do so because of our convictions that there are extraordinary possibilities in ordinary people.
At face value, Democracy is a government by the majority. Realistically, it is a government by the majority who participate. As for the irreparably apathetic and disillusioned voter, remember that if you dont take an interest in politics doesnt mean that politics wont take an interest in you.
Is there any scope for a third political party in Sierra Leone?
Sierra Leone has seen a lot of third parties erupt like volcanoes, only to fizzle out unceremoniously. One common denominator is that they have all been scions or former appendages of either APC or SLPP. They were borne out of reactive stress that was emotionally laden.
We know that coalition is a synonym for conspiracy. Coalitions though successful have always found that triumph short lived. Coalitions, as every married man will tell you have their troubles.
Despite the imperfections of our political system, we still need perfect participation of the citizens. As the electorate, we cannot just be consumers of good governance, but also co- creators and participants. Our elections should therefore represent our greatest participation and political reform. We can only achieve this through Free, Fair and PEACEFUL elections. We hope that our elections will come to pass freely, fairly and peacefully. After all, there is only one Mama Salone.
Dont forget to turn the lights out when you leave the room.
See more here:
Is a temporary coalition of anger against the old regime a basis for ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph
- Government Oppression Of Climate Protesters Is Rampant. Are You Next? - CleanTechnica - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Invasion Day protests oppose oppression of indigenous Australians, genocide in Gaza - WSWS - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Florida's 'hostile' laws? Five laws NAACP listed in travel advisory. - St. Augustine Record - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Iran Faces A Huge Budget Deficit It Tries To Conceal - - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Satyendar Jain taken to Safdarjung Hospital after losing 35 kgs - The Statesman - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion: Reassessing the approach to Israel | DW | 22.05.2023 - DW - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Durham Report Is Latest Choose-Your-Own-Reality Adventure - TIME - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- In Conversation with Stan Grant - Honi Soit - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Rep. Bare: Assembly Republicans' local government funding plan is ... - WisPolitics.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Never Again Is Right Now in Palestine - Jacobin magazine - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- UF community condemns bill defunding DEI initiatives - The Independent Florida Alligator - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Prices of basic commodities and foods have gone insane in Sierra ... - Sierra Leone Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Don't cancel Gladstone. He was a true friend of freedom at home ... - The Telegraph - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- If you want to do things like gender ideology, go to Berkeley: DeSantis bans diversity, equity and inclusion in Florida colleges - The Mercury News - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- TikTok: The new frontier for political info-wars - DAWN.com - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Israeli Apartheid - The Legacy of the Ongoing Nakba at 75 [EN/AR ... - ReliefWeb - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- PPP's CEC condemns attacks on army installations, calls for ... - Pakistan Today - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Tim Scott says Im running for president of the United States in announcement speech live - The Guardian US - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Opinion | America's Poverty Is Built by Design - POLITICO - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 'Pity these oppressed random attackers': Inside the thoughts of Canada's bail system - National Post - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- How Can We Resist Book Bans? This Banned Author Has Ideas. - Truthout - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Owners of Nigeria and their multiple worlds - Guardian Nigeria - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- When People Decide They Want Change, They Will Bring in Change - The Wire - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- 5 Interesting Facts about Simon Bolivar - The Collector - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- China Built Over A Million Uyghurs "Re-Education Camps" In 6 Years: Report - NDTV - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Queer folk, the hour to save ourselves has come - Daily Maverick - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Preposterous! Book ban adds bureaucracy and removes parents ... - IndyStar - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- End Jew Hatred: Fight for social justice must be above political fray - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Political strife, not protest anymore - The Korea JoongAng Daily - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- 'A Man Without a Gun Is Not a Citizen' - The Texas Observer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- State Department Report Says China Oppressed Tibetan Buddhist ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Facing Reality on South Africa - Council on Foreign Relations - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Federal Charges of Political Activists Show the Racist and ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Age of Disorder || Pakistan on the Brink: Down with Capitalist PDM ... - International Socialist - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tim Stevenson | Living with the Long Emergency: Rising Fascism ... - Brattleboro Reformer - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Members of new City Council weigh in on water bills - CBS Chicago - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- DIIR Statement on 28th Anniversary of Enforced Disappearance of ... - Central Tibetan Administration - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- KAN-WIN shares timeline of gender-based violence toward Asian ... - Daily Northwestern - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Alleged leaker fixated on guns and envisioned 'race war' - The Washington Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Employment and Labour pays tribute to Dr Dennis George - South African Government - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Opinion | Trump Cannot Be Unseen - The New York Times - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Toronto to rally against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia ... - NOW Toronto - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Election 2023: Te Pti Mori accuses Prime Minister Chris Hipkins of 'oppression' for telling parties to 'be careful' with demands - Newshub - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- What's the current state of LGBTQ rights in Europe? - Euronews - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Baptist Health Foundation Receives $3 Million Gift from the Jos ... - South Florida Hospital News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- The Politics and Moral Economics of Seun Kutis Police Assault - Tekedia - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Mexico: against 'neoliberalism' or capitalism? The final year of ... - In Defence of Marxism - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- White Christian Nationalism and the 2023 Montana Legislature ... - Daily Montanan - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Left-wing lawmakers press for federal reparations for Black Americans: 'We're here to demand it' - Fox News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Underground cyphers are helping young Kashmiris reclaim their ... - Huck Magazine - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Tory MP uses controversial term connected to antisemitic conspiracies - The Jerusalem Post - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Fijis 1987 coup: Why did Prime Minister Rabuka apologise to the Indo-Fijian community? - The Indian Express - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Declaration on the Migrant Crisis: Socialists From the U.S., Mexico ... - Left Voice - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- WNBA star Brittney Griner standing and listening to national anthem - Gainesville Sun - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Imran Khan to unveil next plan of action at a rally on Thursday - ANI News - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Delta Youths Threaten Showdown Over Exclusion In Multi-Billion ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 18th, 2023 [May 18th, 2023]
- Remarks by Homeland Security Advisor Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall ... - The White House - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are some human rights more important than others? Religious ... - Jacksonville Journal-Courier - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Postcolonial Plague: The Legacy of Apartheid South Africa in ... - Brown Political Review - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- UN expert urges Japan to step up pressure on Myanmar junta - OHCHR - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- CSIS confirms to MP that he and family were targeted by China - The Globe and Mail - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Opposition leader says govt sent a bureaucrat to talk with calan - Duvar English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- The Badger Herald Editorial Board: The bounds of free speech The ... - The Badger Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- AIbom NLC to Set up Monitoring Team on Petroleum Products - THISDAY Newspapers - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Amplifying Iranian Voices: The Call for Freedom and Democracy ... - National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- As inequality deepens, who will rewrite the rules? - Al Jazeera English - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Discover the Brilliance of George Orwell: Books That Will Inspire You - Economic Times - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Nature has way of settling scores, says UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Atiq Ahmad's turf - Times of India - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Tens of thousands hold Labor Day rallies nationwide - The Korea Herald - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Incoming Nigerian Government Must Improve Poverty Wage ... - SaharaReporters.com - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Can the European Union Tackle Afghanistan's Crises? - The Diplomat - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Iran sees nationwide protests, night rallies marking Int'l Labor Day | - The Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- G20: Responsibilities of the people of PoK - ANI News - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- From IWD to May Day: Connecting working women's struggles - Spring Magazine - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- 1 May 2023 || The Working Class is Back! ISA - International Socialist - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Are the Marxists on to something? Catholic World Report - Catholic World Report - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Manoj Kumar Jha and Ghazala Jamil write: Why Pratap Bhanu Mehta is wrong about social justice politics and caste census - The Indian Express - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- Generational crimes are being committed thick and fast. No wonder Australian kids dont vote conservative - The Guardian - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2023 - U.S. ... - US Embassy and Consulate in Poland - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]
- US Sen. Tim Scott teases 'major announcement' as he explores ... - WISH TV Indianapolis, IN - May 2nd, 2023 [May 2nd, 2023]