Dear Sierra Leone,
I know it has been a while since I last wrote to you, and I have missed you. As you already know, 2022 was not the best year for many of us. But we made it to the other side and we are happy and grateful.
Sierra Leone, I’m writing to you today, hoping to remind you of the previous years. I know that holding to the past is not something we should make a habit of. But nonetheless, I want us to quickly recap what the past has been- not to remind us of the hurt or spend too long celebrating the wins, but so we can make better decisions this year.
You see Sierra Leone, this is an election year, and by now your name- I mean all of our names have been written down by politicians that many of us have not seen for the last five years.
Many of them are our brothers and sisters, and many of them were our mates and colleagues, but as you know “they have been busy”. Unfortunately because of their calendars, we have not been able to catch up with them for a while unless through their social media posts.
I know we are kind-hearted and we embrace each other with love and peace. But I must say it will NOT be an entirely bad idea if we quiz our long-lost friends about their whereabouts over the last few years. Let them tell us a bit about their work, let them inform us about their successes and challenges, let them explain to us why they have been gone for so long and above all let them be accountable to us.
The truth is, if they were real families and friends or daughters and sons of the soil, it should not take another election year before we get to see them, it should not be another year before you hear from them, it should not take another election year to be friends again.
Sierra Leone, the world suffered a lot in the last year, many lives were lost to wars, diseases and poverty. Our situation was NOT completely different from that felt elsewhere. For instance, our sister country Ghana had some really hard times- but they are well into recovery. In a desperate attempt to salvage our situation, we put together some really cool things (including bringing a new currency to life), unfortunately, we are all still awaiting the result.
Sierra Leone, we have been faced with; multiple fuel crises, corruption (especially those won with awards), unfair treatment, killings and the list goes on. Our activism is NOT so “active”, our schools are not as “educated” as we hope (but we trust data that says we are moving in the right direction), our entrepreneurship and private sector growth are NOT growing fast enough, our electricity is NOT too “electrifying” (But norto pa hype o). Sierra Leone, I can go on, but as you read this, you are free to insert your take. Nonetheless, we cannot take the blame, the global crisis especially the war in Ukraine (which we are all fighting) has affected us.
Sierra Leone, for nearly the last two years, those of us without power have been left to fight our own battles, we have subjected ourselves to “survival mode” (dog-eat-dog). We have been called lazy (even though no work was given to us), we have been called wayward (even though no example was set for us), and we have been called drug addicts (even though no alternatives were provided).
Yet the truth is, we have not taken responsibility enough, we have not been honest with each other, we have intentionally spread rumours about others to damage their reputations (in a bid to hide our insecurities), we have conned others from opportunities because they do not share our values and many more hurts we have done: but who is counting right?
You see Sierra Leone, this is a NEW YEAR and like any other NEW YEAR passed, it is that time again to say things like: “New Year, New me”, “I am cutting people out”, etc. While we do all of that, remember that this year unlike 2022, we will plan to vote on who our leaders will be for the next five years.
As we plan for this, we will soon start receiving courtship from Red and Green- they will give us money, a bag of rice and a t-shirt, why? because they know we are hungry and need the clothes. But before we accept that gift and promise our votes, before they gave us the same promises of a job or business contract, or education scholarship etc, reflect on just how many of these very familiar promises made to us and our neighbours have been fulfilled.
Sierra Leone, be reminded that your friends, our brothers, our sisters, our parents and our neighbours depend on us, they depend on us for our next step, they depend on us to make an informed decision, they depend on us to move hope from the shadows to something more tangible.
As you may have noticed by now, this is a very emotional letter, one that is filled with hurt; hurt that I know you also feel, hurt from being neglected by leaders across the isle (ruling and opposition leaders), hurt from subjecting ourselves to hypocrisy, but mostly hurt from being unable/unwilling to dream for anything else than to survive.
But this is 2023, we have another chance, let us put our hurts, pains, disappointments, and successes into one big bowl of lessons to learn from and LET US AS ALWAYS PERSEVERE.
Kindest Regards
SIDI