A THOUGHT ON SIERRA LEONE, TRIBALISM & POLITICS 🇸🇱
By Terror D
For the past few days, I’ve been watching documentaries and learning more about the history of Sierra Leone and Liberia — especially how our political divisions developed and how tribalism became such a sensitive part of our politics.
And the more I learn, the more I keep asking myself:
Did our people really start hating each other, or did our political system teach us to see each other differently?
When I look back at Sierra Leone’s early political history, I see a pattern.
Sir Milton Margai became our first Prime Minister and led Sierra Leone into independence. After his death in 1964, his half-brother Sir Albert Margai succeeded him. The political competition that followed became increasingly connected to regional and ethnic loyalties. Then came Siaka Stevens and the formation of the APC, which eventually became strongly associated with the northern/Temne political base, while the SLPP became strongly associated with the south/east and Mende political base.
I’m not saying this to blame Albert Margai.
In fact, this is where my personal theory comes in.
Maybe some of what we call tribalism started from something much more complicated than simply “I hate your tribe.”
Imagine being the leader of a country where governments can be overthrown, coups can happen, political opponents can become threats, and you don’t know who you can genuinely trust.
Wouldn’t you naturally want people around you who you believe will protect you?
And if the people you trust most happen to come from your own community, you may start putting more of them around you.
From the outside, people see favoritism and tribalism.
From the politician’s perspective, it may feel like security and survival.
But here’s where the problem becomes dangerous.
The next political leader sees what the previous government did and thinks:
“Those people are not my people. I can’t trust them.”
So they remove them.
They bring in their own people.
Then the next government does the same thing.
And eventually, political loyalty becomes associated with tribal identity.
Over decades, generations grow up hearing:
SLPP = Mende.
APC = Temne.
And something that may have started as political competition and insecurity becomes a social identity.
Then election season comes, and politicians don’t even have to create the division from scratch.
They simply remind people of the division that’s already been built over generations.
“Protect your people.”
“Don’t let them take power.”
“If they win, our people will suffer.”
And ordinary Sierra Leoneans start fighting each other over politicians who may not even know them personally.
But here’s the part I struggle with:
When you take politics out of the picture, ordinary Sierra Leoneans generally know how to live together.
A Temne man can marry a Mende woman.
A Mende can work with a Temne.
A Limba can build a business with a Kono.
A Krio can be best friends with a Mende.
We eat together.
We party together.
We work together.
We fall in love.
We build families together.
So why should politics suddenly make us enemies?
I’m Temne myself.
And in my own label, Mic City, I have Mende brothers working alongside me. I don’t look at them and see “Mende.”
I see Sierra Leoneans.
I see brothers.
I see people trying to build something.
And I ask myself:
If I ever became President of Sierra Leone, would I want to be President only for Temne people?
Absolutely not.
If I become President, I would have to understand that the moment I take that oath, I stop being a representative of one tribe and become a servant of an entire nation.
The child in Kenema is my responsibility.
The child in Makeni is my responsibility.
The child in Bo is my responsibility.
The child in Freetown is my responsibility.
The child in Kono, Kambia, Port Loko, Kailahun, Moyamba, Bombali, Tonkolili and every corner of Sierra Leone is my responsibility.
That’s what leadership should mean.
So maybe the answer isn’t simply telling Sierra Leoneans:
“Stop tribalism.”
Maybe we need to build a country where people don’t feel that they need tribal loyalty to survive.
Where institutions are stronger than individuals.
Where government jobs are based on competence.
Where the police and military protect the Constitution, not political personalities.
Where losing an election doesn’t mean you have to fear for your life.
Where politicians can disagree without turning ordinary citizens against each other.
Where a Mende doesn’t have to fear an APC government.
Where a Temne doesn’t have to fear an SLPP government.
Where every Sierra Leonean knows:
“Even if my candidate loses, I am still safe. I am still a citizen. I still belong.”
Because at the end of the day, politicians will come and go.
APC will come.
SLPP will come.
New parties will come.
Presidents will come and presidents will leave.
But Sierra Leone remains. 🇸🇱
And maybe it’s time we stop asking:
“Which tribe is the problem?”
And start asking:
“What kind of political system keeps making us afraid of each other?”
Because I don’t believe Sierra Leoneans were born to hate each other.
I believe we have much more in common than politics has allowed us to see.
Political differences are normal.
Tribal hatred is not.
🇸🇱 One Sierra Leone. One people. One future.
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