When I read the rubbish statements some of the detractors of the government have been writing since the news came out about the dismissal of the Energy Minister and his deputy and the suspension of the NPA officials, it dawned on me once again that nobody can please all the people all the time. WHATEVER YOU DO, PEOPLE WILL TALK CRAP.
I am a minister (assigned to the UN ) in this government and I know what it means to lose one’s prized job. Let me therefore waste no time to let it be known that no reasonable person will enjoy seeing others being fired. Whenever our colleagues are fired, we do not see anything of joy in it. We grieve for some of them. It is natural. Knowing my boss for who he is, I am sure that he too does not enjoy firing people either. But President Koroma was elected by the people of Sierra Leone to do his job. He was elected to deliver social, economic and political services .The overwhelming expectations of a whole nation are on his shoulders. When things do not go right, he receives the stick, most times very unfairly . But because he is the head, people think he should take the rap for what happens in the country. There are lots of things wrong with that line of thinking but the President is not complaining. All I am certain he expects from Sierra Leoneans is to be reasonable.
Only these past weeks, social media and newspapers have been filled with tirades directed at President Koroma and the government for what the complainants described as the breakdown in the regular supply of electricity, especially in parts of the capital. If the President decides to take action and effect changes in the ministry and Government agency responsible for the delivery of electricity, is there any reason for the very people who were complaining just yesterday to turn around and start falsely accusing him of trying to show off to cover Heaven-knows-what or because Olunyi and others did not “belong to the Boys School cabal’ ? Why do we Sierra Leoneans make ourselves so difficult to please ? What is wrong with us ? What do we really want ?
I can bet one of my Sunday suits that if President Koroma had simply condemned the electricity situation and taken no action, the same people would have descended on him like a pack of wolves , attacking him that he merely complains and takes no decisive action. Man is really hard to please. The same people would have been screaming for the dismissal of the Energy Minister and other officials. They would have directed that it was the only way that President Koroma would have demonstrated that he meant business.
It is not an easy thing to rule Sierra Leone. Whatever you do, people will always find a way to blame you .No action is ever enough to please Sierra Leoneans. I have lived among Liberians, Guineans, Ghanaians, Nigerians ,Ugandans, Kenyans ,Americans, the British , Hispanics, Caribbean islanders etc but I have not found a people so difficult to please than my own Sierra Leonean people. You never win with our people. Even if you cut your flesh to please our people, they will still complain. What is really wrong with us ? Do we enjoy making people feel that they are never right ?
So far, there has been no detailed government explanation yet about why President Koroma took yesterday’s actions , though I am certain there will be one . Why don’t we wait to hear from the government spokespersons first before we start making all these erroneous and silly conclusions ? Why don’t we give our government chance to do its work ?
We must trust that President Koroma will always act in the best interest of the nation. He has always done so. However much we may feel sorry for government officials when they are relieved of their jobs, let us learn to trust our President that whatever he does is in the best interest of the nation . He understands the situation better than us. He has taken a solemn oath to serve our nation diligently . We gave him the power he is exercising called PRESIDENTIAL PREROGATIVE. It is constitutional. The President has a right to take back what he has given you if he believes that it is in the best interest of the nation. Or do we want to deny him even that constitutional right ?
PRESIDENT KOROMA has demonstrated enough that he is not a man of wildcat decisions . President Koroma has shown that he is not a man who takes knee-jack decisions. He is always circumspect and makes sure that he is on the right road before he acts. We have seen that countless times . Let us wait and hear why the Energy Minister and his deputy were fired and why the others were suspended. The statement from State House even spoke about some pending investigations and further actions. Did some of you pause to consider this before making your outlandish allegations ? Did any of you read the State House statement that said that there were meetings before the action was taken ? From the statement, it is obvious that it was not a unilateral decision. President Koroma never acts unilaterally when the decision affects other people.
Why not wait for all the details to come out before we start talking ? Why ? Why ? Why , my fellow Sierra Leoneans ? Why do we make ourselves so hard to please ?
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