On ‘new face’ and ‘corruption’: How not to make a case for APC.

Every moment in the life of a society is precious and unique. And every moment is intricately linked to previous moments, while pointing to future ones; hence the importance of history. This year, Sierra Leone is looking forward to yet another political ritual—general elections. This moment in our history, more than any other before it, is characterized by too many unlearnt lessons and missed opportunities heaped upon it by past moments. The country’s choice of a leader, therefore, becomes, or should be, a matter more serious than it has ever been. It is a matter that every Sierra Leonean ought to care about, for it is tied to our collective destiny.

It is public knowledge that political outfits of all colours have failed the country. The current SLPP government has squandered a great deal of goodwill, and has presided over an enormously corrupt system. However, those who are seeking to replace the government should do more than just list its failures; they must come up with well thought-out and concrete ideas as to how they will transform our society.

This is why when I saw the article entitled, “The new face of the APC in North America” in the Cocorioko newspaper, I was eager to read it hoping to find in it novel ideas and methods to be used by APC not only for its own re-invention, but also for the social transformation of our country. How terribly disappointed I was.

Francis Pa Santhkie Bangura, Acting Secretary General of APC, North America, the author of the aforementioned article, started his piece thus:

“…it is incumbent in us as a nation to put aside petty partisan poly-tricks…and just for once put the national interest first.”

These words turned out to be mere cascades of sterile rhetoric. Pa Santhkie himself did not seem to understand the implications of his own words, and so he immediately betrayed himself. The Acting Secretary General went on to launch a very caustic personal attack on a member of ‘Friends of Berewa’ who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. To viciously attack the person of an opponent instead of engaging the opponent’s ideas is the verbal counterpart of physical thuggery. Such a behaviour should have no place in contemporary Sierra Leonean politics. If this is the “new face of APC,” then ‘new’ and ‘old’ have obliterated their boundaries. With the history of thuggery wrapped round APC’s neck like an albatross, this is not a good way to make its case.

It is no longer important to have a ‘new face’ in Sierra Leonean politics. We have had too many ‘new faces’ bringing too many ‘new calamities.’ What we need is a ‘new Mind’ that will generate a new political culture that privileges decent and rancour-free debates on national issues. We need a new way of looking at old problems and challenges; a new way of looking at what we call Sierra Leone. We do not need a ‘new face’ with ‘old methods.’

In another article entitled, “Corruption: A National Security concern for the APC,” Pa Santhkie opines that corruption is ‘a perennial problem’ that ‘deserves to be treated as a national security problem.’ I agree with Pa Santhkie that corruption ought to be elevated to a national security concern. But my perception of corruption goes beyond embezzlement or the lack of fiscal probity. For me, the most important aspect of corruption is the systematic alteration of the mental and moral structures of a society, the methodical and continuous assault on the human psyche through deprivation and dehumanization with the aim to silence. We can regain stolen money or property, but it is very difficult to reconstruct a broken mind. When people constantly see that thuggery and dishonesty bring money and houses, while decency and honesty bring none; education is mocked on a daily basis; when children grow up believing that pilfering the national coffers is a patriotic act, and tampering with letters at the post office is part of the worker’s job description, then those children’s minds have been altered and corruption has been inscribed. That, among other things, is what APC did to Sierra Leone. So, I disagree with Pa Santhkie when he says:
“…there have never been a time in our history when this plague have become so identical and tied to an incumbent administration as it is now.”

As some one who grew up during the reign of APC, and one who has commented on the political activities of every regime since APC, I know that APC altered Sierra Leone’s Mind and laid the foundation for all kinds of corruption to occur. While we must acknowledge the corruption of the current SLPP government, it is disingenuous to argue that corruption is any more tied to SLPP than it is to APC.

New members of APC do not have to feel guilty about this, but they must admit that fact if they should honestly claim to follow a new political path.

What APC needs to do, instead of making vague statements and intimidating others, is to come up with concrete ideas as to how they intend to redeem our country from the jaws of global irrelevance. People are longing to see a ‘new APC culture’ but it must be built on a genuine foundation.

Sheikh Umarr Kamarah
Virginia, USA.