WHY FORGIVENESS MUST BE PART OF SIERRA LEONE’S POLITICAL FUTURE
By Mahmud Tim Kargbo
Sunday, 15 June 2025
In an age when digital outrage dominates public discourse and political rivalry often devolves into vendetta, Sierra Leone stands at a pivotal crossroads. Despite pledges of reform and a so-called “New Direction” in 2018, the administration of President Julius Maada Bio has largely failed to honour its social contract with the people. Instead, it mirrors many of the shortcomings it once vehemently condemned. The challenge now is not only holding leaders accountable, but also breaking the cycle of retaliation, disappointment and exclusion that has long defined national politics.
THE UNFULFILLED PROMISE OF THE “NEW DIRECTION”
In 2018, President Bio rode into office on a wave of popular frustration, promising transparency, economic revitalisation and public service reform. His manifesto, titled The New Direction, sharply criticised the governance failures of the former APC-led administration under Ernest Bai Koroma. He denounced rampant corruption, youth unemployment, economic mismanagement and the misuse of state institutions.
Yet today, the realities on the ground speak to a painful irony: many of the same issues persist—some in even worse form. The economy remains fragile, with the cost of living skyrocketing. Inflation hovered around 40 percent in 2023, while the Leone continued to depreciate sharply.
(Source: http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2023/12/21/Sierra-Leone-2023-Article-IV-Consultation-and-Request-for-a-Fourth-Review-under-the-Extended-539571)
Government audits have repeatedly revealed poor financial controls and mismanagement across public institutions. The 2021 Audit Report confirmed:
“Discrepancies amounting to billions of Leones, lack of supporting documents and repeated procurement violations remain unresolved.”
(http://www.auditservice.gov.sl/2021-audit-report/)
Youth unemployment remains dangerously high, and many citizens feel excluded from economic opportunities. Tensions boiled over during the August 2022 protests, in which dozens were killed or injured. Amnesty International reported:
“The authorities must end the crackdown on peaceful protests and ensure independent investigations into the killings.”
(http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/sierra-leone-authorities-must-end-crackdown-on-peaceful-protests/)
Boasting about foreign investment while citizens experience deepening poverty raises serious credibility issues. If the outcome of such investment is not visible in the lives of ordinary Sierra Leoneans, then it amounts to little more than political theatre. There is increasingly little distinction between the SLPP government and the APC opposition it replaced. Both appear more focused on personal advancement and allegiance to foreign interests than on delivering inclusive development. When government works as it should, all citizens—regardless of party or none—benefit. A constitutional democracy must serve its entire population, not a favoured few.
If politicians are to be forgiven for their deceptive actions towards the suffering majority, they must first demonstrate honesty. Rhetoric that fails to address the material conditions of the people only further exposes leadership inadequacy. Leadership is not about slogans or ceremonies; it is about results. Forgiveness cannot flourish without truth.
THE CYCLE OF POLITICAL FAILURE AND BLAME
In Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, a young Alexander Hamilton ponders the future:
“If we win our independence, is that a guarantee of freedom for our descendants? Or will the blood we shed begin an endless cycle of vengeance and death with no defendants?”
(http://www.genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-alexander-hamilton-lyrics)
The sentiment resonates in Sierra Leone. Political change here often resembles a wheel rather than a forward journey. Each new ruling party displaces the old, only to imitate its methods. Political rivals are marginalised, not engaged; past administrations are scapegoated, not studied. The result is institutional stagnation. Roger Williams, a 17th-century political theorist, once observed:
“Those who have been persecuted become persecutors when they sit at the helm.”
This has become an unfortunate truth in Sierra Leone. Successive governments continue to weaponise power while preaching reform. The public, trapped between alternating elites, remains largely voiceless.
WHY FORGIVENESS IS A POLITICAL NECESSITY
In such a climate, it is easy to retreat into cynicism. But a more constructive alternative exists: political forgiveness, not as amnesty for wrongdoing, but as a means to end the endless loop of recrimination. Philosopher Hannah Arendt noted:
“Forgiveness is the only reaction which does not merely react but acts anew, unconditioned by the act which provoked it and therefore freeing both the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven.”
(http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/arendt-human-condition.htm)
Forgiveness, in political terms, is the refusal to be governed by past bitterness. It allows both citizens and institutions to recover, to restore trust, and to work together for national reconstruction. It does not replace justice, but it transcends revenge.
Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in its final report, warned that peace cannot endure without truth and reconciliation. It stated:
“There can be no sustainable peace without addressing past wrongs through truth-telling and reconciliation.”
(http://www.sierraleonetrc.org)
Forgiveness also has deep roots in the religious foundations of Sierra Leone society.
FAITH AND FORGIVENESS: A MORAL FOUNDATION
Sierra Leone is built on two main religious pillars: Islam and Christianity. Both affirm forgiveness not only as a divine ideal but as a civic necessity.
In Luke 6:36, Jesus commands:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
The Danish theologian Niels Hemmingsen explained:
“If we did not forgive each other, no tranquillity would be possible; the bond of society would be torn apart.”
(http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hemmingsen/postil)
The Qur’an also affirms the moral obligation to forgive.
“The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto; but if a person forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah.”
(http://www.quran.com/42/40)
“Let them pardon and forgive. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you?”
(http://www.quran.com/24/22)
These religious teachings underscore the same principle: a society without forgiveness breeds endless retaliation. Whether in family life, religious communities or politics, forgiveness is what restores the human bond.
A CALL FOR ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND NATIONAL RESTORATION
Forgiveness is not weakness. It is a bold choice to interrupt the spiral of division and injustice. But forgiveness requires preconditions: truth, accountability and a genuine change of course. Leaders cannot expect absolution without self-examination and reform. Words alone are no longer enough.
If the Bio administration truly believes in a New Direction, it must stop imitating what it once condemned. It must govern transparently, include all Sierra Leoneans in national development, and prioritise public interest over party, profit or foreign favour.
Sierra Leone does not need another chapter of finger-pointing or recycled promises. It needs an honest reckoning with its failures and a courageous commitment to ethical governance. Forgiveness makes this possible,but only if our leaders first earn it.
REFERENCES:
IMF Country Report 2023: http://www.imf.org/en/Publications/CR/Issues/2023/12/21/Sierra-Leone-2023-Article-IV-Consultation-and-Request-for-a-Fourth-Review-under-the-Extended-539571
Audit Service Sierra Leone 2021 Report: http://www.auditservice.gov.sl/2021-audit-report/
Amnesty International on August 2022 Protests: http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/sierra-leone-authorities-must-end-crackdown-on-peaceful-protests/
Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission: http://www.sierraleonetrc.org
Hamilton Lyrics: http://www.genius.com/Lin-manuel-miranda-alexander-hamilton-lyrics
Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition: http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/us/arendt-human-condition.htm
Niels Hemmingsen’s Postil: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hemmingsen/postil
Qur’an 42:40 and 24:22: http://www.quran.com/42/40 and http://www.quran.com/24/22
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