Open letter to Diaspora Sierra Leoneans – NDA leadership aspirant: M.C Bah
My fellow Diaspora: Today, I write to you as a Presidential aspirant of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) party, and tomorrow it might be you. Since our Republic had its first Prime Minister, Sir Milton, few Diaspora Sierra Leoneans have ventured on the rugged terrain to ascend to the throne of the Presidency. Not many have heeded to the calling amid the burden, discomfort and opportunity that comes with it. We escaped the very poverty some of us now want to eliminate or reduce, but we are afraid to go back simply because we are hypnotized with the glamour and the bright lights of the Diaspora world. We don’t believe that we can assimilate to our own culture and contribute to society without losing the so-called “adopted home values and comfort” we have been accustomed to for decades. Along the corridors of our homes, offices and social circles, we speak about what is wrong and how it can be fixed. On our discussion forums, we display our brilliancy and human talents with credible solutions to our national problems. We forget that only when you are in the game can you play and win. Some Diasporas even had the audacity to believe that their children do not fit into the social configuration of their parent’s homeland because of the medical and economic inadequacies. I happen to disagree with such unfounded fears. Sierra Leone, as impoverished as it may be, has the social welfare and cultural nourishment to make our children of the finest in the world.
We have a generational opportunity to be part of the transformational shake up that will keep our nation competitive in this era of the Internet and Facebook. I believe, like the liberal Democrat Leader of Britain, Nick Clegg that: “the way things are, is not the way things should be”. I would not be pursuing such a monumental journey if I believed that, we the Diaspora Sierra Leoneans cannot play a pivotal role in the development of our country. We must be part of the new world order of change and not change that you cannot believe in.
My Presidential aspirations and motivations are driven from the very fact that: Sierra Leone needs alternative political parties that are not the two dominant APC and SLPP to govern the affairs of state at this moment of history. To think that they have the solutions or the only choice is between them offers no way out for the people of Sierra Leone. I believe that, we need to do things differently, and if we don’t do so, our future will be the same in the next 50 years.
We can make incremental growth on infrastructure, energy, security, or less than a three years of free health care for lactating mothers and children and show the world that we are growing, but if we don’t create jobs for our citizens, build a private sector and middle class society, develop a revenue-generating economy, we will still find ourselves in the same situation we have been since independence. I am convinced that for Sierra Leone to move forward to a better path, a Diaspora voice and experience are needed, a fresh conversation and new ethics must be the political pulse of the day.
This is where we stand today and where we are right at this moment – at a crossroad between two possible futures. The continued legacies of corruption and generational poverty, where even the 50th independence anniversary committee cannot call a truce to the long battle of public corruption. A fragile nation economically exhausted by the reckless looting of state funds and a people suffering to the core of massive poverty. A political system that is exclusionary and too regionally oriented with an economy that is bankrupt, hyper inflationary and debt-ridden.
There is the other future – the pos-independent generation like myself – striving to build a new Sierra Leone, not of the patronage system that find those from the same household names and region lucrative jobs and positions in government or denying those qualified citizens the opportunities to live their dreams. We seek a more just, more equal and more prosperous Sierra Leone for everyone.
Like many of you in the Diaspora community , I want to help transition Sierra Leone from the dark and gloomy past as a post independent generation – who believe in the politics of inclusion, pragmatism and reconciliation, to one that builds bridges and networks of roads, reduces the increasing unemployment rate, drops down the two digit inflation to 4%, increases the number of households with solar electricity, moves away from aid and dependence, to a fiscally run government that is debt-free, providing accessible clean drinking water, improving the quality of the health care system and upgrading schools/universities with better resources and better teachers. This is the future we are striving to own. This is the direction we want to lead our nation.
We must, however, find new ways to dismantle the network of corruption, where we do not give culprits the privilege of a second chance and allow them to pay fines lesser than what they have misappropriated, or move them to other positions of public trust for political expediency, we must take away their freedom and deny them the opportunity to never do it again. And, the Diaspora Sierra Leone who betray our trust and the confidence of our people should be no exception to the rules of crime and punishment.
We must, on the other hand, eliminate the conditions that encourage such unwarranted behaviors by improving wages and work conditions, provide the resources and incentives to work performance, enforcing rules and code of conducts that are transparent and accountability oriented, elect and appoint men and women of good moral conscience who believe in the promises of our nation.
And flood our legislative, executive and judiciary chambers with decent and honorable citizens who are willing to selflessly work for the good of the country. The Anti Corruption Commission by itself is only a one-legged solution that is exposed to the danger of being politicized and marginalized by overzealous politicians.
These manifested solutions, nonetheless, come with strong leadership and a new radical mindset capable of conforming to the principles of integrity and the reputation of an honor system. The era of building big mansions with gated communities and no drive ways with public funds must come to an end. It shall be the dark cloud that no longer hangs over our nation’s head, if we want to see a bright and prosperous future.
Indeed, a significant reduction in corruption is enough to recycle the resources and raise the pay of our teachers, policemen, nurses, doctors and military personnel, while a well educated population will transform an impoverished nation into a more skill based and technologically competitive regional player. A people well fed can be innovative and healthy enough to make more discoveries and produce a new generation of elite leadership.
We must reclaim our lost values and develop a new leadership approach of accountability and transparency, introduce educational programs and provide better resources that bring quality and performance to our schools, expand our road networks and revive domestic and international trade, improve our agricultural output for self-sufficiency, upgrade our health care system that is in trouble, and lift our people from abject poverty.
I am seeking the Presidency because I believe deeply that our economic situation can be changed and my country has a better future ahead. I also believe that we cannot achieve a milestone of nation-building without working together to bringing down the barriers of ethno-centrism, and the culture of individualism that has far divided us as a nation. Such national flaws have limited us from reaching our dreams and unlocking the wealth of our nation. We may come from different regions and speak a different dialect, but our loyalty and affection to our nation dwells in all of us. We all want a better future for our children.
As Robert F. Kennedy once said: “Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation”
And so, the task of my post-independent generation and a member of the Diaspora community is to renew the promises and principles of our Declaration of Independence almost five decades ago. To close the bridge between their dreams of an independent Sierra Leone to our vision of a more modernized and industrialized nation that produces a job-creating economy, expands trading partnership with its neighbors and the global community, provides computer and internet access to millions of households, eliminates our debt, digitalizes the activities and records of government institutions, building a first class education and a good network of roads, to eradicate communicable diseases, and to create wealth for our people.
Sierra Leone must begin to utilize its full human potential and imagination beyond the scope of personal benefits. We must search a new path of creating an undivided nation that has a national focus with a collective attitude in seeking a more economically viable and politically secured future for our people. This is what my party (the National Democratic Alliance) stands for, this is why I am seeking the highest office of our land and this is the way out for our young democracy and beloved Sierra Leone.
I am appealing to all Diaspora Sierra Leoneans to help me achieve this great vision for our nation. We have an opportunity to lead this time.
To support: Presidential Aspirant – Mohamed C. Bah Contact author: mcbah4440@yahoo.com Phone: 404-317-8155 Facebook page: MC Bah for President of Sierra LeoneStay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
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