The Silence of Government
The government of President Ernest Bai Koroma started from a positive premise: Information was the essential conduit of the administration, thus ensuring that the populace was kept informed at every turn of event, and circumstance. The bottom line is that the government was always ready to inform the populace about events as they unfolded in the country.
As part of this drive to inform the nation, the president set up offices of press attaches in key Sierra Leone foreign missions in the Diaspora. As part of this initiative, activities of government, as well as issues of interest to Sierra Leone are now published in the newspapers, on line and broadcast over radios. This is part of the essence of transparency in governance, and the APC started in this direction when Ernest Koroma became president of Sierra Leone  .
In variance with the earlier approach by the president in making information a priority in government when it comes to informing the people, a culture of silence is now existing.
The new order
A commission of inquiry was set up to look into the cause for the shooting to death of two students during a peaceful demonstration against the Koidu Holdings Diamond Mining Company. The parents of the two dead students have made all attempts to see that the matter is investigated and those found guilty brought to book.
The Jenkins-Johnston Commission of inquiry was set up in this direction but following its submission to government, nothing has been done to correct this anomaly. A resounding silence continues to be maintained by government.
There is also the issue of the theft of the Bumbuna cables which was initially a public matter, but which has now been a matter covered up in silence. The president had stated that any one engaged in the theft and in the ‘sabotaging’ of the cables will be dealt with. A court matter has been in progress whereby the brother of the president has been involved in the alleged theft of this cable, but even as you read this piece, there has not been any further information about this unpatriotic activity.
The Military Aiding Civilian Policing which had been proclaimed by the president has ceased, with no statement from government, even though the activities of armed robbers in the country, which had caused the MAC-P to be declared, continues to flourish, with the thieves becoming bolder daily.
While the president was vocal in announcing the introduction of the MAC-P, he has not been so vocal in informing the public why the system has been aborted mid way. Silence.
The call by the general public for ‘okadas’ to be relocated off from the business district has been announced by the police and the populace informed. Unfortunately, the commercial bike riders, who are mostly riding bikes owned by senior police officers, have refused to move off from this very important part of the city. To make matters worse, the bike riders had the audacity of riding at break neck speed in front of State House with horns blaring. Silence.
Then there is the silence of Yenga. After a flurry of explanations and much publicised travels to Conakry which President Koroma’s foreign minister described as successful, there has not been any further information from government. Meanwhile the occupying Guinean forces continue to make inroads, claiming further portions of Sierra Leona and harassing and hounding the populace from their homes and communities. In all this debacle, while the people of Yenga are threatened by the foreign troops, and sidelined by their own government, Mr. Paolo Conteh, the flamboyant defence minister and Foreign Minister Zainab Bangura continue to contradict each other. Silence.
In cabinet, the president removed the then Minister of Health and Sanitation and transferred him to the Ministry of Gender and Children’s Affairs. There was no reason given, though speculations are that he was involved in corruption. Because the minister is said to be close to the president, the minister was only transferred to another ministry, where he might well have the same propensity of engaging in a similar activity. The result-silence.
The latest silence has been over the sacking of Mr. Balogun Koroma, Minister of State in the Office of the president. Even though it might be said that the president has the onus of hiring and firing his cabinet, there is need for the people to know what is going on, as they are the ones who hold the vote that makes or unmakes a government. One might even claim that if the ACC had not come out with a press release revealing the alleged corrupt activities of the sacked Minister of Health and Sanitation, and the charge against him, there would have been silence from the government.
The start of leadership is not the problem, it is in maintaining the initial standards set by the government that becomes a matter for concern, and any head of state who fails to continue what he or she initiated might be cause for the fall of that administration.
President Koroma should by now know that his government is gradually falling away from the expectations of the people, especially the ones who in their euphoria voted him in office, braving the rain and the sun and the hunger all in their desire to see a change, which today has emerged, is still not in sight.
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