The Politics of Lies
One of Sierra Leone’s prominent politicians once remarked that the ‘plasas’ or source of politics is lies. Politics cannot be eaten and enjoyed if it is not spiced with lies, the politician said.
Sierra Leone is entering the challenging process of learning and properly experiencing the challenges and exigencies of democracy. This can be seen in the manner in which various innuendos and false allegations have been peddled as truth in an attempt to tarnish the other party’s image. But in this clearly desperate manner of maligning each other, Sierra Leonean politicians might well be dragging the name of the country into the mud and thereby making it impossible for positive developments to be achieved.
Sierra Leone can never be seen as a nation which has emerged from a war. We have passed through that stage long since and now we are talking of new phases in the life of a country which has earned an international accolade for achieving peace and reconciling with its enemies as well as with the reality of development. There is a time for every purpose and for Sierra Leone this is a time for peace and development under the auspices of a peaceful coexistence.
Power can be elusive and for those who have lost it, there is no need to brood over what has apparently been split like milk and equally so, there is no need to be recalcitrant in accepting defeat where it is unnecessary. In the midst of underdevelopment and poverty, only a unified nation can succeed. In other countries the world over, there is always the collective responsibility when it comes to the challenges affecting the nation as a whole.
Sierra Leoneans as a people and Sierra Leone as a nation can only be successful in rewriting our status as a failed state if we realize our goals and are able to achieve unity when it comes to what is affecting our country. That is why politicians in this country should realize that there is a line between politics and patriotism, and that while the former is partisan, the latter is a collective responsibility which involves all citizens, regardless of political religious or ethnic affiliations.
When the economic crunch occurred in the United States and seriously derailed the economic aspect of the country and as well as its fiscal responsibility of the government, President Barack Obama called for and received the total support of all politicians both from the Republicans as well as the Democrats. It was a manifestation of the manner in which patriotism transcends politics when it comes to what affects America.
There is a lot we can learn from the advanced countries who have become veterans in maintaining democratic values. In as much as we are critics of the society, there is also a need to give praise where praise is due. In our own case, we can say that no matter what we can say, democracy is being practiced in Sierra Leone and this is being done in a robust manner which shows we have traveled a long way from the ugly past to the glorious present. Sierra Leone is bigger than all of us and this means we all have a responsibility to ensure that we have a peaceful country.
That is why Sierra Express Media believes that is a need for the respect for authority and for politicians not to get out of hand, especially the opposition when it comes to the essential aspects affecting Sierra Leone.
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