Why try the clergy… Moiba’s argument

A few days ago, I visited the erudite Reverend Dr. Joseph Gaima Lukulay Moiba in his humble house around Bunumbu Press in Bo where he has been living quietly with his Norwegian wife and children since he lost the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) flag bearer contest to Julius Maada Bio in 2011. With seven academic degrees, Reverend Moiba bears the credit of being the first black senior civil servant in one of the most educated countries in the world, Norway.

Throughout our hour-long dialogue, the learned clergyman stressed the need for Sierra Leoneans to reflect on the tremendous role of religious leaders in national development and put them in governance. Moiba made clear his fervent belief that only the genuine clergy can redeem this nation from bad governance which he attributed to the fact that most of our elected leaders are not God-fearing. Moiba expressed his strong belief that the God-fearing clergy can bring a lasting solution to the massive corruption and its consequent chronic poverty now plaguing this nation.

Moiba argued that since Christian and Muslim missionaries have established the highest number of schools and hospitals in this country, thereby improving education and health services in the country, they can do better if given the opportunity to be at the helm of things; their moral principles humanitarian dispositions can help minimize the rampant corruption and other vices bedeviling this country’s governance system. He further argued that the role played by the Inter-Religious Council in bringing peace to Sierra Leone and the role played by the missionaries in mitigating the impact of the war through the provision of relief services point to the fact that religious leaders have this nation at heart and, therefore, can be excellent political leaders.

One may be tempted to buy Moiba’s argument when one considers the incontrovertible fact that the Catholic Mission, the Methodist Church, the United Methodist Church, the United Brethren Church, the Ahmadiyya Mission, the Ansarul Mission and other religious organizations have schools and hospitals in every corner of this country. Many highly educated Sierra Leoneans today went through schools established by religious organizations. In fact, the first secondary schools in Sierra Leone, the CMS Grammar School and the Annie Walsh Memorial Secondary School including the first university, Fourah Bay College, were established by religious organizations.

Renowned secondary schools like Christ the King College, Saint Edwards Secondary School, Albert Academy, Ahmadiyya Muslim Secondary School and many others were all established by religious organizations. Major hospitals such as the Serabu Hospital, the Nixon Memorial Methodist Hospital, the PCMH children’s hospital, the Panguma Hospital and many others were all established by religious organizations.

Therefore, I am tempted to follow Reverend Moiba’s argument that if religious leaders have done so much for this country when they are not at the helm of governance, it goes without saying that they can do more when at the helm of state affairs. I am also tempted to follow Moiba’s sacred opinion that, over the years, we have been under-utilizing our religious resources and have been politically marginalizing our religious leaders, leaving the state to be governed by mostly satanic leaders whose primary motive is to exploit their people for their own aggrandizement.

I believe moral bankruptcy on the part of most of our leaders is primarily responsible for the rampant corruption and other forms of persistent vices damaging the political, economic and social fabric of this nation. Hence, there is need for us to be electing God-fearing leaders who are selflessly committed to the development of this nation and we can get such leadership if we try the genuine clergy.

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