allAfrica.com: Sierra Leone: Post Elections Hard Talks! (part Two) (Page 1 of 1)

This system of political continuity he, Keen, ascribed to the fact that "...under British rule, there had been minimal efforts to sow the seeds of a democratic political culture. In effect, the British ruled through institutions like the army, the police and unrepresentative legislative councils (Sesay, 1993; 165).Pliable candidates for the chieftaincy found particular favour. Deference and patronage prevailed over representation and rights." This deference and patronage, alieniating the majority and more so the able-bodied youths, was the key motivating factor and fuel of the war. It is the underlying factor that still influences political thinking and association and it is the factor of collusion and collapse that must be addressed if Sierra Leone is to be saved from another conflict.

The collusion factor as it is more used by the public management structure which is the civil service and, in some cases, even the political class. It is this collusion that is the root of all corrupt practices and which is the reason for the lack of the ability by the public sector to effectively collect and use revenue to trigger effective growth and development of the political economy by not having the fiscal ability to put in place the infrastructure that will attract effective investment from the private sector.

It is this collusion factor that also allows political support and association from some elements of the non-local private sector with the sole aim of gaining access to certain privileges like procurement contracts which, as is the tradition in most governments worldwide are in most cases grossly over budgeted, that affect the effective fiscal management of the state. It is this collusion that makes civil servants corrupt ministers who are normally mere political heads with no hands in the votes and execution of technical functions of the ministries they head.

Furthermore, it is this collusion that creates lack of transparency and unaccountability in the public sector and which allows the police to abuse and misuse power. It was this collusion that brought about the Sobel scenario and saw the unholy alliance between the RUF and the AFRC. It was this collusion that saw the disbanding of the army after the military intervention and the execution of 24 officers of which 22 were not culpable for the 25th may,97 coup but had to die because they happened to have worked for a military junta like the leadership who executed them (most of the leadership having been members of the National Advisory council and other specialised organs of the NPRC junta).

Above all it is this collusion that unconsciously dictates the average political thinking because of the need for social security from the clan, peers, region or linguistic kinsmen. It is this that influences what political party is supported and where and which is one indirect factor responsible for the mass exodus and brain drain in the basically technical sectors like the engineering and medical .Those technocrats who do not want to be involved with this collusion and who normally fall victim of those in the caucus have to ,for either security of job or otherwise move out .Others because of want of good and regular pay which cannot be gotten in a situation where a few collude to reap off the nation whilst the majority work for months without pay. It is this that in local lingua franca are the "who know you and see -to see!" factors that have come to be accepted by the weak majority and which is one of those attitudes that need to be changed now.

How does this collusion factor affect the country? These unholy alliances have had very adverse effects on the country in diverse ways.

First and foremost, it is the factor that is limiting development towards nationhood and instead promotes development towards a very powerful and strong minority which manipulates the weak majority and which in most cases is divided and conflict prone.

Electioneering and vote casting is more a factor of collusion at party, region and ethnic levels. At this level it takes a holistic and uncompromising stature and compliments those other factors that are conflict creating. It is this collusion factor that is in some ways responsible for the uneven development of the national infrastructure as whoever is in power concentrates on their region and /or ethnic affiliations thus giving root to the rise and fall of powerful region or ethnic based associations based on ethnic lines such as Akutay, Tegloma, KDDA, PLDDA, MADDA and more recently Mandingo union and Rogbaneh Descendants.

In the final analysis, it is clear that centralised governance cannot effectively function due to the strong influence of region, ethnic and political consideration and it consequent collusion force over the national interest.

So what is the way out for effective national development? Is it through the present structure or is it through a more decentralised, transparent and socially accountable structure that will accommodate the needs and aspirations of every region, ethnic group and political party?

The answer to this is of paramount importance to the continuity of the democratic structures building that has started .It is also very urgent as it is an answer to this that will save Sierra Leone from imminent collapse and a second crisis which like it seems will take a more devastating dimension if the answer to this question is not found now.

web allafrica.com	Enter your search terms	Submit search form
OR subscribers use AllAfrica's premium search engine


Use our pull-down menus to find more stories

Today's Most Active Stories