You might go right ahead and accuse me of being damn pessimistic, but I’m almost getting to the point of conviction that until and unless our two main political parties both go into opposition, with a new party at the helm, our country will find it very hard to push positively forward without peaceful coexistence. It might be a sustained one step forward and two steps backwards. I say this because the present political imbroglio was brought on initially because of the greed, unpatriotic and gormandising attitude of politicians especially in opposition powered by hate, calumny, badmouthing and sheer sadism.

Our country cannot continue to be besieged by political ignominies cooked and served by our own compatriots who we have given the opportunity to lead, be they in the presidency, Parliament, cabinet, ministries, Departments and Agencies. I can tell you for free that one of the safest jobs in Sierra Leone today is being a Member of Parliament and a cabinet Minister. Their facilities are far above the average Sierra Leonean Office worker with the same or better qualification. A stupid irony in our socio political scenario is that when the poor are squeezed dry to starvation that is the time those in governance jealously guard their privileges.

A lot of compatriots are of the thinking that instead of passing the economic burden to the poor those in top governance could forgo some of their privileges at least to show solidarity with the people they claim to work for. The recent over hundred percent hype in the electricity tariff, coming hot on the heels of the fuel price increase shows for the most part government insensitivity to the plight of the poor. Tell me why not reduce the fuel gallonage of ministers and other top governance personnel. What really is wrong in some 15 odd parties coming together in a Third force with the aim of ousting the two top political parties to opposition. You might tell me that even if that happens, citizens will not vote for them. And you really think it should always be the APC or the SLPP? See the current mess we are in!

There is the adage, “to shoot yourself in the foot,” but honestly for our two main political parties, they often actually shoot themselves in the mouth.

Many things were relaxed politically after the war, in order to ensure reconciliation, multi-party democracy. Even the main warring faction, the Revolutionary United Front formed its own party called the Revolutionary United Front Party (RUFP) and participated in the 1996 elections.

What has come out clearly especially in the past five years of the SLPP rule is that the All People’s Congress party had gained so much notoriety for hate and damaging propaganda against the SLPP and for the most part supporters of the SLPP have in like manner returned fire for fire. However the main stock in trade of the APC has been Mammy cuss, spearheaded by Holland based guy who goes by the name Adebayor.

What is worth noting is that in the first elections after the One Party Dictatorship the SLPP won while the APC had a disappointing distant 5th position, with its Presidential Candidate Edward Turay’s votes being a paltry 5.2 garnering only 5.2 %.

Most of our fourteen –or- so opposition political parties have been either fragmented or not just strong enough to merit the name. It’s like everybody forming parties to be a Presidential candidate albeit a losing one right through the ages. So there has been the dominance of the APC and the SLPP which has been prolonged rancour between the two and security apprehension. While one would want strong opposition parties, they themselves are often a problem unto themselves.

During the First Term of President Bio the APC’s opposition to many Government actions led to confrontations that claimed the lives of youth and security apparatus. Ghastly pictures, some not even from Sierra Leone were paraded in diaspora demonstrations for the Government to look bad in the eyes of the international community.

Quite a few problems can be attributed to Opposition parties. They could be quite divisive. From what we continue to see, the opposition parties have a tendency to divide the people. In an ethno-regional political situation that we find ourselves, it is very easy to pitch one set of people against another mostly against the party in power, using tribal and regional sentiments. This has been the case in Sierra Leone with a high cost! In our instance, in all this, we see the main Opposition not only “shooting itself in the foot”, but sometimes actually “shooting itself in the head”

Now we hear of efforts by the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission making efforts, with support of some International Bodies to try to weather the impasse between the Government and the Opposition APC. Some people doubt what the talking points will be and others even do not see a need for the “dialogue” as proposed. The vamping up of lies and propaganda against the government

When some parties go into opposition, they become too impatient to wait for the next elections. They resort to undemocratic means to unseat the government. Generally they make the government look bad. All these lead to insecurity and instability.

Another disadvantage of having an unpatriotic opposition is the use of misinformation on social media, peddling untoward lies against the government for the gullible population to have anti-government feelings and vote them out. They criticize just for the sake of it.

Some opposition parties virtually oppose anything as long as it is proposed by the ruling government. This attitude does not promote sustained development.

At the height of hate, some opposition even ask malcontents to overthrow the government so that they can have an opportunity to take power.

Some political opposition can oppose the ruling government to the point where they try to overthrow it through unorthodox means. Some even support coup attempts against the ruling government as long as it would create an opportunity for them to come to power. We have seen the fiercest infractions especially on social media lambasting and lampooning the Presidency and his government in a manner we have never witnessed in this country. This is why whichever way the election results go, it will be challenging to have sustained cohesive and peaceful country. As a country we happen to be in a besieged city, the only difference is that although those outside want to come in, those inside don’t want to go out. No country can definitely progress it is especially split politically and ethnically right down the middle. At the height of hate, some opposition even ask malcontents to overthrow the government so that they can have an opportunity to take power.

Elections are not won by myths but by supporters casting their ballots for the candidate of their choice. Democracy might not be working very much for Africa but the west tell us it is yet the Best form of governance never mind if in the last US elections opposition elements scaled the walls of the Capitol with the intension of causing mayhem!