SLPP, a dysfunctional and unprogressive opposition that enjoys feeding from the gutters

By KABS KANU :

Sierra Leone has made tremendous progress within the last five years  in the socio-economic and political realms and the future holds nothing but promise for a nation that was once the least developed in the world.

 IF IT DOES NOT SMELL, IT IS NOT AN SLPP CAMPAIGN STRATEGY

Since President Ernest Bai Koroma came to power in 2007, even the international community and the country’s development partners have conceded that Sierra Leone is heading in the right direction. Not only are there infrastructural developments  that have made  the nation the envy of other West African states, but agriculture and the mining of the country’s precious resources have been revived  , while commercial  and business activities have taken a new dimension with our international airport at Lungi seething with investors  coming in every day to take advantage of the profound investment opportunities.

The President Koroma-led All People’s Congress ( APC) Government has  also set an indelible record in Sierra Leone in its  absolute respect for fundamental human rights and the tenets of the rule of law. Sierra Leone is therefore a haven today for pro-democracy activists, journalists, civil society , youth and women’s groups and peace and security reign in the land. Since Independence, Sierra Leoneans have never had it so good, thanks to the inspiring leadership of President Koroma.

However, one area of life in Sierra Leone that is causing concern even to the international community is the calibre of the opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP ). Though it is the oldest political party in Sierra Leone, the SLPP  has failed to grow  OR change with the times and cannot therefore fit into the nucleus of the country’s new dispensation. A party that never fights a cause larger than its own , and that has not engaged in any sustainable and visible socio-economic and political development in Sierra Leone, the SLPP has remained the most barren, unprogressive and unproductive political institution in the country. Just as it is impossible to point fingers on any good road, impressive building or other architectural project that was constructed by the SLPP,  so you cannot pinpoint any democratic or constitutional milestone that could be credited to the SLPP. The party spent 11 years in power between 1996 and 2007 and there is absolutely no completed development project that the SLPP  can lay claim to in all Sierra Leone. All that the SLPP  is good at  are fermenting trouble,  promoting nepotism, corruption, tribalism ,  regionalism and backwardness. Another major feature of the SLPP is that it tries to earn its mojo by feeding off the gutters.

A business man makes unsubstantiated complaints  on the internet that things did not go well with  his investment dealings with the Vice-President , Hon. Samuel Sam-Sumana (Before he became VP) and  without first checking the veracity of these claims or understanding the motive of the accuser, the SLPP is ready to run off with it , make mountains out of molehills  AND use it  as a campaign strategy  for the forthcoming elections . How petty and banal. Ironically , the party has put up a proven thief and murderer as its presidential candidate, but instead of addressing that problem, they are in the gutters feeding and surfacing with any slime that they believe will provide them an advantage in the elections . How hypocritical ! ! ! How low can a political party sink  ! !  Are scraps from the gutters all the SLPP have in their armory for the November elections ? No wonder they are not making any gains and the APC  is busy capturing their strongholds from them.

Sierra Leoneans now know that the SLPP  has nothing impressive or credible to present to the them by way of a socio-economic and political blueprint for national development. The only strategy in their mantra is dirt obtained from the sewers . The international community has also read through the SLPP  and realized that it is not a  progressive party which is why the complaints of the party are not being taken seriously. Since the government came to power in 2007, the SLPP  has made many frivolous complaints to the international community but none has been taken seriously. While the SLPP is busy playing “Crybaby” , President Koroma continues growing magnificently in international stature and respect. Everywhere, from the corridors of the UN,  to the portals of the EU, World Bank, IMF, AU, ECOWAS and DFID, it is praise and respect for President Koroma for his transformational development projects in Sierra Leone. At the same time, the SLPP Presidential candidate, the thief and murderer Maada Bio, cannot even get an entry visa into the U.S ! ! !  Yet, all the SLPP  can do is slime-mongering. I am seriously disappointed that Dr. Kadi Sesay, a woman I respect profoundly, associates herself with such a party.

If  scabs from the sewers are all the SLPP  rely on , they will lose the forthcoming elections with costs.  When they enter the polling stations on November 17, Sierra Leonean will  not be moved by the vain and foolish attempt by the SLPP to cast President Koroma as a corrupt man. Sierra Leoneans  know better. Sierra Leoneans are not only aware that the SLPP Presidential candidate, Maada Bio , is a pauper in comparison to the prince that is President Koroma,  integrity-wise; they know that President Koroma is the cleanest Head of State we have ever had in Sierra Leone. They know too that the SLPP Flagbearer Maada Bio is a thief , having been exposed by no less a personality  than  the last SLPP President , Dr. Ahmed Tejan Kabbah , who did not actually surprise the nation when he exposed the fact that as junta leader, Bio fleeced Sierra Leone of millions of dollars from racketeering in the country’s passports and helicopter parts. Sierra Leoneans are also aware that Maada Bio is a killer who has confessed to collective responsibility in the extrajudicial murders of 29 innocent people during his days in the junta. To Sierra Leoneans, Maada Bio is bad news , unfit for the presidency. They know that Bio has nothing good to offer Sierra Leone.  No wonder his party is so interested in  filth from the gutters. That is the only way they feel they can gain power.

The SLPP can continue scavenging the gutters for dirt against President Koroma because they have been used to living in the gutters . They and their supporters in the diaspora  , who are dirt-hunters,  and their ragsheets like the NEW PEOPLE , live perpetually  in the gutters and thus must continue to  peddle gutter stuff as campaign materials . They spend their time in forums trading dirt with their opponents. For President Koroma and the APC Government, what is important is continuing to deliver the immaculate socio-economic and political developments that have made Sierra Leone the pride of many nations . President Koroma will never be deterred by the SLPP’s campaign of dirt and scum-mongering . President Koroma has a mission, which is  to make Sierra Leone a stronger, wealthier and more progressive nation and that is what the President will concentrate on.

When all is said and done, the Sierra Leonean people will remember not the scum peddled by the SLPP but the marvelous  progress delivered  to the nation by President Koroma.

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