By Ibraheem Daramy
My young cousin came holidaying from Australia, he didn’t see the change (on the high side) he’d expected. As a matter of fact, he was taken aback by the level of poverty. As we shared a meal in our typical Manden way, sitting on a mat, discussing in our native tongue, I couldn’t help but took a pause and gave him a surprise gaze. He wasn’t sure what to say, but he managed to mimick what later turned out to be an inadvertent question. “Nkodor, for big brother in Manden, why have you suddenly stopped eating, have I said anything offensive?”. I told him this had nothing to do with him, I was just giving in to fate. As a Muslim, the upbringing I had was one that forbids me from questioning what goes on around me. I was wired to believe all that happened was scripted.
He told me he saw some people leaving jobs overseas to come home and take up offices they would be paid less than half of what they used to earn – he said he didn’t see the logic. He said having watched them closely over the years, he can now tick the boxes as why they took the decision in the first place. Some of them were up against the clock in servicing their mortgages, he continued. But just few months on, they were back on a clean slate, not even for a parking ticket. But in hindsight, he realised those jobs were not about what was written on the letters detailing their remunerations, but rather it is more about what was never mentioned. My friends at the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) would classify it as unexplained wealth.
He shared my opinion that the party in opposition (shadow government), always have the keys to the nation’s problems, but once on the wheel, they veer off with reckless abandon. He said those who came home and had a say on the administration of Ernest Bai Koroma, were replaced by those who rooted for Julius Maada Bio immediately he was confirmed as having prevailed on the ballot. He said the current crop of diasporans, if you would, were up in arms with the administration that preceded the current one. Now, the two sides have traded places – though those in opposition are praying for a quick return to the summit. There’s no arguing the beautiful ones are yet to be conceived.
He told me how embarrassing it feels when he’s constantly reminded about his country’s natural wealth. This could probably be a benign way of reminding him he has no business looking for where the grass is more greener – after all he’s coming from a country where grass grows on top of a place as impossible as a minaret. Such is its favourable weather condition.
I have witnessed where those in the opposition would call out a bad law, and promise to fix it when elected. I can’t believe the cherry picking that was done to the recommendations on the review of the 1991 constitution. The current administration, then in opposition, promised they are going to ensure our primary penal code reflects present day. Six years on, yet no white paper. Please do something about it, Justice Cowan (deceased) does not deserve this. But like its counterpart the All People’s Congress (APC), like the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). Something is only described to be wrong when they are at the receiving end of it. Both parties have effortlessly succeeded in programming their support bases to believe their woes will continue with or without them at the helm – depending on whom you talk to.
