By Richmond B Tholley
Indiscipline and lawlessness are among the two vices that have negatively affected and slowed down the growth and advancement of Sierra Leone and its people.
A countless number of developmental projects have not only dwindled but died a natural death because of lawlessness. Patients have died in hospitals, innocent citizens died in road accidents, and school buildings collapsed because of the lawless behaviors of some of our compatriots.
Before assuming power in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio promised citizens of Sierra Leone that he would not only fight against lawlessness and indiscipline but would make sure that lawless citizens irrespective of tribe, political affiliations, and, or class are prosecuted and punished.
Except few others, the majority of Sierra Leoneans were not only pleased but also prayed that the proclamations of the then opposition leader and now President of the Republic of Sierra Leone didn’t end up being mere pronouncement that was meant to to score political goals.
Sierra Leoneans’ wish was that President Bio would use all legal instruments enshrined in our 1991 Constitution if not entirely eradicate but minimize these two enemies in our country.
Having completed his five-year mandate and now a second-term president, the question every right-thinking citizen of Sierra Leone must ask today is whether Julius Maada Bio has minimized lawlessness.
Others might have a different perspective from mine, but in my opinion as a citizen of Mama Salone, either the president has been hesitant to take action or may be afraid of the aftermath of any future unrest in the country, but lawlessness and indiscipline are on the increase and alarming.
This is because, in Sierra Leone, the corrupt and lawless people will always have a way to fight back.
However, the fact is that President Julius Maada Bio must wake up from slumber now or else lawlessness and indiscipline will over almost every facet of our society.
What anyone can not deny currently is that though the ordinary Sierra Leonean is faced with a plethora of economic challenges the monster of lawlessness is making things worse for the majority.
And to be sincere, the majority of the population is everyday feeling the pinch of these two menaces.
In recent years, politically motivated and unnecessary protests have caused the State to several innocent compatriots including members of our security forces, civilians, and, their properties. A lot of families are bereaved because their loved ones have been killed in politically motivated unrest orchestrated by some section of lawless citizens.
Public properties were burnt and or destroyed and corruption is increasing.
Unfortunately, most of those igniting mayhem are walking freely instead of being brought to justice.
Businesses were disrupted on many occasions but those behind those ugly occurrences are left free either because they’re sympathizers of the ruling party or they are powerful people from the country’s two main political parties.
Even as I type citizens are under immense suffering because of a partial curfew imposed on them as a result of the actions of a few lawless Sierra Leoneans.
Our people are afraid of going out to fend for their living because of the threat posed by the attackers.
While I commend the government and the security forces for defiantly standing tall against those attackers who want to hold a once peaceful nation hostage for personal gains, let me also register my utmost displeasure to President Bio and his government.
Throughout his tenure, our country has witnessed an increase in lawlessness and indiscipline.
Senseless and unlawful killings of innocent citizens, immorality, “mammy cusses”, and other unlawful acts are the order of the day and every day increasing.
Several Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora are using social media to inject hatred, tribalism, and venom into citizens back home.
Government ministers and public officials are seen publicly preaching tribal slurs without consequences.
Sierra Leone, our country is a member of a plethora of international organizations, but why is President Bio not using that power to draw the attention of the leadership of countries harboring those citizens in the diaspora that are fanning tribal conflicts on social media?
The President promised to protect us and he was under oath but it seems some few lawless compatriots are bent on taking our nation to the days of carnage where law and order weren’t respected and obeyed.
And the country’s leadership appears to be taking the fight against lawlessness lightly.
Nonetheless, what I can assure any Sierra Leonean is that the majority of citizens are not ready to be taken back to the days of rebellion. In whatever circumstances, the President must be tactful enough to free this nation and its people from the shackles of lawlessness and indiscipline.
The public outcry and wallowing seem to be distracting the President who is the fountain of honor.
And it mustn’t allowed to happen because we can only prosper as a nation with zero tolerance for lawlessness.
For this fight to be taken seriously, the first gentleman must ensure members of his party especially those holding public offices serve as examples. And the law must be allowed to operate impartially and fairly to whosoever offends it without discrimination on political, tribal, and regional lines.
There is a price (s) every Sierra Leonean leader has to pay if only we are serious about defeating these two common enemies in our land.
Character assassination is one of the prices you will pay, your opponents, critics, and the opposition will call you names.
You either ignore critics and opponents and move on with your fight so that posterity will judge you kindly and history will remember you as one of your country’s heroes or you failed.
Biblically, the wrath of the Lord will befall anyone who fails to deliver or fulfill a promise he/she is under oath for.
It’s left to you now to either allow Mama Salon to be captured by a few lawless and selfish individuals under your watch and leadership or redeem your people.
