Dear President Koroma,
May I take this opportunity to congratulate you for your independence message to the people of Sierra Leone . A lot of other sober-minded Sierra Leoneans appreciated what you said. It will be recorded in our history. The only hold up, according to plenty people, is that you have not been acting on your words.
Sir, your all-out ceremony for what you called attitudinal change has not appealed to the hearts and minds of the people of Sierra Leone . Most people believe that you have missed the point. Sierra Leoneans are very peaceful people, loving and showing care for one another ever since.
Who told you the people of this country have bad and negative attitudes? It is the state machinery that has refused to change and work. Unfortunately, you have not identified that, and now you are going about wasting the little resources for a vague project. History has it that Europeans came to Sierra Leone for fresh fruits and fresh water. It clearly tells you that the ordinary Sierra Leonean is generous. It is the statesmen that have misused the people, played on their intelligence all these while because they are uneducated.
The ill-minded state machinery created the foundation for war. But even as we went to war, there was passion for internally displaced people – who left from one village to the other. In such a situation, people accepted to be their brothers keeper.
Sharing homes, food and whatever. The people shared their forests with strangers to farm at the heat of the war. To me and most people, the Salone man is safe. What we need is not attitudinal change but political change. The people have religious tolerance. What are the bad tricks you want people to change? Please respect the tradition and customs of Salone people.
The people have demobilized, rehabilitated and reintegrated at ease to the surprise of the international community. Just look what is happening in Rwanda , DR Congo, Uganda and Burundi- and even Iraq where Shiites, Sunnis and other groups are still killing themselves on ideology or tribal line.
Recently at Kenya , it was nasty there as tribes divided and vehemently destroyed themselves. So for the APC government to target our people for behavioral change is wrong. Sierra Leoneans are God-fearing people who will prefer to live in peace through inter-marriage, criss-crossing the nation at will. A southern man can freely live in the north, east or west.
Most political pundits believe that your concept is a sheer waste of time, resources and ill-defined.
The manner and way Victor Foh behaved on the day your concept paper on attitudinal change was delivered falls far below what is expected now.
He exhibited absolute nonsense, trivializing state affair as if people were talking about his village. He has the guts to insult the Head of State by pointing his fingers at him just to create a scene for himself. He is an ego maniac, who carefully plans his misbehavours. No one is saying Victor Foh's name should be spelt wrongly but was it timely for such an outburst?
Your concept failed right from where it was hatched. Victor Foh needs to be totally overhauled and another breed reproduced to replace what the Victor Foh we have now is manifesting. This is the man with allegations of corruption. Yet he still had the mind to stand at State House and behave in such a shabby way as most people believed.
A female diplomat said she was screwed to her chair with uneasiness when Victor Foh started misbehaving. It is not the people that have the problem. The state machinery has reduced the nation to such a poor nation. The state machinery flouts the laws they make; rogue the people of justice with so much anxiety for riches ever since independence; misappropriating the people's tax is the order of the day and misusing resources in favor of friends by putting square pegs in round and holes.
Please Mr. President, give the people a breathing space. Let the state machinery continue to ruin the people. The end will justify the means. Others believe the triumph of evil over good is temporary.
Mr. President if you are serious, you would have targeted the promotion of education in the country as a political change. The trend of things have shifted to technology, social sciences and the health sector. It is expected that a good political dispensation should heavily embark on the promotion of the science in our course curriculums. We should be talking of nuclear power, nuclear energy, climatologists, space explorers, mathematicians and health promoters.
You have not created special incentives for science teachers when you fully know that the nation needs engineers and paramedics. Let us move the education of our nation to what is obtainable in other parts of the world. We lack medical doctors but you have not made the political commitment to give science teachers extra allowances, motivate people to take up such professions. Of cause you know it take times to train labour.
Political change is the answer. Do you know that the government of Sierra Leone signs bond with all tertiary students that are offered grant in aid? Now is the time for the political change to ensure that what Sierra Leonean students signed with their government are implemented to the fullest. It is clear in the bond that after completion of studies, one should serve the nation for at least two years after which one will break and explore the world. In some countries, it is referred to as national service.
Recently I met with a Nigerian and a Kenyan at an international conference. I listened while these people were reminiscing over their national service in their countries after university - on their government's support.
It dawned on me that I wish I had similar opportunity. I will honestly tell you that I got Salone sponsorship in tertiary institution but did not return to honour the bond.
It will be very pertinent if your government starts to sincerely and diligently make use of the students that get the state sponsorship. What are we doing with our mathematics, physics, chemistry, and agriculture graduates? As long as they got government support, they should be sent to Kabala, Bonthe, Pujehun, Kambia and Koindu to teach the science subjects.
Most of these areas lack science teachers which speak for the poor performance of our students in public exams. You should direct your political change towards promoting sciences in the country. Give housing allowance, traveling and other incentives that will make life a bit simple for science teachers in the remote parts of the country.
How do you want John to stop urinating on the streets when there are no public toilets? A political change is needed not attitudinal change. Immorality gains ground in a tight and no alternative- situations.
It has been eight months now since APC took office and Hon. I.B. Kargbo is still sleeping over the Public Order Act and Freedom of Information Act. Why ask people to change their attitudes? It is political change that is needed. I. B is a disappointment. He is ungrateful to the people of Sierra Leone . I. B has not told you that the people want political change not attitudinal change. Your one year in office is wasted over sackings but it is not in the interest of the people.
But President Koroma, you and your cabinet minister have not declared your arrest and you waste your breath talking about attitudinal change. It is the political change that people want. Stop fooling the people.
The agriculture minister knows that you do not really understand what to do at this crucial time. Dr. Sesay is very unhappy because you have wasted all the nation's resources on your so called energy victory. But Dr. Sesay knows that it is only agriculture that will bring respite to the nation as a whole. Your five years programme for agriculture is not really what most people expected. The people want food and should embark on planting on the drive of the state.
But the government has not even identified that there is a need to return to our traditional crops- banana, sweet potatoes, cassava, beans and millets. Fertilizers are not needed for these crops. State machinery should increase incentives for farmers not attitudinal change. They should have access to irrigation through the efforts of state machinery.
According to Kofi Annan former UN Secretary General, “If you look around the world there are corrupt nations but are able to feed themselves.” He made this statement while expressing fear over the shortage of food in Africa in the near future.
The people of this country have no problem. The state machinery has always been faulty and your APC wants to shift the blame on the ordinary people. The state machinery formulates and implements at will. Political leaders are our problem. They have no moral standing and spend little time thinking about the situation in the country. People lack political change and not attitudinal change.
Yours Sincerely,
PEL Koroma
