Like APC, Like SLPP

By Barry Whyte, SLPP North America

There was a time when party members referred to the SLPP as the Republican party- the Grand Old Party. I wonder if they still believe that mantra, as they view the shambolic mess that the Republican Party has become under Trump. His supporters don’t care what Trump does or says, being caught in a cultish trance of their leader, come rain or shine.

Most of us spent expended our time, finances and energy towards helping the SLPP to come to power but are now viewed suspiciously by self-absorbed navel gazers who view any critique of the present leadership in Freetown with intolerant rage. We continue to defend our government in other fora; so kindly get the hell outta the way and allow us to criticize and hold them accountable whenever they do the wrong thing that will have an inimical impact on the fortunes of the party for years to come.

I engaged my APC friends during the election campaign. They were cocksure that they were going to win the election, by virtue of them running the government. How they got it all wrong! They had no idea that the international observers/community had other ideas.

Now, distressingly, this government is now thinking and behaving in the same fundamentally flawed way. The same International community that gave Ernest Koroma and the APC an unforgettable slap is watching and waiting for President Bio. This silly idea that you can use brute force to cow the country and run the numbers in an election is not going to work. It will only unleash an unmitigated disaster.

The disrespectful behaviour and arrogance of some of these Ministers and government officials is repugnant and should give us cause for alarm. The nouveau rich Ministers and close friends of the President are disdainful even towards party members who financially contributed, campaigned, and voted for this government: supporters who spent blood and treasury to ensure an SLPP victory.

There have been instances when Ministers and top government officials harassed and disrespect and evil jail innocent citizens, and we are expected to shut up and salute when we know full well that the fortunes of our dear party would be impacted for years down the line. My nephew, for example, was kidnapped and jailed by Minister Dennis Sandi for his land. When he was in prison, he met a contemporary there -an auditor at a certain ministry who had been locked by the Deputy Minister because he did not like the answer the auditor gave him at a meeting. Now, Dennis Sandi and others are using the VP to harass and threaten his own Fulla brothers: Bad and dangerous politics.

Another Deputy Minister whose wife holds two positions in another ministry very recently also disrespected and used all sorts of invectives against a top party elder in the presence of the Minister who said nothing. I can go on and on. President Bio needs to take charge and put a leash on some of these abrasively arrogant cabinet Ministers. Don’t wait until it is two years to the 2023 elections and asks people for you to cajole us with an insincere mantra of us coming together in the interest of the party.

I assure the President that it will be too late by then. The people will be suspicious and will look at this with extreme displeasure. Act now, Mr. President, and stop this madness. We’re not looking good in the eyes of the International community. We are also not looking good in the eyes of the people. What is happening today with the Republican party under Trump is what is happening to the SLPP party under you.

I pause for now.

Barry Whyte

The Senator