Why Have Political Parties Failed To Develop Salone Satisfactorily

By Amin Kef Sesay

Our political leaders were very optimistic about the country’s future at Independence. They hoped to transform the newly independent country so that the citizens would enjoy the fruits of Independence, as colonial rule had brought only few benefits to the majority of the people. And indeed, they started well.

They formulated good policies for the social and economic development of their people.

School enrolment, for example, increased substantially in the first decade of independence. The road network was expanded and hospitals and clinics were built.

However, these impressive developments were soon overshadowed by many problems, some of which have still not been solved.

Our rulers have faced serious challenges in trying to unite their people. We inherited a State that had been created by Britain which consisted of different ethnic groups, religions and interests.

Unfortunately, our leaders have not made greater efforts to unite the different communities. Thus, members of each group have tended to identify themselves more with their ethnic group rather than with their country and loyalty to the ethnic group is often more important than loyalty to the State.

Sometimes political leaders even consciously promote ethnic discord in order to fulfill their selfish desires. Creating a viable nation-state (unity in diversity) from these different communities has been difficult.

The political parties in most independent States have compounded the problem. These parties, especially those formed during the period of the nationalist struggle for independence, were mostly ethnic or regionally based organizations.

Nationalist leaders had appealed mainly to their regions or ethnic groups for support. Even after Independence, these parties continued to operate like regional rather than national parties. This has led to serious political problems, especially during election periods.

The reason is that politics in post-independent Sierra Leone still centers around the distribution of resources, not on ideologies.

Sierra Leone’s two main political parties, the All People’s Congress (APC) and Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), for example, have suffered from being labeled regional parties.

Although the parties have made efforts to expand their support base, the APC is still perceived as a north-western based party and SLPP as south-eastern.

Whatever party is in power tends to allocate huge resources to their strongholds and appoint people from their regions to strategic positions, to the detriment and annoyance of people from other regions. It undermines the unity and stability of these States and is sometimes the primary cause of internal conflicts.

This problem is common in many other West African countries.