ThinkTank

By Umaru Fofana

When I ran for president of the Fourah Bay College students’ union in 1995, my four challengers and I relied on the gift of the gab to canvass for votes. I was an impoverished, emaciated-looking 22-year-old who struggled to get a square meal a day. I would wear two shirts throughout the week and did not care about ensemble, even if I was handsome and looked good in them.

By Umaru Fofana 
Once again Kono was in the news last week. And still is, as the pieces are being picked up in the aftermath of a by-election for an insignificant local council ward seat. Insignificant because its result was never going to impact on anything or prove any point, methinks. A sitting Vice President and a former Vice President went toe-to-toe, way beyond necessity to campaign and do everything else to win the seat. 

By Umaru Fofana

Sierra Leone’s two main political parties seem to be being led by hardliners. Hawkish and self-serving leaders who are mostly surrounded by people of their ilk. Led by their leadership, many members and supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) believe this is their turn to do as they wish and to fend off the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party who were no different when in office.

By Umaru Fofana

It would be disingenuous of anyone who said that they were happy with the way relationships are or have been among citizens of Sierra Leone in the last 11 years. In other words, it cannot be gainsaid that a significant section of the Sierra Leonean society is angry and feels marginalised. If relations were this frosty during the rebel war, the viciousness and carnage that characterised it would have paled into insignificance and come close to Rwanda proportions.

By Umaru Fofana

Mammy Iye, not her real name, travelled all the way from Boajibu in Kenema District to Freetown. Her son lived abroad. Every day for five days she would leave her Calaba Town lodge for the headquarters of the Sierra Leone Telecommunications (SLET). She would sit there for hours on end. She would patiently wait for that magic telephone call from her son.

By Umaru Fofana

The events of Friday 31 May at the headquarters of the opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party have brought under scrutiny yet again the Sierra Leone Police (SLP). It is an outfit which some love to hate or hate to love often depending on their personal interests. It is both one of the most disciplined and one of the most reckless police forces in Africa, largely depending on which side of the political divide someone stands. But how do we turn things around not least because there is nothing new in all this?

By Umaru Fofana

Victoria Yilliah had just returned from church when I arrived at her residence in Koindu, Kailahun District in eastern Sierra Leone. Beautifully dressed and wearing a nice perfume she hugged her son – her second but only child. She sang for him, caressed him, before readying him for food. Clearly she loves him. Obviously every mother loves her child, you may say. But this is a special relationship. “This child is my essence in the world today” she told me.