The ever raging animosity between the SLPP and the APC, with no end in sight, is ill omen for a country that has had an unfair share of calamities, be they natural or man- made. Although Sierra Leone has been placed 46 on the list of the World’s most peaceful countries and second only to Ghana in Africa, this does not add up to the looming time bomb that is ticking towards zero point. I think it was Former President Obama who said that if you have done something for 50 years it did not work, it’s time to change. We have tried out the Western democracy and have succeeded only with holding elections and handing power over to the winning Party.
Whoever thought democracy can work well in African countries with the multiplicity of ethnic groups must have been day dreaming. For one thing, most African constitutions place almost all the power in the hands of the president. We were placed under a one party state and it only led us to dictatorship and oppression which culminated into 11 years rebel carnage, the scars of which are still visible today. We also tried the multiparty democracy but it is now clear that only two parties, the APC and SLPP have what it takes to win elections. Like seriously they are the only parties that the people of Sierra Leone want to give power.
The characteristic trait of these two parties is that one is Northern dominated and the other is Southern dominated. Albeit one draws the majority of its support from the Northern and Western regions while the other draws the bulk of its support from the South and Eastern Regions of the country. Suffice it to say that ethnicity is not man made: nobody arranged the 16 tribes in Sierra Leone and placed them where they are and nobody decided on the numbers. Because of politics, ethnicity and regionalism has become big issues and have divided the country right down the middle.
The Bio Government is confronted with institutionalized hate from the APC main opposition party and it is doing everything and anything to put spanners in the Government works and make the country appear unsafe. The two parties are constantly trading calumnies and diatribes in a never-ending animosity. What has asacerbated the whole rancor is that their diaspora supporters are the most virulent flame fanners and social media hate speech propagandists. There seems no end in sight and the government and country is heavily beleaguered.
Given this ugly situation, I think one experimental way out is for the country to disband all political parties and operate as a no-party state like Uganda did at a stage in their political life in 1986. In 1986, President Yoweri Musoveni instituted a non-Party Movement. Political parties continued to exist but could not campaign in elections or field candidates. In our case I think our parties should be completely disbanded until the country achieves national cohesion and peace. And even there new criteria should be set to address the ethnic and regional divide. It worked for Uganda until a Constitutional referendum canceled this 19-year ban on multi-party politics in July 2005.
Democracy as practiced in Sierra Leone is yet to successfully demonstrate the concepts within it like people’s representation; citizen participation; ownership of programs; inclusivity of especially vulnerable and poor sectors of society. Most African countries are still battling with the issues that relate to the right of the people to decide who to and how they ought to be governed. As elucidated by scholars in the Book: No-Party democracy in Uganda, Myths and Realities; one of the arguments for the movement system is that it is meant to build solidarity and forge national unity. The argument for multi-party democracy is that the right to associate is fundamental and should not be taken away by the state. In our own situation in Sierra Leone multi-partism is meant to be a political system rather than only an electoral mechanism or a means to acquire or retain state power. In Sierra Leone everything has been politicized. Continuity in governance has proven difficult as parties want to have tangible developments they can exclusively identify with as a campaign tool for the next campaign.
I think the issue in Sierra Leone is how to prevent “the winner taking all.” Now there is a big question: Under whose aegis will the no-party democracy start? Do we need an all-party interim government to be in charge to oversee the transition? How will the interim Body be selected or voted. The no-party system should open up the political space for other political actors to come on board; otherwise there will be little difference with the One- Party system. In Sierra Leone we have some 17 political parties but there are only about 5 having representatives in governance.
According to another scholar on the Movement Democracy, James Wapakhabulo the Movement democracy provided Uganda more stability than any other political system Uganda had had. He sees the movement as an inclusive political system which has succeeded in bringing democracy in Uganda.
Generally the emergence and proliferation of civil society structures and their growing political influence are a manifestation of the success of no-party democracy in Uganda. There is the concept of power sharing (decentralization or devolution of powers to local/regional authorities) among the various levels of government in a democratic state. This has proven a big challenge in Sierra Leone. This is mainly because of the Local Government elections also done on a partisan basis. This needs to change in development and the participation of citizens at micro levels in particular has to be promoted.
We can have many elections and change governments but if we have to have strong democracies, the focus should be less on the political parties; we need to find means to stronger democratization and democratic consolidation. Like I said earlier Sierra Leone has to achieve national cohesion and peace. To achieve this all political parties have to be disbanded at some stage and an interim Government formed, call it Government of National Unity to oversee a no-party election after say two years. I believe whatever initiatives are better than the current uncertainty caused by the rancor between the two main parties.
By Beny SAM