A country’s constitution goes a long way to support that country’s governance which is a set of values policies and institutions by which a society manages its economic, political and social processes at all levels through interaction among government, civil society and the private sector. Governance is deemed to be good, if it tends towards the general progression of humankind on all fronts. There are three key elements: a healthy life; the acquisition of knowledge, and access to resources. Concepts like human rights, rule of Law, people’s power, participation and ownership all go in tandem with democracy and good governance. The 1991 constitution has some very critical areas that definitely need review as some of the provisions are now out of tune with the realities of today. Chapter II of our constitution under the fundamental principles of State policy outlines the relationship of the government and the people. In Section 5 (1) it state: The republic of Sierra Leone shall be a state based on the principles of freedom, Democracy and justice. Unfortunately we are having many challenges of all-three. The constitution sates clearly that sovereignty belongs t the people of Sierra Leone from whom government derives authority and legitimacy.
Oh just remembered king fisher’s music, Nar Politics Put we Behen. There is so much truth in this. Just check it out we have politicized almost everything and this is why we are having stunted development. The issue of citizenship is as elusive as reducing poverty or rooting out corruption in a typical African country like ours. I must say that as a nation we have for so long treated the issue of citizenship with a lot of levity. It really comes up mainly during elections. I can well remember a classic case during the election of President Kabbah for the Second term. The Mandingos and other ethnic groups that have the prefix Tana in their languages decided to form the Tana association and openly declared support for Pa Kabbah. But generally we are quite relaxed on citizenship. It is only recently that the Immigration Department is getting serious on permits for stay in this country. The dynamics of citizenship is quite dicey. At the time the Colonists were drawing the country boundaries in Africa, they did not quite consider the ethnic factor but more the natural landmarks like rivers. So tribes like Kissy, Mandingo, Susu, Yalunkas and Foulahs living especially at the borders were split between Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea-Conakry in the Mano River Basin. What has been happening is that in times of election, every Tom, Dick and Harry is allowed to register, even if under-aged. No proper screening and scrutiny are done.
Years back it was easy to tell a Foulah who had just arrived in Sierra Leone from their sheer way of speaking. No the situation has changed they easily adapt and speak krio fluently. Today it is difficult to know which Foulahs came from Guinea and those whose parents originated from Sierra Leone. When we come to people with Arab or European origins, from the 60s and early 70s we had Syrians as the main migrants to Sierra Leone. Most of them stayed up country mainly at chiefdom level owning shops and buying produce like coffee and cacao. Then later we started having Lebanese. Most of them lived in the cities and bigger towns. They quickly adjusted to the lifestyle of sierra Leoneans. Some have even married Sierra Leone women. One thing though Sierra Leoneans are not happy that the foreigners do not let Sierra Leoneans marry their women but they marry Sierra Leonean women. Well this has nothing to do with citizenship. The most contentious clause in our laws is the one that talks about parents to be of negro African descent. What had been open to many of Lebanese origin is to be naturalized citizens.
What many people are looking to now is to remove that clause that puts people of non- African origin in a disadvantaged position. What perhaps is not yet clear is whether we should give citizenship to foreigners who already other citizenships. There are people now clamouring for Sierra Leone citizenship that have other nationalities. On the other hand the average Sierra Leonean has only Sierra Leone as his or her country. A key angle in our citizenship is the possession of Sierra Leone Pass port. There are people with Sierra Leone passports but are not Sierra Leoneans. There is an irony here and it is that the criteria for acquiring Sierra Leone passports include being a citizen of Sierra Leone. Are we going to tell anyone having a Sierra Leonean passport or the National ID Card that he or she cannot have Sierra Leone citizenship? You see our authorities through corruption have messed up big time in relaxing rules in acquiring Sierra Leone passport and the national ID cards.
For younger folks this country had seen very rich and powerful Lebanese like Late Jamil Sahid Mohamed. There was even a time when the Sierra Leone government of late President Siaka Stevens even borrowed money from Jamil; I think it was Le 3million. He was even allowed to sit in our Parliament until journalists mounted a campaign that got the decision to be reverted. Brother we have suffered in this country. I tell you. Let me make a point, not that majority of Sierra Leoneans have problems with widening up our citizenship like other countries. The general fear in the past was that since the foreigners dominated our economy, many thought it will be suicidal for them to also control the politics. Don’t forget that what qualifies someone to gun for the presidency is being qualified to run for parliament and one qualification is being a sierra Leonean Citizen. Do you see the link? There are countries where when once you want to get their citizenship, you have to denounce other citizenships including even you country of origin. Which way are we going Sierra Leone? Let me quote from our current constitution under political objectives: In section 6 (2) it says: Accordingly, the state shall promote national integration and unity and discourage discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, circumstances of birth, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties. Many people like honey but only a few are prepared to handle the bees. Well life is not the way it’s supposed to be…it’s the way it is. The way you cope with it makes the difference. Don’t you think Salone is blessed that even when they label us the poorest and most corrupt, there are many people who want to be citizens and share out poverty and corruption, strange world eh? Well even the cow knows that it was lucky that its child was not born with horns.
By Ben Cambayma
August 09, 2013
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