By Alpha Amadu Jalloh
Mr. President, did I just hear right? Did your Chief Minister, Dr. David Moinina Sengeh, whom you have elevated to heights unknown to the average qualified Sierra Leonean, declare that the National Identity Card will now serve as the Voter ID card for the upcoming General and Presidential Elections? Mr. President, really? Is this how low we’ve allowed governance to sink? This statement, sir, is not only reckless and ill-informed but also an affront to the democratic processes and electoral integrity of our nation.
Why on earth, Mr. President, should we depend on the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) for our electoral register? Since when did the NCRA become the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL)? Does your chief minister not understand the separation of roles and responsibilities in governance? Or has the government become a blur of confusion where everyone performs the duties of everyone else, except with zero accountability?
Mr. President, the role of the NCRA is to register citizens and residents for civil purposes, births, deaths, marriages, and the issuance of national identity cards. It is not, and I repeat, not, the constitutionally mandated body to prepare the electoral roll or oversee elections. That sacred responsibility belongs solely to the ECSL. So why then, sir, is your administration making it appear as though the NCRA is now the kingmaker of Sierra Leone’s electoral system?
Does Dr. Sengeh, with all his Ivy League accolades and social media wit, not realize that the NCRA register includes foreigners, legal residents, yes, but not citizens? Are we now going to allow non-citizens to vote in our national elections simply because they carry an ID card issued by the NCRA? Mr. President, do you not see the democratic disaster you are brewing?
Are we going to discard decades of electoral procedures, voter verification processes, and institutional safeguards just because your government wants a shortcut to control the voter roll? Have you and your advisers even glanced at the electoral laws of Sierra Leone? Do you understand what you’re tampering with? “Wetin really don happen to you ba?” As we say in Krio.
Mr. President, I ask again, what is the ECSL there for if their job is now being hijacked by another body? Why do we fund this institution if the NCRA can just waltz in and assume its duties?
This is not only an overreach but also a “constitutional violation.” The 1991 Constitution, flawed though it may be, still remains the guiding document of this nation. It clearly outlines the independent role of the Electoral Commission. Why is your government so determined to dilute that independence?
Or is this all part of a wider plan? Is this a strategy to rig the 2028 elections before we even get to the campaign season? Mr. President, Sierra Leoneans are watching, especially those of us who will not be silenced, no matter the traps set for us.
Now, lest I forget, what happened to Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Umar Sheriff? We remember the high-profile statements, the media buzz, and the public posturing. Your Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Alpha Sesay, was quick to appear knowledgeable on the matter, though many of us know him for complicating things rather than clarifying them. Since then? Absolute silence. Did the file go missing? Was there a phone call from above to drop the case? Was this just another media distraction to shift attention from the rot within your administration?
Transparency, Mr. President, is not a luxury; it’s a duty. And your silence is deafening.
Speaking of silence, let’s talk about your anti-corruption tsar, Mr. Francis Ben Kaifala, the man with the million-dollar wedding. Mr. President, while the rest of the country wades through poverty and economic hardship, Kaifala parades himself as a saint with Gucci shoes and luxury receptions. A man entrusted with fighting corruption is openly engaging in the very acts the commission should be condemning.
We now know that Mr. Kaifala is not just your attack dog; he’s also a wannabe politician, actively campaigning to replace you. The problem is not just his ambition but the way he is allegedly siphoning public funds to fuel that ambition. And you, Mr. President, are not only turning a blind eye, but you’re also enabling it.
Can we now conclude that corruption is no longer an aberration in your government but the very system itself?
Oh, and before I end, I must ask about your daughter. Yes, your daughter, who was appointed to a diplomatic post in New York, supposedly to serve the nation, but whom many say was there to enjoy the perks of proximity to power. Mr. President, it has been months since she was quietly removed from that position, yet no statement has been issued to clarify why.
Is she back in the country? Has she been reassigned? Or was she dismissed? Why the secrecy? If this were anyone else’s child, it would have made headlines and possibly sparked an investigation. But in the land of your presidency, all is swept under the rug, so long as the family name is preserved.
Where are the press releases we deserve as citizens? Where is the accountability? Or has the entire government become a family-run enterprise where transparency is optional?
Mr. President, I know you are not happy with these questions. I know you and your followers would prefer a silenced Fox. I am aware of the machinery already being set in motion to clamp down on dissent, to intimidate the outspoken, and to paint us as enemies of progress. But sir, let me make one thing very clear:
Alpha Amadu Jalloh, “The Fox,” is not afraid. Fear was the first thing that died in my world.
I speak not because I hate you, but because I love this country too much to let it drown in the sea of silence and sycophancy. I criticize not to gain attention, but to ensure that Sierra Leone does not sleepwalk into another democratic nightmare.
Mr. President, your tenure is not eternal. You will leave office one day, sooner or later, and history will be the judge of how you governed. Will it say you presided over reform and progress, or will it lament that you destroyed the foundations of democratic governance?
Let me remind you, Mr. President, that Sierra Leone is greater than any individual, any party, or any presidency. And the people of this country, no matter how weary, still carry the power of change.
You may control the police. You may dominate the airwaves. You may manipulate the processes. But you cannot silence the will of a determined people forever.
So I say this with every ounce of clarity I have to fix this mess. Withdraw that reckless proposal from Dr. Sengeh. Reinstate the ECSL to its rightful position. Investigate your ministers without fear or favour. And for once, Mr. President, show the leadership that this country desperately needs.
Until then, I remain a citizen. Critic. Patriot.
