By Alpha Amadu Jalloh, author of Monopoly of Happiness: Unveiling Sierra Leone’s Social Imbalance. Recipient of the Africa Renaissance Leadership Award 2025.
In a country battered by political betrayal, economic decline, and social hardship, the last thing Sierra Leoneans expected was to be told that we are a nation of thieves and liars by a so-called man of God. Yet that is precisely the spiritual mockery imported into our land under the administration of President Julius Maada Bio, through Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills, whose recent visit can only be described as a direct insult to the soul and spirit of this magnificent nation.
How dare he? How dare this previously unknown preacher from Ghana come to our land, not with a message of hope, healing, or redemption, but with condemnation, judgment, and mockery? His words were not a call to repentance but a sweeping generalization of Sierra Leoneans as inherently wicked. This was not prophecy; it was profanity wrapped in robes of hypocrisy.
Sierra Leone is not a perfect country. Like any nation, we wrestle with moral, social, and spiritual failings. But we are not a godless people. Ours is a land filled with men and women of deep faith, Christians and Muslims alike, who trust in the Almighty for their daily bread, justice, and peace.
Our sin is not that we are liars or thieves by nature. Our sin is that we continually elect men and women, across all political parties and religious affiliations, who are not God-fearing, who exploit their positions, and who neither reflect the values of Jesus Christ nor those of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). These leaders have hijacked our national morality and spiritual consciousness. And now, they are using religion itself to shame us further by importing charlatans in clerical garb.
Let us be clear: Evangelist Dag Heward-Mills’ remarks were not aligned with the spirit of Jesus Christ, who said in Matthew 9:12-13, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Nowhere in the teachings of Christ do we find license for spiritual arrogance or insults disguised as prophecy. The Bible explicitly rebukes those who look down upon others. In Romans 2:1, it says, “You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself.”
If this so-called evangelist were truly sent by God, he would have come in humility, with a message that heals, not wounds; a message that unites, not divides. Instead, his sermon was a tirade of insults. And shamefully, his interpreter added fuel to the fire, referring to Sierra Leoneans as “Anyampis,” a dehumanizing label meaning beggars or parasites. Is this Christianity? Is this spiritual leadership?
President Julius Maada Bio, a man who claims to be a believer, must answer for this disgrace. In his effort to showcase religious alignment and spiritual transformation, he has instead opened the gates to spiritual abuse. Instead of promoting genuine men of God from Sierra Leone’s rich faith community, he chose to honor a foreign preacher who belittled us on our own soil.
This is not leadership. This is betrayal—spiritual, political, and national.
Had this happened in any other proud nation, the evangelist would have been declared persona non grata immediately. He would have been escorted out of the country before the night fell. But in Sierra Leone, we take every insult quietly. Why? Because we have grown too tolerant of disrespect. We believe everything is the will of God, even when it is clearly the will of corrupt and cowardly men.
And what about our own pastors, imams, and religious leaders? Why the silence? Why the smiles? Why the endorsement of spiritual mockery? If our religious leaders do not stand for the dignity of their people, then they stand for nothing. You cannot remain neutral when the soul of your nation is insulted from the pulpit.
This silence is a betrayal of the sacred duty to defend truth and dignity. Sierra Leone has birthed many great men and women of God, those who preach peace, repentance, justice, and compassion. They deserve our platforms, not imported mockers.
To the Sierra Leonean religious community, your silence is deafening. Your inaction is complicit. And your tolerance for such abuse only emboldens more foreign “preachers” to think they can say anything to us without consequence.
We need to return to a place where leadership, both political and spiritual, is rooted in fear of the Almighty. The Book of Proverbs 29:2 tells us, “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked bear rule, the people mourn.”
And again, in Exodus 18:21, God gives a command to Moses: “But select capable men from all the people, men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain, and appoint them as officials.”
Where are these men and women in Sierra Leone? Where are those who lead not for power or money, but out of love for God and country?
Let us pray:
“Almighty God, raise among us leaders who tremble at Your Word, who fear Your wrath more than they desire wealth, who walk humbly, and who serve sacrificially. Remove from among us those who spread mischief in the land. As it is written in Isaiah 1:17: ‘Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.’ Amen.”
Sierra Leoneans have been patient, perhaps too patient. We have watched our leaders loot our treasury. We have seen our institutions rot. We have watched criminals become honorable and honest men become fugitives. Now, we are being insulted spiritually, and still, we remain calm.
The government is busy taking selfies with the very people disrespecting us. Our First Lady disrespects us with her flamboyant lifestyle, the President travels the world while ignoring disasters at home, and Parliament has become a resting ground for ghetto boys-turned-politicians whose only qualification is loyalty to the ruling party.
Now, our sacred identity as a spiritual people has been defiled by a man who shouldn’t have made it past the airport. This is unacceptable.
Sierra Leoneans must draw a line. The Church must say “No!” The mosque must say, “Enough!” And the citizens must rise, not in violence, but in dignity and boldness, to reclaim our honor.
We are not a nation of liars and thieves. We are a nation of people who love God and want a better future. What we need is not imported condemnation, but honest national introspection. What we need is a new generation of leaders, political and religious, who reflect the heart of God, not the arrogance of men.
Let this be the last time a man walks into our land, insults our people, and walks away applauded. Let this be a turning point. Let this be a wake-up call.
We are not “Anyampis.” We are Sierra Leoneans. And we deserve respect.
