By Alpha Amadu Jalloh
Mr. President, what is really going on? This is not a rhetorical question. This is not political banter. This is not opposition noise. This message is the cry of a concerned citizen, a patriotic Sierra Leonean, watching his country drift into a dangerous and shameless abyss under your leadership. It is one of the many questions that echo across the nation in market squares, street corners, university halls, and even in the silence of hungry households.
Mr. President, are you genuinely committed to the well-being of this country? We stood in line under the sun and rain. We voted for you with high hopes. We believed your promises of “New Direction.” We thought you were the man with the vision to transform Sierra Leone. But what do we see now? You want to hand over power to your wife?
Let’s not play games with the intelligence of the people. The recent utterances of some parliamentarians, supposedly elected to represent the people, claiming that your wife is the next president of Sierra Leone, are not only insulting but also dangerous. It exposes a deeper, calculated attempt to turn this country into a personal kingdom.
Aw ba yu feel say na yu papa get Salone? That’s the question everyone is now asking. You seem to forget that this nation is not your backyard, and we, the people, are not your tenants. Sierra Leone belongs to all of us. You were elected to serve, not to rule like a monarch grooming a successor from your household.
Mr. President, why are you playing with the minds of the people? This is not about gender. This is about credibility. This is about ethics. This is about leadership. And the unfortunate truth is, your wife has not demonstrated any of these traits. Instead, what we have seen is a pattern of arrogance, corruption, and open disregard for accountability.
Let’s go back to the very beginning: your inauguration. Even then, when the nation was celebrating a new chapter, your wife was already allegedly dipping her hands into the coffers of the state. And the $3 million spent on office furniture? Let’s not even pretend we’re shocked anymore. That’s the trend we’ve come to expect: lavish spending, zero transparency, and total impunity.
Mr. President, how do you expect people to keep silent? We cannot, and we will not. Because this silence is what has allowed a culture of corruption to thrive. This silence is what has created the false impression that the people don’t care. But we do care. Deeply. And when the time comes, we will express that in the only way that truly matters in a democracy, through the ballot box.
And while we are talking about the abuse of institutions, let’s address another disturbing issue. What is going on with the Sierra Leone Football Association (SLFA)?
Was it by coincidence that the president of the SLFA was arrested just as your preferred candidate was getting ready to contest the leadership? Or was it another textbook example of how your government manipulates the system to get what it wants?
We have watched you turn the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into a tool of selective justice. The same ACC that failed to address the billion-leone scandals under your nose is now going after football administrators? Are we fools, Mr. President?
Be careful. You are walking along a dangerous path. The arrogance of power can be blinding. But history is full of lessons, lessons you are refusing to learn. You have now offended every major sector of our society. The press is muzzled. Civil society is wary. The judiciary is compromised. The youth are unemployed and disillusioned. Even members of your own political party are beginning to question your motives. So again, I ask you, what legacy do you hope to leave behind?
Mr. President, let me tell you something that you may not want to hear but absolutely must: the greatest threat to your presidency is not the opposition. It is your own wife.
Yes, let that sink in. Your wife is the architect behind many of the leaks and scandals tearing your government apart. In her ambition and hunger for power, she has opened the floodgates of betrayal from within. From the Jos Bolle scandal, involving your own daughter, to the videos that surfaced from your farm in Tihun, to the embarrassment in the church and the shady dealings surrounding Koidu Holdings, she was at the center of it all.
Many are whispering it. I am shouting at it. She is undermining your leadership, and yet you turn a blind eye. Why? Is it guilt from past indiscretions? Is it the lingering emotions from your past with Madam Zainab Kandeh? Whatever it is, Sierra Leone should not be the collateral damage in your personal affairs.
You are a president, not a puppet. And if you cannot control your household, how can you claim to control the nation? Mr. President, let me be very clear: Sierra Leone will not be ruled by a celebrity criminal.
Not today. Not in 2028. Not ever. This country has suffered enough. From war to Ebola to COVID-19 and now the ongoing economic hardship, we have survived more than most. But one thing we cannot survive is the betrayal of leadership.
Your wife is not a leader. She is not even “wife material,” as many women of this nation who carry dignity, humility, and strength rightly deserve to be called. Instead, she is a symbol of everything wrong with this administration: extravagance, corruption, and self-importance. And now you want to force her upon us? Mr. President, that will never happen.
And about this constitutional review you are secretly manipulating, do you think we don’t see? You are trying to amend the law, redraw the playing field, and change the rules just so you can maintain power in one form or another. But let me tell you this: the people are watching. They are listening. They are angry. You can control the police, but you can’t control the pulse of a nation.
Eventually, the truth will prevail. And when it does, all these moves, every act of political manipulation, every instance of abuse of power, every insult to our collective intelligence, will come back to haunt you and your entire cabal.
Mr. President, wake up before it’s too late. This is not just a plea. This is a warning. From the voices in Kailahun to the cries in Kabala, from the whispers in Waterloo to the frustrations in Freetown, your people are fed up. Not with politics, but with betrayal.
And if you think 2028 is a long way off, remember this: time is the enemy of every failing regime. It ticks slowly, then strikes swiftly. So, I ask you again, Mr. President, can we talk?
Can we talk not as enemies, but as Sierra Leoneans who both claim to love this country? Can we talk about the future, not just of your family, but of every family struggling in this nation?
Because if we can’t talk, then we will shout. And if we are not heard, then we will act. Peacefully but powerfully. Through unity. Through votes. Through resistance to any attempt to turn this democracy into a monarchy.
We are Sierra Leoneans. And we will not be ruled by fear.
