By Alpha Amadu Jalloh
Mr. President, today I come back to ask you a question that has been bothering so many Sierra Leoneans, especially the people of Kenema, who feel deeply insulted and betrayed. Mr. President, can you please explain to us, the people, why your Minister of Information decided to make fools of us? What exactly was the purpose of that empty and disgraceful show they called a presidential town hall meeting?
Your information minister went around telling the world that he was taking you to Kenema for a presidential town hall meeting. The people of Kenema prepared themselves. They waited in hope. They gathered their concerns and their questions. They endured the heat, the dust, and the frustration because they believed their president would finally look them in the eye and listen. But you, Mr. President, personally disrespected them. You did not come. You left them hanging. And instead of offering a sincere explanation, your ministry tried to cover up this shameful failure with childish excuses.
Mr. President, instead of just accepting the reality that you had no genuine reason for not being in Kenema, your ministry tried to twist words and play language games. They wanted us to believe that your absence was no big deal. They tried to tell us that your information minister is somehow a master of the English language. As if good English is what the people need. As if sweet-talking will fix broken promises, failed infrastructure, or hopeless youth.
Mr. President, the people of Kenema are not stupid. The people of Sierra Leone are not stupid. We know when we are being fooled. We know when someone is trying to dress up failure in flowery words. The truth is simple. You had nothing to say to the people of Kenema. That is why you stayed away. That is why you preferred to go to international events, where you prepared your speeches on the way and where you spoke whether or not you had anything meaningful to contribute. But when it comes to Kenema, when it comes to your own people, you have no message. No courage. No respect.
And then came the most insulting part. When the lie could no longer hold, your minister changed the story. He began to say no, it was never meant to be a presidential town hall meeting because the president was not there. He claimed that it was still presidential because your entire government was there, including your blue-eyed boy, David Moinina Sengeh. Is this what it has come to, Mr. President? That now a town hall is presidential because David Moinina Sengeh is present? Na wa o, really, Mr. President?
Mr. President, this is a joke taken too far. The people of Kenema deserved better. They deserved you. And if not you, at the very least your vice president. That is how leadership works. When the President is absent, the Vice President represents him. But where was the vice president? Why did he not come to stand in your place? Why was it that, according to your minister, it was David Moinina Sengeh who represented you? What does this mean for your vice president? Is he so useless in your eyes that you would bypass him to send David Moinina Sengeh?
One wonders what your vice president does with his time these days. Is he just sitting in his office all day playing bingo? Is that what it has come to? A vice president with nothing to do, nothing to say, no role to play, not even trusted enough to represent his president at such an important engagement? Mr. President, is this how you treat the second-in-command of this nation?
Mr. President, you need to understand that the people are watching. The people are thinking. The people are connecting the dots. What happened in Kenema was more than just a missed meeting. It was a revelation of how far removed you have become from the struggles and hopes of ordinary Sierra Leoneans. It exposed how low your government has sunk, relying on lies, wordplay, and cheap excuses instead of facing the people with honesty and humility.
The Kenema episode has become a symbol of your failure to connect with the people who once believed in you. It has shown us all that your government is more interested in image management than in real governance. You send your ministers to lie. You allow your information minister to insult our intelligence. You elevate those who flatter you while sidelining those who might actually offer sound advice.
Mr. President, I urge you to reflect. This is not sustainable. This is not leadership. The people want substance, not sweet words. They want presence, not absence. They want action, not excuses.
Kenema waited for you, and you let them down. Sierra Leone is waiting, Mr. President. How many more times will you disappoint? How many more times will you hide behind your ministers, your so-called town hall meetings, and your international trips? How many more times will you choose to run away from the truth?
Mr. President, it is time to stop the charade. It is time to face the people. The choice is yours. You can continue to play these games, to surround yourself with yes-men, to pretend that all is well. Or you can rise up, take responsibility, and start leading with integrity.
Kenema is watching. Sierra Leone is watching. And history is watching. What will your next move be, Mr. President?
