By Alpha Amadu Jalloh
Sierra Leone did not gradually arrive at this point. It lurched into it. What feels unbearable today is not the existence of problems, but the speed with which multiple failures surfaced together. The country looks the same, yet it is not. The language of governance has hardened. The space for honesty has narrowed. The suffering of ordinary people has intensified, while those in power appear insulated, confident, and disturbingly casual about the damage unfolding beneath them.
The political turmoil now gripping Sierra Leone is raw and unapologetic. It is no longer dressed up as reform, unity, or national interest. It shows itself plainly in broken trust, open factionalism, and a leadership class that behaves as though the state is a personal project. Power is no longer exercised with caution. It is wielded with entitlement.
One of the most poisonous undercurrents of this period is the unchecked spread of drugs. This is not a social problem confined to margins. It is national rot. Communities are watching their young people disappear into addiction while authorities issue statements instead of solutions. Drug dens operate with confidence. Dealers move without fear. Parents bury shame alongside their children’s futures. The state’s response has been weak, inconsistent, and unconvincing. A government that cannot protect its youth from narcotics has surrendered its moral authority, no matter how polished its speeches may sound.
Then comes the embarrassment that should have triggered decisive action but instead exposed selective seriousness. The presence of Jos Leijdekkers in Sierra Leone was not just a security issue; it was a credibility crisis. The slow, hesitant, and visibly uncomfortable handling of that situation sent a clear message. Some people are pursued aggressively. Others are handled gently. In a country where poor youths are harassed daily for suspicion alone, tolerance toward an internationally wanted figure was indefensible. Justice appeared negotiable, and the nation noticed.
While citizens struggle to survive, Parliament is consumed with the 2025 constitutional amendments. The Parliament of Sierra Leone should be addressing hunger, unemployment, and social breakdown. Instead, it is busy rearranging power structures. Constitutional reform is being treated like a political convenience rather than a solemn national duty. The haste, the timing, and the lack of genuine public engagement make one thing clear. This exercise is not about strengthening democracy. It is about securing advantage.
Inside the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party, internal squabbles have turned governance into an afterthought. Factions compete openly. Loyalty is bought, not earned. Longstanding party principles have been replaced by proximity to influence. The party is bleeding internally, and the country is paying the price. The opposition All People’s Congress offers no relief. It remains trapped in its own leadership crises and historical baggage, unable to present a disciplined or inspiring alternative. The nation is effectively governed by parties fighting themselves.
Hovering above all this is the increasingly blatant ambition of the First Lady, Fatima Bio. Her attempt to position herself for the presidency is no longer subtle. It is aggressive, transactional, and corrosive. There is a widespread belief that money, inducements, and patronage are being deployed to buy loyalty within the SLPP and bulldoze her path to the flagbearer position. This is not politics. It is acquisition.
What makes this pursuit particularly dangerous is that she does not meet the basic requirements for the position she seeks. Eligibility rules are not decorative. They exist to protect the integrity of leadership. When those rules are treated as obstacles to be bribed around rather than standards to be respected, democracy is reduced to a marketplace. The message becomes brutal and clear. If you have money and access, rules do not apply to you.
This project survives because it is quietly, and at times openly, shielded by the President of the Republic, Julius Maada Bio. The idea that the First Lady’s ambition operates independently of presidential support is no longer credible. The tolerance, the silence, and the institutional blindness have become an open secret. When a sitting president allows a parallel power structure to operate within the state, the republic is weakened. Authority loses its legitimacy, and institutions become extensions of household ambition.
The economic situation compounds this political decay. Sierra Leone is effectively governed under the shadow of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Their threats and conditions hang over the economy like a loaded weapon. Fiscal discipline is demanded, but the human cost is ignored. Austerity is enforced downward. Those already struggling are squeezed further, while waste and privilege at the top remain untouched.
The fuel price increase announced immediately after the end of year period was a slap in the face. Fuel in Sierra Leone determines everything. Transport. Food. Electricity. Survival. Raising its price at a time of widespread hardship showed a frightening lack of empathy. It confirmed what many already believe. Economic decisions are made in air conditioned rooms by people insulated from their consequences. Overnight, movement became more expensive. Food became scarcer. Desperation deepened.
What ties all of this together is contempt. Contempt for process. Contempt for law. Contempt for suffering. The state behaves as though endurance equals consent. It does not. The people endure because they must, not because they approve. Market women continue trading because hunger leaves no alternative. Youth continue dreaming because despair is unbearable. Families continue sacrificing because collapse is not an option.
The psychological damage is profound. Citizens are losing faith not only in politicians, but in the idea that fairness is possible. When laws apply selectively, when power shields itself, and when hardship is imposed without apology, people disengage. They withdraw. They stop believing. This is how nations rot quietly, not through explosions, but through exhaustion.
Sierra Leone now stands exposed. The drugs. The constitutional manipulation. The internal party wars. The monetization of ambition. The economic cruelty. None of this happened by accident. It is the result of choices. And choices have consequences.
This country is not short of resilience. It is short of honest leadership. What is unfolding is not inevitable. It is permitted. The longer it continues, the deeper the damage will run. History will not be kind to those who mistook silence for approval and suffering for weakness.
Last night, overnight, the illusions fell away. What remains is a nation watching closely, tired of being underestimated, and far more aware than its rulers seem to believe.
