Zainab Tunkara Clarkson (Zee)
The 2028 election in Sierra Leone must not become a disguise to validate personal ambitions. It must be a contract — between the people and their future. The real question is no longer just: “What kind of President do we want or deserve?”
The deeper question is:
“What kind of future do we want to build as a nation?”
“What national project do we want to pursue together?”
Sierra Leone deserves leadership that rises above tribal divisions and petty political rivalries.
We deserve:
A President who doesn’t promote corruption, inequality or ethnic feuds.
A social project that includes everyone.
Progress that makes every citizen proud to be Sierra Leonean.
Every day, we wake up to heartbreaking news — the spread of Kush and narcotics, the grip of drug barons, the loss of our youths to addiction, and the constant tension of tribal agendas and political disputes. This is not the path to progress. This is not our destiny. So we must ask — not as party loyalists, but as citizens, thinkers, and patriots:
To every militant intellectual, to every political supporter: Beyond ethnicity, what does your leader truly have to offer Sierra Leone? What is their mandate for climate change adaptation? What is their strategy for rural development, agriculture, and husbandry? What is their solution to land disputes, land reform, and property rights? What are their plans for tackling the Kush epidemic and the drug cartels — including infiltration by state actors? What is their vision for industrialization and local production? How do they plan to address mass unemployment, especially among young graduates?
How do they plan to stop the slide into a narcotic state? What reforms are planned for healthcare and social security? How will they implement and enforce equality laws that already exist? What are their proposals for education reform and digital public administration? How will they redirect public taxes to support real development? What vision do they have for a strong, sovereign state that survives individual regimes? What will they do to ensure renter protections, landowner rights, and urban planning? What policies will reform the armed forces, especially concerning gender and sexual violence? What is their national plan for clean and renewable energy, and universal access to clean water?
If your leader cannot answer these questions with clarity, realism, and a clear funding plan, then your leader is not a visionary. He is an opportunist, a careerist, a political conman. A leech on the hopes and resources of the Sierra Leonean people. These are the real questions. This is what the national debate should be about. This is what the referendum — and the elections — should stand for. Not the legitimization of men, but the birth of a national project — one that leaves behind ethnic politics and boldly steps into the future.
Sierra Leone deserves more than slogans. She deserves a solution.
(The lioness is on the recovery path)
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