By Emiola Osifeso
In a follow-up to his earlier interview, the All People’s Congress (APC) Presidential aspirant and founder of the Dr. Ibrahim Bangura Movement, Dr. Ibrahim Bangura, has expressed grave concern over the growing impact of the kush crisis in Sierra Leone. Speaking with deep emotion, empathy and conviction, Dr. Bangura described the situation as a national emergency that transcends political, ethnic, and social boundaries.
According to Dr Bangura, “The Kush crisis is a very serious one. It has, and continues to destroy the lives of several young people across the country. It doesn’t know political parties, it doesn’t know ethnic groups, it doesn’t know surnames.”
Dr. Bangura noted that the crisis has devastated countless families, describing it as painful to witness the suffering it causes. “It’s sad to see our young people dying from it. It’s sad to see homes shattered by the crisis. It’s sad to see mothers crying for their children, seeing them in pain. Many of them are struggling to get off it, but they struggle because there’s no support,” he said.
The Presidential aspirant disclosed that his own family has been personally affected by the kush epidemic. He shared a deeply emotional account involving his nephew. “My own family is directly affected by the kush crisis. My nephew, Mohamed Mansaray, is on kush,” he said.
Dr. Bangura recalled how he was first introduced to the grim reality of the drug’s effects. “A few years ago, I was called and told that there was a problem in my father’s house. I asked, ‘What’s the problem?’ They said Mohamed came and was throwing up and looking so terrible. I went there and met him, but the state I met him in was very sad. I was heartbroken, because this is a promising young boy who was doing very well in school, with high hopes for the future, and then you see him—he was 19.”
He explained that with the help of a doctor, his nephew was stabilized, but the experience exposed him to the scale of the crisis. “I asked him, ‘What’s happening to you?’ and he said, ‘Kush.’ That was when I first heard of kush,” Dr. Bangura said.
According to him, his nephew had begun taking the drug through peer influence. “He said he started taking the drug by going out with his friends after school. When I asked, ‘Why did you take it?’ he was just crying and couldn’t even give me a proper answer.”
He added that the addiction soon led to troubling behavior. “He started stealing in the house, to the point that whenever there was nobody home, he took window panes and went to sell them. We have done everything to persuade him to stop, provided medical support, but it just keeps getting worse.”
Dr. Bangura said his nephew’s story mirrors the struggles of many Sierra Leonean families battling the kush crisis. “What happened to Mohamed is what is happening to other families equally affected by the kush crisis. So, from first-hand experience, I know the kind of effect that this has on individual families.”
He emphasized the need for a united national response, urging authorities to move beyond discussions and take decisive action. “We should be very deliberate as a people to stop the kush crisis. We have talked about it, but we have to move from talking to action. We need to know where kush is coming from and who are those bringing it in,” he stated.
Dr. Bangura also called for stronger institutional backing for law enforcement agencies. “We need to support the Drug Law Enforcement Agency to take appropriate actions with no political interference, for them to do their work and help to stop this. The security and justice actors should do their work to bring this menace to an end.”
He noted that while enforcement is essential, the social and psychological factors driving drug abuse among young people must also be addressed. “Beyond just talking about the drug, there’s the motivation behind the use of the drug on the part of young people,” he observed.
Reflecting on Sierra Leone’s post-war realities, Dr. Bangura said the trauma of the civil war still lingers in the nation’s collective psyche. “We live in a traumatized society. The war ended in 2002, but the effects linger on. We have not been able to address the effects of the war on us as a people. We dealt with the war, we signed an agreement and brought it to an end, but the promises of peace were never achieved.”
He explained that after the war, many young people felt alienated from the state, which led to growing frustration and disconnection. “Shortly after the war, young people began to feel again that the state continued to marginalize them. All the things they fought against came back to affect their lives. They started singing music to express their frustrations against the state. They formed Ataya bases, places to interact and engage themselves on the ups and downs of society, and the kinds of lives and dreams they want. They talk about their pains and frustrations, and also their hopes and aspirations. So they began to call themselves the Youth Parliament—the Ataya base.”
According to him, Ataya bases are local tea stalls that serve as informal community spaces—became a social response to exclusion. “They were disconnected from the state; they reengineered the social space by creating the Ataya base. It’s a local coffee booth that they use to sell Chinese tea called Ataya.”
Dr. Bangura stressed that the government must view young people as national asset and adopt a comprehensive approach to their development. “The state, however, needs to take a comprehensive approach to dealing with its young people. Young people are blessings to society; a younger population is supposed to be a productive population.”
He emphasized that meaningful investments in education, career opportunities, and agriculture could provide long-term solutions. “You get things like investment in educational opportunities, career development, and agriculture as pathways to create employment for young people. The state should be involved in the lives of young people.”
Dr. Bangura linked youth empowerment directly to national economic growth, stating that the country’s economic strategy must focus on improving people’s lives. “When we talk about the economy, everything around it has to focus on how to transform the lives of people so that their lives can be better. If the state invests in agro-based industries, for instance—things like value chain development—you get a youth development fund that targets young people across the country to alleviate poverty. It presents them with hope and direction.”
He warned that the absence of such opportunities could lead to growing frustration and instability. “If you don’t create those opportunities, people go to university, spend years studying, but then have no access to employment—they become frustrated. So we have a ready-made army of young people who are involved with gangs and cliques, rebel movements, etc.”
Dr. Bangura urged a national dialogue to reassess the country’s priorities. “There has to be a conversation. We need to sit down as a people and ask: where have we gone wrong? How can we restore the dignity of our people—the dignity of our nation? Recalibrate the state of the union to have a republic where everyone will truly believe that they are citizens.”
He also called for improved financial discipline and prudent governance. “We have a bad economy; we need to get fiscal discipline. Expenditures by government should be prioritized and based on essentials. Things that are unnecessary should be cut out—that’s discipline. Because the needs are real, and if those needs are not addressed, then there’s a problem.”
Finally, Dr. Bangura emphasized that true citizenship is about belonging, inclusion, and participation. “Who is a citizen? A citizen is someone who feels like, in the truest sense, they have a name, they have a voice, they feel they belong. They have a hold on society.”
He concluded by reiterating his call for unity and accountability in addressing the kush crisis. “The best way to address the kush crisis is to ensure we involve young people, we involve all cadres of society beyond political lines. It should be a national focus and bring those who are behind the existence of this substance to account.”
As Sierra Leone continues to grapple with the kush epidemic, Dr. Bangura’s comments serve as a reminder of the urgent need for collective action and a more inclusive national strategy to safeguard the country’s youths and future.