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| (Chadia Talib) |
As Sierra Leone
prepares for the Presidential Inauguration on Friday, February 22nd, the final
process that puts in motion the Ernest Koroma Administration, following the
elections of November 17, 2012, there have been criticisms in some quarters,
questioning the essentiality of the inauguration process. Much of the criticism
is based on what the cynics claim is going to be unnecessary spending on the
part of the government to host the event. Such criticisms do not have merits
and must be stopped.
Inauguration of an
elected President is a conventional practice. It is a significant function of
modern democracy everywhere. It goes back to the first ever inauguration of a
democracy, that of the first President of the United States, George Washington.
After a long and bitter
campaign period, the inauguration, provides the elected President, being the
father of the nation, an opportunity to reunite all again, as one country. |
| President Earnest Koroma |
During the inauguration Sierra Leone will be ushering in another
five years of the Ernest Koroma Government. It will be another moment for the
entire country to celebrate the administration’s victory and plans for the
future with a President, who appears determined to serve the nation and to take
the lead to solidify the democracy that the entire country craves.
As he promised, President Ernest Koroma is resolute to exert
policies for the kind of transformations that would see the country overcome
hardships and achieve the impossible, as he leads the nation forward in the
next five year.
Sierra Leone will, on Friday, celebrate the declaration of its
belief in the freedom and rights of all people. It will bring together leaders,
both from within and abroad, who would interact with people from all walks of
life, be they cleaners or messengers, teachers or media practitioners. For
some, it is going to be a rare moment to experience history in the making, and sense
the collective strength and soundness of the foundation on which the nation,
and its hard-won and cherished democracy is built.
For critical minds regarding the importance of the inauguration,
it should be known that the process also propels optimism, and an unflinching will,
to continue in the transformation from what was the Agenda for Change to what is now the Agenda for Prosperity. It is important because it will provide an
opportunity to showcase the strength and importance of the institutions of
society that have been put in place within the past years, and the new pathway
to the future. The inauguration gives the entire nation an opportunity to
listen to the President as he explains, publicly, in details, his visions and
future plans for the country as a whole and outline what he wants his legacy to
be.
There are those
inaugural addresses that will forever be remembered. President Barack Obama's first
inaugural address was one of the most memorable in the history of the United
States because of its historic significance; the first American of African
ancestry was becoming President of the United States. Another was President Franklin
Roosevelt’s, also of the United States in 1933 when he inherited a nation in
the midst of a woeful economic crisis, confronted by rising fascism and
communism in Europe, and some skepticisms at home about the future of
capitalism and representative democracy. Roosevelt reassured his countrymen and
women that the nation will forever endure. In May, 1994, South Africa’s first
democratic elected President, Nelson Mandela, in his inauguration, called for a
united country when he said: “The South Africa we have struggled for, in
which all our people, be they African, Colored, Indian or White, regard
themselves as citizens of one nation is at hand.“
As were with Presidents Roosevelt’s, Obama’s and Mandela’s,
President Ernest Koroma’s Inaugural Address is going to leave an indelible
imprint in the political history of the country. He is going to stand front and
centre with his policy of audaciousness, defined by courage, boldness, honesty,
enthusiasm and the determination to succeed, an undertaken never before seen in
Africa, the crusade that is the Agenda
for Prosperity. Undoubtedly, the address will be dominated by what he has
in stock as the Agenda for Prosperity.
It would be disingenuous for anyone to deny that significant
changes have taken place in the country during the past five years under the Agenda for Change; from agriculture to
infrastructure to private investments, health care, energy, as well as the enhancing
of the mineral and marine sectors and improvements on education and the general
wellbeing of the ordinary Sierra Leonean. Also there have been transformations
in the armed and police forces, bringing those two institutions to standards. Local
councils have seen huge flows of funds from the central government, for the
implementation of sound projects. Women are now taking leadership roles in
every sector of society and youth participation has been a record high in
development programmes throughout the country.
In the information and communication sector, the media, in
particular, is allowed to practice freely without fear of government’s
interference. The human rights records of the government have been impeccable,
realizing that the observance of human rights is fundamental if democracy is to
flourish.
One of the most important sectors that have demonstrated the Agenda for Change a success is the National
Revenue Authority. With its remarkable performance in revenue collections, the
NRA stands as an important lever that smoothly steers the machinery of
government in an effective way. As democratic measures introduced in the
country since 2007, are gradually paying off, there is now reason for
celebration and for welcoming the second chapter of the Koroma Administration.
The inauguration of an
elected President is significant, particularly so for a budding democracy like
Sierra Leone that is rebuilding from the ashes of a long war - which requires
such moments of coming together again.
The inauguration will
symbolise a rare moment as the entire country stand together with the newly
elected President notwithstanding political differences, because it expounds
the unity and strength of Sierra Leone’s democracy by way of smooth transfer of
power.
This week’s event will put in motion the new challenge of the
day, Agenda for Prosperity, as the
First Gentleman of the nation, takes an oath to fight corruption and weed out
the ills of society, among other things. The inauguration is about celebrating
the country’s hard-earned Democracy, which Sierra Leoneans well deserved. Let
the skeptics understand!
Chadia
Talib is a writer, women’s right advocate and entrepreneur. She lives in Bo,
southern Sierra Leone.
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