Sierra Leone: Women’s Empowerment... “Don’t Push Us Around”

Women in Sierra Leone are stepping on center stage in a steady but slow pace to play their part as equal partners in national development. That movement, precedes roles by leaders the likes of educationist Dr. Talabi Lucan; Chief Justice, Hawa  Tejan-Jalloh; Chief Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Christiana Thorpe; university professor and former Vice Presidential candidate, Dr. Kadi Sesay and women’s right advocate, Nemata Majeks-Walker, to mention a few. But women are far from accomplishing their target for equality. More has to be done to pave the path. Women lag far behind men in decision making institutions, employments and access to education. This trend must change fast.

Throughout history, women have been relegated to the roles of ‘mothers’ and ‘wives,’ with duties that revolve within the confines of home-related chores: cleaning, cooking, babysitting and rocking the cradle. But that was then. Times have changed. This is the 21st century. Politics, education, employment or any other human endeavours are not exclusively for men, or for them to dominate. Even though women account for more than half the country’s population, they only account for a trifling 15 percent in the political arena at both national and local levels.
The idea of ‘being seen and not heard,’ no longer holds. The ideology of patriarchy, structured as a means to dominate and oppress particularly womanhood through so-called norms of society, have no place in society anymore. The meaning of patriarchy was ill-conceived as a tool to determine what shall or shall not be women’s role in society. Such ancient-inherited mentality is what is responsible for the state of affairs of women all over the world. It structures society as we know it today. As such, blames for the state of affairs should not be levied on governments alone. But governments have the biggest stakes in seeing women through.
The claws of patriarchy have gone rusty beyond repairs, and women are now saying a big ‘No’ to male dominance, and ‘Empowerment Now!’ But women themselves must do more. Much has been done over the decades for women to now realize that they ought to be regarded as equal partners in every sphere of life. The future depends on their display of courage and determination. More women, particularly the young, should get into party politics, starting by being active in their local communities as volunteers, organizers, leaders, councillors, educators, etc., and strengthening their advocacy and engaging in all civic activities.
That women are now occupying leadership roles in politics and other areas, should serve as stepping stone for their advancement. Those in other walks of life must also push for more women involvement and empowerment. In doing so, women would be recognised and appreciated, not just by their male counterparts, but by society at large.
Sierra Leone, like every other country has a responsibility to meet the challenges of the Millennium Development Goals. Whether those goals could be achieved sooner or later is another question. The fact remains, however, that there is no way it will be, without the full and unhindered participation of women. In that regard, education of more women and girls is of vital importance.
Education builds confidence and the will power to forge ahead. Education is power. It gives people the ability to make informed choices. It helps in a significant way to halt abuses of women such as their being regarded as sex tools. Now is the time for women to grab the moment.
Leading women all over the world have cracked open and cruised through the iron gates of oppressions to take the lead. Examples of such women are Sierra Leone’s UN Under Secretary General on Sexual Violence, Zainab Bangura; Prime Ministers: Indira Ghandi of India, Golda Meir of Israel and Margaret Thatcher of the UK; Sierra Leone’s first female political figure, Ella Koblo Gulama; Presidents Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia and Malawi’s Joyce Banda, and Russian cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkov, the first woman ever in space, and a host of other women revolutionaries.
These women fought doggedly to free themselves from the chain of oppression to take the world by storm. And for the women in Sierra Leone and women everywhere, there should be no holding back. It was with that spirit of determination that America’s lighting rods, slavery abolitionist and pioneer of the Underground Railroad, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks, known as the first lady of civil rights and the mother of the freedom movement, changed the course of mankind, a time when suppression of minorities let alone women, was law.
Sierra Leone has made great strides in accepting women in governance. Also, women now head some of the leading institutions in the country and making positive decisions in the President Ernest Koroma's Government. But women deserve more. We want to see women coming out from behind those closed doors and exercising their God-given prowess.
If women can take the lead in raising Presidents, judges, ministers, scientists, lawyers, teachers, journalists, among other career persons, then there is nothing they couldn’t do. Women have been proving their mettle since the advent of the human race.
More women should be allowed to take their places - shoulder to shoulder - alongside their men counterparts. Society can’t push them around anymore.

Chadia Talib is a writer, women’s right advocate and entrepreneur. She lives in Bo, southern Sierra Leone.

The Fiscal Cliff: Understand It.

By Aroun Rashid Deen, New York City

If you live in Africa and have been following news on the United States lately, you may have heard the phrase 'fiscal cliff' or 'falling-off-the-fiscal-cliff.' You may not understand what this means. If so, this article is an effort to explain it, simply, and why you should be concerned. ‘Fiscal,’ according to The Associated Press Style Book, applies to budgetary matters. The Free Dictionary, describes ‘Cliff’ as a high, steep, or overhanging face of rock.
Fiscal cliff has a negative connotation in the United States. It’s used to describe a series of tax increases and budget cuts that are set to take effect simultaneously at the beginning of 2013. ‘Falling-off-the-cliff,’ is a term for the assumed economic problems that would occur should the two main political parties in the country, the Democrats, and the Republicans (also called the Grand Old Party or GOP), fail to reach agreement on a new tax plan before the beginning of the new year. Democrats are for tax increases for the rich, while Republicans want spending (budget) cuts. These two issues are key to this economic jargon.
During his presidency, George W. Bush introduced across-the-board tax cuts for almost all income earners, including the country’s wealthiest. The theory was that such tax breaks, particularly for the business community and the middle-class, would boost economic growth. The Bush tax breaks vary, depending on the kind of tax and the level of a tax payer’s income. The Democrats saw things differently. They believed that the Bush tax plan was meant to appease the wealthiest who, the Democrats claimed, will benefit from it more than low income earners. The Bush plan was to expire in 2010. However, when President Barack Obama took office, he reached a deal with the Republicans to extend the tax cuts plan until December 31 of this year.
Given that the United States, like other advanced nations, is facing its own financial crisis, the worst since the Great Depression, 1929 to 1941, and that the current U.S. national debt stands at $16.3 trillion, both the Democrats and Republicans have been looking at ways to at least reduce the debt and boost investments to help the economy. With the Bush cuts expiring, both parties saw an opportunity to push for adjustments they believe would help the economy and shrink the budget.

The Republicans believe that a major way forward is to reduce, drastically, government spending on domestic programs. The Democrats, on the other hand, want the new tax plan that would come into effect this January, to include the Bush tax breaks for lower income earners only, not for those making $400,000 and above. That’s compromise from their earlier target of $250,000.
The Democrats say that if the Republicans refuse a deal by December 31, tax rates for everyone, including those in the middle-class bracket will rise to pre-Bush levels. That would hurt economic growth because consumer spending will fall and in turn hurt other parts of the economy.
Obama and the Democrats also believe, that if the government cut ended domestic spending in such areas as military health care ($16 Billion annually), employment retirement program ($11 Billion), agricultural subsidies ($30 -36 Billion), food assistance ($4 Billion), home health care ($50 Billion), higher education ($10 Billion) and Social Security ($112 Billion), this will not only affect the middle-class but also will lead to massive job cuts in those areas.
The Republicans’ position was simply that raising tax rates on anyone, rich or not is not the way forward. They blame the country’s economic problems on excess spending by the government. However, like the Democrats, they too have so far given up some ground. They now say a new tax plan should target only those making above one million dollars.
The Bush-era tax cuts aren’t the only taxes that are scheduled to go up. A 2 percentage point cut in payroll taxes that employees pay is due to end. So are a series of business taxes. At the same time, government spending on domestic programs and the military would be cut drastically. While this would mean savings for the government, this combination could, according to many economists, eventually plunge the US into a recession because millions of jobs in the government and private companies would be lost. It would affect US military defense as well. Unless they reach a compromise by December 31st, America goes off the ‘fiscal cliff’!!

What does this mean to you?

It is no secret that the global economy, meaning that of almost every country of the world, including your home country in Africa is going through terrible times. Though the European Union has now replaced the US as the world’s biggest economy, it is, nonetheless, not as integrated as that of the US. The US economy is structured in such a way that it could withstand many of the challenges facing the EU, China and Japan and other countries. Take Germany, for example. It’s the EU's biggest economy and the only one that has not suffered because of the continent’s financial woes. Germany’s biggest consumer market is the US. Should the US fall off the fiscal cliff, it will significantly affect the German economy, and thus, the entire EU's, placing the EU in an even bigger financial mess. The same is true for China which is fast becoming Africa’s biggest trading partner. Again, the US is presently China’s biggest export market, according to a November 20, 2012 Agence France-Presse report, quoting China’s Commerce Ministry source. The report states that for the first 10 months of 2012, China's exports to the United States totaled $289.3 billion, while shipments to the EU came to $276.8 billion.

If the United States should fall off the cliff, it would mean fewer imports from China. This might force China to hold back on some of its dealings in Africa. Also, in order to make up for export revenues it would lose, China could raise the prices for essential items it exports elsewhere, such as medicines, foodstuffs and toiletries, to Africa. The outcome of this is that African countries would end up spending more for fewer imported items. You must know the math: the fewer the goods, the higher the prices. Again, if the government in your country provides subsidies on such items as petrol to food, it might stop doing do. Members of the public would have to pay more purchasing such items.

Although the effects of ‘falling off the cliff’ would not be felt immediately, they are, nonetheless, inevitable in the months that follow. So, as the saying goes in Europe, “when America sneezes, you catch the cold.”

Fight Against Impunity In the Gambia

Sierra Leone:SLPP REVERSES DECISION

(By Aroun Rashid Deen NYC)

The only opposition party in Sierra Leone, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), has reversed its decision that had ordered its lawmakers and local councilors to “stay away” from parliamentary and council proceedings.

The decision to reverse the call for a boycott was announced Thursday, December 6, following a meeting earlier in the week at State House between President Koroma and leaders of the SLPP, including Mr. Julius Bio, the party’s presidential candidate for the November 17, 2012, elections. An umbrella body of different denominations of the Christian faith, in Sierra Leone, the Body of Christ, had facilitated the meeting between the two groups in an effort to bring an end to what was becoming a political stalemate. The announcement on Thursday came about a week before the official opening of the new Parliament in the capital, Freetown, following national elections on November 17.

The party, on Tuesday, November 27, 2012, ordered the boycott, days after incumbent President, Ernest Koroma of the All People’s Congress (APC) Party, was declared the winner of the Presidential race. The SLPP had alleged election malpractices by the APC, despite an existing wide consensus among international observers that the elections were well conducted. The party had called on its deputies to stay away as a means of protest and also called for an external review of the whole electoral process. 42 SLPP MPs were elected in the poll.

SLPP’s National Secretary General, Suliaman Banja Tejan-Sie, who announced the party’s decision to rescind the planned boycott, said that in light of what he called government’s “commitment and assurance to address” their concerns, the party’s executive “direct its Members of Parliament, Mayors and Chairpersons and Councilors to take part in all Parliamentary and Local Council proceedings unless otherwise directed.”

Sources from Freetown suggest that elements within the leadership of the SLPP prevailed on the party to reconsider its stance and respond to the mediation efforts undertaken by the Body of Christ. Speculation was rife as to what was discussed when Mr. Bio and the President met privately, and rumors fueled both by the public, and the national press still persist.

This writer had argued a week ago, that the call for the boycott had little chance to hold. More so because the conduct of the election was deemed to have met internationally acceptable standards and the results recognized globally. Moreover, SLPP MPs, particularly first-timers, were, understandably, eager to get to work, as evident on Wednesday, December 5, when SLPP representatives attended a briefing session at Parliament Building, in Freetown.

The SLPP’s reversal of its call for a boycott will provide some welcome relief to the APC. Given the ruling party’s sweep in the Presidential and Parliamentary contests, it would be hard to ignore the chilling effect such a boycott would have on governance if not the entire democratic process.

One can speculate for a moment as to what next move by the SLPP will be. Certainly, the party will soon go back to the drawing board to evaluate its election’s strategies and its performance in this year’s elections, followed by what is likely to be early preparations for the next race in 2017.

It is perhaps too early to speculate meaningfully about the likely SLPP contestants for the party’s presidential ticket in 2017.  Clearly, Mr. Bio cannot be ruled out as a possibility. The 48-year-old would still be in his prime and would have presumably built upon the experience gained from the 2012 race.

For the APC, 2017 may prove to be more challenging. The likable and politically savvy Ernest Koroma will step down after completing his second term. Besides, the APC will likely find some difficulty selecting from among its crop of current leaders a natural successor or at least someone whose record  can match the President’s accomplishments after serving two terms in office.

Sierra Leone opposition party calls on lawmakers to boycott Parliament

By Aroun Rashid Deen


The Sierra Leone People’s Party, whose candidate, Julius Maada Bio, came
in a distant second to the incumbent President in a crowded field in the
just-concluded Sierra Leone presidential election, has called on its members
of parliament and other elected officials, to “stay away” from
parliamentary and all other local council proceedings.

A statement from the party’s secretariat issued Tuesday, just four days
after the National Electoral Commission NEC of Sierra Leone declared
incumbent President Ernest Koroma, of the All People’s Congress, the
winner of the presidential election held on November 17, stated that its
National Executive Committee strongly “condemns the refusal of the
National Electoral Commission (NEC) to address the electoral irregularities
including fake and unstamped Reconciliation and Result Forms, pre-marked
ballot papers, ballot stuffing and over-voting in Kono, the Western Area and
the Northern Province and more other instances of malpractices which
undermined the credibility of the results.” The party had hinted - just a
day after the result was announced - that it was going to contest the
presidential result, claiming electoral wrongdoings.

The SLPP national and local lawmakers are among the hundreds also elected
during the November 17 polling. Although the party has also – in a
separate statement - indicated that the elected officials have reaffirmed
their firm commitment to the resolution to stay away, pundits speculate that
few of them will adhere to their party’s call for the boycott. And if they
do, it will not be for long. Among them are first-timers, some of whom,
notwithstanding the party’s position regarding the results declared by the
NEC, are anxious to take up their seats for which they had worked hard, if
not to begin serving their constituents.

The call to stay away from parliamentary and other council proceedings may
be a signal that the SLPP is running out of options or strategies to reverse
the election result. In its press release, the party prevailed on the
international community to consider its claims of election fraud, demanding
“an independent international assessment” of the whole election process
involved, including the presidential result.

It is not clear which sector of the international community the SLPP wants
to intervene, since key players and leading decision makers in world
affairs, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the
United Nations, the European Union ECOWAS, the West African regional bloc
and the African Union, among others, have all recognized the election of
President Koroma. They have done so by way of statements of approval of the
election process and congratulatory messages to Koroma.

However, a reliable source from Freetown has indicated that frenetic
diplomatic efforts, led by the United Nations, are under way to bring
together President Ernest Bai Koroma and Julius Maada Bio, to find a
resolution to the SLPP’s alleged election fraud. It is not known what, if
anything, Mr. Bio would gain out of it, following his dismal performance,
other than to be coaxed to accept the election result. Representatives of
the two groups are to meet in Freetown shortly.

Further, in its press release, the party demanded the “unconditional
release” from police custody, those of its members and supporters who are
still being held. And in what it described as in the spirit of
reconciliation, the SLPP called on the government to “nolle prosequi all
pending political matters in our local courts.” It did not specify the
political matters in question nor indicate how the request is related to the
allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities.
Nolle prosequi is a term used in the context of the legal profession. It
means that either a prosecutor or plaintiff in a legal matter already in
proceeding has declared that he or she will not proceed any further.

Aroun Rashid Deen is a freelance journalist. He lives in New York City
646 645-1857