MEET ARIANA
For a very long-time young people have been marginalized and lacked active participation in the governance of our country even before the 2007 elections. Amongst the numerous things that affected the SLPP administration led by the former president, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (Blessed memory), was the predominant lack of representation of young people and women in leadership. In 2017, the APC administration led by His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma (Immediate Former President of the Republic of Sierra Leone) began to increase the appointment of young people in leadership significantly.
Today, the current administration under the leadership of His Excellency Julius Maada Bio has arguably appointed more young people than any other administration in our political history (Do not quote me). This move had all the hallmarks of promise and progressiveness for a young democracy. In my opinion, Bio was setting the groundwork for what he had eluded to in his 2018 Presidential campaign. While there are still huge issues around youth neglect, it is fair to say that many of the people in governance today are made up of young people.
Seven out of every ten citizens are below 35 years old, deemed as youths according to the UN. Meaning many young people should hope to be in governance, that is if we want to go by the logic of things. But the truth is, many of their appointments have not proven as effective as we hoped. Instead, some may say the appointed young leaders have seemingly lost touch with other young people, eminently creating a rift that has ruined relationships, and unleashed the greed, ego and arrogance that some had been hiding over the years. Shockingly, these appointments have shown us that the majority of their advocacies were driven by the desire to have individual access and were not necessary for the general good.
It is important to note that the president’s decision to appoint as many young people to his cabinet as possible, is not only laudable but one of his strongest legacies. While some of these young leaders have shown extraordinary signs of a development focus mindset, many of them have been far less impressive. But rather have been the pioneering political leaders who push political propaganda, and alleged corruption (the race to count mansions owned, largely fueled much of this corruption). In retrospect, one may want to ask the question; are young people mentored along the lines of national development or political ideologies (no matter how flawed) and self-indulgence? Sadly, this article is supposed to provoke the conversation around leadership amongst young people and not answer these questions.
In 2021, the National Youth Policy was commissioned after consultation with about 20,000 youth across the country (in-person and digitally). Several issues formed the basis of the priority provisions for the next five years (2020-2025). These further fit into the overall vision of that policy “A Sierra Leonean society where youth are realizing their potential and contributing to the social, political and economic growth of the country through their skills, creativity, civic friendship and patriotism”.
However, continuous circumstances (from the past and previous government) have led us to believe that “young people” defined by the political class refer to those with influential political affiliations.
In my opinion (feel free to disagree), young people in political offices in Sierra Leone must be held to even higher standards than well-not-so-young people. My reason is simple: most of these young people understand (or at least are used to understanding) what it means to be marginalised, to lack access, to lack the feeling of worth/importance/ recognition and so on.
On the flip side, we can argue that because of the lack of mentorship, these appointments came with burdens that some were not entirely ready to assume. For instance, countries like Rwanda, Mozambique, Botswana etc are easy examples of what youthful leadership brings to the table when properly mentored for public offices. Without a culture of mentorship, young people will continue to find it challenging to balance political loyalty and nation-building.
Before going on, let me check if you are still reading – Are you? Good. If you have never read any of my articles before, it is time for you to leave this article, catch up on previous ones and come back. Now, let us talk about the rest of us (those young people who do not have access to the corridors of power but are equally as dangerous to our future).
Whether this is a defence mechanism or an obscure way to get along in our day and hide our deepest desires or insecurities, I do not know. What I do know is that for some time now, we have orchestrated strategic public campaigns to attack individuals amongst us for sharing their views. We try to bring everyone else down in their quest to succeed. We continue to fuel corrupt leaders and justify our riotous approach to dialogue. We find every angle to discredit the work being done by some of the very few young people putting their everyday lives on the line for national development. We have structurally made ourselves happier when others fail and even sadder when someone succeeds.
When the current president ascends office, I wrote an article warning us to avoid hoping and praying for his failure. My primary reason was that I understood that if he were to fail, it would be a representation of all of us, and life would be fundamentally more difficult for us. But seemingly so, most of us were insistent in our prayers, and like most of the young people in political office who have proven NOT TO BE OUR SAVIOR, we are most times up to nothing good.
Our inability to hold sustained conversations, be objective outside the margins of politics, be helpful towards the small business owners, and be supportive and committed to the fight against inequality and drug abuse have created a space for political leaders to exploit.
Even though elections are upcoming, our discussions are not without social media highs, influencers amongst us are engaging in nonsensical social commentary, and political discussions are people focused rather than issues-focused. No one is remotely and even genuinely so committed to change.
Rather sadly, my article will inherently add no value if we are unwilling to face the mirror and call out our HYPOCRISY.
But if we were to save our future and continue to build on the foundation of young people’s inclusion in leadership, we must embrace the concept of leadership through strategic relationships. Young people must understand the importance of legacy-based development. The inclusion of female representation should not only be a policy statement but MUST be a daily goal. More importantly, we must all engage in dialogue without the need to be enemies, we must appreciate that which is good amongst us and celebrate laudable moves while being unequivocally clear on issues affecting all of us.
WE MUST BE BETTER FOR ALL OF OUR SAKE.
Many Thanks Guest Editor:
Alimatu Dimonekene MBE – Women & Girls Rights Advocate | FGM Consultant | Founder A Girl At A Time Sierra Leone
Twitter: @TheAlima
