The SLPP I Knew Is No More!

The main opposition Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) is currently in a sorrowful state, much to the puzzlement and disappointment of sober minded citizens.

It is an undisputable fact that the SLPP used to be a very serious and respectable political party in the country’s political landscape.

The SLPP used to serve as an epitome of political tolerance, peace, education, and a political setting comprised of sober-minded people in Sierra Leone. The party was well known for its respect for the women folks and the rule of law.

SLPP's Tejan Kabbah

For us younger folks, we need not even go into the wonderful legacies of the SLPP during the days of Sir Milton Margai and others to back our argument about the glorious days of the SLPP. The actions of the Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah led SLPP between 1996 and 2007 are enough to exalt the image of the SLPP.

Sadly however, all of the aforementioned fine traits that the SLPP used to enjoy are no more. Now, the name SLPP is largely associated with negative adjectives including killer party, violence party, and of late, “mammy cuss” party. Yes, the SLPP is now known for publicly and officially abusing the mothers of people that holds contrary views from their actions and ideologies. More on the new “mammy cuss” face of the SLPP would be dealt with in subsequent paragraphs.

Bad Decision

It is an open secret that the SLPP’s clean image started to encounter dirty spots during the campaign periods of the party’s internal elections. The said campaigns were marred by physical violence and public raining of abusive languages between and among supporters of leading flagbearer aspirants. Even the National Leader and Chairman of the party, John Oponjo Benjamin was not spared the abusive languages (mammy cusses) and physical attacks. The gentleman was severally attacked by supporters believed to be associated with a particular flagbearer aspirant.

Unfortunately for the party, it never heed to the numerous patriotic and loyal calls for an immediate halt in such a negative trend. All of such calls were not only recklessly rebuffed, but some journalists including myself, actually became victims of life threatening remarks and physical torture by supporters and senior SLPP members.

The alarm bell sounded by the Awareness Times that the SLPP does not deserve a Julius Maada Bio choice was also outrightly dismissed. On Monday 1^st August 2011, the SLPP announced that Julius Maada Bio has been elected to lead the party to the 2012 presidential elections.

SLPP'S Maada Bio

That announcement marks the end of the great, respected and treasured SLPP image. In other words, the decision of the SLPP to put a man with a dirty past that is still fresh in the memories of Sierra Leoneans at the helm of the party’s 2012 presidential bid was the end of the good image the SLPP used to enjoy, and the beginning of a rotten SLPP episode.

Evidently, it’s been over three weeks now since the August 1^st announcement of the opposition presidential candidate and all what the SLPP has been doing is defending a presidential standard-bearer with a blemished character. If the SLPP is not defending extra-judicial killing allegations against Maada, it would be defending dubious passport deals and other fraudulent undertakings believed to have been sanctioned by its presidential candidate. The SLPP has also been defending a faked military rank that its presidential candidate confided to himself.

As all of the aforementioned is happening, many people know that the defensive spree which the SLPP currently finds itself in is just the tip of the iceberg. Some of us are optimistic that the SLPP will not only stop at defending its choice of a candidate called Maada Bio on the newspaper pages and radio airwaves, but the defense will surely graduate to the court rooms.

The bad omen in this is that while Maada Bio would be in the court rooms to plead guilty or not guilty to countless criminal offences during the height of the 2012 presidential elections, the former insurance broker Ernest Bai Koroma would be traversing the length and breathe of the country telling the citizens about his infrastructural and other achievements.

Mammy Cuss SLPP

As if the SLPP has not done itself enough harm by electing a presidential candidate that needs to clarify his role in the extra-judicial brutal murders of my maternal cousin Salamatu Kamara and 28 other Sierra Leoneans, plus many other things, the SLPP’s official newspaper resorted to adding more woes to the party’s already dented image. SLPP’s Unity newspaper is now printing and selling abusive languages against the mothers of people who venture into informing the public about the vicious tendencies of Maada Bio.

Sylvia Olayinka Blyden, the female Publisher of Awareness Times Newspaper and David Tam Baryoh of the popular Monologue radio programme, were last week singled out by the Unity Newspaper as being adversaries of Maada Bio’s presidential bid, and all sorts of abusive languages (mammy cusses) were published against them.

Sylvia Blyden

This is the current gutter state that the once respectable SLPP has reduced itself to – officially raining mammy cusses on respectable female personalities.

What is more worrying and puzzling is the fact that such abusive languages emanating from the SLPP’s official newspaper are directed at Sylvia Olayinka Blyden of all. Am holding no brief for Sylvia, who is always well-placed to adequately take care of such attacks against her, but I cannot resist the urge to take on the SLPP for displaying such ungratefulness backed with rudeness against the country’s only female newspaper publisher.

Notwithstanding the fact that she has never been a member of the SLPP, Sylvia has not only been mostly perceived by many as an SLPP member but has actually been faced with various forms of attacks for the sake of the SLPP. This woman is on record of being a passionate defender of the SLPP and its general membership to an extent of risking her very life. With the aforementioned reality and more, it came as a shock to many Sierra Leoneans to read in the SLPP’s Unity Newspaper abusive languages against Sylvia Blyden’s mother. The mere fact that the SLPP can sanction a publication containing unprintable invectives is absurd, whilst the party’s temerity to direct such mammy cusses at Sylvia Blyden’s mother is one mistake that will surely see the SLPP’s downfall in this country; mark my words.

This is ungratefulness at its highest and it lends credence to the general belief that the SLPP is an ungrateful party. If the SLPP members thought publishing abusive languages in its official newspaper against Sylvia is the best way to intimidate her from exposing the excesses of Maada Bio, they must be surely dreaming. This is naivety and stupidness in the highest degree. SLPP must stop blaming and abusing people’s mothers for its failure to choose an acceptable candidate. Wuna blame wuna sef!

IMC’s Negligence

The recent Unity publications are typical examples of the type of publications the Independent Media Commission (IMC) must not tolerate. But the editors of Unity are having field days raining mammy cusses at people’s mothers. One thing the IMC must know for sure is the fact that nobody has monopoly on mammy cusses. The continuation of such publications backed by the negligence of the IMC to punish the perpetrators will definitely attract similar or even more unpleasant responses. And the IMC will have itself to blame for woefully failing on their duties.

SLPP! Mammy Cuss!! The SLPP is finished.