Alpha Amadu Jalloh: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 11 January 2026:
Sierra Leone’s future is not determined by rhetoric, slogans or election cycles alone. It is determined by the strength, discipline and moral clarity of its institutions and by the willingness of its people to defend the collective interest over personal gain.
Nations do not fail because they lack resources or intelligence. They fail when institutions abandon their purpose and citizens surrender their responsibility.
At the centre of democratic legitimacy stands the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone. Its mandate goes beyond organising polling days or announcing results. It is the custodian of the people’s sovereign will.
Every register compiled, every boundary demarcated and every dispute managed either reinforces or weakens national confidence. When electoral administration is transparent and impartial, political competition remains peaceful.
When credibility is questioned, tension becomes inevitable. Distrust in elections does not remain confined to politics. It spills into communities, families and daily civic life.
The Tripartite Agreement emerged from the recognition that unresolved disputes threaten national stability. Such agreements are not ceremonial documents designed to calm tempers temporarily. They are instruments of trust building. They are meant to restore confidence in institutions and provide credible mechanisms for addressing grievances peacefully.
When commitments under such agreements are treated casually or selectively implemented, the message to citizens is destructive. It tells them that dialogue is performative and that power, not principle, ultimately prevails.
The Political Parties Registration Commission carries a responsibility that is often underestimated or deliberately undermined. Its task is not to favour the ruling party or frustrate the opposition. It exists to ensure that political parties operate within the law, respect democratic norms and do not become threats to national cohesion.
When rules are enforced selectively or violations are ignored for convenience, political competition becomes lawless. Parties then mutate into ethnic platforms, regional movements or private vehicles for personal ambition. Regulation in this context is not repression. It is protection of democracy itself.
The All Political Parties Association was conceived as a forum for restraint and dialogue. At its best, it should serve as a space where disagreements are managed responsibly and where national interest overrides short term advantage.
When such platforms are reduced to stages for opportunism or proximity to power, they lose legitimacy. Dialogue without sincerity is noise. Consensus without principle is betrayal.
Sierra Leone’s history offers painful clarity. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was not established merely to catalogue atrocities. It was meant to diagnose the roots of conflict and guide institutional reform.
The commission made it clear through the words of Bishop Joseph Humper that “The conflict was not caused by ordinary Sierra Leoneans. It was caused by the collapse of governance, the abuse of power, and the failure of institutions meant to protect the people.” That warning was not time bound. It remains relevant today. When institutional failure is normalised, violence does not disappear. It simply changes form.
Parliament occupies a critical position in preventing that decay. It is the embodiment of the people’s voice and the first line of oversight over executive power. Its duty is not applause but scrutiny.
Laws must be debated rigorously, budgets examined honestly and appointments vetted without fear or favour.
When legislators prioritise party loyalty, personal enrichment or sectional allegiance over national duty, Parliament becomes an extension of the executive rather than a check on it. A weakened legislature weakens the entire governance chain.
The Judiciary remains the last refuge of the ordinary citizen. Its independence is not a privilege for judges. It is a constitutional necessity. Courts must be places where justice is blind to status, wealth and political connection.
Once citizens believe that outcomes are influenced or predetermined, faith in lawful remedies collapses. People then resort to informal and often destructive means of resolving disputes. Justice compromised is an invitation to disorder.
National security institutions, including the Office of National Security and allied agencies, carry a heavy burden. Their loyalty must be to the Constitution alone.
Professional and apolitical security services protect democracy. Politicised security services suffocate it.
Across the region, history shows that when security forces are drawn into partisan battles, the consequences are severe and enduring.
The Sierra Leone Police represent the most visible face of the state in citizens’ daily lives. Their conduct shapes how authority itself is perceived. Policing that is fair, restrained and community-oriented builds trust.
Policing that is selective, brutal or politically directed, breeds fear and resentment.
The moment law enforcement becomes an instrument of intimidation rather than protection; the social contract begins to fracture.
Institutions responsible for revenue mobilisation and anti-corruption are equally pivotal. Bodies such as the Institute of Governance Reform determine whether public resources are protected or plundered.
When these institutions operate professionally and independently, development becomes possible. When they are compromised, corruption becomes normalised and inequality deepens.
As I wrote in Monopoly of Happiness Unveiling Sierra Leone’s Social Imbalance, “Poverty in Sierra Leone is not an accident of fate. It is a decision repeatedly taken by those entrusted with power and paid for by those denied a voice.” That decision is repeated every time institutions look away from abuse.
Former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah understood the inseparable link between justice and stability when he stated that “There can be no lasting peace without justice, and no justice without institutions that are independent, credible and respected by the people.”
Peace built on compromised institutions is temporary. It is calm without confidence. It is silence without security.
Former President Joseph Saidu Momoh issued a warning that remains instructive today when he observed that “A nation cannot move forward when national institutions are weakened by personal interest and sectional loyalty.”
Tribalism, regionalism and nepotism may deliver short term advantage to a few, but they hollow out the state itself.
When citizens advocate only for those who share their tribe, region or personal networks, they participate in the same decay they later condemn.
Political parties must therefore reflect honestly on their role. Parties are meant to articulate policy choices and aggregate national interests. They are not meant to function as ethnic clubs or ladders for personal enrichment.
When parties mobilise support by appealing to identity rather than ideas, they undermine merit and poison unity.
Civil society and human rights organisations also carry responsibility. Their legitimacy rests on consistency and principle. Advocacy loses meaning when it is driven by opportunism or used as a pathway into governance.
Such organisations are meant to complement government by holding power accountable, not by negotiating silence in exchange for access.
Ultimately, the fate of Sierra Leone rests with its people. Citizens must resist the temptation to support leaders solely because they benefit personally from them. Collective interest must replace self-centred loyalty.
As I warned in Monopoly of Happiness Unveiling Sierra Leone’s Social Imbalance, “When institutions collapse, society does not merely suffer economically. It fractures morally, leaving citizens to compete for survival instead of uniting for progress.”
Sierra Leone stands at a crossroads that demands honesty and courage. Institutions must rediscover their purpose. Political actors must rediscover restraint. Civil society must rediscover principle. And citizens must rediscover solidarity.
Only then can the republic be governed not by impulse or opportunism, but by law, conscience and a shared commitment to dignity for all.
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