Makalay Saidiatu

Sierra Leone: The Dream We Cannot Afford to Bury
By: Alusine Mansaray

Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine Sierra Leone, not as the fractured land we see today, but as our forefathers envisioned it. A nation where the rhythms of Kono, the dances of Bo, the songs of Bonthe, and the voices of Freetown’s market women blend into a harmonious national chorus.
Now open your eyes and look around you. The atmosphere is heavy, and the ground trembles, not from war, but from words. Words typed in haste and flung like spears across social media, carrying the venom of tribal contempt and party loyalty, leaving scars that won’t easily heal.
We, who once suffered together in silence during the war, now tear each other apart with noise in times of peace. The battlefield has shifted from machetes and rifles to hashtags and insults, but the casualties remain the same: unity, trust, and the dream of a Sierra Leone where tribe doesn’t determine destiny.

Two major political parties, meant to serve the nation, have become rival camps dividing the country’s soul. APC, SLPP, red, green, as if the Sierra Leonean flag’s three colors, green for land, white for peace, and blue for hope, no longer matter.
We’ve forgotten too easily. We’ve forgotten the pain of refugee camps, the fear of gunfire, and the tears of mothers who buried their sons. We’ve forgotten that our peace was bought with blood and tears, and that it remains fragile.
Today, our democracy is crippled, not by bullets, but by the infection of division. Tribal bigotry is a cancer, and political fanaticism is a fever. Social media, left unchecked, has become a breeding ground for both.

Yet, Sierra Leone is more than this moment. We are a tapestry of tribes, languages, and regions. When one thread is pulled apart, the entire fabric weakens. Our peace is fragile, but it’s not beyond saving.
We must learn to speak with the care of healers, not the recklessness of arsonists. We must vote with conscience, not blind loyalty. We must remember that political parties come and go, but Sierra Leone is our home, and we must always return to it.
Let the green of our land unite us, beyond party colors. Let the red of our courage inspire us, beyond slogans. Let the white of our flag remind us that peace is a covenant we must renew every day.
History will ask: When Sierra Leone trembled, did we steady her or push her closer to the edge? The answer lies not in speeches or manifestos but in how we speak to one another and protect our peace.

This land is ours. This peace is ours. This future is ours. If we rise above tribe and party, silence the drums of division, and march together under our flag, Sierra Leone will not just survive, she will shine and regain her glory as the anthem of West Africa.