By Nanette Beatrice Effulabi Thomas, Texas.
In cultural norms and societies all around the globe, honesty is counted as the most moral of the ethics of leadership. A leader or someone aspiring for leadership in our country,(Sierra Leone) must understand its meaning which says that, leadership means "willingness to openly acknowledge and celebrate the things that are good and critically examine those that are bad without prejudice and sentiment. "
It is essential also that we must be able to acknowledge our weaknesses and engage our political spectrum in a decision about how we can work together to overcome the underlying problems.
Before a politician can maintain his/her political integrity, there must be some amount of honesty in his/her background and that honesty is a Primary Leadership Tool. Whoever is aspiring for leadership in our beloved country must avoid becoming mired in fraud, deceit, artifice, and pretense. Telling the truth is the right thing to do to maintain quality leadership. Sticking to facts and clear messages would virtually relieve us from the stress that tales create. Have a clear understanding that truth is a virtue, a signature trait of our higher selves. It is not clear whether today’s atmosphere of seeming disdain for honesty among business and government leaders is driven by greed and cynical gamesmanship or symptomatic of some deeper rent in the fabric of our societies. What is clear, though, is that honesty is the right path to take in our personal, political and professional lives.
I think it is good to remember that we do not sing because we are happy. We are happy because we sing. SLPP, please try to make life’s lemonade even though you may be given only a lemon. SLPP, remember, success is never an accident. It is always deliberate. Whatever your lot in life, build something on it. Be a risk taker. Don’t be afraid to fail. SLPP, you failed the people of Sierra Leone woefully and you still continue to dream that come 2012 Sierra Leoneans will cast their vote for the PALM TREE. YES, YOU ARE RIGHT!!!
When you have confidence in yourself you will create a positive environment. The eleven years that the SLPP was in power the people of Sierra Leone lived in filth. The environment was vulnerable and Sierra Leoneans living in the Diaspora where afraid to visit their home country because of fear of being sick.
By having your hair, nails and make up done properly you’ll feel good about yourself and this will come through to the people around you. If you do not have a dress that makes you feel like a million dollars, buy one. While clothes may not make the woman/man they certainly have a strong effect on his/her self confidence – which I believe does make the man/woman.
Shakespeare said “there is nothing good or bad but that thinking makes it so. He who would attain greatness must make no little plans.” When Shakespeare was writing his plays he was prophesying about a man by the name of Ernest Bai Koroma. When Ernest Bai Koroma studied Shakespeare’s plays when he was in high school just like any one of us he started making big plans.
He started thinking how he would help turn Sierra Leone around and make it a better place for Sierra Leoneans to live and be proud. He had his own insurance company and turned it to one of the best if not the best insurance company in Sierra Leone.
Look what is happening in Sierra Leone today. Sierra Leoneans, tell me, for the last 20 years how many Presidents of Sierra Leone have walked through the streets of Freetown to talk to their people?
Only one President: HIS EXCELLENCY DR. ERNEST BAI KOROMA. My appeal is for the leader of the SLPP, JOB (Comrade Napoleon of Animal Farm fame) and SLPP members to please accept reality since they are still dreaming that they will wake up one morning and Dr. Christiana Thorpe would make another announcement that the SLPP has been declared the winner of the 2007 elections in 2009. SLPP, KEEP DREAMING. YOU WILL DREAM AND DREAM NO MORE, POSSIBLY YOU WILL JUST SLEEP FOREVER so that there would be total peace in Sierra Leone.
The SLPP needs to let go and accept the fact that they lost the elections because the people of Sierra Leone were tired of them. The people needed a change. Remember that a leader has two important characteristics: First, he/she is going somewhere; secondly, he/she is able to persuade others to go with him/her.
Berewa lacked these two characteristics. As a result the people of Sierra Leone decided that enough is enough, and they are going to choose another path. They chose the APC. What’s the problem with that? It is the civic right of the people in Sierra Leone to vote for whosoever they have confidence in.
Using your negative propaganda machine The New People online news paper, to portray a bad image of the President and the APC government to the international community will not only destroy the APC government but will destroy Sierra Leone. Remember, SLPP is part of Sierra Leone (who dat troway asshes nar in ashes dae fala). Sierra Leone belongs to the citizens of Sierra Leone and not to one political group. SLPP should stop the PHD syndrome (PULL HIM/HER DOWN).
When the Tejan Kabbah government came back to Sierra Leone from exile in Guinea they came back with a vengeance. They collected people from every tribe except the Mendes and put them in jail. The SLPP government believes that they should be the rulers of Sierra Leone. If you speak against them they brand you as their enemy. If you have an idea and share it with them, even when it is for the good of the country, as long as you are not in their camp or you do not speak Mende they brand you as their enemy. We should remember that if you have an idea and you keep yours, and I have an idea and I keep mine, we each have one. But if you give me yours and I give you mine we each have two! That is DEMOCRACY, NOT DEMOCRAZY.
Let us all bear in mind that integrity is the calling card that we are going to leave behind when we are gone. It is one trait people will remember most often whey they think of us. What granted us enormous pride and dignity from other nations is that they believe in our product. We should not mess up our product by informing the world negatively about our country.
The All People’s Congress party believes in the products of the late Dr. Siaka Probyn Stevens. I do not need to catalogue the products. EBK is striving to leave his. Can the Sierra Leone People’s party (SLPP) tell us about their products? Let us all remember if you give the very best you have in whatever you do, the best will come back to you in a boomerang effect. LONTA!!!!
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