Beyond the rankings: A wake-up call to every Sierra Leonean

 

 

Beyond the rankings: A wake-up call to every Sierra Leonean

 

Is this the Peace we’re celebrating?

 

By: `Chernoh M. Jalloh, Founder of Sierra Leone National Patriotic Youth Development ( SiLNaPaYD ), Youth Advocate | Petroleum Geoscience Researcher

 

Is this the Peace we’re celebrating? As Sierra Leone is hailed as _West Africa’s most peaceful nation in the 2025 Global Peace Index (GPI),_”Released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), Sierra Leone now ranks 57th globally and 5th in Sub-Saharan Africa, overtaking Ghana to become the most peaceful country in West Africa ” (Abdulai Sahid Jalloh).

 

some of us the Patriotic Sierra Leoneans find ourselves staring into the mirror of our nation— _not with pride, but with painful questions._ Not to dismiss progress, but to interrogate the truth behind the applause.

 

Let’s be clear: Peace is not a statistic. Peace is a lived experience

You cannot download _peace as a PDF_ or broadcast it as _a headline —you must feel it in your streets, hospitals, schools, homes, and markets.

 

> So before we celebrate rankings, let’s ask the real questions —the ones that every ordinary Sierra Leonean wakes up to daily:

 

1. What is peace without jobs (fair youth employment) ?

According to Statistics Sierra Leone, youth unemployment remains over 60%, yet the government speaks of empowerment. Where are the jobs?

 

a) How many vocational centers have been built in the past five years?

b) How many youths have transitioned from training to employment?

c) Why are our graduates selling recharge cards, idling in ghettos, or dying from despair?

d) Can we honestly speak of empowerment when Kush addiction and other drugs have risen by over 300% in two years (Mental Health Coalition, 2024)?

 

> 2. What is peace without access to clean water and light?

 

UNICEF’s 2023 WASH survey shows that over 4 million Sierra Leoneans still lack access to safe drinking water.

 

i) What happened to the National Water and Sanitation Master Plan?

Why has a national framework—designed to ensure safe and equitable water access—become another forgotten policy document?

ii) Why are citizens still fetching water from mosquito-infested swamps in Freetown?

Are we saying that in 2025, Sierra Leone’s capital still cannot provide clean drinking water to its urban poor?

iii) What about the Rural Water and Sanitation Project?

Was it only good on paper? Why are thousands of rural families still drinking from contaminated streams,swamps and sharing water sources with lower animals ( cows, goats,sheep,monkeys- perhaps the main reason for the current Mpock in SL, etc)?

iv) Why do we have more health issues linked to waterborne diseases?

How do we expect to reduce maternal mortality, child stunting, or cholera outbreaks without fixing the most basic determinant of health—clean water and sanitation?

v) How long will power outages continue to paralyze our homes and businesses?

How do we grow our economy or educate our children when electricity remains a luxury, not a right?

 

_How can we celebrate peace when lack of infrastructure keeps our nation in the dark—literally and figuratively?_

 

> 3. What is peace when mothers still die giving birth?

 

Sierra Leone remains one of the most dangerous places in the world to give birth—with 443 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (WHO, 2024).

This is not a statistic. It’s a national crisis.

 

i) How many rural health centers have full-time doctors or functioning delivery wards?

ii ) Where is the investment in emergency transport systems for maternal complications in chiefdoms and hard-to-reach areas?

iii) Why are essential drugs —like oxytocin and magnesium sulfate,or even paracetamol —still unavailable in many district hospitals?

iv) How many trained nurses and midwives are still waiting for PIN codes just to be officially recognized?

_And for those fortunate enough to be assigned —how many were selected based on political party loyalty or outright bribery, not merit or service to country?_

 

_Is this the peace we are being globally applauded for?_

__Is this the peace international reports celebrate—while our young nurses go unpaid, our mothers bleed to death, and our youth queue endlessly for jobs that don’t exist, and others rot in slums and ghettos under the grip of Kush addiction?_

 

> 4. What is peace if education is a lottery?

 

What is the true state of our education?

_While the Free Quality Education policy by our President, H.E. Julius Maada Bio, is often praised in official speeches and international reports, and conferences, the reality on the ground tells a more troubling story._

 

According to UNESCO (2023):

a) Only 47% of pupils achieve minimum reading proficiency by Grade 6.

b) Over 60% of public schools lack basic science laboratories and libraries.

c) Thousands of trained teachers remain unpaid or underpaid, leading to low morale and absenteeism.

d) Classrooms are grossly overcrowded. In many government primary, junior and senior secondary schools across urban and rural districts, student-to-class ratios exceed 100 to 200 pupils per class, making effective learning nearly impossible.

 

e) At the tertiary level, institutions like Njala University and Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology (EBKUST) are plagued by infrastructure deficits—from lecture halls with no seating accommodation to inconsistent lecture schedules, and the absence of modern digital learning tools.

 

Even the flagship University of Sierra Leone—comprising IPAM, FBC, and COMAHS —is increasingly described by students as a “nightmare.” Overcrowded lecture rooms, erratic academic calendars, and inadequate sanitation facilities are daily realities.

 

And these figures may not even reflect the full picture —practical ground realities suggest the situation may be significantly worse.

_But for the sake of empirical reference, let’s accept UNESCO’s data as a minimum benchmark_

 

> So we must ask again:

A) Are we truly preparing the next generation for innovation and global competitiveness—or simply trapping them in systemic mediocrity, disguised as access and progress,in the name of unreliable global ranking peace index?

 

And to think this is happening under a government that claims to anchor its legitimacy on education— what a shame.

 

_ _The value of education has been reduced to a theatre of slogans and political survival, where hypocritical propaganda overshadows genuine reform—under the leadership of the SLPP government ( H.E. Julius Maada Bio)_

 

B) What should have been a national transformation agenda has become _a tool for job protection, personal party loyalty_ , – and institutional capture_ —not a framework for national growth.

 

C) The tragedy lies not only in the broken system, but in the fact that many of those with the academic and professional credentials to reform it have chosen silence, compromise , or party loyalty treated like an American visa —clung to not out of principle, but for selfish interest and personal preservation.

 

D) Some are now working harder than ever to hold on to power within tight circles of family and close allies — _not to serve Sierra Leone, but to protect the privileges gained from exploiting the nation’s resources, while the ordinary citizen is left to suffer through drug addiction, rising theft, and both internal despair and international frustration._

 

> 5. So we ask again: What is peace if we cannot speak truth without fear?

 

A truly peaceful nation must protect the right to dissent and uphold the dignity of every voice. Yet in today’s Sierra Leone:

 

I) Journalists and patriotic critics live in exile or face arbitrary arrests.

II) Protesters demanding reform are met not with dialogue, but with teargas, bullets, or silence in prison.

III) Political detainees remain behind bars, despite repeated national and international calls for reconciliation and justice.

IV) Opposition party members are branded as terrorists in broad daylight, for merely exercising their political rights through the right channel.

 

> Let us then reflect, honestly and fearlessly:

 

a) Can we truly claim to be peaceful and free from political intimidation by the SLPP government —under a leadership of suppression—when truth carries a price tag and patriotism is mistaken for sedition?

 

b) Are we a _peaceful nation_ when our young men and women are chained by substance abuse, trapped in the grip of Kush and other narcotics , as institutional failure and economic hopelessness drive them into despair?

 

c) Are we truly a peaceful nation when those who once had the potential to uplift their communities have now, under this SLPP government, been reduced to survivalists—driven by tribal loyalty , or blind allegiance —just to access short term opportunities?

 

d) Are we truly a peaceful nation when most of our civil service advocates and media institutions have become virtually indistinguishable from political propaganda vehicles— politically manipulated, and increasingly aligned with corrupt politicians ?

 

e) Are we truly a peaceful nation when the right to a fair trial is often influenced by “orders from above,” and our police force—once meant to serve and protect the ordinary Sierra Leonean —has increasingly become a tool for political enforcement and selective justice?

 

This is not peace. This is a managed poverty — nationally sustained by institutional silence, media manipulation, and the betrayal of public trust by those entrusted to defend it, and internationally disguised through propaganda-driven conferences and polished reports that conceal the lived reality of ordinary Sierra Leoneans.

 

> 6. What is peace when corruption feeds while children starve?

 

_Sierra Leone ranked 110th out of 180 countries on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index (2024).

• Billions of public funds are lost annually through procurement fraud, excessive foreign travel by this leadership, and ghost job projects—falsely claimed to employ 70% of Sierra Leoneans, as publicly stated by the Presidential Spokesman Dr. Alpha Khan —despite no evidence that such jobs ever existed.

• Meanwhile, 1 in every 3 children is chronically malnourished (UNICEF, 2023) —a national disgrace in a country rich in mineral and marine resources.

 

And we must ask again:

Is this a peaceful nation? —when poor Sierra Leonean teachers are publicly humiliated in broad daylight by the Anti-Corruption Commission for alleged exam malpractice.

Yet cabinet ministers and officials in the Office of the President face no similar consequences for missing donor rice intended for Sierra Leoneans, or for financial irregularities —shielded by the very institutions meant to uphold accountability.

 

> 7. What is National Cohesion without equal opportunity?

 

Today, regional and political favouritism dictate who gets jobs, scholarships, and contracts.

 

A) How many qualified youths from underserved regions are meaningfully represented in leadership—or even recommended for national and international scholarship opportunities?

 

B) Why do promotions and public service benefits disproportionately favour party loyalists over merit-based candidates?

 

_Until merit outweighs tribal, regional, or political loyalty, national unity remains an illusion. Are we ready to confront that truth?

 

National cohesion cannot thrive where loyalty is rewarded above competence. Are we truly building a nation, or preserving privilege?_

 

So, what kind of peace are we celebrating?

 

We are not against progress. We are against propaganda.

We are demanding that those gains be real, equitable, and sustainable.

 

If peace is the foundation of development that the Bio-led SLPP government wants to be proud of achieving, then that development must be visible—not just in conference reports and media soundbites , but in _Kroo Bay, and in every district, chiefdom, and section across the Southeast, North, and Northwest of Sierra Leone.

___________________________

> A message to the people of Sierra Leone- This is your fight

 

This message is for you:

 

* The hustler, the farmer’s child, the okada rider, the unemployed graduate, the young woman escaping gender-based violence, the skilled youth with no access to formal employment,

* The aspiring entrepreneur with no startup capital,

* The market woman with no shelter from rain or scorching heat from the sun,

* The teacher and nurse serving without pin codes or fair wages,

* The student denied university entry by institutional injustice ( WAEC),

* The elderly left without pension, healthcare, or energy in rural communities.

*  You deserve to be treated with truth, empathy, and equity.

 

Peace, if it does not prioritize your dignity, security, and human potential, is not peace—it is state-induced sedation.

 

> What you deserve

• A government that listens, responds, and serves without bias,but with empathy.

• Affordable, reliable, and sustainable electricity—available 24/7.

• Clean, safe, and sustainable water supply in every home and community.

• Equal access to justice, regardless of tribe, region, gender, or political affiliation.

 

A community free from youth addiction —where drug abuse, especially Kush, is addressed as a national emergency, not ignored.

 

• The freedom to speak, to question, and to express yourself —without fear of arrest, intimidation, or losing your job.

 

• A president who stays in the country, walks among the people, and understands their suffering— not a one-day-in, six-days-abroad leadership model.

 

_You are not too young to ask questions._

_You are not too old to demand justice_.

_And you are certainly not too small to claim your rightful share of Sierra Leone’s resources and future._

 

> Peace is not merely the absence of war — it is the presence of dignity.

 

Until we confront the quiet emergencies that are silently taking lives each day, then to celebrate peace without justice is not only premature — it borders on deception, and it’s an insult to every Patriotic Sierra Leonean .

 

Let us redefine peace.

If President Bio truly wishes to leave behind a legacy of peace, let it be measured in lives transformed, not just rankings secured.

 

Sierra Leone deserves a peace not negotiated in air-conditioned halls, but built in the dusty streets, fishing towns, hilltop villages, and the hearts of every struggling youth.

 

Let us not just celebrate peace — let us build it.

 

@ For you and for me. CMJ