Healing A Fractured Nation: The Day Bio Chose Sierra Leone Over Politics

President Julius Maada Bio with the SLPP and APC MPs

President Bio’s unity meeting with APC and SLPP lawmakers is more than symbolic. It is a necessary step toward national healing.

By Alpha Amadu Jalloh | For Africa Publicity

In the politics of Sierra Leone, bold leadership is not often praised, especially when it comes from the same hands that have, at times, deepened national divides. But credit must be given where it is due. President Julius Maada Bio’s recent initiative to bring together parliamentarians from both the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the All People’s Congress (APC) in a meeting focused on addressing long-standing differences is not just commendable. It is historic. I call it the moment the glass ceiling of political division was finally shattered.

This symbolic gathering was not about politics. It was not about red or green. It was about Sierra Leone. And for someone like me, a fierce and unapologetic critic of President Bio’s governance, this move is precisely the kind of leadership I have been calling for in my long-running series Mr. President, Can We Talk? For once, it felt like the President was not just listening to his inner circle but to the nation’s collective yearning for peace, maturity, and unity. This is what leadership looks like.

We have spent too long in Sierra Leone trapped in a toxic cycle of political retaliation, mistrust, and institutional polarization. Parliament has often been reduced to a theatre of chaos, not a chamber of constructive debate. Citizens have grown weary of the constant tug-of-war between SLPP and APC, which has done little to improve living conditions for ordinary people. That is why this move, this simple yet powerful gesture of calling opposing MPs to one table, holds far more weight than it may seem.

President Bio’s reminder during the meeting that “this is not about party but about Sierra Leone” could be the defining statement of his presidency if he stays the course. In that moment, he lifted the conversation beyond slogans and power plays and reminded our leaders that Sierra Leone must come first. For far too long, our politicians have spoken the language of division. What the people need now is the grammar of unity, the tone of reconciliation, and the punctuation of shared purpose.

This is not the first time a Sierra Leonean President has demonstrated such statesmanship. Late President Ahmed Tejan Kabba did the same in the early 2000s when tensions within and between the APC and SLPP threatened to derail the fragile peace Sierra Leone had just regained. At a time when even members of the same party were at each other’s throats, it was Kabba who brought calm to chaos and reminded the country that national interest must always come before partisan loyalty. In that tradition, President Julius Maada Bio now finds himself. And for that, bravo President Bio.

I call on the President to not just repeat this gesture occasionally but to turn it into a national doctrine. Let this be the beginning of what I will now refer to as Operation “Unite Ol Man.” This must become more than an event. It must be a mindset, a governing philosophy, and a national campaign. Unity must be visible not only in high-level meetings but in the way policies are made, public appointments are distributed, and in how justice is administered. The time has come to institutionalize reconciliation and put an end to the silent war that has been tearing this nation apart.

The potential dividends of this move are immense. Firstly, it builds confidence in our democratic processes. It tells Sierra Leoneans and the international community that maturity has returned to our politics. It shows that our leaders are finally capable of putting country above ego and legacy. Secondly, this gesture can lay the foundation for meaningful national cohesion. The deep-seated mistrust between parties, tribes, and regions has paralyzed our development for years. Dialogue, mutual respect, and joint action are the only antidotes.

Thirdly, and most importantly, it gives hope to the youth of Sierra Leone. Our young people have only known a politics of bitterness and betrayal. This new turn tells them that another Sierra Leone is possible. One where you can disagree without being enemies. One where leaders talk before they fight. One where solutions are not manufactured in political bunkers but forged in open dialogue for the common good.

Let me be clear. This single act does not erase the failures of the past. It does not heal the wounds of political violence, injustice, or economic mismanagement. But it is a start. And sometimes, in a nation on the brink of disillusionment, a start is all we need to believe again. Mr. President, I have criticized you when your leadership failed to rise to the moment. Today, I give you a stripe. Not out of loyalty, but out of principle. You have done something right. Now do more of it.

Let the opposition also rise to the occasion. Let the APC MPs walk into such meetings not with suspicion but with a willingness to rebuild. Let civil society join this new chorus. Let religious leaders preach this unity from their pulpits and mosques. Let traditional rulers be ambassadors of this movement. We are all tired of division. The hour for unity is now.

Mr. President, you have broken the glass ceiling. You have danced to the rhythm of the people’s call. Now let the music play on. Do not let this be a one-time event for the cameras. Make it your legacy. Make it your new political anthem. Operation “Unite Ol Man” is the leadership Sierra Leone needs and the leadership the people deserve.

Alpha Amadu Jalloh is a Sierra Leonean author, journalist, and human rights advocate based in Australia. He is the author of “Monopoly of Happiness” and writes the popular political column “Mr. President, Can We Talk?”