That Is The Storm In The Horizon

 

By Alpha Amadu Jalloh

 

The clouds are darkening over Sierra Leone. The wind is rising. The sky is rumbling. The ground beneath us is trembling with unrest. A storm is forming. Not of rain or thunder, but of human desperation and national neglect. That is the storm in the horizon.

 

It is a storm built from years of unaddressed suffering, rising hunger, worsening poverty, and the collapse of social services. It is fed by the silence of those in power and the endless excuses of a government that has chosen comfort over conscience. Those who lead this nation, this is your moment of truth. Pretending all is well will not stop what is coming.

 

Across the country, from Kailahun to Kambia, the evidence is all around us. Families are going to bed without food. Mothers are boiling stones to deceive hungry children into believing food is on the fire. Youths are dying from drugs, not only from kush but from hopelessness. Hospitals have become waiting rooms for the dying. Health centres are empty of medicine but full of despair. Teachers are underpaid. Students are overcrowded in classrooms. Education is becoming a luxury only the well-connected can afford.

 

> “The war was about bad governance, endemic corruption and the brazen exploitation of the country’s resources by and for the benefit of a few, while the vast majority suffered in silence.”

— Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Humper, Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

 

This is the Sierra Leone we live in. This is not an opposition exaggeration. It is not a political gimmick. It is the hard, bitter truth that every suffering Sierra Leonean wakes up to every single day. Yet our leaders sit in government buildings, drive luxury SUVs, fly abroad for treatment, and send their children to foreign schools. They act like the storm is a rumour. But it is not. It is real. It is near. And it is building with every second.

 

We cannot continue like this. We cannot keep living in a country where poverty is the birthright of the majority. We cannot keep acting like things are fine when the streets are filled with beggars, the youth are drowning in drugs, and the poor are one illness away from death. We cannot afford to ignore the signs any longer. The storm is coming.

 

We have been here before. We saw the tension that erupted on August 9 and 10. We saw how frustration turned into fury. We saw how citizens, pushed beyond their limit, took to the streets. The images of that uprising are still fresh. The reasons that led to it remain unresolved. Hunger is worse. The despair is deeper. The silence from those in charge is louder. That is the danger. That is the storm in the horizon.

 

We must not wait for violence to awaken our conscience. We must not wait for another national tragedy to realise that the people have had enough. This is not about politics. This is not about party colour. This is about survival. This is about dignity. This is about justice. Every time a child dies because there is no medicine, a drop falls in the storm. Every time a graduate sits idly at home with no job while politically connected people with no qualifications occupy every space, the storm grows louder.

 

> “Peace without addressing the root causes of conflict is not sustainable.”

— Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report

 

We must remember the words of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, formed after our country was torn apart by civil war. In the foreword to the TRC Report, Reverend Dr Joseph C. Humper warned that silence “eventually turned into a roar.” Are those in power waiting for another roar?

 

I am not wishing for violence. I pray against it. I have seen what violence does. I have worked with victims. I have buried the broken. I have heard the cries of mothers and the silence of children. I want peace. But peace must come with justice. It must come with fairness. It must come with opportunity.

 

And the root causes are back. They are here. They are rising. Hunger. Joblessness. Exclusion. Corruption. Nepotism. Political arrogance. Police brutality. A disconnected elite. A hopeless youth. The storm is forming again. But this time, the people will not rise because of political manipulation. They will rise because they are starving. They will rise because they have been ignored.

 

Let us change this narrative before it is too late. Let us heed the recommendations of the TRC that called for “a new culture of governance that places the people at the centre of development.” Sierra Leone needs a radical shift in how its leaders treat its citizens. The people do not want handouts. They want a chance to live. They want a government that prioritises their welfare, not its own wealth.

 

To every authority, every ministry, every directorate and every politician, this is a call to action. This is not a threat. It is a warning born out of concern and responsibility. Do something now. Create emergency employment programs for the youth. Invest heavily in mental health support. Get serious about tackling drug abuse. Reopen closed clinics and stock the hospitals. Pay teachers well. Clean up the corruption in recruitment. Make young people a national priority.

 

We need to make a way of life. A new way of life where our young people feel valued and protected. A new way of life where families are not punished for being poor. A new way of life where our children do not grow up thinking they have to join a political party or a gang just to survive. A new way of life where education means opportunity, not debt. A new way of life where Sierra Leone belongs to all of us, not just the elite.

 

Our people are not asking for miracles. They are asking for basic dignity. They are asking for fairness. They are asking for the chance to survive. To work. To learn. To live without fear. That is not too much to ask.

 

We cannot allow ourselves to forget the lessons of our past. Reverend Humper and the TRC reminded us clearly. “Never again must Sierra Leone return to war.” But unless we act now, unless we change the conditions that sparked the last war, we are inching closer to a future we have vowed never to repeat.

 

That is the storm in the horizon. It is no longer distant. It is no longer vague. It is clear. It is here. And if we do not act now, we will all be swept away.