Election Fever

Over the past few months, Sierra Leone had been building up to the national elections, which took place on 17^th November. These were only the 2^nd multiparty elections since the end of the war, and said to be the 1^st which Sierra Leone itself would be responsible for running. With accusations of corruption, vote rigging and tampering with ballots always close at hand, it was also important that there were international observers, including from EU, and an ongoing UN presence (possibly to be greatly reduced if elections go well). People are aware that there is a possibility of violence erupting, particularly as many here are still living in terrible conditions and there are thousands of unemployed, angry young men. However, there is also a strong desire for peace to be maintained, and there has been a campaign of messages to this effect – including the “No Violence” song that seems to have been played on a loop on some of the radio stations!

Campaigning in Sierra Leone is very different from what I have seen in the UK. For a start, there are low literacy levels here and many rural areas lack much communication from the cities. This means that the campaign is not so much about manifestos or debates. Instead, the politicians really get in their cars and tour buses and go around the country, giving speeches and holding rallies to whip up public support (and intimidate their opponents with a show of strength, it looks like). Voting is strongly associated with the colours and motifs of each party. The ruling APC – All People’s Congress- is red colour, with a rising sun.



The main opposition party, the SLPP – Sierra Leone People’s Party
 – is green, with a palm leaf logo.

 The underlying factor in deciding loyalties in politics here often comes down to ethnic and geographical background: Temnes and northern regions voting APC; Mendes and southern regions going SLPP. However, this becomes a lot more complicated in mixed areas like Freetown, and on the “swing states” in between north and south where the main wrangling has been going on. There certainly seems to have been a high degree of community involvement in the campaign, with many of our staff members coming to work in their party’s colours and wearing supporting wristbands. Fortunately, it has all remained friendly inside the workplace!

A campaign timetable was worked out for the 9 parties who had candidates for positions including local councillors and parliamentarians as well as president. It gave each of them “rally days” in each area. This resulted in huge marches through the streets of Freetown on the days that the SLPP and APC were rallying – best not to try to go anywhere at all!

Finally on 17^th November we got to voting day and there was a general curfew: no vehicles allowed to circulate except those with special permits and virtually everything shut down except voting stations. I did have to go out on hospital business, and noticed long lines of people patiently waiting to vote from very early in the morning. Apparently there was a turnout of 87%, which is impressive if it is true! Everyone had been told not to wear party colours and to be peaceful on the day, and that went well.

After the vote was in, the waiting for results started. There were several false alarms when we thought results were going to be broadcast on the radio (small results from each of the hundreds of polling stations were being read out but they were nigh on impossible to keep track of). Then we had the National Electoral Committee telling us that …….some ballot boxes were going to be recounted because of “irregularities”…….still waiting for results. Finally, on 23^rd November – 6 days after the vote – the incumbent candidate Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC was announced as the winner. Cue hundreds of people in red shirts taking to the streets, car horns, burning tyres and fireworks, but thankfully no violence. EBK got sworn in virtually straight away, so although the SLPP has not officially accepted the result yet, it is hard to see what they can do.

For the international community, there is relief that there has been no major violence and we just hope that the government will work for the people and make good use of the revenues that they have from mineral extraction and donor aid.  I personally cannot claim to have much understanding of the workings of Salone politics and just wish that they will go on trying to provide free healthcare for mothers and children and pay the salaries of the few healthcare staff they do have! (I am not paid by them myself but see too many doctors and nurses in the government hospitals whose salaries come late if they come at all and it is a big demotivator).

That is the end of this socio-political post; back to more of my random personal musings next time!

(And the next one will probably be my last as I am heading back to Edinburgh in December and saying goodbye to Salone).

See you all soon!

October Holidays

Sorry again for delay in writing my blog. October was a busy month: discharging patients from our fistula wards, deliveries in maternity and then a break for me as 2 good friends came out to visit (more on that later). Now in November we have been preparing, along with the rest of Salone, for the national general elections (more on that in another blog!).

Thanks to those of you who keep in touch on email and Facebook. It is good to hear about the outside world, as my little world becomes so all-consuming. Some of the small things here that are important to me seem too minor to write about, while some of the big things are just too major. Let me just say that the highs and lows are pretty extreme. Fortunately, I have a good team around me who keep me sane.

("Data" meeting at AWC)

Back to my friends and their visit. C and C (they know who they are) were also VSO volunteers in the past, and we met in Edinburgh through VSO groups and other common interests.

Being well-travelled, highly adaptable people, they were ideal candidates for making the “adventurous” (that is a euphemism) trip to Sierra Leone. Fortunately for all of us, late October/ early November turns out to be a good time to visit: weather not too hot and not too wet, some roads newly improved for the election, 1-year volunteers getting to know the good and the bad bits to seek out and avoid respectively!

I had a lovely birthday with small gathering of friends at the beach and the unplanned bonus of presents and cards arriving from home with my visitors. Thanks go especially to my mum for assisting in import of some extra supplies for the hospital and pharmacy!

A trip with my friends was a great opportunity for me to explore some of the thus-far untouched corners of the Sierra Leone map and have a bit of a break from work. (Many thanks to Nad for covering solo while I was away gallivanting).

I had heard that the roads up-country were “a bit bad” and this was a serious understatement – much of them being closer in their topography to a muddy riverbed than an actual byway for vehicles. Fortunately, we had a good vehicle with 4x4 and a good driver in our friend Suleiman, so we made it in 1 piece up to the north-west corner, near the Guinea border, and Outamba-Kilimi National Park. The Park is officially a protected area for wildlife, however unsurprisingly this is not a top priority for Sierra Leone at the moment and visiting there is a DIY experience. We were very happy to find reed huts by the river where we could sleep, and in the daytime a guide appeared to take us on a canoe ride down the river to see the hippo family and a walk up the nearby hill to see the elephant trails and jungle birds. Back at camp, the monkeys came and played in the trees overhead. Far from the noise and chaos of Freetown – there was not even any mobile phone coverage.

Late October is when the harvests start coming in for rice, chilli, and many other crops that are grown during the rain. People are busy in their fields and villages cutting and drying the crops. It is a time of plenty when many ceremonies (all involving rice) will be held, and everyone can eat well. After OK Park, we went to Rogbonko Village, which was the home village of author Aminatta Forna’s father and where she has now been involved in starting a small-scale community tourism project. We stayed in the village and watched their daily work and night-time dancing, bought some of the raffia woven products and played with the children.

For the final part of our adventure, we were back on the Western Area (peninsula where Freetown lies). We visited the beautiful beach and River Number 2 for a night in a beach bungalow and boat trip up the river. Then up into the hills for a visit to Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to see our close relatives being well looked after in the protected area there. Happily joined by Sierra Leone VSO friends Lynne and Sunil (they have both written better blogs than me, which I refer you to for more information on SL).

I was very happy that my visitors had an enjoyable and interesting stay, and for me it was a pleasure to share some of my favourite spots from the year and enjoy some new sights with them. They met many Sierra Leoneans, who were warm and hospitable, which also gave me great pleasure. Still a few bumps in the road to be ironed out, but maybe there is hope for SL tourism yet!