Sierra Leone: When the Head of the Fish Rotten, the Whole Body Spoils

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Sierra Leone stands as a tragic masterpiece in the gallery of failed governance—a living proverb of what happens when the head of the fish is rotten and the rot infects every organ, fin, and scale of national life. The government, from its glitzy presidential lodges right down to the most junior official stamping forms on a rusted desk, models a form of corruption so normalized that it would be called tradition if it weren’t so plainly a crime.

The empty vows to fight the ‘cancer’ of corruption ring hollow against the evidence: the media who report on high-level graft are arrested, anti-corruption drives become circuses of accountability without consequence, and each new scandal is met by the same exhausted chorus of official denials and citizens’ shrugs.

A National Unity of Shrugs

From the president’s office down to the traffic police post, there appears to be a rare sense of unity: everyone agrees corruption is bad—especially when it’s someone else’s. Government agencies now outdo each other announcing new reforms, holding press conferences to declare they will ‘root out the rot,’ then promptly forget where the root is buried.

In the game of complicit governance, transparency and reform are whispered like superstitions, never allowed to threaten the real rites of power—patronage, bribery, kickbacks, and the eternal reinvention of mechanisms for funneling public cash into private pockets.

---

Most Read from YAME Digital: SIERRA LEONE

A billionaire bubble that bursts the moment you try to price something. Anything!

Behold, the land where one billion makes you rich on paper, but in real life, you’re still hustling for small change at Lumley Beach.

READ

---

Look at the hospital that lacks basic equipment, the roads that kill, the schools that fail, and witness how every noble promise about a ‘New Direction’ drowns in that familiar, slimy gloom.

Sierra Leone’s real statecraft is not about law or vision, but about extracting rents, ensuring loyalists are fed along the gravy train, and expanding ministries as a bloated reward for political allegiance.

When the President is always flying, who’s left to keep schools open? Let’s not overlook the education system in Sierra Leone.

The country's financial resources function like a personal ATM for the first family and their cronies.

Bio has perfected the art of frequent flyer miles as his nation’s classrooms remain overcrowded, underfunded, and gasping for air.

Education here is being starved deliberately, sabotaged by neglect so profound it has become ordinary. Sierra Leonean schools are running on fumes, and everyone knows it. Principals organize National Agendas not to inspire, but to plead year after year: the government’s ‘Free Education Scheme’ yields a staggering ten Leones per primary school child, a sum as laughable as it is tragic.

Chalk, the symbol of learning, is rationed like a luxury commodity.

Delays in payments are routine, support staff disappear, and tens of thousands of students are barred from exams. ‘Free’ education is just a slogan—schools are systematically starved by neglect, leaving children’s futures sacrificed to a system where hope is as scarce as funding.

Biting editorial column: After all, if the whole fish is spoiled, at least everyone gets a bite.

Meanwhile, ninety-nine percent of the citizens continue the grand national pastime of enduring. Some have even opened small side businesses selling laminated resignation letters for public officials—now portable, reusable, and available in ‘temporary exile’ or ‘redeployed” editions’

This is a society where even ‘anti-corruption’ has become a sort of dark theater—a demonstration not of virtue, but of the ruling class's ability to outmaneuver, out-hire, and outlast each wave of scrutiny. Each time a fresh committee is launched or another speech is made, it is not reform, but the ritual performance of accountability for the benefit of the one-percent donor class.

Those with power continue to prosper, shielded by the inertia of a worn-out citizenry resigned to enduring more of the same.

Sierra Leone is proof that when the head rots, the rot does not stop at the gills. It flows downward, suffocating dignity, opportunity, and hope. And as long as the fishmongers parade the same spoiled catch to market, the stench is everyone’s to bear.

YAME Digital 'All Rights Reserved'

---

RELATED

**Governance Failure: —What Past and Present Paopa’s and the Tologbos Have Failed to Achieve**

In Video: Here, a free medical screening event for the elderly, organized by Mohamed Sheik Kamara, known as ‘Jagaban,’ to commemorate the International Day of Older Persons, was abruptly canceled by the Sierra Leone Police— the use of state power by the SLPP to stifle and disrupt reflects a broader pattern of neglect for the health, welfare, and rights of the majority of the population, often referred to as the ninety-nine percent. This incident adds to a series of disruptions faced by Jagaban’s initiatives. Earlier this year, SLP also halted the groundbreaking ceremony for a proposed motorbike assembly plant, citing similar reasons. The harassment shows the depth of a political system that has repeatedly failed the citizens of Sierra Leone.

Note: To enlarge the view, use the pinch gesture or tap the blue circle on the video player.

The absurdity: A ‘High Horse Directives’ or ‘Cloud Commandments.’ The phrase ‘orders from above’ is a recurring theme commonly used in Sierra Leone to describe directives allegedly coming from the highest political authorities, such as the State House or leadership.

It’s strikingly ironic that, at a recent town hall meeting in Washington, DC, with the Sierra Leonean diaspora following the United Nations General Assembly in late September 2025, President Bio urged citizens living abroad to return home and share their expertise for the betterment of Sierra Leone.

Imploring to leverage their experiences and knowledge for national development, yet the actions by the SLP, with ‘orders from above,’ highlight the absurdity. It reveals a troubling inconsistency in his leadership approach.

If the president genuinely values their contributions, he must create a welcoming environment conducive to their return and involvement in nation-building, regardless of party line. Otherwise, those statements must have come from the ‘wrong side’ of Bio’s mouth for him to say.

France Seized Assets Belonging to Equatorial Guinea's Vice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue

Equatorial Guinea's Vice President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue

When African leaders and politicians exploit their nation's resources, they invest in properties abroad. The consequences are significant.

At the heart of the controversy is Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the first vice president of Equatorial Guinea, whose father, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, has held the presidency since 1979.

On Friday, September 12, the world court— THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ) ruled for the second time that Equatorial Guinea had no plausible claim to a Paris mansion once tied to Obiang’s lavish spending, clearing the way for France to move ahead with the sale.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mangue, Vice President of Equatorial Guinea, 101-Room Mansion at the center of the dispute with French authorities. The VP was seeking to stop the sale of his 101-room mansion in Paris.

The mansion, located on Avenue Foch, was seized by French authorities as part of a corruption probe, and the court ruled that Equatorial Guinea did not have a plausible claim to get the property back or prevent its sale.

The grand 101-room mansion featured luxurious amenities, including a cinema, a nightclub, and a Turkish bath (hammam). It was allegedly financed with money taken from government funds

The dispute began when French authorities confiscated a luxury mansion in Paris, along with millions of dollars in assets, luxury cars, and other items, after Vice President Obiang Mangue was found guilty of embezzling public funds in 2017. France argued that the property was not a diplomatic mission, contradicting earlier claims made by Equatorial Guinea. Additionally, a previous court decision in 2020 confirmed that the mansion was indeed a private residence.

As a result, the International Court of Justice rejected Equatorial Guinea's request to block the sale or reclaim the property, stating that there was no proof of a diplomatic right that would require its return. Judges concluded that the claim was not plausible under international law and that France acted within legal boundaries during the investigation and seizure.

The grand 101-room mansion featured luxurious amenities, including a cinema, a nightclub, and a Turkish bath (hammam). It was allegedly financed with money taken from government funds.

Obiang Mangue has faced similar allegations and sanctions in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Brazil, for misusing public funds.

Corrupt leaders often use foreign banks, legal firms, and shell companies to conceal their illicit gains overseas while the majority of their population is drowning in poverty.

Theo Edwards for YAME Digital