OPINION > Something To Think About Professor Kelfala Kallon Vs Joe Sawan: The Battle Continues Posted by Joe Sawan on Aug 22, 2008, 03:56

Once again, Professor Kelfala Kallon has responded to my last essay, “Joe Sawan in Professor Kelfala Kallon’s Political History class”.  Fortunately for me, Professor Kallon treated my essay in a much kinder way not “flunking” me.  He must have been in a “jolly good mood”.  Thank you very much Professor Kallon for your generosity.

Great Professors manifest academic understanding for the perceived “intellectual sloppiness and historical inaccuracies” of analysts.  Believe me; I detest social grading of any kind.

Being the passive aggressive type, Professor Kallon immediately went on to state that, “what is most astonishing about Mr. Sawan’s response is that he did not address the historical errors and logical inconsistencies that I identified in my critique of his piece.  For example, he claimed that the SLPP had a banishment policy…. In my response, I pointed out that his so called banishment policy of the SLPP was indeed a creation of the colonial government”.  Was it still a colonial policy?

This is really interesting in light of the fact that Professor Kallon appears to detest individuals who proffer opinions that demonstrate either an ‘Ignorance of the facts, sloppy intellectualism or intellectual dishonesty”.  Can I draw the conclusion that Professor Kallon is “peddling a falsehood for an ulterior motive?”  Did the former colonial masters force the SLPP government to adopt all of the pre-independence policies?  Was it part of the Lancaster House agreement?  I am sure the Professor whom I really do admire and respect for his intellectual prowess knows the answers to the above posers.  Professor Kallon, I presume, hates to be defeated.  Too bad!

However, I will indicate for the readers to know that Sierra Leone became politically independent in 1961 and, therefore, had no obligations to pursue policies that were inimical to the development of the country.  Blaming the colonial government for the SLPP’s continued implementation of the odious banishment policy is, “blah, blah, blah” at best and Professor Kallon knows that very well.

Now that Professor Kallon has introduced the colonial government into this debate, I need to call his attention to both the Public Order Act and the seditious criminal libel laws which the SLPP government in the 1960s again copied and implemented.  Did the SLPP consider the human rights of  Sierra Leoneans?  Of course, Professor Kallon will invent another pseudo research to support his opinion. Boy oh boy, what a world!  It is relatively easy to escape the impact of an “intellectual minefield” as long as you are not “intellectually dishonest” or politically emotionally predisposed to see ONLY the good side of the SLPP.  Take it from me Professor Kallon, I am neither pro APC nor Pro SLPP.  I am simply, pro Sierra Leone.  I plead guilty if that is a crime.

Again, Professor Kallon should be reminded that my essay, “The Consistently Consistent SLPP” was not meant to compare the SLPP to the APC.  It was a very objective assessment that the consistency with which the SLPP has pursued certain policies is unhelpful to the party.  Hopefully, the leadership of the party will take my observation in good faith and map out a strategy for its future sustainability.  Professor Kallon is also unhelpful to the SLPP because by using intellectually tinged evasionary strategies and subterfuge to ignore factual statements.  The SLPP is made up of human beings who are likely to make mistakes.

As I stated in my original essay, corruption is ubiquitous.  It is possible that the APC may be more corrupt than the SLPP.  My main point of contention is that the SLPP is consistently consistent regarding the issue of corruption. The anticipated Commission of Inquiry will throw more light on it soon.  Professor Kallon does mistrust the judges that have to be selected.

A few days ago, the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports revealed that the country does not have 33, 169 teachers.  This dates back to the Ahmad Tejan Kabbah administration.  The conclusion of the Minister is that the government has been spending hundreds of Millions of Leones on invisible schools, ghost administrators, ghost teachers and ghost students.  This is a malignant cancer that must be eradicated from Sierra Leone.

For me, political parties are only important if they proactively pursue the core national values of hard work, resourcefulness, honesty, excellence, integrity, good neighborhood ness andtolerance/accommodation.  The pursuance of these core values will enable Sierra Leone to achieve the goals of economic growth, full employment, price stability, economic freedom, economic security and equitable distribution of income.  The above got Malaysia where it is today developmentally.

I have, almost, always enjoyed reading Professor Kallon’s numerous  essays on economics.  He is on solid ground in that area.  The ground becomes very slippery when he wades in political waters.  May be, he is a political economist.

Perhaps, this is why Professor Kallon has thrown in the proverbial towel by noting that, “hence, I have said all that I need to say on this issue and will now move on”.  Professor Kallon is a great man because he knows when to quit.

It is my hope that Professor Kallon and I will participate in a debate here in Freetown on an agreed time and topic.  I am also available to talk either with his students or an organization at the University of Colorado should he arrange for an invitation to be extended to me.  This intellectual debate has helped to increase the sales of Standard Times, which is already the leading paper in Sierra Leone.

Finally, I am still appealing to Professor Kallon and all the other Sierra Leoneans to join forces in helping to facilitate the development of Sierra Leone.  That is the least we can do for a country, which after 47 years of independence, is still languishing at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index.  That is no blah, blah, blah either.