By Sahr I. Komba
When Old Major, the wise boar in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, gathered the animals and spoke about their suffering under Mr. Jones, he tapped into grievances everyone could recognize. They were hungry, overworked, and treated as disposable. His words were simple but powerful: “Man is the only enemy we have.” He sang them a song of liberation, painted a picture of dignity, and convinced them that by removing Jones, they could own their labour and live in peace.
The animals revolted, threw out their master, and for a moment, tasted freedom. But what Orwell shows with chilling precision is that revolutions do not fail only when they are defeated they also fail when they succeed. The pigs, who had promised equality, quickly monopolized literacy and knowledge. They rewrote rules, created special privileges, used propaganda to hide failures, and unleashed dogs on dissenters. By the end, the pigs and the humans were indistinguishable.
This is not just fiction. It is the story of politics everywhere including Sierra Leone.
Our politics, since independence, has followed a cycle familiar to Orwell’s farm. Each opposition party campaigns like Old Major, rallying the people with promises of liberation. The ruling party is cast as “Mr. Jones” corrupt, wasteful, and oppressive. Citizens are told that change will bring accountability, jobs, cheaper living, and dignity.
But when the opposition wins and forms government, it often exhibits the same habits it once condemned. The pigs start walking on two legs.
In Sierra Leone’s history, every government from the All People’s Congress (APC) of the 1970s and 1980s, to the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) governments of the late 1990s and 2000s, and back again has promised a clean break. Yet citizens frequently discover that corruption, misuse of power, and self-enrichment resurface under new faces.
This is not just about individuals being greedy; it is about structures that allow yesterday’s victims to become today’s abusers.
Like Old Major’s fiery speech, opposition parties in Sierra Leone know how to mobilize anger. They highlight poor service delivery, high prices, misuse of state resources, and the arrogance of power. They march with the people, chant slogans of justice, and sing songs of freedom. In this stage, they appear closest to citizens.But rhetoric is cheap. Once power shifts, slogans often give way to secrecy.
Orwell’s lessons map neatly onto Sierra Leone’s political reality.
Monopoly of knowledge and resources
On the farm, the pigs kept literacy to themselves. In Sierra Leone, once a party assumes office, it monopolizes government information. Although the Right to Access Information Act of 2013 obliges Ministries, Department and Agencies to disclose contracts and spending, many hide records or respond selectively. This secrecy breeds privilege.
The Seven Commandments were sacred until the pigs added “without cause.” In Sierra Leone, rules are bent through emergency procurement, sole-sourced contracts, and virement of funds. The Public Financial Management Act of 2016 and Public Procurement Act of 2016 empower oversight, but they are often treated as optional.
Squealer, the pig, convinced animals that hunger was a sign of sacrifice. Likewise, every government leans on messaging radio jingles, political rallies, billboards while hospitals lack drugs and young people remain jobless. The Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL), backed by the Audit Service Act of 2014, often shows the gap between slogans and reality.
The pigs unleashed dogs on critics. In Sierra Leone, security forces have too often been politicized. Under APC, opposition rallies were restricted. Under SLPP, the August 10, 2022 protests ended in bloodshed. Although the 1991 Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly under Section 26, protests are frequently met with force. The Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone (HRCSL), created in 2004, exists to monitor abuses, but its recommendations are not always enforced.
On the farm, milk and apples “for brainwork” became feasts. Here, officials enjoy duty-free vehicles, overseas travel, and housing allowances, even as citizens struggle. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), empowered by the Anti-Corruption Act of 2008, amended in 2019 is supposed to check this but political will determines how far it bites.
The pigs always warned of enemies outside the farm. In Sierra Leone, every administration blames “saboteurs,” “past governments,” or “global shocks” for its failings. While some threats are real, the danger is when blame becomes permanent policy.
Just as the pigs repainted the commandments, ruling parties try to control the national story through state media, selective memory, or erasing opponents’ contributions. The antidote is a strong Hansard, active civil society, and investigative journalism.
The tragedy is that both APC and SLPP, once in power, fall into similar traps. The very structures designed to prevent abuse RAIC, NPPA, ASSL, ACC, HRCSL, and Local Councils under the Local Government Act of 2004 are either underfunded, undermined, or politicized.
This weakens accountability and allows each government to become what it once opposed. The farm keeps changing owners, but the animals remain hungry.
Sierra Leone does not have to keep replaying Orwell’s plot. The safeguards already exist.
Enforce the RAIC Act. Ministries should publish all contracts and transfers online, without waiting for citizens to beg.
The Auditor General’s reports should not gather dust. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) must follow through, and the ACC should prosecute without fear or favour.
Protests and opposition are not threats, they are constitutional rights. HRCSL’s findings should trigger reforms, not defensiveness.
Councils should receive transfers on time and publish their budgets. Local governance dilutes monopoly power.
Most of all, citizens must stay vigilant. Old Major’s dream failed because the animals surrendered oversight to the pigs. Our democracy will fail if we do the same.
Every election in Sierra Leone begins with community halls,open fields or party offices packed with hopeful citizens, singing the songs of change. But too often, those elected to power slowly come to resemble the very rulers they condemned. Orwell’s warning is clear, corruption is not about who is in power; it is about how power is checked.
If Sierra Leone strengthens its watchdogs, protects civic space, and enforces its own laws, the farm can finally escape its cycle. If not, we may again look at our leaders and wonder as Orwell put it whether the pigs and the men are really any different.
