By Gibril Koroma, Publisher, the Patriotic Vanguard, Toronto, Canada
Desmond Pessima (photo) is the new Chairman of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party in North America. He was elected in March this year and is already quite busy with the affairs of the party which is one of the oldest and largest in the country. The SLPP is also currently the ruling party in Sierra Leone.
Pessima’s job is huge with tremendous responsibilities. He oversees two vast countries, the United States of America and Canada. Because of his very tight schedule (Pessima is also a businessman) we decided to do an email interview with him instead of a phone interview.
Ladies and gentlemen, here is Desmond Pessima:
Thank you Gibril for this interview,
First, I would like to congratulate my executive for being elected to serve our party and country in this part of the world. In SLPP we do not have losers and as such let me use this platform to congratulate all candidates who contested the March 3rd, 2021 SLPPNA Regional elections. Whether elected or not we are one country, one people with strong desires to serve our country.
My election as Chairman, Sierra Leone People’s Party North America, signals the profound conviction that it is better to be governed by a good man than by a good law. I am a good man with the required skills and temperament to lead this region with sound moral and religious values.
My mom and dad are Bonthe descendants but yes, I was raised in Bo, a cosmopolitan city that is a frontier for diversity, freedom, goal pursuit, self-actualization, intellectual stimulation and faith in traditional conventions. I was nurtured in a Catholic Christian home that had the trappings of a monastery where I was exposed to the word of God and taught how to respect elders. Both Bo and the home of late Andrew Kaikai helped shape my moral etiquette and further challenged my quest for service to humankind.
I grew up learning a lot about SLPP and Sierra Leone politics. I started my SLPP political career during my senior year in Christ The King College in Bo right about the time for the re-election of late President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah. I was part of the young campaigners who rallied the streets of Bo for the re-election of late Tejan Kabbah. Since then I never stopped believing in defending the philosophy and
the practice of the SLPP.
A few years after migrating to the US, I served SLPPNA as Regional Publicity Secretary and Party Delegate representing the Delaware Valley Chapter. My election as Chairman shows the faith of the region is inviolable, the will of the region is unalterable, and the moral persuasion is sacred.
I would love to see greater diaspora involvement with national issues under my leadership. As a leader who believes in investment and national development, I am encouraging members of SLPPNA to be involved in economic activities beyond remittances for family support and construction of personal dwelling homes, but participate in establishing the durable prosperity of Sierra Leone under the New Direction through investment. The country needs our knowledge, expertise and experiences gained through exposure to advanced systems here in North America.
The system of checks and balances, transparency and accountability will be indelible trademarks of my administration. My executive will be an open book where every member is adequately informed and be involved in every action we pursue.
Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora are concerned about fair political participation for all. I am not oblivious of the need to work with other diaspora leaders to find common grounds with our elected representatives to put an end to the “two sim” legislation that continues to practically serves as an impediment for Sierra Leoneans with dual citizenship from contesting for certain positions.
Finally, I am calling on all SLPPNA members to join my executive and I to move the region forward. Let us understand that there is strength in unity, love, respect and patriotism and let us embrace one and other with forgiveness. We have a lot of work to do as a region and be assured that my executive and I are up to the task. We will deliver!
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