SLPP ABANDONS KARENE DISTRICT
*No Road!
*No Development!
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
Karene District, the proud birthplace of Dr. Samura Kamara — twice the leading contender for Sierra Leone’s presidency — is today a portrait of disgraceful abandonment, left to rot by a government that clearly sees its people as expendable.
For over two years, a major bridge along one of the district’s main roads has been left collapsed, cutting off communities, strangling local trade, and endangering lives — all met with stunning silence and inaction from the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). What’s worse? There’s no sign of urgency, no promise of repair — not even a makeshift bypass. It’s as if Karene fell off the national map.
The bridge in question once served as a crucial link for thousands of residents, farmers, schoolchildren, and traders. Today, it’s nothing more than a symbol of deliberate neglect and a slap in the face to a region that has long cried out for development — and been cruelly ignored.
Despite being home to one of the most high-profile political figures in the country, Dr. Samura Kamara, Karene continues to suffer from a shameful lack of basic infrastructure, nonexistent road maintenance, crippled health facilities, and zero government investment. The irony stings: the very district that produced the SLPP’s strongest challenger has been methodically starved of progress.
SLPP’s “I Don’t Care” Doctrine
Residents describe the SLPP’s attitude toward the district as nothing short of vindictive. The prevailing sentiment on the ground is that the government is punishing Karene for its political loyalty to the opposition. The neglect isn’t just incompetence — it feels intentional.
“This is no longer politics. This is wickedness,” says Fatmata Kanu, a local trader forced to carry goods on foot across dangerous makeshift wooden planks where the bridge once stood. “We voted for who we believed in. Now they want us to suffer for it.”
The SLPP government, meanwhile, continues to pour millions into pet projects and vanity infrastructure in their strongholds, while Karene’s roads turn to rivers of mud and bridges crumble like sandcastles.
Development for Some, Misery for Others
From Kailahun to Bo, SLPP-led regions have seen new roads, upgraded hospitals, and government attention. In stark contrast, Karene is deteriorating before the country’s eyes, with entire chiefdoms cut off, and motorists avoiding the area altogether due to impassable routes and broken infrastructure.
Locals call it “development apartheid” — a system where state resources are weaponized and allocated based on political allegiance, not national need.
A District Forgotten — Or Targeted?
Analysts say the neglect of Karene is no coincidence. “It’s political punishment disguised as budget constraint,” said a civil society activist who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals. “This is what happens when a government views opposition districts as enemies.”
While President Julius Maada Bio travels the globe on donor-funded charm offensives, his government turns a blind eye to Karene’s suffering, as if the district — and its people — don’t matter.
The abandonment of Karene is a national scandal. It’s not just a story of poor governance; it’s a brutal reminder of how vengeful politics is holding Sierra Leone hostage.
Karene doesn’t need pity. It needs justice. It needs roads. It needs bridges. It needs the government to act like it serves the whole country — not just the parts that vote blue.
Until then, the collapsed bridge in Karene stands as both a monument to betrayal and a warning sign of what happens when politics trumps people.