By Chief Executive Officer,Kabs Kanu

Copyright cocorioko

The Next President in 2028 has to fix the mentality of broken minds.

24-09-2025@18:16.

As I promised to reflect on some of the issues I picked up in Sierra Leone during my just-ended visit, today I want to discuss the shattered mentality—the mindset—of many of my Sierra Leonean compatriots.

I believe that for any government to succeed, and for any country to develop, the mindset of its citizens must be positive and geared toward progress.

For this to happen, honesty, integrity, and sincerity must reside in the hearts of all citizens.

These traits should guide our daily interactions, regardless of tribe or political affiliation.

I’m not suggesting that dishonesty was absent before I left the country, but the level of dishonesty, decayed integrity, and insincerity now being displayed by many is unimaginable.

It’s prevalent in nearly every sector, depending on who you’re dealing with.

For instance, people often work tirelessly to outsmart those who invited them to be partners, whether in business or other ventures.

Take cattle rearers: if you buy cows and entrust someone to raise them, the next thing you hear is that all your cows have either died or been stolen.

Or consider hiring someone to build a house, and you agree on a price and pay half upfront, only to find that his workers have stolen your cement, iron rods, binding wires, or sand.

One victim told me, “If you want to build a house, prepare to spend double your budget because of the dishonesty of the workers.”

The same applies to taxi and poda-poda drivers. Many try to earn more than the vehicle owners who sacrificed to buy those vehicles and entrusted them to drive.

Sadly, even some doctors and nurses in our hospitals engage in dishonest practices: selling drugs meant for patients or inflating prices when patients come to buy medicine.

Government employees in various ministries and agencies behave similarly, with corrupt mentalities.
I won’t even comment on the traffic police officers as their conduct is glaringly obvious to anyone who chooses to see.

Their corrupt acts are on full display across the country.
The level of dishonesty has reached such heights that in some Asian-owned supermarkets I visited in Lumley and Kissy, the owners now employ their own countrymen to monitor Sierra Leonean salespersons at the counters.

These salespeople scan items and collect money, yet someone stands over them, watching every move—eyes fixed, unblinking—to ensure no money goes missing.

I was shocked by this level of vigilance. When I asked why, I was told it was to prevent theft and collusion between salespeople and dishonest customers.
Despite cameras and scanning machines, someone must still stand over the cashier to watch how the money is counted and ensure it’s placed in the correct drawer.

This doesn’t mean theft in supermarkets is new—but the extra measures now in place suggest that the level of thievery has escalated.
Imagine inviting someone—whether a relative or a fellow Sierra Leonean—to help you run a business.
More often than not, that person ends up stealing from you, trying to outsmart you, and ultimately destroying the very business you invited them to help build.

What about contractors awarded by government or council projects to build schools, health centers, culverts, or bridges?
Their workers often steal materials and sell them to community members at discounted prices.

Shockingly, the same community members who stand to benefit from these projects are the ones buying the stolen goods.
In fact, some dishonest individuals in these communities actively encourage the theft so they can buy the materials cheaply. This same mentality exists at fuel stations.

If you ask a pump attendant to fill a certain amount of fuel and don’t pay close attention, they’ll give you less than you paid for and you’ll still be charged the full amount.
To crown it all, the mindset of many of our compatriots has been deeply corrupted.

Because of these behaviors, former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah once said, “Salon man get bad heart.” In response to this crisis, former President Ernest Bai Koroma introduced the concept of Attitudinal and Behavioral Change.

More recently, President Maada Bio’s government launched Civic Education.
These initiatives were designed to transform the negative mindset of our people.

But unless you’ve dealt directly with some of them, you won’t understand how deeply entrenched the dishonesty is. It’s astonishing.

Today, shop owners rarely trust workers to deposit money at the bank, a task once done routinely.
If you try it now, you’ll likely regret it.

One supermarket supervisor told me that even bundles of 20 Leones are sometimes tampered with at the bank.

If someone takes such a bundle without checking, they’ll find it incomplete.

This is a disaster. A country infested with broken, negatively infected mindsets will struggle to develop.

Business and development become nearly impossible when trust is absent, and corruption is the norm. When did we sink to this level of moral decay?

Whoever emerges as the next President of Sierra Leone in 2028 must be prepared to instruct the relevant ministry to draft a strong bill addressing this problem—and ensure it is passed into law by Parliament.

Without such action, we’ll remain trapped in this pool of dishonesty and insincerity.

It is on this note that I say: the next President in 2028 must fix the mentality of broken minds in our country.
I rest my case.