The politician, Mohamed Gento Kamara, is not hated by Sierra Leoneans because he is an SLPP.
Sierra Leone People’s Party ( SLPP), where Mr. Gento Kamara finds himself now as a rookie politician, is the oldest political group in the south and east of the country.
Since Sierra Leone’s politics is largely determined by a party’s powerbase, the palm leaf party is cherished by people in these largest districts: Bo, Kenema, Kailahun, Kono, Bonthe, Moyamba and Pujehun.
It is no doubt that whosoever belongs to the greener party has no worries about being loved by people of the south and east of Sierra Leone.
Once a business tycoon as a civil engineer, at least, for Sierra Leonean level, he is also respected by the southerners and easterners.
He is pampered with palm leaves as he enjoys southerners and easterners’ soothing love in most of his visits to the rural.
The civil engineer’s fame rose earlier in the reign of ex-president Koroma, a statesman who belongs to All People’s Congress (APC), now the main opposition party. Mr. Gento Kamara benefited from Koroma’s era as he won mega contracts to build important roads within the municipal, Freetown.
Most Sierra Leoneans then, had never known that Mr. Gento Kamara would someday go into politics.
It is out of beautifully constructing the very narrow, crooked Hill Cut Road which lies west of the capital, that the engineer became recognized in other countries in Africa like The Gambia.
He was believed to be hired by Gambian president Adama Barrow to help build Gambians with good roads. The Hill Cut Road, despite delays to get it done, received several praises by Sierra Leoneans who liked the new ‘zigzag’ road on the mountains overlooking Freetown. That was the handwork of Mr. Mohamed Gento Kamara.
Gento Group , the road construction company, is a household name in Sierra Leone. The owner has become a tight competitor for a Senegalese road company, CSE and Chinese road constructors. However, since he announced his intention to run for the city’s mayoral post, Mr. Gento Kamara is seen in the country playing more politics than he is seen on the streets doing the roads he has been contracted for by the government.
The contractor has never abandoned his business deals to avoid conflict of interests as he plays active role in politics.
As it is required in modern countries, business owners who enjoy government’s contracts must relinquish their businesses as chief executive officers when their hands are in politics.
As CEO of Gento group of companies, Mr. Kamara is expected to have long since resigned his post at the time he declared for Freetown’s mayor. But as he plays active politics in campaigns and rallies within the capital and beyond,Gento Kamara now abandons his duty to Sierra Leoneans which is to finish most of his uncompleted roads.
Places in Waterloo like Atengbeh town, Soja town community and several other streets in Koidu town and Moyamba district are still yet unpaved.
Taking a stroll in Waterloo Soja Town community, most streets there have been left abandoned with only red soil on top and open concrete-gutters on roads sides.
The many streets that are yet to be finished by the politician, Gento Kamara are more than even the ones that are under construction. And most of these streets in provincial towns would surely suffer from floods in the middle of the rainy season as work there now ceases.
The fact that there are still many unfinished roads and that the politician had made statements believed by many Sierra Leoneans to be promoting religious divisions between Christians and Muslims, Gento and his party may be affected by voters’ apathy in many areas in Sierra Leone in this year’s elections.
And the unanswered question on why most roads are not finished early before June 24, 2023’s general elections by Gento group might raise a huge doubt in the ruling party, SLPP’s push for a second time victory.