Rape is an act of having a by force sex with a person or group of persons and it can be a man, woman, lady, guy, girl or a boy.
Rape is an act prohibited by law has been largely frowned at as a societal menace that has helped to hinder both the individual and collective success of Sierra Leone.
In order to condemn this act and put a halt to it in Sierra Leone, an amendment was made to the Sexual Offences Act of 2019 by increasing the maximum year for sentencing its perpetrators by the setting up a Special court for Rape and other sexual and gender base offences at the High Court.
Draconian laws have been put in place for those involving in the heinous habit but the crime still continues unabated. However, the word ‘Rape’ is now broadens to have a different whole meaning in contrast to its deep rooted meaning.
In politics, Rape is anything done by any government that does not reflect the will of the people and to be seen it done by force. Generally, a government is the representative of the people be it opposition or ruling and their choices, policies and decisions should be a reflection of those that have elected them and for any policy or decision that they compelled on these people is an act of rape, because it is not accepted by a vast majority of the people.
Both present and past governments have raped the people their democratic rights and core most among them is the right to vote and vice versa in a bid to either unseat or re-elect an incumbent president and this has always been a test case for sitting government to accept defeat and to go back to the drawing board. Past and present incumbent Heads of State have failed this test case by inventing maneuvering tactics by making sure that they secure their term in office caring less about its ripple effect on the image of the country. It has now been a conventional norm that Heads of State should rule for a consecutive two term even if the people agree to disagree by casting their votes for or against the ruling or main opposition political party.
In the country’s just concluded three-tier elections, both the main opposition and ruling party Leaders were bent on raping the people as they told their members and supporters that they have won the presidential polls just before the announcement of the result was made to the public.
These winning predictions sparked furious discussions between and among people who were curious to know who had better succeeded in raping the people of their democratic values.
Many believed in politics that all politicians are rapist because they fought tooth and nail to force themselves on the people by rigging the polls and oppressing their main contenders.
According to political commentators, nearly all incumbent presidents were not re-elected for a second term in office on the basis of not fulfilling their manifestos and impregnated campaign promises couple with bad policies and laws to keep them in power and protect their wealth and so forth.
Accountability and transparency are always at loggerheads with undemocratic principles in a government that is not a reflection and voice of the masses especially those who had voted for change.
In addition, the custodian of the land, which is the Constitution, is tampered with to frame and amend laws that are favorable for them and which they know will deter their opponents to challenge and by all possible means try to kick them out of the race to garner a clean sweep victory all in the name of rape (by force).
Politically, rape has been used to dent the hard earned achievements of topnotch politicians as well as other prominent and key figures such as business people, nationalists, activists in a bid to stall their political heights and frustrate their political aspirations in order that those in control of power will continue swimming in it and caring less about the masses they are representing.
Political think thanks have assessed the rape as the simplest means of ruling parties in West Africa region with a special emphasis on the three Mano River countries to easily defeat their political opponents by either fabricating or bringing the old to the new.
Paid up women and ladies are mostly used as a net to catch these politicians by secretly snapping, recording and video while they are spending embezzled state resources on these sort of women and girls.
As political bait, most fire branded politicians that could have been fine Heads of State have been deterred to contest for the ‘Hot Seat’ as they have stained character towards rape and sexual and gender base violence and other related offences, although these incidents are being mostly swept under the carpet in the name of their almighty political parties controlling the arms of governance not excluding the fourth estate.
Furthermore, if only there should be an abrupt end to this democratic menace attributed to as rape, incumbent presidents and existing governments should learn to accept the outcome of Electoral results as per the choice of the people.
They must inculcate and imbibe in them the culture of defeat and bear in mind that politics is merely a soccer match and that it is either two team draw or one side win and learn that there are no two winners in a game as the same for the presidential polls.
Likewise, politics as a game is compared to a biscuit, meaning that it can be broken between two end at any given time and that it is rarely unpredictable with a lot of taciturn (di game na biskit).
Moreover, past and current incumbent presidents have been as rapists of democracy by making the gullible populace to believe that most of them were re-elected due to fulfilling their manifestos and still born campaign promises and thereby letting the horrible and disgruntled youthful population to jump in the street in celebration of a skewed victory that truly is not a will of those suffering in abject condition and left to wander on the street with emaciated bones and zinc faces.
These political game plans have sparkled major civil unrest with series of successful and attempted coups toppled with political allegiance, tribal and regional sentiments.
However, if rape as an hindrance to democracy and the people’s democratic rights and topmost among these democratic values is exercising their franchise, the incumbents must learn to embrace defeat and know that democracy is the government of the people, by the people and for the people that elected the government.
Most incumbents have failed to learn that their first term works determine their re-election with a proven and stainless track records all facets of governance.