John Howard’s proverb, “You can’t fatten a pig on market day,” sums up a straightforward but timeless political reality: long-term planning, consistent delivery, and steady work, rather than last-minute antics, are what build success.
This lesson is especially relevant to Sierra Leone’s current opposition, the All Peoples Congress (APC). The APC seems content to fight on the edge. At the same time, the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), led by President Julius Maada Bio, struggles with several worsening failures that impact many citizens’ lives, wasting a clear chance to make those failures the central topic of political sermons. Bio successfully turned public discontent with the Ernest Bai Koroma administration into a successful campaign in 2018.
To convince voters that a change in leadership was required, the SLPP took advantage of legitimate complaints about economic mismanagement and austerity. The issues that drove the SLPP to power, a faltering economy and declining living standards, are now clearly connected to the performance of the Bio administration. However, rather than taking advantage of this opportunity, the APC has let the focus shift from core concerns to ancillary resentments.
The list of mistakes is well known. A cost-of-living crisis that affects households at their core is plaguing Sierra Leoneans. The unreliable supply of electricity continues to affect daily life and businesses. Inadequate or inconsistent university and school subsidies put more strain on families and weaken the future workforce. People are left to struggle with mobility at the mercy of transportation owners when public transportation is at its worst.
The government’s daily doctrine is fiscal indiscipline, and many of the major pledges made to the voters are still unmet. These are tangible hardships experienced in homes, markets, and classrooms across the nation; they are not theoretical policy disputes.
In light of this, the APC’s present approach of squandering time on political appointments and other unimportant matters is perplexing and gives the general public no hope. These strategies might make headlines, but they don’t really address or even draw attention to the widespread difficulties that the majority of voters face daily. The opposition must move from side-show controversies to persistent, evidence-based pressure on the Bio government’s shortcomings in governance and economic stewardship if it wants to win back the public’s trust and establish itself as a credible alternative in 2028.
As Howard’s quote reminds us, winning elections necessitates a long game rather than last-minute theatrics.
The current months and years should be used by the APC to develop a platform based on workable solutions, such as specific plans for electrification and energy stability, policies to alleviate the burden of living expenses, and tangible plans to invest in public transportation and education. Furthermore, the party must communicate with communities on a regular basis, highlighting the impact of Bio-era policies on common people and providing quantifiable alternatives.
The opposition runs the risk of normalising the SLPP’s shortcomings by remaining silent or concentrating only on political appointments and tripartite implementations. In addition to the government’s track record, struggling voters will recall which party provided genuine hope and a reasonable plan for change. APC leaders need to develop grassroots networks, engage in policy-driven criticism, act quickly and decisively, and offer a compelling, sober vision for governance.
The proverb’s lesson is obvious: years of inaction cannot be made up for at the last minute. The track will probably be empty if the APC waits until “market day” to fatten its pig. Now is the moment to get ready, go hard on the Bio administration, and present a compelling alternative.
You Can’t Fatten a Pig on Market Day!
