The first one hundred (100) days of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) Government of President Julius Maada Bio saw inflation of basic food commodities which has resulted to high level of hunger, constitutional violation, suppression and intimidation of opposition operatives.
A vox-pop conducted by Sierra Express Media (SEM) revealed that, citizens expressed expectations will have been met but the appearance of the New Direction has debarred that progress. Life would have changed positively for the poorest man in the land but amazingly things are getting worse as evident by the general increase in price of rice and other basic food and non-food commodities in the market.
What is most disheartening among Sierra Leoneans during elections campaign period, President Bio and his sympathizers were flattering voters that they will eliminate hunger and abject poverty if SLPP wins the seat of power but shockingly after acceding authority, our staple food (rice) which was sold below two hundred thousand Leones (Le200, 000.00) in the era of the Ernest Bai Koroma led All Peoples Congress (APC) government is now sold close to three hundred thousand Leones (Le300, 000.00).
Garri which was sold one thousand Leones (Le 1,000.00) for three cups now costs one thousand Leones (Le 1,000.00) for a single cup while prices of other food and non-food items have also climbed up the leather. What President Bio will tell Sierra Leoneans to vote for the SLPP come 2023 presidential and general elections when the issue of hunger which presumably removed the APC from power remains unaddressed?
On the issue of constitutional violation, Sierra Leone has witnessed a situation wherein opposition Members of Parliament were forcefully removed from the well of parliament, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Boss, Francis Ben Kaifala approved in Parliament without the endorsement of two-third of the opposition political parties including the All Peoples Congress (APC) and the National Grand Coalition (NGC).
The sacking of the former Attorney General, Joseph Fitzgerald Kamara and the chickenfeed finance disbursed by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) to Sierra Leonean diplomats in foreign countries to return home which is also unconstitutional.
Within one hundred days, the APC Mayor, Yvonne Aki Sawyer was brutalized and over 700 Carats diamond turned to stone under the supervision of Vice President Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh. Is this the New Direction in Bio’s administration?
Many Sierra Leoneans are dumbfounded upon hearing and seeing the current Government indicting opposition politicians including ex-President Koroma on corruption charges through a doctored Transition Team Report headed by Professor David Francis without substantial evidence.
Citizens were expecting President Bio’s Government to have concentrated on improving on their lives and those of the deprived people but unfortunately, the Government has diverted its attention to witch hunt and silencing main rivals.
By Abdulai Mento Kamara
