The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP ) have been caught pants down and the 2019 Audit Reports and the Africanist Press bombshells have come as a God-sent blessing to the opposition and the nation to demonstrate the undeniable fact that the SLPP are a phony party that have nothing good to offer the country.
The SLPP won power partly because President Maada Bio convinced the people of Sierra Leone in 2018 that they were going to fight corruption with vigor never seen before in our country and that his party would plug all the holes and stop all the leakages that have cost the nation millions of millions of dollars in the past.
What Sierra Leoneans did not know was that Maada Bio was just being deceptive as usual and was only pulling wool over the faces of the people. The 2019 Audit Report and the bombshell investigative reports by the Africanist Press have clearly demonstrated that the SLPP of Maada Bio are the most ruthlessly and pitilessly corrupt and wasteful government our nation has ever seen since Independence. What Maada Bio’s government has embezzled and stolen in just three years is far higher than corruption by two governments put together.
Chernor Bah of the Africanist Press is not making mere allegations; rather, using authentic documents, he is exposing corrupt dealings, wasteful spending, misuse of public money and unlawful self-enrichment, which are very serious felonies. So far, no SLPP man has contradicted the authenticity of the documentary proofs Chernor Bah has been presenting. Not even the Chief Minister DAVID FRANCIS, with all his education. This shows that Chernor is telling the truth . The most compelling thing is that for every statement, Chernor Bah has provided documents to back up his claims. If it was a court case, no judge or jury would have dismissed his claims . In court, it is documents that talk.
And the Africanist Press , who seem to have certified insiders providing them the incontestable facts and supporting documents are not done with the SLPP yet. Mr. Chernor Bah promises more ground-shaking revelations and bombshells that will show that the SLPP is a corruption cartel.
It is the best time to be an opposition party in Sierra Leone. The 2019 Audit Report and the Africanist Press are a blessing from above sent not only to prove that the SLPP are more ruinous and damaging to Sierra Leone but that they do not deserve to be in power beyond 2023 when their first term of office ends. If Sierra Leone had vibrant opposition political parties, this would have been the best time to start sending the SLPP tottering to their doom.
One of the primary duties of the opposition is to hold the ruling government accountable for its failures and acts of misgovernance and mishandling of national affairs. But is the opposition in Sierra Leone holding the corrupt and inept SLPP Government accountable ? Your guess is as good as mine. Neither the opposition parties nor civil society are holding this SLPP Government accountable .
Another primary responsibility of the Opposition is that it utilises golden opportunities like the 2019 Audit Report and the AFRICANIST PRESS bombshells to reach the electorate with its views through the media and constructive public engagements to enforce the discomfiture of the ruling party and create an identity as an alternative government that would do far better the next time round. Anybody who wants to be frank would admit that the Sierra Leone opposition has woefully failed in these duties. At a time like this, the opposition and civil society should have been holding the corrupt and useless SLPP Government’s feet to the fire. The revelations from the 2019 Audit Report and the Africanist Press are too damning for the opposition and civil society not to be using them to begin signaling the downfall of the SLPP.
Another duty of the opposition is to unmake the ruling government. Its duty is to defeat the government even before the next election, through public persuasion. But when the government is busy digging its own grave and the opposition is shockingly silent, it is very disappointing. Very frustrating.
The SLPP does not deserve to be in power in Sierra Leone after 2023 and the 2019 Audit Report and the Africanist Press bombshells are accentuating that possibility, but when will the opposition start laying the groundwork to achieve that goal ? It will be disaster for the nation if the SLPP get away with the egregious, grievous and hideous crimes they have committed against the people of Sierra Leone in just three years.
