*THE MAN WHO CAN SPEAK FROM BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH.*
By Alan Luke
The Bio / Paopa brand is so toxic, with extra-judicial killings; grand larceny and theft of state resources; Southeastern hegemony; economic catastrophe; hunger and want; as well as the narrowing of the political space and denial of basic freedoms, that President Bio may take a back seat role in the election campaign, leaving arch collaborator, Kandeh Yumkella to take on the lead role of cleansing the tarnished brand, as the SLPP stare in the face of defeat at the June 2023 elections.
Here he is, meeting with staff at PCMH Hospital, listening to aged old concerns about nurses without PIN Codes. About a year after the Bio government assumed office, I remember debating with my former school mate, Alpha Saidu Bangura of the Strategic Communications Unit, on a radio programme hosted by Pasco Temple.
I challenged Bangura that President Bio had failed to deliver the 500,000 jobs he promised in his first year, which he promised on his January 2018 interview on the BBC World Service programme, with Paul Bakingba. Mr Bangura countered and credited President Bio with the creation of 4,000 jobs, by eliminating the problems of teachers and nurses, without PIN Codes, that the government had inherited. Yet, Yumkella’s visit at PCMH on Independence Day, shows that as the Bio Presidency draws to a close, there are nurses and potentially teachers, who still do not have PIN Codes.
While Yumkella gives the impression that he is in listening mode, the problems the nurses face, not being paid for providing a vital service, is not new. The Bio government which he is supporting for a second term, has failed to end this problem. Let us be clear, there is budget allocation for all nurses (and teachers and essential public sector workers), who still do not have PIN Codes. The lack of PIN Codes, is simply caused because civil servants within the Treasury and / or Health ministry, divert the allocations for these workers into private accounts.
While he appears to be concerned about the condition of these nurses, Yumkella has not released any objection to the extortionate US$50,000 pension plan, that MPs voted through on the last day of Parliament. If that is approved, one way the government will fund MPs pensions may be to deprive more nurses, teachers and essential public sector workers of their PIN Codes.
Yumkella’s NGC also hopes that its strategic alliance deal with SLPP, will lead to its party to be rewarded with jobs, potentially bloating the bureaucracy and wage bill with unnecessary jobs and worsening the public finances. This also may deprive more nurses, teachers and essential public sector workers of their PIN Codes. So, despite Yumkella’s swit mot, no change is likely to happen, if the Bio government, with which he is now in an alliance, is returned to power.
The other thing that is worth pointing out, is that Yumkella ceased to be an MP on Tuesday 25th April 2023, following the adjournment of Parliament. His role as Parliamentary Leader of NGC, automatically ends. He is also not standing as an MP at the elections. For all intents and purposes, he is just a private citizen and no different from the ordinary person. Therefore, the question to the authorities at the PCMH is, on what basis was he allowed to tour PCMH, to speak to clinical staff? Furthermore, will all other political parties and candidates who are actually standing for elections, be afforded the same access, or is Yumkella a special case?
Voters must not allow themselves to be persuaded by Yumkella’s revisionism. The same concerned looking Yumkella, was on AYV on Tuesday 25 April 2023, given the Bio government a score of between 75 to 85 percent, which means he is either oblivious to the failures of the government, or his own personal standards has dropped remarkably.
Alan Luke
28 April 2023
