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It is very good as a democracy where leaders should at all times be accountable to the people that elected them that journalists and media have been bold enough to question the Bio administration over how much was spent by the government for last Saturday’s Presidential inauguration ceremony at the National Stadium and the banquet that was held in the evening.

First Lady Madam Fatima Bio who was part of the planning and execution committee has not taken kindly to the probing; fuming that it is disrespectful to her for anybody to imagine that she and the committee did anything unbecoming as to how the Le2.5 billion (USD300, 000) that was allocated for the occasion was spent.

However, Madam Bio should not be vexed. Her husband, the President has stressed that in moving the country towards a ‘New Direction’, transparency and accountability will be the hall marks of his administration as he goes about transforming the county into one that we all will eventually be proud of. So if the press and a concerned public ask that she and the committee give an account of how the money was spent, they have to oblige.

Meanwhile, The Satellite, like many other citizens who believe in the sincerity of the Bio administration, would like to commend the event organizers for drastically reducing the cost of the inauguration from the reported Le12 billion that was spent allegedly by the Koroma administration for the 2012 event – a saving of about Le9 billion.

On the question of whether the foreign entertainers who were invited for the program were catered for from the budget, Madam Bio has explained that they not only footed their own bill but whilst here made donations to the country’s health system.