Details

06 August 2023

Violence reportedly broke out inside the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) office in Kenema at the weekend during the welcoming ceremony of the newly approved Commissioner-General of National Revenue Authority (NRA), Ibrahim Brima Swarray, a native of the city, amidst pomp and pageantry.

According to unconfirmed reports, the SLPP Chairman, Moriba Koroma aka Agbao and his able lieutenants arrived at the party office when the place was overcrowded and consequently, they would not allow them to go into the hall because of limited accommodation. It was their refusal to entire the hall that culminated in the eruption of violence in the party office as the SLPP Chairman’s bodyguards allegedly attacked and pelted stones at the crowd and the roof of the party office. Many people reportedly sustained injuries as a result of the incident, including a popular Blogger, Fofana-Fofana.

By and large, the reported violence in the SLPP office in Kenema is unacceptable and totally incomprehensible as it is against the principles of the SLPP and any democratic society. That the SLPP has a District Chairman who would stoop so low to replicate the uncouth thuggery days of the All People’s Congress (APC) party in the late 60s, 70s and 80s is very disgraceful and embarrassing, especially for a party whose foundation was solidly built on elitism, morality, integrity and civilization in order to challenge the Creole dominance in politics in the then Colony.

If Agbao was a truly responsible party district chairman, he would have arrived at the party office in time to welcome their brother who had just been approved by Parliament as the new NRA Commissioner-General. But the fact that he arrived late at the party office with his thugs and there was absolute mayhem where everyone tried to get out of the party office at once gives a gloomy picture of the party’s character which is unacceptable. \But if at all the district chairman was not officially invited to the occasion but he probably decided to attend for the sake of the party, then the organizers would be held responsible for the ugly incident at the party office and also being very disrespectful to him..

We believe partisan responsibilities should not be entrusted to indecent, lawless people who do not respect the rights of others. We therefore hope the appropriate authorities will take stringent action against those who perpetrated the mayhem to ensure justice is done as such violence can send the wrong signal about the true character of this elitist party called SLPP.

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12 June 2023

The main opposition All People’s Congress (APC) party ventriloquist, Adebayor, who has for the last five years incited demonstrations against the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and pelted invectives and diatribes against responsible Sierra Leoneans and the Mende ethnic group in particular, has again called on Sierra Leoneans to sit at home next week Monday and Tuesday. He ordered that business entities should be shut down and that no vehicle should ply the streets on those days to ensure everybody stays at home in protest of the quality of the voter ID cards which they have vehemently condemned, as well as the alleged reluctance of the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) to release the voter registration data to them.

If the APC are now condemning the voter ID cards which their presidential candidate Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara wholeheartedly endorsed on the day he collected his, it is obvious that they are feigning flimsy excuses to have the June 24 multitier elections postponed despite the President pronounced the election date over a year ago. They are also complaining about the non-release of election data by ECSL which they believe should be released several weeks to elections according to law.

We are a country governed by laws and we believe any attempt by a political party or a group of citizens to disrupt the electioneering process would be strongly resisted by the State security and those caught in the event would be dealt with according to the laws of the State. The Government has invested so much in the electioneering process that it would be very unreasonable for a single political party to be complaining at the eve of the elections to have them postponed for selfish reasons.

For APC to cry foul at the eleventh hour is like they are not actually prepared for the elections. A political analyst recently said the APC have tripartite problems – lack of funds, disunity and lawlessness. One of the problems, lawlessness, is what they will be unleashing on Monday and Tuesday as ordered by their ventriloquist, Adebayor, who is thousands of miles away from Sierra Leone telling gullible APC supporters what they should do.

The August 10, 2022 insurrection has taught us a lesson that Adebayor’s threats should never be underestimated. That is why the State security should be on alert in all APC strongholds to the possibility of another insurrection that will have the propensity to undermine the entire electoral process. For instance, MAC-P should be invoked before Monday to ensure that enough personnel of the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF) are deployed in East End and Central Freetown, as well as in the Northwest and Northeast which are the traditional APC strongholds.

This time the Government and the national security would be blamed if they fail to put situation under control should gullible APC supporters under the guise of PPP take to the streets and cause mayhem.

Details

30 June 2023

CONGRATULATIONS TO SIERRA LEONEAN VOTERS!

Sierra Leonean voters made history on Saturday 24th June 2023, when they came out in droves around the country to elect their President, Members of Parliament, Mayors/Chairpersons and Councillors respectively.

Despite our partisan differences and all the political shenanigans prior to the multitier elections, we should congratulate ourselves for exercising our democratic rights to vote and be voted for under relatively conducive political environment in most parts of the country. We should also be thankful that the elections have at last been successfully concluded albeit unsubstantiated claims by NEW that the presidential election would have ended in a runoff, a claim that has been vehemently debunked by expert statisticians from both within and without.

Now that His Excellency President Brig. (Rtd) Dr. Julius Maada Wonnie Bio has been re-elected while his running mate Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh has taken the Oath of Office administered by the President, it stands to reason that all political parties put the past behind them and work towards national development which we are all yearning for as a nation. We may have our partisan differences, but it is very relevant that we work towards national development to better our lives.

As patriotic Sierra Leoneans, it is incumbent upon us to put our hands on deck to ensure the President's agenda for national development and the diversification of the economy becomes successful.

Let's work towards supporting the government to succeed in all of its endeavours instead of undermining it or tarnishing its international image for political reasons that will not auger well for the country and its citizenry, irrespective of which party colour you wear. It is only when we become a united and peaceful nation that we will work gladly towards national development.

President Bio in his acceptance speech on Tuesday extended an olive branch to all political parties that participated in the just concluded multitier elections and appealed to join him work towards progress and prosperity.

We therefore hope that this clarion call for inclusiveness by President Bio would be heeded to by these political parties for democracy, good governance and holistic national development that would impact on the lives of Sierra Leoneans.

Details

09 May 2023

The controversies swirling over the Concession Agreement between the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) represented by the Ministry of Transport and Aviation and Autospect (SL) Limited has reached such a nauseating level that some senior officials in whom the President has reposed much confidence in to supervise the Authority have resorted to drawing daggers, something very embarrassing to both the Government and the Authority unless the appropriate authorities intervene with immediate effect to save them from that conspicuous embarrassment.

It is an established fact that the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Government led by His Excellency President Brig. (Rtd) Dr. Julius Maada Bio inherited the Concession Agreement from the erstwhile All People’s Congress (APC) Government led by former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma which was signed between the GoSL and Autospect (SL) Limited on 6th December, 2017. Some lapses were however discovered in the Concession Agreement and consequently, it was allegedly reviewed in the best interest of the two parties and an Addendum to the Agreement was also mutually agreed to and signed on 21st January 2019 respectively.

But no matter the fact concerning that Concession Agreement, many controversies have been swirling over it that have allegedly culminated in the sacking of not only the SLRSA Executive Director under the APC Government, but also the immediate predecessor of the current Executive Director that was appointed by President Maada Bio, who was reported to have vehemently opposed the Concession Agreement that resulted to some disagreements between the then Executive Director and the Chairman and Board of Directors. The Executive Director was consequently shown the door and the current Executive Director was appointed by the President.

But reading between the lines to unravel the paradox of the situation at SLRSA, it appears that the Chairman and Board of Directors are directly accusing the current Executive Director of SLRSA Rev. Smart K. Senesie of betraying the confidence President Maada Bio has reposed in him by “trying very hard to undermine the Concession Agreement even though he does not enjoy the support of the supervising Ministry and the Board,” according to a Short Commentary published in Global Times newspaper on Monday 8th May. It furthered that “Reverend Smart Senesie has been briefing some opposition media houses against the interest of Autospect and by extension the Government of President Bio,” adding that “He continues to argue that, Autospect have taken over the operations of SLRSA which has led to the near collapse of the Authority.”

The commentary warned that Reverend Smart Senesie should focus on his job and avoid attracting negative newspaper headlines for both the Government and SLRSA, noting that his immediate predecessor Ibrahim Sannoh got sacked as Executive Director of SLRSA for allegedly undermining the Concession Agreement. The commentary concluded: “Reverend Smart Senesie is advised to stop giving the SLPP Government a bad name. A word to the wise is sufficient.”

By and large, Government may have reviewed the so-called Concession Agreement in the alleged interest of the two parties, but given the incessant dismissals of Executive Directors of SLRSA over this controversial Agreement, one would suggest that all has not been well between the Management of SLRSA and the Chairman and Board of Directors over this Agreement. And with such Short Commentary in Global Times purportedly written by an insider that wields enormous power within the Authority, it is very nauseating that those who have been placed in that Authority by the President to ensure its smooth running are embarrassingly washing their dirty linen in public much to the trepidation of their employer and the public.

Though the insider claimed that Autospect (SL) Limited was meeting all its financial obligations including paying monthly salaries to forty-four SLRSA workers on secondment, other SLRSA workers were howev erf unduly worried when their salaries for March were unprecedentedly delayed to their greatest surprise. How come their salaries were delayed if the operation of Autospect (SL) Limited was not having any negative impact on SLRSA? Even the Honourable Speaker of Parliament early this year bitterly complained about the astronomical rise in the price of private licence and promised to invite both Autospect (SL) Limited and the Management of SLRSA to Parliament to explain why the price has suddenly increased.

We believe something is fundamentally wrong with the Concession Agreement which could not have been properly reviewed in a way that would foster a symbiotic relationship between the Authority and the company which the Chairman and Board of Directors are now capitalizing on as great beneficiaries. By making damning allegations from within against the current Executive Director of SLRSA, we believe there is now conspiracy to have him removed from that Authority for failing to pander to their every whim with regards Autospect (SL) Limited. That is why the Government should intervene now to stop insiders from discussing the private affairs of the Authority in public thereby embarrassing the Government.

Details

30 June 2023

In his acceptance speech on Tuesday after he was sworn in as the newly elected President of the Republic of Sierra Leone following the Saturday 24th June presidential election, His Excellency Brig. (Rtd) Dr. Julius Maada Bio told his fellow Sierra Leoneans that his victory was for Sierra Leone, "as we have once again demonstrated that though our tongues, tribes and political persuasions might differ, we are united in our desire to see The Land That We Love, Sierra Leone, prosper.

The conqueror and victor also believes that there were no winners or losers in the elections, but Sierra Leoneans with different political affiliations united in Government's desire
for economic growth, social progress and love of our nation though the Government chooses to achieve its desires through different pathways.

While President Bio has therefore commended every candidates that participated in the elections and humbly extended his hand of fellowship to the leadership of all political parties and their members to join his government in their national development efforts, we hope that the main opposition APC presidential candidate, Dr. Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara will positively respond to what the President has requested from all political leaders and their members.

They should all accept the request from the President because it is only through unity and cohesion that we will transform Mama Salone into a beacon of progress and prosperity.

Dr. Samura Kamara should therefore advise his APC members and supporters to choose progress and prosperity over actions that will divide this country along tribal and regional lines as it was clearly manifested in the results of the Saturday 24th June multitier elections. Sierra Leoneans need to be united because this is the only country we call ours.