By Kabs Kanu
President Maada Bio stunned the world today what he began in what many of his supporters believe is a major crackdown on officials of his government he believes are the causes of his present grim dilemmas. President Bio fired 9 of the high-profile officials serving as his advisers at State House.
The shocking dismissals of his advisers –all of them high ranking citizens with stupendous academic credentials–came at the height of serious crises enveloping President Bio’s government as international elections observers and international stakeholders, especially the U.S. have taken up the gauntlet against his much-discredited Elections Commission to release disaggregated voting numbers from polling stations to show how results were tallied in last week’s presidential elections, which saw President Bio being declared winner by the Commission, amidst accusations that the General Elections of June 24, 2023, were rigged.
A SIGN THAT PRESIDENT BIO IS NOT DOING WELL MENTALLY: HE IS MEETING MOTOR DRIVERS’S UNION AND TRANSPORTERS BARE FOOTED AT STATE HOUSE.
The furor at home and internationally over the apparent stolen people’s verdict has left the Bio government virtually stranded, with supporters bringing their celebrations to a premature end and even the president’s usually boisterous wife, Fatima Bio, who is one of the noisiest personalities on social media, suddenly going quiet. Fears of serious international repercussions for the elections scandal have gripped the government, though extremists of the party on social media are downplaying it.
JOHN TAMBI
KONA CECILIA KOROMA
PATRICK KAGBENI MUANA
LAWYER AUGUSTINE BOSS FALLAY
BRIMA PATRICK KAPUWA
HON. JOHN BENJAMIN
AMBASSADOR UMARU BOND WURIE
Behaving every bit like a man under excruciating pressures from citizens, the opposition and the international community on the status of what is believed to be a daylight robbery at the polls, President Bio first publicly badmouthed international elections observers, the U.S and the European Union ( EU) yesterday during a meeting with civil society officials, accusing the international stakeholders of interfering in the internal matters of Sierra Leone and trying to bring confusion in the country. And then yesterday he fired men and a woman of high intellectual calibre serving as his advisers at State House.
What message is President Bio sending by firing his advisers?
As soon as the news of the dismissals burst out, Sierra Leoneans began speculating that President Bio may be trying to create the impression that he was misadvised by his high-calibre team of intellectuals, many of whom had held top academic or executive positions in the U.S. before their appointments. Some Sierra Leoneans suggested that the firing of such high-level officials may be one of the confidence-building measures the U.S. is advising President Bio to engage in as he remains in deep waters for rigging the elections.
Bio may want to create the perception that if these highly educated advisers had done their jobs well, he would not have made the very grave errors he has committed in power which are threatening to derail his government. And he has many noted Sierra Leoneans agreeing with him. One of them is the famed social media political commentator, critic and historian, Mr. Mohamed Kutubu Koroma.
According to Mr. Kutubu Koroma, “We thank God that President Bio is listening to some of us that most of these welfare kings and queens around him are doing nothing , receiving money for nothing and always making him look bad . They have been sent flying by the seat of their pants We are tired of getting welfare kings and queens. All of these guys are very corrupt. All of them. They are useless and doing nothing in this administration and were only receiving money. They were not able to defend the president. This is a good start. If you were good advisers, this man would not have been on the defensive. It is APC that would have been on the defensive. This is what we call house-cleaning. We are waiting for the next batch of people to be fired. If these welfare kings and queens continue to be around you, President Bio, you will not be able to achieve the enduring legacy you are aiming to achieve. We therefore thank you for dismissing them.”
To other Sierra Leoneans, the sacking of these advisers is seen as a ploy by President Bio to shift blame to the wrong persons for his failure to govern and deliver and to respect fundamental human rights.
Saidu Kamara, another social media commentator asked: “Were these people the ones who have been flying all over the world on useless trips to waste out country’s money? Were these the people who advised the Elections Commissioner to cook the figures of the votes and deliver fake elections results? Are they the ones who have been going around firing live bullets and killing innocent civilians? Do African leaders listen to their advisers? “.
On the contrary, is it possible that these men and woman of sound intellect have been dismissed because they bravely gave the president advice about his handling of the nation that angered him? Does President Bio look like the man who loves to listen to and follow sound advice? We will soon know, because, if pushed further, some of these people might be tempted to start talking.
But another commentator told his colleagues on the forum “not to worry.” Bio does not sack even corrupt and useless officials. He will soon reassign them to other positions of trust.
