By Joseph A. Kamanda
Governance is always regarded as continuous processes as political leaderships coming and outgoing are expected adopt whatever national development programmes and policies any new administration setting in should try to inherit or merge with new ones and work as best as it could to manage and sustain them rather than destroying government programmes and activities of significant national interests, like the new direction of President Julius Maada Bio hegemony did in terminating the construction of the Mamamah International Airport. A project the government of the People’s Republic of China had wanted to support fully fund, through a loan deal between the two countries and governments. President Bio canceled the airport project for the much publicized proposed Lungi Bridge. The airport and other outstanding last government projects were killed and buried by the infamous and failed SLPP new direction regime.
The few that are being inherited by the new administration yet hardly acknowledge nor share credits of good works with their predecessors. This denial of accolade to the deserving people and organizations for their good works, as it has prompted concerns from among the public, with critical views as to why the disregards for past leaders by their successors irrespective of whatever they may had pass on to them. Koroma and his last administration could not be acknowledged by the SLPP Bio rule for their collective efforts in revamping Sierra Leone’s health sector.
It happens everywhere on planet earth and if one can vividly recalls incomplete projects that were left behind by late president Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah were eagerly inherited incorporated by the Ernest Bai Koroma APC led regime from 2007 to 2018. From the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) I and II had places for implementation in the APC’s Agenda for Change and the Agenda for Prosperity respectively. From widening the country’s growing democratic and good governance space, reinforced the rule of law, human rights, nationwide infrastructural development mitigation of corruption amongst couple of other things were formed parts the past regime programmes and activities. Koroma never denounce nor ignore any of the development programmes left behind by the late president Kabbah’s PRSP and II. In fact, Koroma had always acknowledged efforts of his predecessors for laying the basic foundations which he continued from.
Recent openings of health care delivery facilities in the country including 100 beds hospitals at Rokupa and at King Harman Road, the selective commissioning of ambulance services in the south and Easter regions, are not new though now being slowly inherited by the national development plan. They were not initiated by the new direction presidential campaign manifesto of president Bio. They are all part of former president Koroma’s and the embattled APC good governance legacies projects. The more reasons they were not unveiled earlier than now.
And to say the least the 100 beds hospitals project were delivered by the AFP to serve Lumley, Waterloo- Western Rural District WARDC, King Harman Road, Macaulay Street, Rokupa among host of communities in Freetown and the rural district, as a way of augmenting efforts of the continuing free health care initiated by former president Koroma in 2010, to deserving beneficiaries-lactating mothers, under fives and pregnant women, whiles placing high premium on mitigate maternal deaths in the country.
All these came up after the control of the deadly Ebola virus disease, so if the current administration of president Bio and the SLPP are now opening these facilities they must be expected to be honest and sincere enough to acknowledge efforts made by their predecessors, as it always happens in other part of the world. They rather prefer to showcase gains made as if they are being achieved single handedly by the SLPP and the presidency. We suggest the presidential speech writers and research team should be doing their assignments well before presenting such speeches to the chief executive for public presentations. One thing that is always clear is that no matter what president Bio and the SLPP do in their messy five years of misrule, they will never march the level of performance of the former Koroma APC ear, nor do they even attempt to eclipse the glaring enduring legacies of the very good past APC government.
One respectable government that has always notes the efforts of the last system is the Minister of Health and Sanitation, Prof. Alpha Tejan Wurie, who has always commend the past APC government for leaving a solid foundation in the health sector. Thanks and may Allah Almighty continue to guide and bless you Minister Prof. Wurie for saying the truth.
Unlike his boss, president Bio whiles opening of these facilities especially the King Harman Road Hospital, Freetown could not appropriately inform his followers and the nation about how and where his administration inherited the national health care infrastructural development projects. Neither does the government acknowledge the roles played by past system of former president Koroma. Instead, president Bio claims credits for all projects as if the SLPP new direction brought the nation everything like manners from elsewhere. The president is also reported to have painted negative pictures of the health sector describing what he adopted from the last political leadership as ‘ill equipped’, whereas as a matter of fact the health sector was left in a very good shape, with solid foundation, following strategic restructurings after controlling the EVD.
What needs to be made clearly known to all is that president Bio and the SLPP having commissioned and opened all unfinished project and programmes left by the APC AFC and AFP, should hastily move towards making available the needful logistical and materials resources required for further expansion of the health system in Sierra Leone. That besides, it is also worthy to know that the cry by government and president Bio that he inherited a downgraded health system from the last supervision is a blatant fallacy, as all 100 beds hospitals projects in Freetown and the nationwide ambulance services were programmes of the past APC regime, so sincerely much is not heard of in health sector under the new direction. People everywhere need action oriented health policy as they no longer have time to listen to excuses from president Bio and the SLPP anymore.
Therefore the remedies to the existing situation is not just limited to a matter of increasing health workers’ but to pay them well with health insurance to avoid brain drain in the sector, even though political operatives of the ruling party are making noise of raising health sector budget from 8.9 to 11.6% whiles nurses and doctors are not well paid, nor patients in all government hospital across the country are receiving drugs and in the right health care delivery environments. Increments in the sector’s budget should be reflecting on the take homes of health workers nurses, doctors and the rest of mankind, which stands to serve as a means of motivation resulting to effective service delivery.
A case in point was the sales of water per jerry can to patients amongst pregnant women and breast feeding mums at Cortege hospital in Freetown all due to lack of motivations of health workers. Is that what president Bio calls an improved health sector? While we expect and are anxiously waiting for answers in your various rebuttals to this article, we also want to thank president Bio for implementing though selectively programmes of the last regime. Thanks, God bless you as we wish you continue on that path of constructive national development especially with projects of the AFC and the AFP.
