By Abdul Karim Barrie
In 2018, President Julius Maada Bio, in opposition then, made a sacred promise to the people of this nation that buying a bag of rice for Le 200,000 was disheartening to this nation and that the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma mismanaged the economy.
According to President Bio, it was on this premise that he ran for president to reduce all commodity prices, address the economic hardship his fellow compatriots faced and end suffering. He went on to strongly advise all commodity traders to sell their products, especially rice, before he would be elected.
This moving promise President Bio made to this nation is in records. Many businessmen and women were lured by the assurance of the President and sold their goods.
Based on this sacred promise and other promises, President Bio was voted for giving him a narrow win against his opponent, Dr. Samura Kamara of the All People’s Congress (APC). Unfortunately, following President Bio’s election, he declared a war against business owners especially our Fullah and Temne brothers and sisters who have largely dominated business and trade in Sierra Leone by striking unprecedented taxes on all imported goods.
I am still wondering whether it was because he was no longer familiar with the business environment in Sierra Leone, having spent over two decades abroad or whether it was simply his plan to excruciatingly affect our Fullah and Temne brothers and sisters who feel more comfortable doing business in Sierra Leone under an APC regime as opposed to the SLPP.
Three years after President Bio was elected, the imposition of hefty taxes on business owners began reflecting negatively on the overall performance of the economy, as commodity prices increased by 300%.
As a revenge to the fast growing inflation in this country and the assumption that the Leone was in very slow circulation as a result of hoarding by business owners, the President took a very ill-advised decision by redenominating the Leone in an effort to forcing those he presumed to have hoarded the old Leone to bring it back to the banks.
Acting on the misleading recommendations of his advisors, the President was to tighten the outflow of the new Leone from all national and commercial banks in the country, making the withdrawal of large sums of money by business owners extremely limited. After the introduction of the new Leone, the bank governor made a public announcement that 800 billion of the new Leone was missing. The people of this country are still perplexed at the mysterious missing of such a quantum of money. Where the Anti-corruption commission was faithful to the people of this country, this would be so far the most pursued corruption case at the desk of Mr. Francis Ben Kelfala.
The uncalculated decision to redenominate the Leone not only led to the mysterious disappearance of the quantum sum of 800 billion new Leones, but also it is the reason as to why the Leone seriously depreciated against the US Dollar today.
The indirect war declared by President Bio against our Fullah and Temne brothers and sisters who are the most successful indigenous business owners in this country has failed. Today, we are a country that is in abysmal loss, becoming the first African country to use both the redenominated and the redenominating currencies simultaneously for a period exceeding one year with no promising solution at sight to stabilise the currency.
In his own little way trying to prevent the economy from further collapse, the Bank Governor announced recently that foreign currencies including the USD, Euro, the British Pound Sterling and others are now legal tenders and are approved by the government for official circulation and transactions.
An incompetent government to the superlative degree has brought the Sierra Leone economy to its knees! I won’t be bothered by how millions of PhDs surrounding President Bio feel about these facts, for they have failed this country in every trajectory of governance.
I am not in disagreement that you, the reader of this article, love President Maada Bio, but I am in disagreement that you still believe that, with all the clear evidence we have not only seen, but felt as citizens of this nation, President Bio deserves a second term.
President Bio had all the opportunity to deliver on his promises but again failed because we all know he doesn’t have the required knowledge to rule Sierra Leone.
He surrounded himself with so many PhD holders who act on their own with the belief that they have the academic capacity to run their offices without taking directives and instructions from their boss who doesn’t hold a PhD.
Furthermore, President Bio heard the alarm of the bad behaviours of his team at the very beginning of his presidency when certain individuals within his party made rampant press releases without his consent, but failed to demonstrate strong leadership in his party and government which has led us to this economic mess.
Beyond party affiliation, tribal or regional lines, a second term of President Bio will be a disaster to this nation. We are assessing the current situation in this country and are advising every Sierra Leonean to put this country first to avoid a catastrophic economic collapse.
DO YOU REALISE THAT VOTING PRESIDENT BIO FOR A SECOND TERM WILL BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE SIERRA LEONE ECONOMY?
If at all you have no political party you believe can save this nation, it will be a better decision to abstain from voting for President Bio than risking yourself to becoming party to the pending economic disaster under a second term of the Bio administration.
Note: Readers are hereby informed that views expressed in the article do not form part of the Editorial position of FORUM, but purely the perspectives and opinions of the author.
