By Hassan Osman Kargbo
It’s not a secret that since president Julius Maada Bio took his presidency, there had been a lot of hue and cry from the public over the high cost of living characterized by ever increasing prices in basic commodities and other essential goods.
Before the 2018 elections things weren’t bad has it is today because the inflation rate at a time was somehow better in the country. By then the exchange rate moved from Le5,000 to Le7,500 per Dollar and the cost of fuel whether petrol, kerosene or diesel jumped from Le3,750 to Le6,000. Many will tell you if not all that the cost of living was high, but truth be told people were living in a more convenience environment.
The Infliction in the country has led to a bag of rice is now costs over NLe 100,000.00 while a gallon of vegetable oil is also above NLe100,000.00. The prices of building materials are also skyrocketing by the day. Making a bad situation worse, recently, the Government through the petroleum Regulatory Authority released statement saying that the price of petroleum products is NLe28 reducing the price from its official NLe 30. Even at the reduction there’s still Infliction in the prices taking from the fact that the pump price before 2018 was Le 8000. All these has been accompanied by an unprecedented hike in the prices of locally produced items such as greens and vegetables due to an unofficial manipulation of transport fares by public transport operators, and the Government seems to keep a blind eye of all these.
Mr. Alusina Moriba, a businessman in Freetown, remarked that business has become difficult if not impossible to do nowadays due to heavy Government taxation and the scarcity of foreign exchange. He also pointed to the prolonged closure of the border with neighbouring Guinea, which used to absorb market shocks in the country. “I find it frustrating to do business and I am anticipating closing my shops in the province due to heavy loses I incur in running them” he said, adding that the high cost of rent is also killing the business sector in the country.
Mrs Victoria Kamara, a housewife, who stayed along Fourah Bay Road, lamented that putting food on the table has become a nightmare that is giving many Sierra Leoneans hypertension, adding that fish and meat have also become delicacy food items that majority of Sierra Leoneans cannot afford.
A major factor contributing to the rising high cost of living is the frequent restrictions in the movement of people and goods around the country in the name of fighting corruption in Sierra Leone. “I wonder what will become of the hardship level if Ebola struck again!”, she stated.
Posser Bangura, a trader who sells basic food stuffs at Guniea store, explained to Forum that, market prices are determined by the cost price and the cost of transportation for their goods; and also the need to make profit in order to put food on their table; hence the rise in the prices food stuffs.
Due to the inflation and the free market economy it is highly probable that prices will keep going up albeit at the expense of the common man. But, the government and its partners need to put things in place to see this Infliction rite in the country be a thing of the past.
