People from all nook and cranny in Sierra Leone appear to be relieved from the scare of rumours of a nationwide protest or demonstration planned to have commenced on Monday 8 August 2022.
The wind of information on the cause of the demonstration was saturated with massive discontent by the populace of the country over the state of affairs under the watch of the Bio-led administration. It was rumoured that the demonstration was going to be peacefully held nationwide, although the security apparatus had not received any official request for permission from organisers of the protest or “demonstration against the state”.
The security sector was rightfully proactive to have released a statement to that effect stating that it was a faceless demonstration, as no one sought or took any permission from them to hold such a protest or demonstration.
An August 6th 2022 press release the security sector put out to forestall the widely social media rumoured demonstration stated: “The security sector wishes the public to know that no group of persons have requested for permission as required by law, either verbally or in writing, from the police to hold such demonstrations. Nobody has come forward as leader or organiser of such events.”
The security apparatus therefore called on all and sundry to go about their normal business, saying: “The security sector would like to advise all citizens to go about their normal business, and not to heed to calls for faceless demonstrations.”
The release, signed by National Security Coordinator Abdulai Cauker, seemed to have succeeded in foiling any attempt by protesters to process on the streets staging a demonstration or protest.
However, commerce, work, movement of people and generally business activities were largely disrupted by the rumours of the planned demonstration, which also caused substantial loss to the economy of the state as productivity declined drastically.
While peace continues to prevail, Sierra Leone today experiences widespread discontent in people from all walks of life, as cost of living generally and conditions of service in especially public institutions, departments and agencies continue to keep people in distressed condition.
Many people in Sierra Leone have continued to complain that the cost of living in the country is rising disproportionately as against the income, revenue, wages and salary generated by the masses both employed and unemployed.
Costs and prices of goods and services continue to rapidly increase as people’s income and wages take a snail’s pace or almost remain stagnant over the months and years. And with the advent of the COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war, which started in February this year, the economic hardship in the country took a drastic swift rise into the stratosphere causing more suffering as more employees go jobless, and trade and business degenerate.
To add insult to injury, the Russia-Ukraine war gave rise to a sharp and rapid increase in the cost and pump price of petroleum products, which has caused further increase in transportation cost for the people and a ripple effect on the costs and prices of goods and services leading to an unbearable runaway inflation. How the powers that be are handling or managing this economic situation is one of the aspects the people are dissatisfied with, hence protests and demonstrations of various sorts keep emanating from various quarters, such as the medical practitioners, the teachers, the business operators and other sectors and layers of workers and service providers in the country.
Few days ago there was a big stalemate over getting the medical doctors across government hospitals to discontinue their sit-down strike action whilst patients were dying at the hospitals, because the government was yet or seemed unable to meet their precise demands. On 21 July this year the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association (SLMDA) started a sit – down strike because the government decided to cut off or remove their Covid-19 risk allowance from their salary abruptly contrary to laid down agreements, as well as for failure to honour a weekly 45-litre fuel for each doctor and hospital services. The stalemate was reported on Monday 8 August to have been resolved.
Also, few months ago the teachers were on strike, refusing to go to the classrooms for failure by government to heed to their demand for increase of wages and salary to meet the rapid inflation and rising cost of living in the country.
Furthermore, few weeks ago (precisely on 4 July this year), a set of female parents and business women in Freetown and other parts of the country staged a peaceful demonstration in Freetown that got across other parts of the country on account of the unbearable hardship in the country and how the government is running affairs of state. The women were arrested in the streets and released after some days following interventions by rights organisations in and out of the country. Before these incidents, the strong force of members of the private sector owning shops and malls across the country had also staged a peaceful lockdown-of-shops protest in the country also on account of an “unfavourable” Goods and Sales Tax levied on the business sector by the trade ministry and government.
Many people believe the government is “failing” in handling the economic situation of the country, whilst others are of the opinion that respect for human rights (such as holding of peaceful demonstration and freedom of expression) as well as rule of law are degenerating in the country.
“The economic situation is going from bad to worse under the present government, as cost of transportation and prices of goods and services are rising beyond our affordability,” Musu Gbla, a mother of three children, told Forum.
“The current situation we are facing in Sierra Leone is unbearable; a bag of rice is now about Le500,000 (Le500.00) and our money the Leone is depreciating in value everyday under the hands of our current Bank Governor,” Patrick Bendu, a student, said, as he expressed dissatisfaction and discontent over the current state of affairs in the country.
As the security apparatus has continued to apply professionalism in maintaining peace in the country, it is a fact that a majority of people in Sierra Leone are discontented with the current economic condition in the land that we love.
