Pre-elections behavioural patterns of members of the governing Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) continue to expose the rigging tactics of the incumbent less than five months to the June 24, 2023 elections.

Comments, statements and remarks of SLPP members and supporters with particular reference to those around the presidency, including State House Chief Minister Jacob Jusu Saffa, popularly known as J.J. Blood, have all expressed the determined plan of the SLPP to rig the forthcoming elections.

J.J. Saffa recently bragged in an outburst manner that: “No Man Born of a Woman Can Stop the Re-election of President Julius.” He had at one time last year (2022) said in the well of Parliament that his government could treat the opposition to succumb to their wishes and aspirations, which are clearly manifested in the conduct of SLPP lawmakers therein.

Saffa’s undemocratic and less leadership statements are clearly exposing the rigging plans of Bio, his SLPP party amidst massive governance failures under the Bio hegemony.

Other deceitful persuasions from one Kadiru Kaikai who is bent on hoodwinking the electorate to vote Bio for a second term is also not done in the best interest of the country and Sierra Leoneans. Kaikai too must stop the deceitful games, for time is no longer in favour of the SLPP. That is why Bio is having sleepless nights and he is roaming round the country wooing voters to entrust him with another mandate so that he can fail for the second, if not the third time. That is impossible Mr President; you don’t deserve another chance amidst the fall in the Leones to the advantage of foreign exchange rates including the almighty United States Dollar and the British Pound. So give the correct pictures to your boys so that they can at once stop deceiving the electorate about earning you another five years, which you actually do not deserve.

The SLPP government’s forceful imposition of several bad laws coupled with the illegal and infamous mid-term and population and housing census, its cooked figures, the use of National Registration Authority among host of others are imperial confirmations that the ruling SLPP and government had long rigged the approaching presidential elections. Had it not been that, SLPP loyalists and media handlers would not be shouting all over the place about Bio’s June 24th “unavoidable victory”. Rigging plans is certainly at the hands of the SLPP, the government and Bio. The more reason Bio and his party supporters are so eager precociously predicting the outcome of the June 24th presidential elections on social and traditional media ahead of the contest.

Also in Monday 16th January 2023 edition of a local daily, in which a very senior journalist and a regular writer ran a commentary/opinion with a headline that reads: ‘”June 2023 Elections… Maada Bio’s Inevitable Victory”. The opinion is misleading in that Bio’s 2023 victory is avoidable because of his poor performance in handling state governance in the last five years. And he/Bio can be replaced with a performer and a problem-solver thereby avoiding his re-election, more so that the electorate are fully aware of his failures. So there is no way SLPP media handlers can change the hearts and minds of the people at the eleventh hour, through mischievous predictions of keenly contested elections ahead of polls. Except if the opinionist and commentator wants to tell Sierra Leoneans and the world over that Bio and his SLPP party have already rigged the elections, and have reliably informed him/her about the outcome of the June 2023 elections to emerge victoriously in favour of the SLPP and Bio?

It is certainly no, and we can hardly go by such misleading predictions, for we firmly believe that it is premature for an unpopular political commodity like Bio to be boasting around the country of winning the June 2023 presidential elections at first ballots, let a alone a writer for a pro-ruling SLPP newspaper to be engaged in making such misguided and unfortunate predictions, aimed at misleading the electorate. It is known that this is the only way some of these people can please Bio. But such games must stop now and allow the event to unfold naturally.

We therefore humbly differ that the much anticipated June 2023 Bio presidential victory can be vigorously avoided by well-meaning Sierra Leoneans.

The fact that Bio’s re-election to office appears so controversial in the democratic space and the entire political landscape, it can strategically thus be avoided by considering the political, democratic and economic challenges the country is going through under his rule, which nobody would want a continuation of. Hence speaking directly to the burning problems of bad governance ranging from national disunity and cohesion, to political and democratic reforms, finance and fiscal disciplines and economic governance failures and drastic fall in the Leones, there is certainly no reason to have Julius Maada Bio as a president of Sierra Leone for a second term.

So the prediction of the pro-ruling party writer is totally out of the way. And look at highlights of deliverable benchmarks that were expected to be achieved in the last five years by the SLPP Bio-led administration, there is nothing tangible to point at. It is against these uncertain backdrops that many Sierra Leoneans want a complete change in the areas of practical leadership and political governance reforms, and do away with deceptions, lies, bogus statements as well as unfulfilled promises by his failed Bio-led SLPP regime.

Besides, if Bio and his SLPP-led government have worked all these years without a touchable achievement in basic, primary and secondary education, energy, public transport, financial and fiscal discipline, democratic and political governance as well as national unity, what else do they want to offer Sierra Leoneans in the few months left?
SLPP and Bio deserve no second term, for the simple reasons that they are not sincere with the people at all. And a failure is always a failure. No matter the chances offered him to take a reference, he/she will always fail. So any attempt at re-electing Bio for a second term will unquestionably be a failed attempt, as Bio will again definitely fail Sierra Leoneans and development partners.

Nobody is contesting the strategies being employed by Bio in eliminating his All People’s Congress (APC) party rivals with dozens of politically-motivated alleged corruption court cases, militating against the chances of the likes of Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara and others. Yet that does not in any give Bio a chance to emerge victorious in the June 24, 2023 presidential elections. No matter the cases, the APC, as a government in waiting, will be surely provided with a formidable contender to challenge the SLPP and Bio to replace them at the June24, 2023 polls.

So the opinions and views flying at SLPP party quarters that the APC is on the brinks is untrue, as the main opposition party is not dead but on a fine footing preparing itself to democratically challenge the SLPP and replace Bio come June 24th with a government of constructive national development goals.

FORUM therefore respectfully suggests that the governing SLPP party loyalists who claim to be journalists should stop making such misleading predictions ahead of elections that set to determine the future of Sierra Leoneans for the next five years. Journalists must play by the rules of elections reporting by fairly patiently wait for the outcome of the natural course of events rather than going ahead predicting victory only to please President Bio and the SLPP. Making predictions of such magnitude will only expose SLPP and Bio’s rigging plans of the June 24th 2023 presidential elections and question the neutrality and credibility of the Electoral Commission for Sierra Leone. We rest our case for now.