By Joseph A. Kamanda

There is popular call from the South and Eastern regions for the replacement of President Julius Maada Bio and his failed Sierra People’s Party (SLPP) for what they described as their greatest disappointment with his government. They said this is now what they expect from president adding that they expected him to come and solve the problems of the country as promised in his manifesto in 2018.

A voice notes shared on social media by a group of people in Bo, Kenema, Bonthe, Moyamba, Kaikahun and Pujehun cautioned their Mende relatives to vote consciously in the June 24 2023 multi-tier elections. They urged that this time around voting should not be based on tribal and regional sentiments but on performance bases, as people are no longer carried away by empty political promises.

They are thus embolden enough to say that it does not necessary mean that Mendes and South Easterners should only vote the SLPP and Bio as their candidate even though he has not done much for the country in his four to five years misrule. The encouraged their compatriots to be more nationalistic this time around in the voting patterns, adding that the SLPP and President Bio are yet to impress the people of Sierra Leone and not just the south and east.

Speaker after the other charged that no matter how much figures have been fixed in the East and South by the controversial mid-term census results they won’t vote back Bio to power, expressing their utter disappointments with the Bio government for failing to develop Bo in particular.

Another southerner said the expectations were that Bio was going to make them proud of his leadership, based fulfilments of promised he made to deliver the country from under development, pointing out that even government’s  flagship free quality education scheme has been reduced to mere teachers’ go slow and payments of fees and extra charges for pupils.

He therefore vowed not to vote of the SLPP and Bio in the approaching multi-tier elections because he has failed the Mendes and the country as a whole, adding that President Bio’s is not the kind of government they were anticipating for.

The aggrieved SLPP member added that Mendes are now even ashamed of identifying nor associating themselves with the SLPP and other people at public gatherings because of the failures of Bio and the ruling party.

He alleged that most of the proceeds of the government are being transported via capital flights to The Gambia where the wife of the president Bio Fatima Bio is reportedly engaged in massive investments in petroleum, hotel and tourism.

He sounded very doubtful about the socioeconomic plights of fishermen on Bonthe Island, questioning whether they are looked after by the Bio administration, as expected.

Owing to these inadequacies, he therefore charged that President Bio should be replaced with a development oriented leader.

However, the people of Bo remained very much gratified to the last Ernest Bai Koroma led-APC administration whom they keep praising for the good works it did in Bo. They recalled that the APC constructed Bojon Street, Tokonko Road, Dambala Road and other major roads in Bo.

Comparatively, the people of Bo, Kenema, Kailahun, Pujehun, Moyamba and Bonthe described the Bio-led SLPP system as walking dead government who is not working in the best interest of the people of Sierra Leone, point at the continued suffering of the masses.

Among other issues people in the South and Eastern regions are badly embittered with are the high cost of living, skyrocket of essential commodities especially staple food rice and pump price of petroleum products. They recalled that Koroma was never farmer but managed the cost of staple food rice, whereas even though president Julius Maada Bio with his $34.1M Torma Bum Rice project in his home district yet cost of staple food remain high.

Out of the support bases of the SLPP and President Bio, this medium sounded views and opinions of residents of Freetown on the present state of socioeconomic affairs in Sierra Leone as the country approach the June 24 2023 multi-tier elections, at James Gobber at Lumley said; “We should not expect much as time is here already as there is not much can be done now in terms of effective service delivery by government. All they are focused on now is elections and that is why all their remarks and statements are tailored along election campaign messages aimed at winning the next election.

At Back Street central Freetown, Modibo Fofanah believes that the president and the SLPP government has delivered all its manifesto campaign promises made in 2018, and thus deserves another chance for a second term which is why President Bio is warmly received everywhere he goes in the country.

Whereas at Dove Cut market this medium sounded the view of Mariaru Sillah Conteh, who trades in vegetable. And this is what she said; “I don’t believe in the politics of Sierra Leone since I was born because there is nothing I can certainly point at as a legacy of a Sierra Leoneans politician except what was left behind by the British colonial master. And come in elections and out the same promises without fruitful delivery on their promises. So whom so you think the politician are always deceiving it is us the vulnerable people.