The announcement of a ‘landmark’ MoU between Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Youth Affairs (MOYA) and UNDP is being paraded as progress. But let us speak the truth: this is not progress, it is yet another sham. It is a publicity gimmick designed to deceive donors, blindfold the international community, and pacify a restless generation of Sierra Leonean youth.
For six long years, Julius Maada Bio has been in power, yet his government has become synonymous with lies, corruption, and betrayal. His regime is addicted to optics: signing ceremonies, international speeches, big promises, and donor partnerships, all without substance. The result? Sierra Leone’s young people remain shackled in poverty, unemployment, and hopelessness, while Bio and his cronies continue to feed fat.
A Government of Lies, A Ministry of Noise
Let’s face it: the Ministry of Youth Affairs is a failed institution. Instead of being the engine of youth development, it has been reduced to a loudspeaker for the President’s propaganda. Under the leadership of Hon. Ibrahim Sannoh, the ministry has perfected the art of noise without action.
Sannoh’s speeches about “ensuring no young person is left behind” are not only hollow, they are cruel insults to the suffering reality of Sierra Leone’s youth. Young graduates roam the streets jobless. Skilled youths waste away because vocational centers are underfunded and outdated. Small businesses suffocate under unbearable taxes, no access to credit, and constant harassment. Yet, in the midst of this misery, Sannoh dares to tell us that the youth are being empowered.
Let us be blunt: Ibrahim Sannoh is not a minister. He is a political errand boy, a propaganda puppet, a messenger who parrots promises he knows will never be delivered. His ministry is nothing more than a cemetery of failed projects, abandoned initiatives, and wasted donor funds.
Bio’s Record: Six Years of Betrayal
President Bio’s relationship with Sierra Leonean youth has been nothing but betrayal.
• Jobs? Still a fantasy. The youth unemployment rate is catastrophic. Thousands graduate every year, only to join the endless queue of the jobless.
• Skills development? A joke. Vocational centers are crumbling, with outdated tools and no real investment. Training programs are announced for the cameras, but in practice they benefit only a handful ,mostly the politically connected.
• Entrepreneurship? A lie. Young entrepreneurs are crushed before they even start. No electricity. No access to financing. No market protection. No enabling environment. Every barrier imaginable is placed in their way.
- Drug crisis? Out of control. Youth have turned to kush and other substances because the government has given them no alternative. The Bio administration watches idly as an entire generation is destroyed, then pretends to care through speeches.
This is the harsh reality: under Bio, Sierra Leonean youth are poorer, more hopeless, and more marginalized than ever before. His ‘youth empowerment’ agenda is nothing but a dangerous myth.
The Hypocrisy of MoUs
Every few months, the Bio government signs a new MoU with some donor agency. They hold press conferences, they take photos, they issue grand statements. But what happens after? Nothing.
• Where is the impact of all the MoUs signed in the past six years?
• Where are the thousands of jobs created that were promised?
• Where are the skill centers that were supposed to be built?
• Where is the thriving entrepreneurship they boasted about?
The answer is clear: they do not exist. The only thing that exists is propaganda. Bio and his ministers have mastered the art of using MoUs as political shields, not as tools for development.
UNDP’s Shameful Complicity
By signing this MoU, UNDP is not empowering Sierra Leone’s youth. It is empowering Bio’s failed government. It is helping a corrupt regime polish its image, while the youth remain abandoned. Instead of demanding accountability for past failures, UNDP has chosen to hand Bio another propaganda tool.
This is dangerous. Donors like UNDP must understand that Sierra Leone’s youth are not hungry for ceremonies, they are desperate for results. By aligning with a government that has consistently failed, UNDP risks becoming complicit in prolonging youth poverty and hopelessness.
The Naked Truth
Let’s stop sugarcoating:
• Sierra Leone’s youth are not partners in development under Bio , they are political pawn• The Ministry of Youth Affairs is not an engine of progress , it is a dumping ground for lies.
- This MoU is not a breakthrough it is a smokescreen.
Unless this government is confronted and dismantled from its culture of corruption, mismanagement, and deception, no MoU, no donor, and no international partnership will ever change the reality of Sierra Leone’s youth.
Final Word To Fake Bio and Laid Belly Sannoh:
The truth is brutal but undeniable: President Bio and his Minister of Youth Affairs have failed Sierra Leone’s youth miserably. They have robbed young people of hope, dignity, and opportunity. They continue to use you as slogans, props, and statistics, while building their careers on your suffering.
Sierra Leone’s youth deserve better. They deserve leadership that listens, policies that deliver, and a future that is real, not written in empty press releases.
Until then, every MoU they sign, every speech they give, every promise they make is nothing but another layer of shame on a government addicted to lies.
By Komeh Tonkolili
Secretary General
APC Australia Branch
