By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
Judging by the crowds that have been coming out in Moyamba, Pujehun, Bo, Kenema, Port Loko, Makeni, Magburaka, Yele, Kono and other provincial headquarter towns and cities to welcome and listen to the presidential candidate of the All People’s Congress (APC); Dr Samura Mathew Wilson Kamara is likely to become the next president of Serra Leone and form the next government after the June 24 Presidential Election.
If those large crowds translate into votes and the APC protect and secure those votes nationwide; it is difficult to see how President Julius Maada Bio will defeat Dr Samura Kamara on June 24 this year, considering the soulless hardships which majority of Sierra Leoneans are going through now and the Bio-led administration’s inability to stabilize the economy.
According to one renowned Sierra Leonean writer, Sheriff Mahmud Ismail, “In 2017 the minimum wage was Le600,000 (equivalent of US$80). In 2023, the minimum wage is Le800,000 (US$33). This means that minimum wage workers in 2017 were able to buy a bag of rice and have some balance for household expenditure. In 2023, the cost of a bag of rice will take up the entire minimum wage”.
He continues: “The exchange rate has been one of the worse performing macroeconomic variables exposing [the SLPP] government’s cluelessness in the management of the economy. The Leone depreciated from Le7,500 in March 2018 to Le24,000 as of going to press. That is a depreciation rate of 190 percent which is killing the private sector. Businesses are unable to buy the same quantum of goods when they finish selling current products. In 2017, a businessman who had Le8million was able to buy US$1,000. In 2023, that quantum of Leones will only fetch US$350. He notes that: “In 2017, the wage bill was Le1.8 trillion, it increased to Le2.1 trillion in 2018 and more doubled to Le4.3 trillion in 2022 (8 percent of GDP). This is an increase of 128 percent since 2017. More than 75 percent of the country’s annual domestic revenue is being sucked up just on wages, leaving less than 25 percent for other government activities”.
So, with the current state of affairs in the country, it is not surprising why Dr Samura Kamara has been attracting large crowds everywhere he goes in the country. With his strong background in Macroeconomics and Financial Management coupled with his recent launch of his “One Nation” manifesto; ordinary Sierra Leoneans are now convinced that he is fit to regulate Sierra Leone’s economic growth and stability than President Bio who has shown cluelessness in economic matters all these five years.
With his wealth of experience, working for the World Bank and the Commonwealth coupled with stints as Minister of Finance and Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone, majority of Sierra Leoneans now believe that Dr Samura Kamara will be able to fix the Leone and make it valuable again; that he will be able to reduce the high electricity and transportation charges, and that he will be able to close the national divide which appears to be a deliberate policy of the Bio-led administration.
Throughout his campaigns, nationwide, Dr Samura Kamara has committed himself that if voted as the next president, he will foster national unity and cohesion; address economic deficiencies and the cost-of-living crisis at the structural level; intensify efforts in job creation and the establishment of pathways for every adult, especially the youth and women, to earn a living wage; accelerate investments in our people, with a specific focus on the capabilities of our children, women, and youth; accelerate investments in physical and digital infrastructure development; deepen and strengthen decentralization and rural development; protect our environment, and respond to climate change; strengthen economic diplomacy, and foster partnerships with the Diaspora for national development.
With such strong commitments, it is not surprising that the working class and members of the intelligentsia are now calling the APC presidential candidate: “Samura – Our Solution!”