By Mohamed Sankoh (One Drop)
As if the killings in Makeni, Lunsar, Mile 91, Tombo, and the Pademba Road Correctional Centre in Freetown by state security aimed at “peacekeeping” are not enough; the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) of President Julius Maada Bio appears to be implementing policies which seem to be designed to worsen the economic woes of majority of Sierra Leoneans.
The SLPP government of President Bio is so heartless and clueless that it only thinks of how to mobilize domestic revenue to take care of its over-bloated wage bill and the endless presidential overseas travels. And in the midst of all these willful follies, majority of Sierra Leoneans are being impoverished through unnecessary taxations. What is noticeable about most—if not all—of the Bio-led administration’s policies is that they appear to be tailored to benefit only the ruling elites not the general citizenry.
Now, most citizens can no longer afford to buy half-a-bag of rice monthly as they used to do about seven years ago; they are turning their cars and SUVs into furniture simply because the price of fuel in Sierra Leone is extremely high compared to neighbouring countries; they are sleeping in self-induced blackout because EDSA’s Bintumani Mountain-like tariffs are exorbitant, and most citizens are having a rethink of engaging in constructions of affordable houses because the prices of cement and iron rods have rocketed from atop the Freetown City Council’s building!
Sadly, majority of Sierra Leoneans are now faced with chronic hardship because the SLPP government is simply heartless and chauvinistic; our Commander-in-Chief seems to be clueless on basic economic issues thereby creating the scenario of a carpenter tasked to do a plumber’s job, and some SLPP stalwarts and government ministers have started jostling each other to succeed President Bio instead of focusing on solving the “bread and butter issues” which are close to the citizens’ hearts of hearts.
Even the unrepentant opinionated fools in SLPP-dom are now convinced that President Bio and his ‘Paopaists’ have caused irreparable damage to the economy of Sierra Leone through cluelessness. Though they are ashamed to admit it on camera that their SLPP government is now a case study of how a government should not be run; they have been doing so in camera shamefacedly! And even the few sane people in SLPP-dom are now going insane because of the directionlessness of their “New Direction”. The current situation in Sierra Leone could be likened to that of a group of quack medical doctors hijacking the main operating theatre at the Connaught Hospital in Freetown with the aim of performing major surgical operations!
And to add more sufferings to the already chronic sufferings of majority of Sierra Leoneans, the SLPP government has announced that starting 1 March 2024 there will be increments on fees for the Wellington-Masiaka Tollgates. The reasons given for such heartlessness are as outrageous as the state of electricity in the country. The main argument adduced by the Minister of Works and Public Assets, Dr Denis Sandy, is tragically laughable. He claims that the China Railway Seventh Group (CRSG), which is manning the three tollgates, had “proposed higher prices but [that] the government negotiated and reached an agreement” which has now fathered the current astronomical fees.
I am just wondering if the SLPP government had not “negotiated” the “proposed higher prices” which the CRSG had originally wanted to impose, what these current astronomical fees would have been. But the factual fact is: this is another hidden ploy by the Bio-led administration to mobilize domestic revenue to only take care of its over-bloated wage bill and the would-be endless presidential overseas travels.
Even the randy National Grand Coalition (NGC), which is now known for carelessly going to bed with the SLPP to have causal political sex, is peeved by this latest SLPP heartlessness. In a press release, dated 15 February 2024, it notes that they are, “troubled by the potential impact of this substantial toll increase on the cost of living, transportation expenses, and the overall economic well-being of our fellow Sierra Leoneans….[As] the toll hike will undoubtedly burden our citizens with additional financial strain, affecting their ability to afford essential needs such as food, education, medical, housing, clothing, and more.” Although it tries to be very empathetic in its tone; that press release could be likened to a thief becoming a whistleblower simply because he was cheated out of the loot!
And the Native Consortium & Research Centre, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO) which has been eerily quiet for some unexplained reasons, has emitted a hoarse whisper by asking: “Where is the compassion in this [SLPP] Government?” in relation to the increments on fees for the Wellington-Masiaka Tollgates. It rips open the argument of the Minister of Works and Public Assets by stating that they are not, “surprised that the Works Minister is justifying the more than 100% increment in the toll road fee”. And as a sort of a postscript, “the Consortium is asking Parliament to compel the Chinese to tell [them] and the public how much they (Chinese) have collected so far since 2016 to date compared to the $161 million loan Agreement” which was supposedly used to construct the Wellington-Masiaka Road. At least, it is now refreshing that my brothers in the “Consortium” are becoming natively native as all true natives should be on national issues!
And to add some spice to the already spicy Wellington-Masiaka Tollgates broth, the Network Movement for Democracy and Human Rights (NMDHR) has also expressed some deep concerns. What it is particularly concerned about are the “substantial challenges for ordinary Sierra Leoneans; particularly vulnerable groups who are heavily reliant on this vital transportation route for their livelihoods”. For me, this is very touching. In fact, touchingly touching as its poignancy touches on the heart of the SLPP government’s heartlessness!
From the reactions of members of the public and some CSOs, it is now clear that the new tollgate fees are as unpopular as the SLPP government of President Bio. And like other half-assed SLPP policies, these news fees will not only bring more sufferings on majority of Sierra Leoneans but indicate that the SLPP government may have just rung its own death knell!
And while the SLPP government appears to have rung its own death knell; I am waiting to see if that “credible” CSO will publish a sexed-up survey to show that the increments on the tollgates fees are justifiably popular or whether that other one, which professes to believe in “accountability”, will still remain frighteningly silent on this issue as it has been on other issues bordering on the “rule of law”.
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