Barely six years into office, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government of President Julius Maada Bio, dubbed “Paopa”, has issued a memo instructing all government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to commemorate the country’s 63rd Independence Anniversary, which falls on Saturday 27 April, with three days of national prayers instead of its usual celebration of festivities.
The memo, which has become a topical issue of amusement on both social and traditional media, has been described by the suffering masses as “laughable” and uncalled for.
The reason, they say, is that if only President Bio could cut down on his unending fruitless travels, trim down the size of his over-bloated cabinet and other presidential appointees, and minimize alleged grand corruption of some of his party loyalists; then there will be no need to call for prayers to solve the country’s economic woes.
Prayers without concrete actions, some senior citizens laughably note, are just hypocritical and “uncalled for”.
Many opine that if the SLPP government could spend over US$28 million on presidential overseas trips alone but could not afford US$27 million for the country’s electricity costs; then it shows how heartless and clueless the “New Direction” is.