We are engaged in constructive criticism without fear or favour. We realize that skewed presentations on behalf of political parties will only scupper our development efforts.
After over one year of governance it would appear that the SLPP Manifesto is not worth the paper it is written on.
The Old Order changeth not according to Alfred Tennyson’s The passing of Arthur.
All leaders of nations including dictators have secret driving forces behind the scenes which inform their public decisions.
Some are influenced legitimately by their Cabinets, others by the ladies in the other room, and still others by their kitchen Cabinets comprising a coterie of close advisers.
Only God knows to which category President Julius Maada Bio belongs.
To have been reneging on most of the provisions in his Manifesto is reprehensible to say the least.
With regard to hard work, the Paopa government does not seem to care a damn.
The law about checking in and checking out of offices seems to be outdated.
To this end, the President made a couple of un-announced visits to some departments for good measure and there was a closure.
The APC Regime thought it fit that Sundays should be days of rest but the paopa regime thought they could be more magnanimous by allowing trading from noon.
The concession has largely been ignored by the traders who see the move as a ruse to buy their votes.
They have even started trading at daybreak in subtle defiance.
This dysfunctionality is being heightened by the Old Direction manner of regarding holidays and their extensions as futile as if work means nothing to the economy.
When holidays fall on Sundays or non-working days they are transferrable in countries where the tax payers money is to be properly utilized, yet in a Godforsaken country like Sierra Leone we are like eager beavers waiting for holidays as an opportunity to laze.
Even in mighty United States Boxing Day is not observed because they realize the value of every second of work though they have many professional boxers.
They break free from the retrogressive tradition of Britain, their mother country.
After a year of having their fill of per diems and their appetites sicken comes a belated travelling temporary ban.
That could have been a period of grace that is likely to resume when they could have exhausted their ill-gotten gains.
In order that there will be no vacuum in wastage of rampant travelling, the boss himself has remained in the travelogue as kingpin traveler.
Magufuli of Tanzania has deliberately restricted his travels to the east African region and George Weah of Liberia has not been heard of travelling at random.
Thus far President Bio is the World’s best travelled Leader.
It should come as no surprise if one day his plane collides with a flying saucer.
According to an important regulation, government conferences were to be held within government premises but this regulation like others has been discarded and conferences are being held anywhere at random costing government millions of dollars that could have been saved to feed the have-nots.
Our role as members of the Fourth Estate is to act as unpaid opposition functionaries.
We deem ourselves more useful to the state than the bevy of sycophantic officials that surround the President.
We have failed to see the President as no nonsense person.
We don’t want to have occasion to say: ‘’We told you so.’’
’’The present New Direction appears to be fake.’’
We need a Reality New Direction.