It was crystal clear that, in 2018 general elections, the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) when in opposition was carefully taking records of all civil / public servants who participated in the ruling All People’s Congress (APC) rallies.
During that time the SLPP was quite vocal and condemned the civil servants participating in political activities. When the SLPP took power in 2018, thousands of these civil servants and public officials that took part in political activities were sacked in almost all government offices.
We can recall civil servants at Statistics Sierra Leone, NASSIT and other ministries, departments and agencies (MDA’s) that were forcefully sacked with many not receiving their benefits to date.
Most of those who were victims of the sacking spree without end of year benefits effected by the Bio regime died, others risked their lives doing the Temple Run from the deserts of north Africa to Europe via the Mediterranean. Others went to their villages and got engaged in farming activities.
Today, thousands who were alleged of involving in political activities while in offices lost their wives, the education of their children stalled because of lack of money. The well warded press release from the opposition APC revealed that the SLPP regime is now involved in what it used to complain about while in opposition; the sacking of public and civil servants for their alleged involvement with the main opposition APC.
The APC press release has also indicated and given out a strong warning to the SLPP government to stop using public and civil servants for political gains.
According to the APC, at a time when the public and civil servants are busy working for the state they and students were forced to march in a street procession to praise the president for empowering women.
The press release from the APC party stated that the APC is aware of a certain leaked Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) Memorandum mandating civil and public servants to participate in a thank-you float parade in respect of government’s purported achievement in enacting the Gender Law.
According to the APC the Gender Law was enacted through a multi-party and multi-stakeholder process including opposition MP’s who voted in favour.
They also said civil and public servants are paid from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or by various other funds established for and on behalf of the people of Sierra Leone, adding that this is why the APC is very concerned that the GoSL would force the operations of the state to a halt by compelling government employees to participate in a float parade to thank the government.
The APC said this is a blatant politicisation of the public and civil services, as well as a reckless waste of their productivity. So such statement from the APC is very frigfhtening to the extent that civil servants/public officials that attended the said mandatory parade for politcal gain will suffer similar trategy when the APC took power in 2023.
The APC is disappointed with the government’s claims of prioritising education for which boast they would be so desperate to the point of conscripting pupils during school hours to boost their deflated political posture.
The APC has also threatened that they hold government fully responsible for the suffocation and exhaustion which innocent pupils were exposed to during that ill-fated partisan procession.
The APC also mentioned a forced march identical to another incident in Bo, again by this government, that led to the hospitalisation of hundreds of school going children.
The APC party has strongly condemned what they reffered to as reckless and desperate actions by the SLPP government and urged the Bio-led government to ensure that adequate medical services are provided to the victims.
Others have started assuming that, since thousands of Sierra Leoneans were sacked because of participating in rallies or supporting the APC government during their campaign, the same could happen or worse would come in 2023.
Many said this is a game of ‘tit-for-tat’ and the Bio-appointed civil servants will definely be in danger when the regime changes hand on 24 June 2023.