Some ranking members of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) government have confided in Nightwatch with the allegation that President Julius Maada Bio does not love the SLPP and by extension, the people of Sierra Leone.
The men made this charge during a talk with this medium over the weekend when they suggested that the President only used the party to gain power, and only to ditch those who fostered that opportunity with all the dirty games and turn to unknown people in the Diaspora whom he has lavished with all sorts of power and positions in his government.
The disgruntled SLPP guys maintained that from the start at 2018 it was clear that President Bio came with his own agenda and plans, adding that he used, misused and abused the party’s ideology, the ranking and most respected elders, only to also ditch them after they had done the dirty work of winning the hearts, minds and votes of the party’s grassroots.
“At the end of the day, after it was evident that the president was using them, it became so hard for the elders to show their faces among the people who also feel used and abused. These men cannot say anything to Bio; they are terrified of him. They knew that their focus was on accomplishing the Pa’s objectives instead of the people they are supposed to be working for. As an elder you have to work and deliver for the people as you know that you will have to face them again. You live in the same communities unless you want to hide from them, which is what many of our elders that the Bios have used and ditched often do as they are ashamed to face the people in light of the failures of their promises to them,” said a member of the SLPP executive.
The well-respected leader said there is no love for the nation or party in the plans of the PAOPA faction of the SLPP who are only interested in amassing as much wealth as they can during the ten years they have been able to secure as heads of the government and country.
“These guys don’t love the country or the party. In 2023 the elders after Bio had made a mess of things went around to their constituents to plead with them to give Bio another chance. They peddled many of his excuses for failing the people, although they never believed the lie themselves. However, the gullible and highly impressionable people bought their sob stories and voted to get Bio re-elected. Despite their being no progress the incumbent regime could boast of, the trusting people of the party and nation trusted that things would change. Now that he is doing his second and last term you can see that things have gotten worse. The president is not going to be able to fulfil any of his promises to the people. They were not made in an honest to God truthful way. They were words said only to secure votes as we can see that only those that work for the PAOPA faction that are benefiting from this regime,” another SLPP executive pitched in.
The ranking SLPP executives informed Nightwatch that PAOA is quite different from the SLPP, informing that many SLPP stalwarts in desperate need of jobs after 11 years in the political desert switched loyalties to PAOPA only to have their hopes dashed after they were only able to secure government jobs until they were no longer useful to the president and his plans.
“So will the people of Sierra Leone and the SLPP believe in president Bio’s promises again? Since they are not working for the party or country then they are only working to enrich themselves at the detriment of the struggling masses. Our advice to our people and yes the entire country is for us to start seeing president Bio and his supporters as enemies of the people and state. They don’t love the country or the party. Remember president Bio had said whenever a public official steals he is doing so for himself and not the party, tribe or country. They have all admitted that they cannot fix the economy. Therefore if the country is a business and we have a CEO that cannot make us a profit, what do we do to him? We have to fire him and hire someone else that can guaranty us a profit. This is not time for us to be sentimental. The true democrats in the SLPP must join with other likeminded Sierra Leoneans from the other parties, tribes and regions that are concerned with the success of our economy no matter who is president to get rid of the PAOPA mess that the Bios have created,” one of the ranking SLPP stalwarts advised.
Today, Sierra Leone is once again at the crossroads. The people have waited for the past six years for their elected leader and party government to make a success of the economy. Sadly, the president and his team have proven that they are not interested in fixing the economy as they do not have the solutions, the expertise, the connections and the acumen to make a significant impact on the economy in the right direction. Despite promises that were made to a desperate and desperately poor people, nothing has changed for the better for the people as things keep getting worse. The time has come for the people to show true love for country by voting for the country against anyone, even if that person is your brother or sister, that is not interested in seeing the people, nation and their government succeed. Lonta!