According to Sierra Leonean citizens that spoke to this medium over the weekend, the reason the embattled president Julius Maada Bio never looked confident or comfortable during television interviews, why he is rarely seen in public or never seen with the grassroots, even in the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) is “because he was never popularly elected, not in 2018 and definitely not in 2023,” they added. The Sierra Leoneans represented all political persuasions.
The citizens said because the president has never enjoyed the full and expressive will of the electorates as expressed through their votes, his popularity has always been a huge question mark against him, with the Sierra Leoneans in the main mostly saying after 11 years of Bio’s predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma’s regime and after five years under Bio, if the duo were to go to the polls as contending candidates, “Ernest Bai Koroma would win hands down” they were confident to relay.
There is no comparing EBK with Bio, the citizens related to Nightwatch, going on to say that the comparison is an uneven one as Ernest Bai Koroma is a larger than life personality under whose looming shadows the current president has been finding it very hard to maneuver or operate.
If it was up to president Bio, the citizens said, EBK would just disappear which would give Bio the confidence that there are no other stars on the national scene save or except him.
“Bio does not have the crowd; he does not enjoy the support or respect of the electorates and the people are not behind him because he is leading a divided and highly polarised society. Despite being president since 2018, Bio still does not feel comfortable as president. We and our friends in the international community know that he did not outright win the 2018 elections and he most certainly didn’t win the 24th June, 2023 elections.
He was never popularly elected and does not enjoy the people’s admiration and understanding. The president has never been at home or popular with the people of Sierra Leone as he knows that he is operating on a stolen mandate.
“Much larger than this is the fact that he is operating under his predecessor, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma’s shadow, and he hates this.It is an open secret that EBK sponsored Bio and mentored him on state governance. We know that Bio used to make regular trips to the Presidential Lodge as opposition leader before 2018 elections during which times he received help from President Koroma,’ one of the citizens vented.
The female Sierra Leonean voter said at present it should be an anomaly for there to be someone more popular than a sitting president in any society, as he or she is by right supposed to be the most popular individual based on him or her getting blessed by the mandate of the majority of the people to lead.
Sadly for president Bio, he is not enjoying his presidency because there is a brighter light or star shinning brighter than him and that is, Dr Ernest Bai Koroma.
And Bio keeps getting lost in his predecessor’s larger than life shadows.
Look, the best way to determine who is more popular between EBK and Bio would be for an election between the two; and if after 11 years of EBK and five years of Bio, if these men were to have an election contest right now, EBK would win. Even after retiring from active political life the people from across the political and tribal divide said EBK is still more popular than any president before and after him.
Justifying this thesis, the popular ruling party stalwart went on that EBK set himself apart from all leaders before and after him by the singular action of working with opposition ministers and heads of departments and agencies six months after he won the 2007 presidential elections.
This singularly important move by EBK to work with the opposition ministers until a transition time is completed is a first in our history. EBK was a nation builder and led as such. He wanted and had all hands on deck during his administration.
This move has never been matched or equaled by anyone, as Bio was supposed to be the one to continue with this largesse from the nation’s chief executive that would behold him to the citizenry irrespective of party or tribe.
Another great display of leadership acumen that set EBK apart from all before and so far after him was his promise and changing of our electricity distribution narrative by transforming Freetown from the darkest city in the world to having regular power supply after only 100 days in power.
After five years under Bio power cut or outages are so common you would think we have returned back to our designation as the darkest city in the world. As we speak there is no light in most parts of Freetown.
It would be very difficult for Bio to shake himself free of EBK’s shadow. President Koroma set the bar too high for Bio. EBK even had members of the opposition in his cabinet.
Still on the reasons why EBK will forever be more popular than president Bio, the citizens told this medium that during his administration, EBK brought development to the southeast, particularly Bo, Kailahun and Pujehun, while he gave road contracts to such concerns in Kenema.
However, the people in Pujehun, Kailahun and Bo performed while in Kenema they fumbled the ball and didn’t perform to expectation.
EBK accomplished infrastructural development than any other leader in the history of Sierra Leone and left the nation as one of the fastest developing nations and growing economies in Africa and the world.
But EBK’s greatest redeeming quality is his love for the grassroots members of the nation and party.
He was always at home with the citizenry and was known for making surprise walking visits to communities across Freetown and in the provinces. EBK still represents a paradigm shift in our national leadership story.
He was first to allow opposition politicians full rein, giving them the opportunity and right to challenge him and take him to task, which action he welcomed as such challenges only made him a better President. He was responsive to the people and whatever ailed them.
We know for certain that whenever Bio would arrive at Lodge, he would not be subjected to waiting for EBK as there was instruction that Bio should not be made to wait to see the president.
Even cabinet ministers that were waiting to see the president were made to wait until after Bio had seen and talked with President Koroma. He maintained an open door policy for Bio.
What will be hard to equal was EBK conducting an election, in 2018, that the incumbent party, APC lost.
It was and still is unheard of for a ruling party to lose to an opposition candidate in Africa.
It got so bad for EBK that some members of the APC even accused him of being pivotal in Bio being allowed to maintain his 2018 elections “victory” by allegedly influencing Dr Samura Kamara to accept or concede defeat.
As an icing on the cake, EBK has done this nation proud by being a much sort after senior political figure in the world by being invited to give speeches at international events, especially his role as chief elections observer to many presidential elections across Africa he oversaw with high distinction.
Meanwhile, looking at his leadership narrative so far, the people of Sierra Leone said president Bio did not have the same confidence or leadership acumen as the larger-than-life Bai Koroma.
Our troubled present chief executive firstly feels like western area is an APC stronghold for which he does not feel at home in the city.
On the other hand, EBK made routine stops at PZ, Belgium, Lumley and others to the people’s surprise and admiration.
EBK would shock the people when he would just show up unexpectedly somewhere. The people used to get a kick out of this.
Imagine your shock if Bio was to all of a sudden pitch up unexpectedly at PZ.
No matter how rude or anti-SLPP you are when a sitting president visits your area you forget all party animosity and humble yourself before God’s anointed. Sadly for Bio and the public, the relationship has not been so.
Bio has retuned the nation to the violence he and his cohorts ushered into our political narrative we had long put behind us.
We can blame the president and his party for the rise of the prominence of political thugs or party gangsters that do the party’s dirty works during elections.
Under Bio, we have not been operating as a free society, there is a lot of fear exhibited by the people of their leader that is not natural, or even encouraging. Our leader has been an impediment to progress and national unity. We are not a free and just society under president Bio.
Without freedom and justice no one can guarantee the unity that is needed for sustained national development.
This unity is needed for the people to come together on national agenda, even if the opposition party is in power. This was what happened under EBK.
However, under president Bio, we have not been working together for the success of the nation and a peaceful environment for our people where they are assured of equal access to justice and opportunities.
For his credit, the Sierra Leonean citizens from the leading political parties have said Bio’s leadership track record so far is not worthy of emulation as it would mean that his successor would have to perform worse than him.
They blamed the President for returning the nation to conflict, state-sponsored violence against the opposition and the general citizenry, lack of respect for the rule of law, allowing a culture of impunity with the massive theft or misappropriation of state funds by his appointees, an unfixable economy.
The President cares more about himself than the people and SLPP. None of his 2018 manifesto promises were fully realised because they were celebrated as victories even before the whistle or while the game or match is still being played.
He lost the war on corruption and made it worse than ever before.
But the worst to come out of this presidency is his reliance on heavy handed tactics to get his way, either by bulldozing parliament or crashing hard on the people, even when such actions are inimical to peace, progress and national cohesion.
Today we see a more tribal, regional party than one that speaks for the entire country. Because Mr Bio was never popularly elected, we don’t see him caring about how his regime ends as long as he does his two terms, no matter how he accomplished this, even by trying to embarrass someone who has been nothing but a big brother to him.