When the current President, Julius Maada Bio of the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) was in the political wilderness, he was holier than both the head of the Vatican City in Rome and custodian of the Holy Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Bio was the most honest politician before April 4th 2018 and his Finance Minister; Jacob Jusu Saffa cannot even be compared to Adam Smith and Lionel Robinson combine when it comes to economic analysis.
On 6th April 2018, by a press release from State House, President Maada Bio appointed a 12 member Government Transition Team (GTT) headed by the current Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis as Chairman and the current Minister of Lands as Secretary to the team.
The President’s Press statement mandated the GTT among other things to conduct an immediate stock taking of the state of affairs of Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the period November 2007 to April, 2018.
The scope of the GTT was to investigate all persons who were Presidents, Vice Presidents, Ministers, Deputy Ministers amongst others.
The 12 members of that GTT team are influential members of President Bio’s current administration.
Sierra Leoneans at that time were wondering what credible information members from the same political camp and ideology will put into a report against an administration they once bitterly opposed to.
The content and language used in that GTT report is what many citizens think is the cause of the current political quagmire in the country.
The content of the report reignited the tribal impulses in many supporters of the past Administration.
The content of the GTT report is distasteful for a post-conflict nation like Sierra Leone.
President Julius Maada Bio was all over the place preaching the gospel of peace, unity and national cohesion and he promised Sierra Leoneans to uphold the tenets of democracy and good governance if elected President in the March 2018 elections.
After the 4th of April 2018, Sierra Leoneans started experiencing the most economic hardship contrary to the verbosity of the current Finance Minister when in opposition.
Sierra Leoneans have experienced the most tribal governance spiced with political vendetta and division.
The hate and division was carved by the Chief Minister, Professor David John Francis when he dishonestly and fallaciously stated in his unprofessional and tribal document he referred to as Government Transition Team (GTT) Report.
In this report, he had outlined the names, regions of origin and tribes of all officials in the erstwhile administration of former President, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, an act which many citizens think was the genesis of the current political quagmire in the country.
The Chief Minister described the administration of former President Koroma in many demeaning shades including a “Criminal Racketeering Enterprises”.
Officials whose names are mentioned in the GTT report undressed the report and referred to it as bogus, tribal and un-academic document packed with lies.
The situation was also the same with the forensic audit when the New Direction hired the services of forensic Accountants, Telecoms experts, Engineers to look into many contracts of the past APC administration.
The New Direction stated in the report that the APC administration squandered $1billon.
The Auditor General and officials of the past administration had debunked the allegations contained in the report referring to the allegations to be false and inaccurate.
President Maada Bio launched the much trumpeted free education without improving the conditions of service of teachers and many right thinking citizens think the programme is too political and not properly researched like former President Koroma did on the Free Health Care Initiative before its implementation.
Under the New Direction of President Maada Bio, many reputable institutions including the most prestigious Law school have come under the radar for the wrong reasons.
In the past weeks, we have seen press releases from the Chief Justice, Honourable Desmond Babatunde Edwards, instructing the Director of Law School to allow students who have exhausted their chances of taking the final Bar Exams to re-sit, the Attorney General instructing the same Director of Law School to proceed on leave within hours, a counter letter from the Director of Law School, Ms Pamela Davies telling the Attorney General that her letter instructing her to proceed on leave is not within the confines of legality.
Sierra Leoneans have seen the politicization of all governance intuitions which has led to the stagnation of the progress of the country in the past one year.
President Bio is failing to realize that a peaceful and productive society is based on effective state institutions and good governance.
Good governance in the sense means effective and efficient structures which provide optimal support to citizens in living a safe and productive life in line with their desires and opportunities.
Sierra Leoneans have seen the dispensation of Justice to the lowest ebb. Justice Babatunde Edwards has gone into the annals of history to have presided over the removal of 10 constitutionally elected Members of Parliament through un-substantiated petitions by losing candidates of the ruling SLPP.
The opposition also filed petitions against Members of Parliament of the ruling party but the Chief Justice never nurtured the courage and fortitude to assign those cases to judges for hearing.
Good governance requires fair legal frame works that are enforced by an impartial regulatory body for the full protection of citizens.
The New Direction is not responsive to the present and future needs of the citizens, lacks prudence in policy-setting, decision making and the best interest of citizens are not taken into account.
Responsiveness in governance requires that the state and its processes be designed to serve the best interest of the citizens within a reasonable time frame by the New Direction of President Maada Bio is doing the contrary.
Under the New Direction of President Maada Bio, Sierra Leone has lost its standing in many indexes in the sub-region and the world at large.
Under the erstwhile administration of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma, Sierra Leone was ranked as the most peaceful nation in West Africa, 3rd most peaceful nation in Africa.
Sierra Leone was ranked 52 in the 2018 Global Peace Index which pools were released in June 2019 and only God knows where Sierra Leone would be when the 2019 polls would have be released next year .
SLPP government is treating citizens who are not south easterners like foreigners in their own country and the citizenry is experiencing what the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) highlighted as the causes of our eleven years senseless civil war.