By Ragan M. Conteh
The Member of Parliament from Kafu Bullom, representing Constituency 077, Hon Abdul Kargbo, has stated that he is still yet to see a leader that wants to fail, disclosing that President Bio does not want to fail.
He continued that President Bio wants to succeed as Leader, but there are two sets of people who make or break a leader. He stated that one of those sets are the ones who do not want a leader to succeed. In fact, they keep sheepishly clapping for him even when he is not doing the correct thing.
He continued that, in Sierra Lone, people access promotion through clapping for a leader even when they know things are not okay.
The second set of people, who do not want a leader to succeed, are those who put pen and paper when the President wants to come to Parliament, adding that they put things that are not achievable and, at the end, Members of Parliament will begin to castigate the President for not achieving his promise (s).
He cautioned those who write speeches for the president to be careful and stop putting things that are not achievable.
Hon Kargbo said, in some of the paragraphs in the President’s speech, the President has generated sufficient electricity, even though the opposite holds true.
He said 15 megawatts was commissioned by former President Ernest Koroma at Black Hall Road; he also left 10 megawatts at the Kingtom Power Station and Kapowership.
The MP continued that, since the Sierra Leone People’s Party came to power in 2018, there has not been any additional electricity generation in the entire nation.
Hon Kargbo furthered that the only generator that was bought by the SLPP regime is the one in Lunsar that got burnt. He added that President Bio bought one megawatts and replaced the generator in Lunsar. Other than that nothing has been happening on electricity is new.
The MP recalled when the President addressed the House of Parliament. According to him, President Bio intended to put a ceiling on the borrowing, especially with regards the past regime, which have borrowed a lot of money.
“My government will ameliorate the debts of this country,” President Bio had said.
After further making a research at the IMF Debt Sustainability Analysis Report of 2018 and 2020, the 2018 paragraph was found to be sacrosanct, that Sierra Leone was at a moderate debt distress.
“Sierra Leone has moved from moderate risk in 2018 to high risk in 2020,” he noted.
According to Hon Kargbo, when former President Koroma came into office as President in 20007, the country’s external debt was Le2.5 trillion, adding that, during the 10 years of the former APC regime, the country’s external debt grew from Le2.5 trillion to Le19 trillion.
He informed the nation that, for 10 years under the former regime, external debt was Le16.2 trillion.
Hon. Kargbo revealed that, when the APC government handed over to President Bio in 2018 to 2020, excluding 2021, he came to the conclusion that the country’s external debt was now Le31.3 trillion.
He furthered that, in the three years of the SLPP, it has made an additional external of Le19 trillion debts as compared to the Le12.3 trillion left by the APC.
The MP said the external borrowing of the SLPP government, in just three years, is three times more than the previous government of former President Ernest Bai Koroma.
He however applauded the President for the free quality education, which, he said, is a good initiative.
He said all must be magnanimous in identifying some of the flaws in the system, adding that it does not mean that, when one identifies the flaws of the system, you are against the regime.
Apart from the teachers, in the payroll in schools, according to Hon. Kargbo, schools have cleaners, gatemen and other workers, but since the start of the term the subsidies have not been paid.
Hon. Kargbo pointed out that the speech writers are not being fair with the President, adding that, in 2018 in Paragraph 55 of the Presidential Speech, the President said he will establish Teacher Training Campuses in all districts and such promise has not been fulfilled up till now.
The MP stated how the speech writers said President Bio will provide free tuition for teachers, which has also not been done.
The speech writers stated, in the 2018 Presidential Speech, that President Bio will construct one Primary School in every section, one Junior Secondary School in every Ward and one Senior Secondary School in every Constituency, all that has not been done.
In the 2018 Presidential Speech, according to Hon. Kargbo, President Bio promised to rollout school feeding to all government supported schools, which has also not been done.
The Hon. MP furthered that the President promised, in 2018, a School of Diplomacy as well as restoring electricity in all district headquarters.
“All of this has not been done,” he stated.