At the 10th anniversary memory of the death of President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah at the Bintumani International Conference Centre in Freetown, Chief Minister, David Moinina Sengeh apologised to the religious leaders and the people of Sierra Leone for any hurt caused by his utterances that mosques and churches don’t pay their electricity bills and that even if Jesus Christ were to return Sierra Leone would not change.
While they acknowledged his apology, members of the body of Christ and some devout Muslims that spoke to nightwatch said they are still hurt in shock and incensed by the head of all ministers in the government and say they consider his apology as a copout (evasion) lacking sincerity and depth. The upset Sierra Leonean citizens say the Chief Minister would do well if he steps down from his post.
The Muslim and Christian Sierra Leoneans say for insulting their faith and admitting that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will not change anything about the Sierra Leonean experience of overwhelming hardships and suffering, the minister has in effect admitted that the PAOPA regime is unable to keep their promises to change the country’s socio-economic and political realities.
The upset men and women of the faith say if Jesus Christ who is more powerful than anyone in the President Julius Maada Bio’s regime including the president cannot change anything for Sierra Leoneans, what is the relevance of the President and his ministers for holding positions in the government of Sierra Leone for which they receive large sums of money as salary?
By insulting the people that believe in God across the country (estimated at 90 per cent of our 8 million population) that they are thieves and that the advent of God will not change anything in Sierra Leone, the Chief Minister and the regime he worked for, they went on, had admitted failing the people of Sierra Leone.
“If Jesus Christ who is more powerful than all of humanity combined, with whom all things are possible, who we call on all day and night long for guidance, protection and provision cannot change Sierra Leone then what is the use of the government of Sierra Leone? What is the use of the promises the President and this government have made to us about “PAOPA Salone for betteh”? Are the President and his ministers and all his workers in the ministries, departments and agencies in power to waste and leak government or public money? We want the Chief Minister to quit because he has already exposed his boss, the president’s inability to change anything. Going by what David Sengeh has said, we cannot believe anything from the Office of the President or anyone from this regime that change is possible,” said a Christian cleric.
In his contribution, a Muslim member of the group said going by how things had gone for the President Bio led regime for the past six years, especially this past year after the stolen presidential mandate, the Chief Minister is right for in effect saying that no one is capable of changing Sierra Leone.
“You can see that since 2018 no matter what president Bio and his many ministers of finance have tried, nothing has been able to improve anything in our economy. We see that things keep getting worse. Prices continue to go up almost every day, with the poor and most vulnerable of our people starving and dying of hunger and starvation because they are unable to afford the high cost of goods and services. A cup of rice is almost Le10 a cup with a bag of Jasmine rice is Le1,300, Pussawa is Le1,000. We don’t want to get to the price of fuel and transportation cost. So we can see that indeed, the Chief Minister is right that nothing can change Sierra Leone. Therefore, the Bio regime is here to occupy their government posts for five years just to make money from us while they leave us dry after they set sail back overseas from where they came. We will be the ones left to sort out the mess they have created after their term ends,” said the member of Council of Imams.
The upset Sierra Leoneans representing the body of Christ and the Muslim community say the Chief Minister’s lack of faith in God to change the people’s economic reality since 2018 is a testament to government’s incompetence to steer the ship of state.
During the unscheduled interview with the members of the religious community, many of whom attended Kabba’s 10th death anniversary, they maintain their stance that Chief Minister, David Sengeh was not sincere in his apology.
“We think that this apology was forced on him by members of the regime because the media have not let up in publishing stories about how serious his utterances are. We believe that his apology was contrived as he seemed to most of us uncomfortable when making the apology. We believe that Sengeh meant what he said when he called churches and mosques thieves and part of the reason why EDSA (Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority is unsuccessful in fulfilling its mandate to provide uninterrupted electricity across the country and for doubting that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will change the Sierra Leone’s present situation. His apology lacked substance and truth. We are calling on him to quit and for the President to ensure that he steps down,” said a female member of the group, who concluded by saying, “We believe that the Bio government is a Rasta government.”