Unlike previous polls, the June elections have shown sings that it would not favour the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP). Having seen the lines clearly on the wall, APC (All People’s Congress)’s flag-bearer, Dr Samura Kamara is bold enough to say the elections will surely go the APC way. In a rellaxed mood and posture, the confident Samura Kamara says President Julius Maada Bio’s lapses is a big plus for the APC. Mishandling of the economy which has landed Sierra Leone in a dire state is one of greatest tragedies that has hit the party in power.
For too long, the people of Sierra Leone, have been wailing under a collapsed economy that has shown no sign of recovering. High cost of living worsened by an uncontrollable inflation is hitting hard men in the streets. The exchange rate is appalling and worrisome. Politicians from the two sides of the divide have maintained that at no time in Sierra Leone’s history has the exchange rate hit such a record high.
For the past week, NLe2, 150 or Le2, 150, 000 (two million, one hundred and fifty thousand Leones) has been chasing just a US$100. Kamara succinctly argued that as long as the sad exchange rate continues, prices of goods and services will remain high. Sierra Leone is an import-based country: it buys over 80% of her commodities from other countries. Sierra Leone does not manufacture vehicles, motor cycles, tricycles and other useable commodities.
Sierra Leone also does not manufacture most of the canned products the people utilise. The country also imports most of the medical and engineering services. This goes to pinpoint that a country that import most of her commodities and services need enough foreign exchange to keep prices at the state of equilibrium. Price hikes owing to the weakness of the Leones against foreign currencies has a spill-over effect on local goods.
A ‘batta’ or jerry can of palm oil now stands at over NLe600 or Le600, 000 (six hundred thousand Leones) which is also the first in history. Even the price for a bag of rice, Sierra Leone’s staple food, hovers between Le600, 000 (six hundred thousand Leones) to Le700, 000 (seven hundred thousand Leones).
This is the danger of a weak Leone to the US dollar. Without any hesitation, the APC flag assured his supporters, in no uncertain terms, that the APC would bank on the economic malaise into which Sierra Leone has been plunged. Whenever the APC flag-bearer is interviewed about the economy, he always assures Sierra Leoneans that he would fix it, but declined to tell for now how he would do it. “I know where to touch when I get there,” he assured the public.
Many Sierra Leoneans have reposed great confidence in the APC flag-bearer owing to his track record. He has served in several capacities at home and abroad. In Sierra Leone, Kamara was Financial Secretary in the defunct NPRC (National Provisional Ruling Council) regime of Captain Valentine Strasser and Julius Maada Bio between 1992 and 1996. He also served as Bank Governor in the SLPP under President Tejan Kabba of blessed memory.
The APC flag-bearer also played a critical role in the government of former President Ernest Bai Koroma. He was made Bank Governor and later, Minister of Finance. It was during his tenure in 2013 that Sierra Leone’s economy was rated as the fastest in the world. The economy enjoyed an admirable IMF (International Monetary Fund) projection of 20 per cent growth rate, a rare moment for any country anywhere in the world let alone Sierra Leone. Outside Sierra Leone, Dr Samura Kamara held sensitive posts.
He served the IMF in the senior post of Chief Economics Officer. He also worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat in a managerial capacity. Little wonder that Samura Kamara told Sierra Leoneans that he had vast experience in managing economies in developing countries. It also came out frankly that Bio’s various human rights abuses is a big campaign ticket for the APC.
The people will decide whether they vote in for a President who abuses their rights or vote for a change of government to get one who adores their dignity and worth as human beings. For many Sierra Leoneans, government’s human rights record is nothing to write home about. Brutal killings have taken place in various parts of the country.
The first was in Mosengbeh village in Tonkolili district where a joint police-military raid left one civilian dead and several others injured. Property and valuables running into millions of Leones were also carted away as they were tagged proceeds of cannabis. The raid, according to the commanders thus, was to get rid of the harmful drug, but the means employed was llethal. The Local Unit Commander on the ground was never informed of the operation, and his attempt to tell the real side of the story cost him greatly as he was arbitrarily suspended from duty.
It is not clear whether the suspension has been lifted. The APC flag-bearer also mentioned the killings in Tombo, Lunsar, Makeni all in the North-West regions, and they share one future in common: they are state-sponsored. Government caused the protests with the sole intention of killing the protesters. In Makeni, government provoked the protests by a forceful relocation of thermal plant. Government’s action in shutting down SL Mining company in Lunsar town led to the protest as the youth became jobless.
It is no difference in Tombo where government’s ban on fishing triggered waves of protests. Even the killings at Pa Demba Road Correctional Centre is state-sponsored. Government’s one-month ban on all trials owing to a suspected Civic-19 vase prompted a protests by the inmates. Government’s account showed that 31 inmates including a prison officer lost their lives although unofficial sources suggested a higher figure.
The APC flag-bearer will surely bank on these lapses to remove SLPP from power through the ballot box. Apart from the poor human rights record and the economic malaise, the registration pattern also shows that the elections are over as stated by the APC flag-bearer. A large number of people showed up for registration in the North-West regions than in the South-East. The EU Ambassador himself confirmed the high turn out in the North-West although few SLPP fanatics are not pleased with the Ambassador’s claim.
North-West which are APC strongholds got close to 2, 000, 000 (two million) voters while South-East, SLPP’s support base got a little over 1, 000, 000 (one million).