By Musa Paul Feika
The Opposition Leader in the Sixth Parliament Hon. Abdul Kargbo drawing from a report by Budget Advocacy Network-Sierra Leone (BAN-SL) has revealed that President Julius Maada Bio has in just one year on resuming the Presidency after the controversial June 2023 Presidential Election, has spent a whooping NLe 191.8 Million on overseas travels.
The Minority Leader maintained that if this colossal amount is divided into halves, it will definitely take care of the entire budget allocations for free healthcare, ambulance services, recruitments and the Ministry of Social Welfare.
“Mr. Speaker, I’m saying this as a Sierra Leonean; I am not politicizing the budget, rather, this is informing the House about the astronomical expenses undertaken by the President and it is also about ensuring that the power that be, does what is in the best interest of the people of Sierra Leone,” Hon. Kargbo stated.
Hon. Kargbo noted that the President’s travel purse for just one amounts for 38% of Domestic Interests payable on Domestic Borrowing which in turn amounts to 38% of Domestic Revenue.
According to Hon. Kargbo, if the President’s travel expenses are curtailed, it will reduce domestic bank lending and as well as its concomitant interest payments.
Going further, the opposition leader disclosed that the country’s revenue ration to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 13%, but that it has drastically dropped to 9.9% which is a clear indication that the government has not been effectively generating revenue and efficiently disbursing same.
He therefore appealed to the sense of reasoning of the government to ensure a drastic reduction on the President’s overseas travels so that money accrued from that savings could be utilized for national socioeconomic development that will positively impact the lives of the people.
Hon. Kargbo attributed the disheartening state of the value of the Leones against foreign currencies like the United States Dollar, the British Pound, the European Union Euro and the Guinean Francs to the reliant of government on debt both locally and internationally as a way of mitigating on the cash shortage mostly afflicting the country.
“It is most disheartening that the Guinean Francs is now of more economic value than the Leones, which as far as my memory can serve me, is the first time this is happening,” the Opposition strongman lamented.
Given this dismal economic situation the country finds herself of late, Hon. Kargbo asserted that the country has lost over 100% value points of the Sierra Leone currency; a situation that has inadvertently prompted Sierra Leonean businessmen and women to avoid doing business in Guinea as Leones “is almost useless in Guinea.”
Hon. Kargbo submitted that the prevailing economic and financial situation of the country cannot be attributed to Ukraine-Russian war, because it is far away, pointing out that other countries in the sub region including the neighboring Guinea have been able to cushion the possible impacts of that war on their economies and peoples.
Hon. Kargbo sternly attributed the poignant economic and financial state of the country to poor monetary and financial policies of the government led by President Julius Maada Bio.
The opposition leader used the opportunity to appeal to the Minister of Finance to use his expertise to ensure they institute financial and monetary policies that will restitute the value and integrity of the Leone at least against the Guinean Franc.
Comparing the exchange rate of the Leones against the Guinea Franc, Hon. Kargbo revealed that according to the Bank of Sierra Leone in 2023, the exchange rate of 100 United States Dollars was equivalent to Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Leones (NLe 750), while as at November 2024, the exchange rate of 100 United States Dollars is Two Thousand, Four Hundred Leones (NLe2, 400) which according to the Opposition Leader in Parliament, shows a depreciation of the Leones by over 175%.
This debilitating effect of the state of the current exchange rate, according to Hon. Kargbo, is affecting members and supporters of both the opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) and those of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) supporters.
“This damning exchange rate is seriously affecting Sierra Leoneans generally. It is also affecting the purchasing power of the ordinary citizens,” Hon. Kargbo pointed out, but however thanked both the ruling and opposition MPs for the by-partisan stance to remove the proposed 5% additional import duty tax on rice in 2025.
The Opposition Leader called on the ruling party to do their best to stabilize the exchange rate.
Hon. Kargbo was contributing to the 2025 National Budget and Appropriation Bill in the Well of Parliament on Wednesday, 27th November, 2024.