In what can be termed as a setback to his plans to win over the hearts and minds hence votes of the people of PortLoko, irate members of the public from PortLoko have said despite Alpha Khan and the chiefs apologising to President Bio, PortLoko and indeed the north is still with the main opposition All People’s Congress (APC).
The men said it must be recalled that on 26 April, a day before the nation’s 62nd Independence anniversary, the President, Julius Maada Bio, launched the Koya Economic Zone in PortLoko where he implored the people to remember all he has done for the district and use that as a basis for re-electing him for a second five year mandate at the upcoming 24 June elections.
The president made the apology to avert what happened in 2018 when despite President Bio having Dr Juldeh Jalloh, a native of PortLoko, as his running mate, the people of the district overwhelmingly voted for the APC. And as a show of compliance with the president’s wish, the resident Minister Alpha Khan convinced the chiefs of Port Loko and in a show of solidarity with the president’s wish apologised to him for them neglecting him in the 2018 polls and promised that 2023 will be a whole different ball game.
Minister Khan called all the Chiefs forward saying that the president had spoken his mind and was upset for which they should collectively apologise, which they all obliged, came forward and sang a song of apology to the president. Alpha Khan further said that this time around the people of Port Loko will not let President Bio down as “Port Loko is for President Bio”, for whose re-election they will leave no stone unturned.
The upset Sierra Leoneans from PortLoko said the chiefs who promised President Bio their votes cannot guarantee that every citizen in PortLoko will vote for the SLPP. They said while the chiefs and Alpha Khan allegedly got what they got from the President for making such an outlandish promise, the people they expect to do likewise are suffering with little or next to nothing to feed them and their families.
The people say no matter what President Bio does of late, including but not limited to building a new airport terminal at Lungi, the launch of ARISE IIP with the establishment of the Koya Economic Zone and the promises of more to come, he is a little too late as the damage done to the economy, the nation and people are too much to overlook simply because the president did what is expected of him, bringing development to PortLoko.
The chiefs, the people said, are not in the people’s minds to know what they will do on Election Day. ‘They can say one thing and do the opposite or nothing on voting day. The chiefs, like every other broke and desperately needy person did exactly as expected: they took the president’s money and promised to vote for him, but come voting day they will be in the booth with God as their witness and they will vote for the APC,’ they promised.
The voters said they were at the Koya launch of ARISE IIP economic zone out of respect for the president and because development was coming to their area, not as a show of support for his 2023 candidacy.
The voters said gone are the days when chiefs can guarantee politicians that they can assure all the votes from their area for that particular candidate. Instead of depending on party colour, regional or tribal leanings the people say they want proof of what you delivered over the years. What Alpha Khan and the chiefs of Port Loko did is in line with the old way of doing things; the people now want politicians to deliver on their campaign promises instead of depending on using money, violence or forced bulk or bloc voting.
The voters in Port Loko consider Alpha Khan a sell out and said President Bio should not allow him and others including the chiefs to pay him lip service. They said they cannot forget that the president cancelled the Mamamah airport project for the Koya economic zone, a cancellation people in PortLoko are still upset about and want resolved.
One or several instances of the executive doing what is expected of him should not and cannot erase all that have happened since 2018 to date. No apology or promise, they ended, will stop PortLoko from voting for the APC.