Once Chinaphobic Julius Maada Bio is now more pro-China than xi Jiping himself. Xi Jinping is a life-time Chinese President, but Sierra Leone’s President has shown more loyalty these days to China than the people of China themselves.
Bio has paid more visits to China than any other African President in an apparent move to tighten relations with the Asian country with hope that life will be better off in Sierra Leone.
On the contrary, the Chinese President has never paid a visit to Sierra Leone, a move that shows that Sierra Leone is not a centrepiece of China’s foreign policy although Bio wanted to make it appear that way.
China has military bases in several countries on the continent but those presidents hardly pay homage to China except President Bio who is moving closer to the Asian Country than any other President in Sierra Leone’s political history although the benefits to his country remains less visible.
Sierra Leone still grapples with the challenges of industrialisation when China has the expertise to transform raw minerals and agricultural produce into finished goods.
As the visits seem to have been exhausted, Bio turned to awarding contracts to the Chinese the like of which he has never offered to any country not even Britain, her former colonial power.
By coming closer to China, Bio is hoping to work out miracles to redeem an ailing or wailing economy although such move remain a steep and slippery climb.
Xi Jinping too has never awarded contract to Sierra Leone on a scale Bio has done for China, a move that has left many Sierra Leoneans in deep wonders. Under Bio, China is making good inroads in the mining and construction industries than any other country in the world.
Reliable sources have intimated this press that Bio is tightening relationship with China for the construction of a six-lane Freetown-Lungi Bridge, a project that runs into US2.1bn and holds the fortune of creating 5, 000 jobs for the youth.
The bridge which links Lungi to Freetown had been one of Bio’s major promises in 2018 although it was not included in the party’s manifesto.
Just a year into his tenure, several investors, millions of miles away from home, jetted into Sierra Leone for negotiations led by Dr John Tambie, head of Presidential Initiative on Infrastructure, but the dark future that surrounded the project forced the investors out of Sierra Leone.
If realised, the bridge will be operated on a toll-system, but consideration about how soon the investors would get back their money remain high since the number of people that would be plying the route would be few.
Without further discussion, the investors left Sierra Leone for their countries leaving government to rally around other investors with China being the key target. It also remains unclear whether China would embark on the project as the tendency to recoup their money is not assured.
Although China seems to be running away from Sierra Leone, Bio is still panting behind the Chinese Government for projects.
Quite recently, Government of Sierra Leone offered Sierra Leone’s longest and largest port to a Chinese Company, Leone Rock aka Kingho in a 20-year lease agreement, and the amount of money involved remains a closely guarded secret.
The Sierra Leone-Chinese deal struck many Sierra Leoneans as government had assured Arise Integrated Industrial Platforms (Arise IIP), an African-based company that operates economic zones for the transformation of minerals and agricultural produce into finished and useable goods.
Benin represents one of Arise IIP’s success stories as the country is now one of the greatest exporters of Cotton to the World Market. The company had wanted to cascade similar achievements here in Sierra Leone, but government’s preference for the Chinese company shielded away the African-based company even when government is risking lawsuits.
Reports say Arise IIP lawyers have warned Sierra Leone Government about a possible court case as they have trampled on major portions of an agreement the two entities went into a year ago.
Although much ink has been spilled on the stand off between Sierra Leone Government and Arise IIP, Bio insists on the Chinese company taking over the rail and port facilities.
China is also on the verge of winning the national stadium contract which runs into millions of Leones. If actualised, the Asian country will completely overhaul the old and out-dated stadium that will add to Sierra Leone’s beauty, but a pay-back either in cash or kind cannot be ruled out.
The construction of a fish harbour project at Black Johnson at Goderich community in Freetown remains one the most topical issues at the moment. According to the project, the Chinese will construct a harbour for international vessels, but it does not end there.
The riverine community, experts say, contains assorted minerals including Gold which no one may know how it could be taken out of the country.
The Chinese are everywhere in the forest and jungles upcountry exploiting the country’s mineral wealth sometimes illegally but do away with it as Bio still builds hope in them.
More projects are on the pipeline for China especially at this moment as Sierra Leone badly need the Chinese.
However, the uncontrollable speed at which Bio is chasing the Chinese has left many questions than answers since he is the one that heavily criticised the Sierra Leone-China relationship while in opposition.
Close to 2018 elections, Bio used China’s projects in Sierra Leone as a campaign card to the West saying that the former President had sold off Sierra Leone to China believing that they helped APC so much in the campaign period.
Little wonder that President Bio arrested and detained a good number of Chinese accused of illegal mining after he was announced winner of the election in 2018.
Bio’s humiliation of the Chinese started in the campaign period when they were presented as comedians and zombies even in the way they speak.
The charades and comedy shows was to lower the importance of the Chines in Sierra Leone so that they could be seen as people who could offer nothing to the country.
But, he appears to have sold major portions of the country to the Chinese than even the former President, but the reason however appear apparent.
Bio is seeking solace from the Chinese after he has been abandoned by the United States, European Union, the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, African Union, Economic Community of West African States for the naked election fraud and refusal to step aside.
But, the re-activation of the relationship between China and the United States is a danger signal for Bio who might not get what he wanted.
In a seeming state of hysteria, Bio is not only targeting the Chinese, but other countries with Saudi Arabia being his key landing place.
Bio, a week ago, was in the Saudi Kingdom to convince authorities there to offer aid to Sierra Leone clueless of the country’s strong alliance with the United States.
Out of the US$580m donated to Africa by Saudi Arabia after Bio’s visit, Sierra Leone is not sure of getting a fair share as she will be considered last in the queue owing to presidential illegitimacy.
A mere call from Joe Biden to the Saudi Authorities that Bio not a legal President is enough.