As Southeasterners continue to refuse to register, staunch supporters and stakeholders of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), especially in the heartland of Kenema, Kailahun and Pujehun Districts, are reportedly going through sleepless nights in that part of the country.
According to our sources, the SLPP members are having sleepless nights because of the low turnout of people for the voter registration in Kenema and other parts of the country.
Sources have it that the SLPP elected and appointed members are now doing everything humanly possible to have more people register.
Sources furthered that, the current behaviour by the party stakeholders have shown that the party is not in total control of the situation in the country.
One of the sources intimated this medium that, the Member of Parliament representing Constituency 021 in Kenema District, Hon Boston Munda, has allegedly been giving three cups of rice and Le10 to anyone for completing his or her registration process in his constituency.
The Minister of Mines, Timothy Kabba, also reportedly hired hundreds of bikes in Kenema just to do sensitisation, and that he was splashing money on people on the streets of Kenema.
According to sources, one of the stakeholders was recently in his home town in Gbejewa in Kailahun District and reported that the minister bought five motorbikes for the voter registration sensitisation process. Sources continued that he also provided over Le50,000 (Le50 million old notes) for people to go out and register.
The Mayor of Kenema City Council, Thomas Baio, has also shutdown all businesses at the moment for people to go out and register. The Coordinator of the Free Quality Education in Kenema District, J. J. Vangahun, is reported as going from school to school in the district asking students and pupils to register and vote for Maada Bio in the 2023 elections.
This recent behaviour exhibited the SLPP members, according to sources, has created a lot of debates and mixed feelings among people in the country.
Some political analyst are now saying, the people’s refusal to register shows that they are not happy with the current harsh realities under this SLPP dispensation and want to show the SLPP administration the exit door come 2023.