The eve of elections in Sierra Leone – it’s now time for the people’s verdict

Dr. Sama Banya

16 November 2012

The politicians have had their say. The ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) would like the voters to judge them by their self proclaimed unique performance in just five years. The theme throughout the period has been their ‘AGENDA FOR CHANGE’.

They boast that as promised, they have re-branded the country’s image; but from what, only they and their adherents can tell.

They have claimed responsibility for every project in the country since the end of the rebel war.

From their ranting, one has the impression that they found this country in a vacuum and only the brilliant performance of Ernest Bai Koroma, has earned us the much needed accolades that any developing country would need to move ahead.

And so, without a review of what the successes are, we are being canvassed into trusting them for a new AGENDA FOR PROSPERITY. But who is going to trust them with another five years in office?

With three years of poor schools examination results, the minister of education who was not known for any innovation as a university lecturer, persuaded his boss to set up a commission of inquiry into the causes of the poor results.

That commission recommended among other things, that the period of schooling be extended by another year, so that we now have 6-3-4-4 in place of the 6-3-3-4, which had produced some excellent results prior to 2008.

Parents and children are now to bear the brunt of the additional expenditure in an environment of unprecedented poverty and deprivation, caused by the government’s inability to address vital economic issues.

Sadly, as always and even with poverty staring at us in the eyes, the Awareness Times newspaper declares that; it was the astute handling of the economy by the APC that protected our country from the effects of the global downturn.

Go tell that to the poor manual labourer and the economically wretched civil servant, how they have done well because of a caring government. Siaka Stevens would say “GOD GO PAY DEM.”

We have heard stories of the accumulated wealth of our head of state, which has enabled him to be so extravagantly and scandalously generous.

That story has been reinforced by photographs of posh London houses and the rebuilding of his Excellency’s village NEAR Makeni, including all modern facilities; water, electricity, etc.

Whether true or false, the story describes President Ernest Bai Koroma as the third richest African President; that must be after Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

Since August last year, the President’s praise singers., his bought over journalist and spin doctors, have been doing overtime to present the opposition SLPP Presidential candidate – Retired Brigadier Julius Maada Bio as a fraudster, a monstrous murderer and power usurper.

Even with such ill motivated insults, the man’s popularity has grown by leaps and bounds to the extent that, rather than going to sleep after his nomination, the APC leader is having sleepless nights and have been plotting all methods to win Saturday’s election by fraud or by default.

With the large contingents of international as well as local election observers, that would be a tough assignment, even with the collusion of the National Electoral Commission’s chairman – Christiana Thorpe.

If the president’s praise singers had listened to Mark Doyle on the BBC yesterday, they and their patron would have learnt much to their discomfiture, how and what it is to interview public figures objectively.

It is now time for the people’s verdict.

 

 

 

2 Comments

  1. Ernest Koroma has got houses there in London, can he tell us where he got the money from to buy those houses, because they are not cheap.

    One house is costing over half a million pounds. Please, this needs to be investigated. His relatives and daughters live there and I will post the address later for you all to see this mystery.

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