President Bio Should Know This!
The role of a Member of Parliament in a multi-party democracy is to help the Central Government to enact laws including enacting laws that will encourage a friendly investment environment in the country, and paramount among its functions, is to initiate development projects in their respect constituencies that will alleviate poverty among its constituents and to also help promote peaceful co-existence. (Photo: President Julius Maada Bio)
But rather unfortunately, for the people of Constituency 104 in Pujehun District, we have seen a different ball game wherein their MP, Hon. Sheka Sama is allegedly inciting his constituents to illegally cultivate the palm oil fruits belonging to the multi-investor company – Socfin Agricultural Company that has not only invested millions of United States Dollars in the plantation but has also transformed its operational area, Malen Chiefdom into a works yard much to the admiration of Vice President Dr. Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh who visited the district at the weekend.
During the Vice President’s visit to Sahn Malen Chiefdom, he made a conducted tour of the oil palm plantation and the company’s state-of-the-earth oil mill.
The Vice President’s visit to the company demonstrates the Bio administration’s policy to appeal to genuine foreign investors to make more investments and to attract more potential investors into the country, while Hon. Sheka Sama, who the constituents elected to take development to the constituency, is through his misguided statements inciting them to undermine a company that provides job creation for hundreds of indigenes of Sahn Malen Chiefdom and other chiefdoms in Pujehun District. Does Hon. Sheka Sama know the gravity of the implication of his misguided statements? By and large, Hon. Sheka Sama should know that his misguided and inciting statements may have the propensity to land him in trouble and consequently in prison.
It is rather nauseating that a lawmaker should endorse illegality and lawlessness that has the propensity to halt the operations of a company that is contributing massively to national development. Why should Hon. Sheka Sama have the temerity to illegally order his constituents in Sahn Malen Chiefdom to steal from the plantation of Socfin Agricultural Company is the one-million-dollar question many concerned Sierra Leoneans are asking.
According to very competent sources in Sahn Malen Chiefdom say Hon. Sheka Sama is inciting people to steal from the oil palm plantation on grounds that the company stole the land from them. Some of the injudicious statements he made were in the presence of the Deputy Chairman and the Chief Administrator of Pujehun District Council.
Given that Hon. Sheka Sama has become a law upon himself by discouraging genuine foreign investors contributing to national development, the New Direction of President Brig. (Rtd.) Julius Maada Bio should take immediate action against such reckless and irresponsible statement that was very inciting. While the lawmaker should be busy complementing the efforts of Government in his constituency, he is bent on fanning the flame of discord between his constituent and Socfin Agricultural Company that is legally operating in that district thereby undermining the Government because of cheap politics.
Hon. Sheka Sama’s misguided statement at the consultative meeting in Malen Chiefdom in the presence of stakeholders in Pujehun should be retracted because it is affecting the operations of the agricultural company which is reportedly losing billions of Leones and has to pay monthly salaries to workers, meet its corporate social responsibilities among other responsibility, the company is reportedly losing hundreds of millions of Leones on daily basis because of the misguided statement of the lawmakers that the people should freely harvest the plantation because the land was stolen from them.
The independent MP, who was former lawmaker for the People’s Movement for Democratic Change (PMDC) from 2007 to 2012, has affected the operations of the agricultural company because of his ill-advised proclamation to the constituents.
This medium believes that Hon. Sheka Sama should be seen relentlessly complementing the effort of Government in preaching peace to the indigenes of Malen Chiefdom instead of inciting hapless villagers to behave lawlessly which is totally unacceptable and incomprehensible because Sierra Leone is governed by law and not by jungle justice where only the strong will survive.
The New Direction of President Julius Maada Bio should therefore endeavour to instill sanity in Sahn Malen Chiefdom to ensure a friendly business environment in the operational area of the agricultural company so that it will continue meeting its tax obligations and corporate social responsibility.
Because of the recalcitrant behavior of Hon. Sheka Samna towards the company and stakeholders of the district, he does encourage a group of miscreants calling themselves MUALUWA that has the notoriety to intimidate and threaten well-meaning indigenes against their attack on the agricultural company thereby affecting its day-to-day operations.
It is only hoped that the Bio administration and stakeholders of Pujehun District would have the courage to ask Hon. Sheka Sama to apologize to the agricultural company for obstructing the operations of the company by inciting lawless youths to go on the prowl. Since his misguided statement, people from various villages in the chiefdom have been having a field-day by stealing oil palm day in, day out while the company continues to lose hundreds of millions of Leones in investment.
Many concerned indigenes of Pujehun District however believe that Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and their international partners like FIAN are paying mere lip services to the people by supporting someone promoting lawlessness aimed at wrecking the operations of the agricultural company in Sahn Malen Chiefdom.
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