As SLPP Clocks One Year Sierra Leone Cries
Truth shall set us free; a toad that can grow to maturity can be spotted the very day it hatches (Chinua Achebe). This reminds me about the wrong perception among sympathizers of the Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) who often say that President Julius Maada Bio led SLPP Government is still a baby with the ideology that it needs time to deliver on its numerous promises.
Yes we agreed as suffering nation that even though the Government has clocked one year in power, it’s still remains a baby but millions of irate Sierra Leoneans across the country are of the view that, one year baby could walk, speak and dance but the ruling party can’t emulate that attribute as the country continue struggling with discouraging economic status and living standards among poor citizens who could not afford meal a day.
In a vox-pop with many traders in Freetown, they expressed similar sentiment that since the emergence of the New Direction Government Prices of basic food commodities especially rice which is our staple food and even nonfood items keep on rising in the shop by the minute adding that they were expecting much from the President to have relieve the poor nation from hardship and abject poverty but to their greatest surprise, they said, nothing has change.
Until the Government prioritizes agriculture as other sectors or else we will never be a sufficient nation for the fact that farmers are still using crude tools like hoes, cutlasses, shovel and pick axe to work in the farm which means they depend on subsistence or small scale farming system to feed themselves and family members only for the fact that, they cannot afford to hire modern implements like tractor, plough, hatchery, incubator among others for the purpose of practicing commercial farming.
Based on that, we always as a nation experiencing frequent food shortage because we are not practicing commercialized agriculture or large scale farming system so that food can be produced abundantly and presented in the market for sale.
In the area of the Free Quality Education scheme implementation, many parents have complained that they are still spending in school especially during the period of admission because according to parents, if one fails to palm grease either the Principal or teachers of a particular school, your son or daughter would not be admitted adding that they are not much blaming teachers but the Government as a result of late payment of salary among approved teachers in the midst of Free Quality Education system.
Coming down to the appalling health sector, the supposed beneficiaries of the Free Health Care (FHC) which was an initiatiative of former President Koroma are not enjoying adequate facilities they supposed to benefit as much attention is not paid on it like in the area of the trumpeted free education.
Youth unemployment still remains a big challenge as investors are yet to penetrate in the country to establish industries and employ young people as in the days of African Minerals Limited, London Mining and many other investment entities when thousands of Sierra Leoneans were gainfully employed and live self-reliance life styles.
What are we to talk about when things are getting from back to worse as the price of dollars keeps on multiplying under the supervision of a renowned economist, Minister of Finance, JJ Saffa who have been boasting that, their Government would make things reasonable for the least Sierra Leonean by reducing the price of dollars down.
Sierra Leoneans are weeping with perception that they are regretted under the Paopa administration as condition of living still remains a topical issue and we are therefore praying for God to send a just redeemer who will be neutral in implementing the rule of law among his subjects.
Peoples rights have been abused with impunity as opposition members are sacked randomly without any tangible reason, many institutions including the Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone were dissolved before the President appointed a woman as Chief Human Rights Commissioner but that appointment has been questioned by Members of Parliament that they distrusted the newly appointed Human Rights Commissioner’s neutrality because her husband is the Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security (MAFFS) will she brought him to book if committed a human rights related offence.
By Abdulai Mento Kamara
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