Anthony Kamara Jnr: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 10 May 2018:
President Julius Maada Bio has been widely commended for the content of his inaugural speech delivered at the official State Opening of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone.
The august gathering at the Tower Hill House of Parliament brought together a diverse group of Sierra Leoneans, who were eager to listen to the president delivering his New Direction agenda for Sierra Leone.
Supporters of the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) were boisterous in their support for President Bio’s performance today. But President Bio’s delivery, however, was not free of criticism.
“I am becoming uncomfortable with the presidential address. This is a very good piece, but it seems President Bio did not see the script until now,” said Hon. Sirajin Munirr Rollings – K, on social media as he tried to engage with Yusuf Keketoma Sandi, press secretary of the president.
Sandi did not respond to the post, probably because he was busy listening to the president in parliament.
Hon. Sirajin Munirr Rollings-K was wary about the manner with which President Bio read his speech. “At first, I thought he was being nervous, since this is his first speech in parliament,” he noted.
Amadu Lamrana Bah said, “I actually slept off at some point, Prezo became tired and delivery got bad.”
While it appears that President Bio May not have had enough time to review and practice the delivery of his speech, the overall impression is that Sierra Leoneans are pleased with the content of his address and wish him well, as he works with parliament to deliver his plans.
Meanwhile, the nation eagerly awaits President Bio’s inauguration which is slated for Saturday, 12 May 2018, at the Siaka Stevens Stadium in Freetown.
Numerous heads of state from the sub-region as well as celebrity friends of the first lady, Mrs. Fatima Bio have confirmed their participation.
The event is expected to be filled with pomp and pageantry, and would be a delight to all Sierra Leoneans as they observe the formal handover from the former ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) government.
‘I implore us all, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of our independence, to unite our country around values of discipline, fairness, equal access, equal opportunity, respect for diversity, and more that make us Sierra Leoneans’. How I wish these words I have quoted from the penultimate paragraph of President Bio’s wide-ranging state of the nation address matched what he and his government do in practice! Sadly, the words are nothing more than empty rhetoric, meaning high-volume ‘virtue parroting’: an exercise in moral voidance, not worth the mouth out of which it is being spewed. For as far as I can tell the socio-political climate in Bio’s Sierra Leone constitutes the exact opposite of what he preaches. It is a climate that disunites the country around the vices and ills of indiscipline, unfairness, unequal access, unequal opportunity and total disregard for difference and diversity.
How can things be otherwise when politics under Bio’s watch has taken on a particularly ghastly ethmo-regional colouring, making nonsense of national unity and cohesion, subjecting the country to all forms of divisions, antagonisms and intolerance and the socio-economic disparities and inequalities that flow directly from these? Look for instance at the very shape of his cabinet and administration more generally. Can they be described in terms of ethnic and regional representativeness as diverse, fair, equal? And how can a grossly undisciplined administration that is knee-deep in corruption, preach the value and virtue of discipline to the rest of us?
Does the President truly expect us to listen to him, believe him and indeed take him at his word? That is really a big ask. Some of us are now wise enough to know that there is often an unbridgeable gulf between what our politicians say and do, that is, between fiction and reality, lies and truths, sugar-coated words and grim and gritty facts. Mr President, put your administration in order first before telling the rest of us what to do.
Congratulation to the head of state for free education proposal.
Wisely said by HE Bio in his document.Spoken words or promises made do not justify the overwhelming expectations of citizens through black and white. We pray for active actions in the implementation of all that entails in the speech of HE Bio with the support of all Sierra Leonean to help build our nation collectively. God bless the president and the people of SL.
Good proposals on his agenda. I am of the conviction that he will deliver if he is not distracted by others.
ALL SAID & CONGRATULATION TO HIS EXCELLENCY. LET JOIN HANDS FOR A BETTER SIERRA LEONE BECAUSE IT IS ONE NATION AND ONE PEOPLE.
President Bio is determined to change Sierra Leone for the good of all Sierra Leoneans. So I would like to appeal to all Sierra Leoneans to pray for our president for wisdom, fortitude and magnanimity to build a united Sierra Leone, where the weak are protected and the strong preserved.
His Excellency Julius Maada Bio is competent, qualified and unique in every aspect. So critics will always be ashamed of themselves. He is the country’s saviour.
He was sent by Allah to come and bring all dubious behaviour of the past government – the so-called APC (cut here put here). We hope and pray that God will guide him in his New direction. He is the country’s only hope now for the future.
We are waiting for the promises of our newly elected President Bio and for the good plans that he has for the country Mama Salone. It is good to have intelligent and brave Presidents like Bio; please Mr president, save the nation from suffering.
As seen, our brother and president had not seen the speech long before reading it. He is supposed to change some words and make himself understood on the inauguration day.
I know he is a man of understanding and would like to be understood by all. Comparing his speech, reminds me of the days Siaka Stevens was the president of Sierra Leone. Late Stevens never consulted the public. If Bio consults the public, well Sierra Leoneans will truly like him.