Sierra Leone Telegraph: 4 September 2020:
After leaving Sierra Leone last week for Lebanon on what State House in Freetown described in a statement as a ‘private visit’, more is now known about the true reason for president Bio’s trip to Lebanon.
Following last week’s unconfirmed report that the president is in Lebanon for COVID -19 treatment, medical experts have debunked that possibility, and are now saying that the president has undergone serious and complicated surgery at the American University Hospital in Beirut, and has come out of intensive care.
The government of Sierra Leone has remained firmly muted about president Bio’s health and his visit to Lebanon which according to the State House statement, ought to have lasted one week and should have ended yesterday.
But two days ago, the Consul of Sierra Leone in Lebanon – Mr Hashem Hashem, writing on the Lebanese News Agency website, issued the following statement:
“The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, will be discharged from the American University Hospital in Beirut this evening, after he underwent the necessary examinations under the supervision of former Minister, Professor. Dr. Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh, and he is in a good health condition. President Bio will stay at Beirut’s Eden Bay Hotel for a short recovery period and will pursue his personal visit to Lebanon before returning to Sierra Leone.”
Beirut’s Eden Bay Hotel (Photo) is one of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the Middle East, costing thousands of dollars a night, prompting opposition supporters to accuse the president of hypocrisy and double standards, after Bio as an opposition leader had accused former president Ernest Bai Koroma of engaging in health tourism that is killing Sierra Leone’s health systems.
It is not certain when president Bio will return to Sierra Leone but in the meantime the vice president – Juldeh Jalloh is acting as president.
The secrecy surrounding president Bio’s visit to Lebanon is only compounding the public’s perception of the president’s lack of honesty, transparency, and openness, critics of the president are now saying.
You know, nobody is wishing for a president to die while in office no matter what. But when one sees the level of selfishness towards the electorate,how they are left to die with no level of respect or even prayers as what we all are doing here now for a president, tells you how the problem of some African countries are far away from diminishing, even when we claim to be trying to make them go away.
Particularly in Sierra Leone where integrity among many of us (the people) is to no avail.I wish the Lungi bridge project could be diverted to the construction of a modern day healthcare facility in somewhere around Mamama so that,our leaders and also other African leaders will be treated there whenever the need arises.But oh boy..the new direction is still sleeping.Let hope they woke up on time
if it is true may the Almighty Allah give him a good speed recovery
Let all Sierra Leoneans put party politics aside and join together to carry out thorough investigation regarding president Bio’s sneaky trip to Lebanon. For the reason that Lebanon offered him free Lebanon air travel to Lebanon at a time when Lebanon economically is doing no better than Sierra Leone. There seems to be more to know about this subtle arranged trip of president Bio’s to Lebanon than we can comprehend. Let us continue to open our ears and noses wide, even to the ground so that we can hear and see more about this deep-sea secret that shrouded this trip. For Bio, I am afraid to say, is a sly fox, self-centered and so outright selfish. He is also thirsty for power.
We are all wishing the President a speedy recovery, but is he really sick as all of us tend to believe? We need to be educated by State House. These politicians can be very tricky and sensible when they have to. There was time when Siaka Stevens said he was about to resign and retire. Delegations after delegations were organised to plead with him not to go anywhere. It was all a ploy and plot to test his popularity.
I myself personally asking the mighty Allah, that created all beings and provided sustain for all His slaves, Angels, Jins, humans and the animals, to render you a speedy recovery if at all the news is accurate. Because this is not the first time. Our President, the commander in chief H.E. RTD.BREG.DR.J.M.B. a good health and safe return to our motherland both you and your delegates as well, we love you so much.
I believe and I am quite sure that, you were appointed by the divine God to serve this nation, and when that time comes to an end, no man can stop it. We wish you all the best and your family. May God continue to bless, elevate and secure this country Sierra Leone and it’s leaders.
May the Holy Spirit speed up your healing so you can go back to continue the good work you have embarked on.
This President is lazing around somewhere drinking champagne in one of the finest hotels in the world wasting our meagre scanty finances with his SLPP goons and cronies,whose insatiatiable appetites for food resemble those of a hideous monstrous hippopotamus.And if indeed it is true,why on earth will a Morbidly Obese President like Maada Bio not try to trim down first and become healthier instead of zipping away to throw away the peoples hard-earned money so very far away?Goodness gracious!
Two years already wasted,gone and nothing has been achieved;We are already way past the midnight of governance and now the daylight of truth approaches steathily like a cat anxiously on the hunt,in desperate need of a rat for its early breakfast meal – strangely like the barren fields of the SLPP theres not a damn thing in sight.So why not pretend to be sick,under the weather and stressed out by illusionary challenges that have never existed in the first place?
Why not run far away from gruesome ghosts screaming in the darkness that are nonexistent, which only your gullible,naive SLPP tribesmen can see.(lol)Had this man still been shining boots as clear as mirrors in their dusty ramshackled barracks a local hebalist would have surely been all he can afford;Yup,an unhealthy stale boiling concotion that could have given him a stomach running like a river would have been his normal dosage,yet here he is fleecing the system and milking it dry, showing other SLPP leechea,parasites and bloodsuckers how its supposed to be done.(lol)And of course they are paying attention, taking notes!
Mr, President, May the Almighty Grant You Speedy Recovery. Amen and Ameen.
I pray that President Bio comes back home safely and in good health,so that people will see the goodness of God
Speedy Recovery, My President. Get well soon and complete the good works you started and for a second term in office. Long Live Bio for President: Long Live the People of Sierra Leone.
You don’t expect your president to book into a third rate hotel anywhere in the world…Ishak used to stay in a suite at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan; you may want to ask how much per night? I don’t know, afterward was his money! or maybe not.
Speedy recovery man.
It should be the prerogative of President Bio whether or not to let the nation know what health problems he has. Nobody likes to openly discuss their health problems, and doctors the world over are forbidden to disclose their patient’s health problems to unauthorised individuals or entities. The problem most Sierra Leoneans have with Bio , and indeed previous heads of state is the selfishness inherent in their medical treatment abroad by the best doctors money can afford while the rest die of curable ailments in the country because of poor medical facilities. They feel no remorse about it or else they will invest in developing first class medical facilities in their country.
They have no conscience even with the knowledge that we pay for everything, including the use of a private jet. But then we cannot blame them much because come the next election it will be either APC or SLPP again in power – “nar cocnat waata dae insy we ade“. Emotions won’t allow us to kick both of them out. We pour out into the streets to dance for our enslavers and oppressors. Did I hear someone mention the word IRONY?
The God that appointed you as our president, may He also spare your life Mr President. Stay blessed; you will not die president Bio you will live to accomplish the plan of God for His people. You are healed by the powerful blood of Jesus Amen.
I wish His excellency president Maada Bio an early and speedy recovery. The Nigerian president Buhari is known for his health tourism in the Uk. My only wish is our African leaders can invest and develop our health facilities so they don’t have to leave their countries to seek treatment abroad. What about us poor folks that have to make do with what is on offer in our underfunded health systems. MAY GOD GRANT YOU A SPEEDY RECOVERY MR PRESIDENT.