Kabs Kanu: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 22 May 2023:
Sierra Leoneans should give President Maada Bio the boot at the ballot box on June 24, 2023. Bio is not fit to rule human beings anywhere. He should be kicked out into the dustbins of history to make way for a government that will repair the mess he has created in Sierra Leone and bring back relief to the people.
Below is a list compiled by Sierra Leoneans and circulated on social media about how prices of food and basic commodities have escalated in Sierra Leone since 2018 when Britain and some countries, in the interest of regime change, imposed Maada Bio and the SLPP on Sierra Leone to punish former President Ernest Koroma and the APC for their obsession with China, a country that had become one of Sierra Leone’s topmost trade, investment and development partners.
The former British High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. Guy Warrington, vowed on his manhood that APC will never return to power in Sierra Leone. He also vowed that only over his dead body will the APC see power again, hence they have decided to establish a very tight partnership with China.
This geopolitical powerplay that never, ever benefit the poor people of any country, has cost Sierra Leoneans everything.
The President Maada Bio that they imposed on us has destroyed Sierra Leone in a manner nobody ever imagined. He has destroyed all the institutions of governance and accountability, including the judiciary, parliament, civil society, media, women’s movements and the ministries, departments and agencies ( MDAs ) which he has bloated with his tribesmen and women.
Additionally, President Bio has committed egregious and horrible human rights abuses, characterized by extrajudicial and politically motivated killings, and the unnecessary harassment of opponents or people demonstrating their rights to protest against the misrule of his government.
President Bio also destroyed the Sierra Leone currency, the Leone, through a failed policy of redenomination that has caused horrendous inflation and drop in the value of the currency. The US Dollar is now equivalent to almost two million Leones, making it very difficult for industries, importers, wholesalers and other businesspeople to import foods and basic necessities.
The hopelessly inept Bank Governor appointed by Bio, who spearheaded the redenomination, has fled the country and is now seen daily on TIKTOK, dancing his shameful heart away in the Bahamas, where he has retreated with his own slice of the loot.
The exchange rate of the Leone to the dollar was Le 750, 000 to U.S. $100 in 2018 when the APC left power. Today, it is Le 2, 340,000 under President Bio.
Correspondingly, living expenses and cost of foods have gone through the roof because of the corruption and disastrous economic policies of the failed and oppressive Maada Bio government. Things have become very expensive in Sierra Leone, so expensive that you wonder how people manage to eat and survive in the country.
When Maada Bio came to power in 2018, a bag of rice cost Le 200,000 but in just five years of Bio’s rule, a bag of rice is now Le 870,000. With basic monthly salaries hovering around Le 250,000, how does President Bio expect the people to buy just one bag of rice to feed their families?
A bag of sugar that was Le 350,000 when President Bio was imposed on Sierra Leone is now Le1,230,000
Look at the other price variations between 2018 and 2023:
ONE LITRE OF FUEL Le6000 in 2018 – now Le 22,000
ONE BOLIED EGG Le1000 in 2018 – now Le5,000
ONE RUBBER BARREL OF PALM OIL Le170,000 in 2018 – now Le740,000
ONE CUP OF GARRI Le500 in 2018 – now Le3,000
ONE RUBBER COOKING OIL Le200,000 in 2018 – now Le670,000
ONE PLASTIC SACHET OF WATER Le2000 in 2018 – now Le7,000 in 2023
These are just a few of the frightening price increases people have seen in Sierra Leone since President Bio came to power in 2018.
Sierra Leoneans have become very frustrated. People are seen walking on the street talking to themselves because of the harsh and brutish economic life in the country, coupled with the oppression, suppression, human rights abuses, blatant tribalism, and the President’s complete lack of interest in the welfare of the people.
Meanwhile, President Bio is busy politicking, mouthing shameless lies and impossible promises, buying over vulnerable members of the opposition and setting in place mechanisms to rig the forthcoming elections.
So, the question is, how does President Bio plan to win the elections on June 24? The answer indeed is through ballot rigging, but he and the Sierra Leonean people will clash if he succeeds in his nebulous plans.
Put the country above all else. Love one another. The country should be placed above politics, tribalism, corruption, hatred, regional or party politics. A nation divided can not stand and a house divided is sure to collapse. Would the country stand strong if some part is falling apart. Would hatred solve any issues? Work together for the good of the country, be inclusive but stand for a positive course. Above all else, fear God O mother Salone. Remember:”Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12. Oh leaders of Mama and Papa Salone, fear God and make decisions under the guidance and instructions of the Almighty God. For he sees everything done under the sun. Hold each others hands, forget what tribe one is from. Look out for your neighbors interests as much as you look out for your interests. Oh Mama Salone you are resilient than you think. From civil war that took many lives and sent your children as foreigners overseas and robbed them of their childhood, to Ebola, to landslides, to Covid-19 Pandemic, to the current global economic crisis, with God’s help and working together, there is not circumstance or challenges we can not overcome together. Remember, elections come and go but your neighbors live next to you daily, vote you must, but doing with dignity, and consciousness, without harming one another. May Almighty God’s will be done in Sierra Leone and the rest of the world He has created. Amen
Kabs kanu you are a resident in the USA, right. You have seen changes of governments and changes in price of commodities and foods. Can you please relay to the people of Sierra Leone the price of those same items you outlaid in your article with reference to prices in the USA from 2018 to present? If you do not go out shopping yourself, please ask your wife and be honest because your words are hardly truth in them.
Hi Mr. Kanu,
Please leave partisan aside. Can you please give me 5 good ideas both political candidates intend to do to accomplish these price disparities? Second, basic economics dictates that supply and demand will always rule supreme. So, can we either focus on the root cause of this economic disaster in Sierra Leone or blame it on one person? Because as far as I can remember, it takes more than one president or one person to make a significant change in any country. It has to be a collective effort. Changing president every time we are not happy have not yielded Sierra Leone any positive results thus far. So, please give this man a second term to try and improve the infrastructure in Salone so that this could increase foreign direct investment in Salone which is much needed. I hope you can listen to my two cents and not be partisan. God bless.
Mr. Samuel Grant, your argument is so illogical and incongruent. I wonder whether you read and understood the article first before responding. I can give you the 5 ideas but that will not negate the damage on the ground that we in the media have to report to the public in our sacred duty as informants. Or are you implying that we must not highlight the alarming manner prices have been escalating under this government ? Should the media renege on its responsibility to report the stark realities of life because of the issues you have raised ?
of course, who does not know that governance is a collective effort ? Who does not know that governance is continuity ? But does the government you are defending know, appreciate and put policies in place to accommodate these facts? Has this government ever summoned a national consultative parley, incorporating the opposition, civil society and interest groups to discuss and work out strategies about how to ameliorate the situation ? Has this government been inclusive since it came to power ? Has the government demonstrated any commitment to address the escalating prices of food ? Pray tell us.
We in the media will continue to report it as it is. When the APC was in power, the opposition papers did the same and highlighted the economic ills of the country under APC governance . I see nothing wrong in doing so.
As for your posturing that the government should be given another term to improve the infrastructure, mind you, we are talking about increasing costs of food here, not infrastructure, per se. Improving infrastructure will not address price increases. Only sound economic policies and price control will solve the problem.
It is left to the people to decide whether this government deserves a second term, if the elections will be free, fair and credible, that is.