John Mannah: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 January 2021:
In his article on the urgent need to disassemble the SLPP government’s economic governance structure and reconstitute it with committees composed of technocrats from an eclectic mix of talents – corporate, civil society and others, Mr. Suma is suggesting that his proposal is a panacea for redeeming the country from chronic poverty and economic deprivation because the current SLPP government is incapable of managing the economy due to incompetence, lack of capacity and foresight.
Mr. Suma further argues that the dire socio-economic situation he observed on his most recent visit to Sierra Leone is the worst the country has ever encountered, and it is due to poor capacity utilization, lack of candor, probity, policy drought and clarity, strategic leadership and therefore, the only way the economic wretchedness and misery can be reversed is through drastic and pragmatic change by appointing a coterie of committees from which a pivot committee should be formed to advice the president on economic policy in Sierra Leone.
I would like to push back against the claim that it is only by adding to the team of the de jure leaders’ stewards (President Maada Bio’s economic managers) with an eclectic committee members from all sectors of the economy that our country’s economic fortunes will change. But I agree with Mr. Suma that Sierra Leone’s economy is facing huge headwinds. The claim that it is due to lack of good policy and therefore need to add more bureaucracy to rescue the economy is normative and self-serving. I would also be interested in a further exposition of the incessant questions about the macroeconomy and the reasons for such questions when a simple Google search would have answered the questions.
When Mr. Suma suggests that the Sierra Leonean economy is not performing at an optimum level because of poor policy formulation and clarity, he is supporting his claim that the current leaders in government are not up to the job and therefore need help and support from the committee he is suggesting. This assertion cannot be further from the truth because even the 68.4 percent poverty rate data Mr. Suma quoted to support his claim of poverty in Sierra Leone was prepared by the then Minister of Economic Development and Planning, now Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mrs. Nabeela Tunis. The document specifically states that poverty rate in Sierra Leone in 2017 was 64.8 percent based on the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), which inculcates political economy precepts instead of the normal income/expenditure index with neoclassical conceptions.
The SLPP government was not in government in 2017.They came into governance in 2018, and because of their seriousness of purpose decided to put together a formidable development planning document Known as the Medium-Term National Development Plan designed to map out a strategic plan for the economic development of the country from 2019-2023. It is from this plan that policies ranging from monetary policy to control inflation, fiscal policy to manage expenditure and revenue, education policy to develop the human resource of the country is drawn. Hence, to claim that the government lacks policy prescriptions to manage the economy towards creating improved economic activities for the Sierra Leonean people is not only hollow but farfetched and disingenuous at best.
Above all, the SLPP government was democratically elected in 2018 in a fierce and competitive election where political parties including the NGC political party presented their manifestos to the Sierra Leonean electorate, the bases on which the government in Freetown was elected to govern for the next five years.
Therefore, for a professed member of an opposition political party to explicitly suggest that because the economic situation in the country has not improved fast enough, the government should therefore, abdicate its responsibility and turn its mandate over to committees to run the economy in a public document is not only high-handed and presumptuous but impractical as well.
This is because political parties are self-interested institutions that compete for political power to not only govern in their nation’s interest but their party members’ interest as well. As a result, the government in Freetown is doing its best under very strenuous circumstances especially when one takes the hand it was dealt into consideration upon taking power in 2018 to govern in the best interest of the electorate.
What however makes Mr. Suma’s proposal more impractical is that it is being presented amid the most devastating global health crisis that is affecting every part of the planet unscathed from its negative effect as no country in this interconnected globalized economy has escaped the rath of the COVID-19 pandemic. International trade is notably at its lowest ebb, so is national economic activity around the world, more so in Sierra Leone. It is therefore disconcerting for Mr. Suma to call on the SLPP government during a raging global health pandemic that is destroying lives and livelihoods to literally cede governance to a committee.
Moreover, markets as neoclassical economists conceived them have literally ceased to exist due to the intensity of the pandemic, particularly in develop and middle-income economies who purchase the exports that power the Sierra Leonean economy. This is the time for governments to come to the rescue of their citizens with deficit spending until the pandemic is put under control, and the SLPP government to their credit have done well to manage the economy accordingly.
Furthermore, I would like to know why Mr. Suma did not take some time to be informed on the current macroeconomic indicators of the country before resorting to the incessant and relentless questions in his proposal about such indicators. A simple Google search on these economic indicators on Sierra Leone would have given him the answers, as presented below:
Monetary Policy
The Central Bank as Mr. Suma knows, controls monetary policy through control of money supply, with responsibility for keeping the value of the national currency stable; stabilize the exchange rate as well as honor the contract between the people and the government. I am therefore glad Mr. Suma suggested that the central bank needs autonomy from the central government as it is done in all modern economies around the world. The good news is that the Sierra Leone Central Bank has gained that autonomy under the current SLPP leadership. It is the reason why we did not see more currency injected into the economy during the 2020 Christmas Holidays as it has been done in the past thereby inflating the economy. In the past, the Central Bank was under government control and was directed to print money into the economy at the whim of the president. Monetary policy under the current government is managed by the professionals of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) chaired by the Governor and not the president.
Exchange Rate
The exchange rate as economists understand it is not rocket science. It is the price of the currency – in this case the Leone, relative to another currency – say the dollar. When a central bank prints currency in abundance, the basic law of supply and demand will be the operating force. The more supply we have of the currency, the lower the demand will be, and the price will go down or depreciate, which is why the Leone gets devalued. Therefore, if we have an independent Central Bank Governor as we now have in Sierra Leone, who understand the dynamic of increasing the money supply because it will be inflationary then the Leone will start to stabilize.
Relationship of Fiscal Policy to the Exchange Rate
Fiscal policy as conceived by economists, is conducted by taking into consideration a country’s national savings, that is, the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the total production of a country each year, and subtract total consumption, government spending, and the difference should be the national savings of the country. For a country to have a positive national savings, the country must have trade surplus, and that country will be able to lend its savings to the rest of the world as the Chinese and Japanese are doing.
On the contrary, if the country has negative national savings like we have in Sierra Leone, then it is obvious that we will have to borrow from the rest of the world. If we cannot borrow because we do not have the credibility to borrow because of past debts, then the country must be lucky to receive foreign aid or have foreign direct investment to bring in foreign currency to help stabilize the exchange rate. Also, if the country runs a huge trade deficit, and it cannot borrow and get foreign aid in the magnitude it needs to close the deficit, then its currency depreciates, and the country’s goods become cheaper, and they will sell more goods to earn foreign currency to stabilize the exchange rate.
This subsequently leads me to ask the question, what type of policy should government develop to control its expenditure and concurrently increase income and stabilize its currency? Economic theory postulate that two variables are significant in determination of the value of any currency, be it the Leone or the dollar. Gross Domestic Policy (GDP) and the money stock. The SLPP government as empirical evidence show, is working incessantly to control these two variables through policy prescription to put the Sierra Leonean economy on a long-term growth and sustainable path.
Moreover, the SLPP government through its restructuring programs at the Ministry of Finance, the National Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Education through the Free Quality Education Program towards Human Resource Development was on its way to stabilize the financial system and economic recovery save but the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic an external shock that disrupted the plan.
Again, my analysis above also ties into the argument I have made that the macroeconomic situation in Sierra Leone is not as dismal as Mr. Suma claims. For example, according to the African Development Bank Group, (2019, report), real GDP was 3.94% in 2018 and is 3.54% at the end of 2019, a decline of 0.42%. Inflation was 16.9% in 2018, it is estimated at 15.6% in 2019, and projected to decline to 10.3% of GDP in 2020 and 9.7% in 2021. The current account deficit was 13.8% of GDP in 2018 and estimated to fall to 11.7% in 2019. The continued reduction of the deficit will also help improve the exchange rate as the Central.
It is therefore evident that even though the economic situation is not where we will currently want it to be, things are not as relatively bad as Mr. Suma is suggesting, as serious work is being done by the government and stakeholders through serious policy formulation to move these indicators forward and improve economic activity in the country.
Finally, while I understand and appreciate the great work as well as sacrifice Mr. Suma and other serious minded and right-thinking Sierra Leoneans have done and continue to put into the fight to redeem our country from the pernicious and dreadful injustice, poor governance and corruption that prevailed under the erstwhile APC government and some of which continue to exist under the current SLPP government, that sacrifice must not be compromised on the altar of ego and pomposity, as it does not give us the unwarranted authority to our own facts and theories about governance in Sierra Leone. We must continue to exercise patience, offer humble advice when necessary. We should wait for the 2023 general elections to hold them accountable – their stewardship or lack thereof.
Author: John Mannah, Maryland, United States
People like John are just the kind Sierra Leoneans we do not need in the country. I wish I could have saved my precious time to read someone else’s comment instead of yours. If you have this level of energy to lecture a sermon that does not resonate to the common sensical nature of the Salone economics, now you know why Sierra Leone will never progress if we have two of his type in that country. Imagine what one has just done to the economy right with this same low level headed fraternities. Still this guy by the name of John has the temerity to come up here in this platform to juxtapose such as a total nonsense about the president trip to Lebanon to save stranded Sierra Leoneans.
Why can’t some of you in this forum keep quiet and allow us to listen to those who speak truth to power. It is an insult in the first place to look right in the eye of the struggling masses out there in Sierra Leone and tell them that their president spends 33 thousand dollars for a personal trip to Lebanon, while almost over 500 Sierra Leoneans are dying of hunger. Ay salone ous tem wi go beteh ba..
Goodness gracious! Here we go again: Who said that there was anything wrong with acquiring Doctorate degrees? Acquire all you want, but if you can’t put what you have studied earnestly for years to practice then what good are you as an instrument for enhancing progress in our public sector that is geared towards supporting the vital interests of our suffering starving millions? A damn shame is it not that Africa is overcrowded with men and women with the highest possible degrees available in their fields who still cannot tell the simple difference between their knees and elbows? What good are these people to a nation that keeps on getting poorer and poorer because of a complete lack of creativity, discipline and the ability to implement even the simplest and most uncomplicated ideas.
How sad, an army of SLPP Doctorate degree holders that promised to rescue and robustly transform our ailing economy have now ended up as kindergarten policy makers with crayons in their hands. But Stargazer you forgot to mention also that they are ruthless, remorseless bandits and pirates plundering our nations meagre resources?(lol) Again, don’t get things twisted, I will always criticize incompetent people that are causing our people untold suffering irrespective of their political affiliations. Whether they are in the APC or not is of no consequence to me.
Anyone trying to bully or trample on the inalienable rights and interests of our people is considered a logical target for blistering criticism and attack – In my book of rules that don’t and won’t bend, its called “FAIR GAME.”(lol)
Sierra Leone seems to be stuck on 182 out of 189 in the Human Development Index. It seems all those bogus slogans of Green Revolution, Agenda for this, Agenda for that, New Direction etc are a mirage – a con if you like – giving false hopes to the people.
Where is Statistics Sierra Leone to dissemminate monthly or quaterly stats on unemployment rate, inflation, GDP, debt ratio, foreign direct investments. These are the quintessential meterics that take a snapshot of the real state of any economy. If they are not available, how do you compare the performance of different Governments. How could you counter a hypothetical argument that Sierra Leone’s economy was much better in the 80s than now.
As they say: You can’t manage, if you can’t measure. We seem to be moving in new directions every election cycle and then but the economic trajectory tends to remain the same.
I would like to see our Statistics agency take centre stage in our national discourse.
Very good and flamboyant ideas displayed by both Mr Suma and Mr Mannah, as all their expositions are hinged on economic theory; though that does not dismiss the fact that both assertions are aligned with egotistical partisan sentiments and self-serving outcomes, which in the context of Sierra Leone’s dwindling economic outlook lack substance and are clouded with intellectual deceit and a nonchalant attitude towards the constant suffering of the masses. Mr Suma, who was less theoretical, should be commended for coming up with prudent and pragmatically workable ideas, although he fell short of the realization that Sierra Leone’s retrogressive economic fortunes are not as a result of the absence of intellectual economic input, but a lack of capacity in efficient, trustworthy and patriotic policy drivers.
Today, the country is governed by a leader who is infatuated with vanity; and whose preoccupation is the formulation of strategies that will enable him to rig the next elections and stay in power irrespective of his performance on the economy. A visionless and regionally orientated leader, highly deficient in intellectual ability, albeit assumes to be a know-it-all and prefers to give the nod or sanction of any policy implementation – the end result is a mix-up of uncoordinated policies and a lack of stringent priorities. This is exemplary from the expression of less enthusiasm to the plight of the ordinary man on the streets, the marginalization of certain parts of the country, and the sudden decision for the rehabilitation of an airport that was not part of the agenda, in the first instance.
On monetary policy, Mr Mannah cited that Sierra Leone Central Bank has gained autonomy under the leadership of the SLPP and that it was due to this reason that led to the shortage of the local currency (Le), as the Bank Governor was trying to control inflation by withholding money supply during the Christmas Holidays. However, according to an interview with the Bank Governor Professor Kelfala Kallon on Radio Democracy, he admitted that the shortage was due to supply constraints, as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, in the money printing industry. In fact, Professor Kallon came under heavy criticism by the government for his failure to monitor money circulation. And, some senior Ministers were calling for his head to roll.
I agree in part with Mr. Abraham Amadu Jalloh. Getting our priorities right have been and is still our problem. What I do not agree with is the assertion that the current government halted infrastructural developments and that it is part of the problems for our stagnated economy. While infrastructural development is the key to success, when it is unplanned and heavily dependent on borrowing with no avenue to pay back was the precursor to the economic downfall we ushered in in 2015 and that has continued since then. With regards Mr Mannah, I am disappointed with your argument especially when you still hold on the view that macroeconomics alone will savage our ailing economy. I know that you and professor kallon (current bank governor) who carried the moniker as Knice have been pushing the argument on on several fora about macroeconomics. But now that the professor is in the driving seat it is not working. How I wish he had the opportunity to work under a more pragmatic president and a microeconomics Finance minister.
This president and his Finance minister lack the will to move the economy. In fact the president’s love for spending frivolously is one of the problems. Can Mr Mannah defend how a president can spend $33,000/= on tips and he has the audacity to inform the Auditor General that the money is from the consolidated funds and not his DSA? Can Mr. Mannah defend how this president in the middle of a pandemic spend over a million dollars on his private trip to Lebanon a trip that was said to be private.
The likes of president Kagame before the pandemic travelled a lot to lure in Investors and philanthropist. He hosted Bill Gates in Kigali. He hosted Jack Ma and many others. But Bio, can you please tell me as a party supporter what his numerous trips before and during the pandemic poured into Sierra Leone? I pity Dr Kelfala Kallon who is in this mess because of his brother Kabineh Kallon.
Abdul, I know this reply is too long, but I had to explain some basic economics to this brother since he seems confused about these terms, sorry my friend, and thanks for the corrections. I always make mistake on the word argue when it is used with a plural and when it is used as a singular argues. Thanks for that editing. Mr. Paul Conteh, thanks for your comments and insight on the Sierra Leonean economic situation as presented in my rejoinder. I would like to clarify a few things before I make a general comment on your analysis and issues you raised.
Let us start with the word economy, it is a noun, the name of an animal, place, or thing as you know. Economy is the place where economic activities take place. It is the marketplace where people meet to exchange goods and services for money. For example, when a father or parent go out to work and earns a living, he is participating in the economy. When someone buys pepper or rents a house, he is participating in the economy. The owner of the business where the parent works, owner of the house or renter of the house, seller of pepper are suppliers of goods and services in the economy. They meet in the marketplace and exchange these goods and services for money. This is how economic activities take place. At this level, where the units meet, we call it the microeconomy, because it is at the level where individual units interact to perform economic activities.
When we aggregate these activities, i.e., add them up, we call them macroeconomics. This takes place at the national level. Thus, the activities of all the individual units who buy goods and services in the economy are added and we call them consumers, all the suppliers are added up and called producers, all government activity is added up and called government spending, so are taxes called government revenue, imports, and exports etc. Consequently, economists call the individuals who work with individual economic units microeconomists, and those who work with the aggregate’s macroeconomists. The current Bank Governor Dr. Kelfalah Kallon is a macroeconomist because he advices the government on monetary policy, that is how much money should be printed in the economy to adjust with goods and services produced so that prices do not go up. That is, his job is to ensure price stability in the economy, and he does that by making sure that too much money does not follow too few goods thereby leading to inflation, that is high prices in the marketplace or economy.
Mr. Jacob Jusu Saffa, the Finance Minister is a microeconomist, as he supervises the fiscal policy of the government. That is, collection of taxes and spending of government money to buy goods and services that the government uses, such as salaries of civil servants, building of roads and bridges, spending on education etc. For your information, president Dr. Maada Bio has given Dr. Kelfalah Kallon the autonomy to conduct monetary policy without interference, and thus the reason why money was not printed over the 2020 Christmas Holidays into circulation because in Dr. Kallon’s thinking and wisdom, the amount of money in circulation in Sierra Leone was enough to meet the demand consumers had. Remember, in previous Christmas’s money was printed and thrown into circulation, an activity that was inflationary, and is one of the reasons for the chronic inflation in Sierra Leone. This is macroeconomic activity at work Mr. Paul Conteh, and credit should be given to President Maada Bio for allowing the Bank Governor to perform his job without political interference as in the past. So, Dr. Kallon is really working with an astute president like it or not!
As for the $33,000 you are referring to, I am not too sure about this, but anecdotal evidence suggests that President Bio spent this money on relocating the Sierra Leone’s who were stranded in Lebanon. I think the president was on vacation with his adorable wife Mrs. Fatima Bio when the explosion happened in Beirut, Lebanon sometime last year. Their vacation was interrupted by this incidence and hundreds of Sierra Leoneans were stranded in the streets of Beirut, and the president being the caring person he is, suspended his vacation to attend to this urgent and life-threatening situation for the poor Sierra Leoneans.
I am not a spokesperson for President Bio Mr. Paul Conteh, but I just think that we should give credit when credit is due to a politician and criticize them when we must. Therefore, even though I supported Dr. Kandeh Yumkellah during the 2018 elections and not then candidate Maada Bio, he is now my president and we should do all in our power to support and given him credit when he does a good job and criticize him otherwise. It is the reason why I am standing up for the government when it is unduly criticized, especially when someone like Mr. Jesmed Suma tries to use some shake down tactics to intimidate the government.
John – I have published your comment on this occasion so as to give you the opportunity to reply to your critics, as you are the author of the article. Please note that your comment is far too long and under normal circumstances will not be published. Please ensure your comments meet our publishing guidelines in future. Thank you.
I just love how these people love to insult our intelligence. In the strangest way it makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside. My fancy was certainly tickled with this one.
The idea that we should heap praise to president Bio, or give him credit where it is due. Yes totally agree with that comment. But on the subject that he interrupted his holiday, and forked out $33, 000, to rescue stranded Sierra Leoneans, as the president of Sierra Leone, he should be ashamed of himself that he has to resort to such acts of mercy mission. Where next? Those stranded in the Sahara desert as they flee their good for nothing governments? Did he ask himself why these young Sierra Leoneans are risking everything, to try and make a living outside Sierra Leone?
My point is, if there were opportunities for young Sierra Leoneans in our country, who in their right mind will like to leave their home, family, and friends and risk their lives to make this perilous journey in this middle eastern countries? Where is it on record, that they are abused or worst, killed by the people smuggler’s or their Arab bosses and their body parts harvested and sold. Are they locked up in containers in Libya by people’s smugglers and sold or auctioned off like cattle in a market. Sometimes they are even sent to their deaths on rickety boats across the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. This is more like you recall where you fell flat on your face, but you forgot where you tripped over yourself. Stop this nonsense and create jobs in Sierra Leone for Sierra Leoneans. Bio should stop the corruption, create more economic opportunities in Sierra Leone and maybe next time he won’t come across stranded, and fellow unfortunate Sierra Leoneans in foreign lands. You won’t run into citizens of African countries that are well managed in these sort of places. You can’t imagine the president of Botswana or Rwanda doing the same for their citizens. Because their leaders look after their interests in their own countries and not outside their countries.
Gentlemen – please let us always strive sensibly to make Sierra Leone into the little paradise on earth that our people have been yearning and longing for it to become. All the biggest filing cabinets jammed packed with diverse financial and economic theories put together are not going to solve our current everyday hand to mouth problems. Theories, that’s just what they are, which many have only read in books; theories that are impractical and unsuitable for our uneducated poor masses with nervous dispositions, languishing in abject poverty.
There is nothing new in all the proposals, strategies and ideas we are being bombarded with on this glorious forum regarding how we could fix our ailing, struggling economy – talk is cheap, implementation is what matters. It is the only thing that puts the indisputable crown of success on the brave heads of industrious diligent men and women. Again, you must remember that the criminal SLPP cabal is overcrowded with doctorate degree holders who are nothing but lackadaisical theoreticians that can be likened to amateur cooks that have already spoiled the tasteful broth because so far nothing has been accomplished – nothing they have done in terms of enhancing progress has worked. Baseless unproven theories do not impress men of pragmatic minds.
And I have also been known to frown on stratagems, cunning tactics, ploys and schemes that have not been thoroughly evaluated through rigorous implementation and practice. What Sierra Leone needs are people with a hands on approach to our problems. We need more creative and innovative minds that know how to hustle, bustle and tackle most complicated problems with great ease using the simplest and most ordinary kinds of tools.
“Again, you must remember that the criminal SLPP cabal is overcrowded with doctorate degree holders who are nothing but lackadaisical”-STARGAZER
There is nothing wrong with people acquiring doctorate degrees. Don’t make it look like it is wrong to pursue one. By the way, numerically, the last APC government had more cabinet ministers with doctorate degrees than the current SLPP government.
We had Drs. Richard Konteh, Kelfala Marrah, Sam Sesay, Samura Kamara, Abu Bakarr Fofanah, Minkailu Bah, Soko Kabia, Dr. Professor Monty Jones, Dr Sylvia Blyden, Dr. Davidson, Dr. Momodu Koroma, Dr Mrs Victoria Saidu Kamara, Dr. Denis Sandi, Dr Matthew Teambo and Dr. Komba Kono and others.
Today, we have prof. David Francis, Dr Alpha Wurie, Dr. Gbakima, Dr. Monina Sengeh, Dr. Denis Sandi, Dr. Hinga Sandi, Dr. Kaikai, prof Jaward and prof Kelfala Kallon
In the midst of overwhelming evidence of almost every economic indicator, either being in decline or remain stagnated during the course of the 34 months the regime has taken over governance, it behooves any patriotic Sierra Leonean with clear honesty, sincerity, and love of nation, to push back on incessant undertone propagandist messages being peddle around by purported supporters of the PAOPA regime. Instead of the constant peddling around of imaginary projections of future economic indicators, along with some superficial international ratings (absolutely detached from the realities on the ground), can any PAOPA supporter with integrity, out rightly point to any economic improvement on the average citizen’s lives, since a change of government was made?
For Christ sake, didn’t the citizens of Sierra Leone ushered in a regime change back in 2018 for the same economic hardship, corruption, injustices, ineptness, and a host of societal issues? With the SLPP claims of having the answers to our economic woes, 3 years on, why are we still being fed with lies and propaganda, demanding that we exercise more patient? Upon our nation being declared the fastest growing economy in the world, faced with a decline in global iron ore prices along with a debilitating Ebola crisis, didn’t the previous APC regime pleaded for more time to turn things around? Are you kidding me, if nothing has work for 3 years, what miracle will we expect in the remaining less than 2 years?
Now with an illiteracy rate of over 50 percent, do some of these PAOPA supporters understand that majority of our citizens care less about their textbook economic theories? Why waste precious time, digging out definitions, stroking keyboards, with the full intention of convincing a starving lectorate, when all that they need is food in their stomachs? As we speak, for the first time in our nation’s history, our local banks are in scarcity of our local currency, hampering a host of economic activities, not to mention the existing high foreign currency exchange rates; what is exactly prudent about such ineptness and failures?
Good one, ‘Special Agent’ Young4na. Always interesting to read your comments – very academic, creative and with substance. Right on the level. Keep it up.
Mr Suma can come up with all sorts of proposal to rescue our economy that is literally on life support. We can blame the downturn on all sorts. COVID19, hyperinflation, like what happened in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s during the Great economic depression of that period. And more recently Zimbabwe under Mugabe in the 2000S. Lets stop lying to ourselves. In Sierra Leone the main driver of our economic woes is CORRUPTION , CORRUPTION, CORRUPTION. Let no one tell you anything different.
Sometimes even with the best of intentions, governments get it wrong when they try to come up with policies that do not address the core issues that have literally dragged us down to an economic stagnation. Bio’s government lack of vision and the appetite to chart a different course is one you can’t overlook, however much you try. And one of the greatest impediment to reviving our economy, is getting our priorities right. And implementation of programmes already in the pipeline. Like the infrastructure projects Bio stopped when he came to office.