A call for help as the Sierra Leone President dismantles democratic institutions and plunders the state’s wealth

President Julius Maada Bio – The unfortunate face of leadership in Sierra Leone

Not too often would you see Africans en-masse in numbers on social media lamenting the state of affairs in their country- But things have become so bad in Sierra Leone that even those who are illiterate are asking for help on setting up Facebook pages and Twitter accounts to vent their anger, frustration, and displeasure on what is currently taking place in the West African State. The President has gone berserk! The systematic looting of state funds and dismantling of the very apparatus that has safeguarded the country’s democracy is simply astonishing. And it is all being done with impunity as he tears through the fabric of what holds the country together with no sympathy or consideration for the common man!

The country’s economy has been left suffocating from constant embezzlement under the very watchful eyes of the British High Commissioner whose diplomatic mission continues to support a derelict Anti-Corruption Commission headed by an idiot who spends time on social media looking for accolades rather than calling to account the true culprits looting the state’s wealth like the Head of State and his very flamboyant wife.

It is indeed sad to witness the destruction of a country that until recently had double digits economic growth under the regime of Ernest Bai Koroma as all the economic and democratic gains that have been applauded even by former US President Barrack Obama that saw President Koroma earning the all-important White House Invitation to sit and dine with the US President has all but evaporated.

The urgent need for stakeholders like Britain, the US, and the UN to intervene is ever more increasing as tribalism, hegemony, corruption in high places and the looting of the state wealth has become the standard as the country bulks on its knees bleeding from the wounds inflicted by a psychopath passing for president in this country that was fast becoming a paradise for tourists. The soul of the country’s coastland has been handed over to inept Chinese businessmen whose ambition to invade the country’s fishing potential has seen a sudden hike in fish prices as the country’s people find it difficult to deal with the high cost of living with unaffordable prices making families going to bed with acute hunger.

What is happening in the country can only be referred to as an Economic pandemic of immense proportion. When the costs of the President’s unnecessary travels can be equated to 3 million dollars a month then you know the economy is in trouble. Most of this money is allocated to the Head of State and his wife as personal expenses at the detriment of the suffering masses. You only need to visit the world-renowned Africanist Press website to be furnished with the aggravated assault on the country’s economy and democracy for you to get a sizeable understanding of the true story of a state on its knees asking the world to intervene before it is completely obliterated.

The recent illegal and indefinite suspension of the country’s Auditor General is a clear indication of the President’s erratic behavior that has called into question his legitimacy as calls for his impeachment echoes in the well of the country’s parliament.

The United Nations, after spending innumerable resources in rebuilding the state institutions must not sit back and see all its efforts being bulldozed by a kleptocratic president whose stepson was recently seen on a widely shared video on social media showcasing thousands of dollars packed in a suitcase within the confines of his bedroom at the state lodge.

As alarming as that may seem it is little in comparison to what other state actors have been up to as they garner to rip through the country’s resources in reckless fashion as they steal what truly belongs to the people. The Chief Minister, the Foreign Minister, and their cohorts have taken turns in bastardizing the state resources as they divert public funds for private use.

When a President appoints his own tribesmen and cronies to administer the state electoral body then you know the country’s democracy is in trouble. When all but 2 percent of appointed heads of MDA’s are from the same ethnic background as the president then you know the country’s future is in peril. When the Anti-Corruption Commissioner comes from the same tribe as the president and speaks the same language then you wonder whether British taxpayers’ money used to fund the commission through DFID is well spent. The recent hounding of the opposition flagbearer candidate Dr. Samura Kamara is a case in point that has exposed the anomalies within this sacred institution, as the commissioner follows orders from state-house to frustrate the democratic process in the forthcoming presidential elections.

As educated as Francis Ben Kaifala is, one should expect more from him, but he has allowed his office to be used as a tool of the president to go after those he sees as threats to his twisted and distorted ambition to be re-elected as President, something that is more far-fetched than possible.

Sierra Leoneans are determined to take back and reclaim what is truly theirs as they challenge the status quo and reject tribalism and prepare to boot out the failing regime that has ushered in a nightmare of poverty, mayhem, and corruption as they look forward to 2023 to say no more SLPP.

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