The President in a Cage

By Sall Tee Jay  

Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, has spent almost four years in office in a cage with wasted energy, time and resources.  

Since elected to office in 2018, President Julius Maada Bio seems not to have been allowed to meet and talk to his people. This is the present state of our President.

Before elected in office, the Bio we use to know is no longer the man we now have as President. This was a man whose relationship with people was so good. Since he became President, Julius Maada Bio has lost touch with his people. Even some of his contemporaries are grumbling today because the man they used to know as a friend and brother has distanced them since he became President. Bio has lost his fan base and support within the citizenry. People no longer see him as the people’s President. Others see him as a caged President, who is difficult to see. He needs to go back to the drawing board and think of how he can make himself approachable to the public.

Maada Bio is not a bad leader. He is surrounded by people who have nothing to do with politics. The divide and rule strategy that we see today under his stewardship was first championed by his Chief Minister, Professor David Francis. The university lecturer had prepared himself as a demigod to the extent that at the time he was chief minister he was the one that opened the cage and have the President locked up from meeting his people. Today, that cage has caused the President the biggest defeat in life.

Others believe that the President is surrounded with social terrorists, whose actions are to demoralise potential citizens. They never want to hear from people outside their Congress. Even to maintain peace and stability has been a problem. He doesn’t know what constitutes peace, as he is surrounded by destructive gossipers, who have nothing to deliver, but to put the unity of the society apart for the realisation of their personal gains. 

If Bio is to regain our trust, he must dismantle and repackage his administration with reliable and friendly people. The new direction government seems to be running man made God regime. They have eyes, but can’t see the reality, they have hands, but can’t embrace the people; they have legs, but couldn’t move towards the people, they have mouths but couldn’t speak directly to the people.