Hunger & Starvation

Intermittent Electricity

Poor Health Facilities

Poor Governance

Big Time Corruption

Transportation Challenge

High Taxes

Poor Salaries for Health Workers, Teachers, and Civil Servants

Fat Salary for Politicians

Big Time Wedding for ‘D Pa en D Mami’

Honey Moon in Lebanon

Rotten Celebration

‘Boku’ Spending

Le 60 Billion for Independence Anniversary Celebrations?

Sierra Leone, on Tuesday 27th April 2021, celebrated its 60th Independence Anniversary. The celebration saw the arrival of other Presidents and representatives from countries from the Economic Community of West African States ( ECOWAS). It came out to be a surprise to the masses to see that the Bio SLPP-led government is celebrating the country’s 60th Independence anniversary. Some were of the view that how can President Bio, who had before this time, criticized the celebrations of the country’s independence anniversary, decide to do it now that the country turns 60 years.

It could be recalled that when President Bio took power in 2018, Independence anniversary was celebrated at a low key on grounds that Sierra Leone was still struggling to make ends meet and that government would not tolerate spending money on celebrations, which will be an additional burden on the state. Therefore, President Bio decided to cancel the big-time independence anniversary celebration and preferred to observe it at a very low key. But one wonders why a President, who had critic such celebrations on the grounds of saving the country’s resources, decide this time round to spend a huge amount of money from the country’s Consolidated Revenue Fund in hosting Presidents from other countries. Does Sierra Leone have anything to celebrate at a time like this? That was the question posed to this writer by an old man, whose view about Sierra Leone’s independence is not anything good to write home about. Pa Abu Bakarr Finnoh told me that instead of celebrating the 60th independence anniversary, we should be seen celebrating starvation and hunger, poor health facility, poor salaries for health workers, teachers, and civil servants, etc, but in all what we should be seen celebrating is the wedding of a sitting President, who could not tie the nuts to get a wife until when he became President of Sierra Leone. This, he said, should be our focus for discussion, as there is virtually nothing good to celebrate other than hardship, poor health facilities, poor salaries for workers, whilst politicians and their families continue to enjoy attractive salaries, backed with other facilities. This, he said, is the Sierra Leone we are celebrating at 60.