Travelling on the country’s money to and fro President Rtd. Brig. Dr.Julius Maada Bio has been doing for complete five years just “to rebrand the bad image”(as he said) of the country to the outside world in a bid to attract international investors and trade companies to come and do business in Sierra Leone. But until the eleventh hour the citizens are patiently waiting on the over 300 international investors President Bio promised the people that he will bring to resuscitate the shrinking economy.
Just as how a company will hire a celebrity to advertise its new brand that will lead to a quick sale of that product due to the fame of that celebrity that the company hired was how the incumbent President and flag bearer of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party was hired by the citizens to represent their country in the international business community in order to mesmerize global investors with the country’s natural resources to come and do business in Sierra Leone.
President Julius Maada Bio is on records as the most travelling West African President who has busily engaged himself in flying out of the country to lure investors. But the President has forgotten that these investors will not invest their monies in a country where the atmosphere is not business friendly. How can an economy thrive where there are lots of bad human rights precedents being set by the current government? How can these over three hundred foreign investors that President Bio promised the people come to do business with such unprecedented human rights abuses on the citizens who were protesting over their economic rights and are being referred to as “faceless terrorists” to foreign Ambassadors.
President Julius Maada Bio is quick to forget that advanced technology has landed the world in our finger tips and these investors always keep themselves abreast with happenings around the world, most especially in third world underdeveloped countries like Sierra Leone which is a post-war country. These investors are scared to do business with the current system because when power change hands they stand to forfeit all their investments. Most of the investors under former President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma’s leadership are now crying foul play in the hands of the current government as most mining contracts have been terminated that do not seek the interest of the President.
Investment cannot thrive where there is high business tax levied on business people and are compelled to comply with these regulations. Investors cannot thrive where people are being massacred because of their freedom of expression.
President Julius Maada Bio has found it very difficult and perturbing to persuade these investors to come and invest in Sierra Leone because his human rights records are not good to the outside world. Sierra Leone as post-war independent state has been grappling with its economy since the twin shocks of the Ebola epidemic, the mudslide and the deadly covid-19 pandemic have contributed in paralyzing the economy which is now static and stagnated. With prices of petroleum products hiking on a daily basis and the US Dollar chasing NLe2, 000 (Two million old Leones). The government has loss grip of the economy that they promised to address the bread and butter menace with every citizens crying for daily survival while hunger and starvation leading people to death. Prices of basic food commodities skyrocketing with one bag rice close to a thousand new Leones (almost one million old Leones for a bag of rice, Jasmine rice is almost one million old Leones).
The President Bio is doing more harm than good by letting his self-centered and selfish Minister of Mines and Mineral resources to breached contract agreements of mining companies and engaging in mafia and shady deals by denting the dented image of the country’s economy. Sierra Leone has been known as a “eat and run” country by foreign investors who believe that their investments will be affected whenever there is a transition of governance because the President elected will withhold all business licenses just for his own selfish sake so that the investors will dip cash into his pocket as a bribery to continue their operation.
The absence of vibrant investments to resurrect the economy has led the nation to accrue more external debt. Because a country that cannot produce its own staple food as the government lack the stamina to cater for the basic needs of its people which are constant electricity, good health facilities, good roads, clean pipe borne water to name but a few.
Investors cannot do business in remote country like Sierra Leone where there is intermittent energy supply because factories and companies cannot thrive in such appalling conditions with more rogues in the system using persuasive and ambiguous words after embezzling state wealth to convince the minds and attention of the gullible society.
President Rtd. Brig Dr. Julius Maada Bio has failed the people of this country again with his pile of unborn promises of bringing in investors to bolster the economy.
Former American President and father of Democracy, Abraham Lincoln once said “that you can fool the people sometimes, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.”
President Bio should bear in mind that it is just four months towards elections and the people are going to judge him based on his score card. Election is like dooms day when everyman will face God/Allah for his sins on earth so are elections day.