Behold! President Julius Maada Bio has deceived Sierra Leoneans as he failed to sack his bank governor, Professor Kalfala Muana kallon, from office at the time Sierra Leoneans had called for his exit.

The head of the state purse, governor Kallon, was recently relinquished from office last week while on his terminal leave. But before he was sacked, he had already caused severe problems on the economy owing to mounting questions of financial probity and incompetency in his administration.

While the local currency of Sierra Leone is on free-floating trend against the US dollars, the bank governor was unable to keep inflation from rising.

He has left the state legal tender, the leone, crumbling while hyper-inflation preys hard on foodstuffs.

The professor’s portfolio of policies to abate rising prices on commodities could not bring realistic changes on the ground. Instead his plans to stabilize the economy by adding value to the domestic currency backfire.

Among his policies was the introduction of new leones to the market as he ordered more money to be printed.

He also shut down black market foreign currency exchange by individuals on the streets of the capital, Freetown.

But all his policies fail to turn things around as austerity hit several banks which ran out of money in December 2021.

The Bank of Sierra Leone (BSL) paralyzed most lending banks as few notes left in the banks for supply.

Prof. Kallon admitted then that he had to ‘bribe’ US $ 68,000 to get more leones after the austerity. It’s expected then that it was at this time the bank governor should have been kicked out. But he was allowed to stay as the hardship stays with Sierra Leoneans.

The bank governor had been accused by the media to have been treated as a sacred cow under president Bio administration. His office was similarly accused to have served as a conduit for government’s financial mismanagement.

The president Julius Maada Bio is said to have reneged on his promise to Sierra Leoneans to stop government’s reckless spending.

During his campaign before 2018 election, Mr. Bio told Sierra Leoneans that he would open up a single treasury account to ‘block financial leakages’.

But the single treasury account is controlled by a docile team of accountants. The bank governor himself was a remote controller as he allows money to be illegally removed or transferred to private accounts.

For instance, Sierra Leone’s president Julius Maada Bio and First Lady Fatima Bio cumulatively withdrew over Le 71.4 billion as international travel per diem in 2022 alone,’’ Africanist press indicates in a latest financial records of the Bank of Sierra Leone.

The report proves that there is collusion between BSL’s boss and heads of finance ministry. Both institutions have aided travels of First Lady Fatima Bio and President Bio from the country as they receive huge per diems.

Between August 28-30,  “president Bio withdrew le 2,506,452,062.80 ( Two Billion, Five Hundred and Six Million, Four Hundred and Fifty Two Thousand and Sixty –Two Leones, Eighty Cents) which is ( about US $ 270,000) from the bank of Sierra Leone, for a trip to Japan on Tokyo International Conference on African Development ( TICAD)” a report by Africanist press states.

There have also been similar damning reports released by the country’s Audit Service but have not been taken seriously by  Sierra Leone’s anti-graft agency.

As it stands, Sierra Leone’s economy is badly affected by the inflation. The local currency rapidly depreciates in value as it keeps free-floating against the US dollars.

With just two months to election, most Sierra Leoneans say the late sacking of the bank governor, Professor Kelfala Kallon only means that he has done president Bio and his wife’s bidding.