By Ragan M. Conteh

Many Sierra Leoneans who have visited Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have expressed their dissatisfaction over the influx of PhD holder’s officials assigned or recruited in that lucrative position of trust but doing nothing to change the economic status of the country.

“Today we have lots of PhD holders in government office with worst economy in the country; poverty is hitting hard on our people. The standard of living is nothing to write home about. With all the PhDs they have, poverty dwell in homes. People perish in their villages, towns and cities” one of the traders said.

Many say, the country have more doctorates degree holders today than any other government before now, adding that Sierra Leoneans know nothing where some of these academic doctors acquired their certificates.

Many are calling on the government of President Julius Maada Bio to undertake a certificate audit on all government officials working in different MDAs, a call that was turned down fruitless.

“When some of these officials introduced themselves in public fora with long CVs, one may tend to believe that, the economic situation will be fine. But we are still wimming in abject poverty with heavy political intimidation” Abu Sillah of Waterloo said.

In one of the sittings in the Chambers of Parliament, the Member of Parliament from the opposition who doubles as Deputy Leader II of the Opposition, Hon Aaron Koroma who spoke on the economic situation said the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Government had put the country in the worst situation since Sierra Leone gained independence.

Hon. Koroma gave statistical data on how the Government has mismanaged the growth of the economy in the recent years.

The MP blamed the Government for flaunting the Constitution of Sierra Leone by extra spending without Parliamentary consent.

According to Hon. Aaron Koroma, ‘This Government has violated the Constitution and the Public Financial Management (PFM) Act by spending without the authority of Parliament’.

Hon. Aaron Koroma called on Parliament to investigate the Ministry of Finance for abrogating the law of the country.

He debunked the previous debaters from the ruling Government for accusing the then APC Government of bridging the PFM Act and the Constitution.

The MP accused the Government that employing specialists would affect the Wage Bill.

Hon. Aaron Koroma compared the public debt of the previous and current Governments and noted that for everything on the Wage Bill, the budget deficit is high.

On the road network, he called on mining companies operating in the Tonkolili District to construct roads linking Magburaka to Bumbuna and its environs.

The Deputy Leader of Government Business I, Hon. Bashiru Silikie has stated in Parliament that ‘The economy downturn of this country was caused by the APC’s bad governance on bad agreements with investors’.

The Leader made the disclosure on Tuesday 28 November 2023 during the debate on the 2024 Budget in the Chambers of Parliament.

The budget Bill seeks to provide Authorized expenditure from the Consolidated Fund for the Services of Sierra Leone for the year 2024 and other related matters.

The Theme of the budget is ‘Restoring Macroeconomic Stability while Protecting the Poor and Vulnerable’.

Hon. Bashiru Silikie commended MPs for their contributions to the debate and noted that the Government took over from an austerity Government and blamed the APC squarely for bad governance of the State.

He said, when the SLPP Government took over power, its priority was on education and highlighted its achievements so far.

On his part, the Deputy Chief Whip II of the Majority in Parliament, Hon. Ibrahim Tawa Conteh said part of the increase in budget, is the creation of new Embassies that was recommended by the previous APC Government.

‘This Government is operating on the ambit of the laws’ he said.

According to him, inflation at present, is part of the global crisis, and noted that this Government is part of the global village.

Hon. Tawa made reference to documentation that supports his claim on global inflation and said Sierra Leone is not an exception to the global phenomenon.

Hon Tawa outlined the reason for the 5% tax imposition on rice and highlighted taxes that were imposed by the previous APC Government on goods and services.

He challenged several arguments or concerns raised by the Opposition MPs on the economy and went on to highlight the economic prudence of the Government in addressing the economy.

On agriculture, he said the issue is an endemic problem and went on to pinpoint previous leaders who made promises for the sustainability of agriculture in Sierra Leone and failed.

He concluded by calling on all to focus on agricultural productivity.