By Emmanuel Gborie
Hon. Foday Lamin Kabba of Constituency 044, Koinadugu District and of the main opposition All People’s Congress(APC) has charged that President Bio deceived the nation when he mentioned in his speech in parliament that his government has done major rehabilitation and constructed roads in the township of Kabala.
Parliament on Monday commenced debate on the President’s speech he delivered on May 10, 2022.
As usual, commendations were showered on the President and his government by MPs of the ruling party, indicating what the President has done so far in his four years tenure since he assumed power in 2018.
But Hon.Kabba from the opposition emphasized that nothing of such development, as cited by the president in his speech, has taken place in Kabala, stating that the roads in the township were in the same condition as were left by the then administration.
He expressed dissatisfaction that the president mentioned Kabala township roads in his speech, a development, he said, was never materialized.
According to him, the President Bio led government has done nothing for the people of Kabala since he took over as president.
“No roads rehabilitated or constructed, electricity and water supply are another story all together,” he charged.
Governments, he said, usually sign a social contract with people which they must fulfill without excuses, adding that government should not fail in meeting their responsibilities to the citizens as no reason would be sufficient to deny the people of their livelihood.
He cautioned that the ruling government should stop deceiving the people and be sincere, stressing that “people judge their government by their condition of living and what they have on their table. Whatever the government is doing should reflect on the lives of the people.
He mentioned that the president made several promises when he took over in 2018 and that he has failed to fulfill those promises.
He continued that unemployment is in its lowest in America even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia Ukraine war.
“Therefore, those two global issues are not an excuse to the current situation in Sierra Leone when it comes to providing the basic needs of the people.”
He went on to say that Sierra Leone is currently the hungriest country in the world, according to World Food programme (WFP) amidst the government’s promised 600 tons of rice that’s yet to be seen.
He also stated that fuel price is higher in Sierra Leone than many other countries in the sub-region and that Sierra Leone is one of countries with the highest price of fuel only second to Ghana which is the highest.
The APC Member of Parliament summed up by saying that it bordered him when he saw in the president’s speech under infrastructure that the roads within the township of Kabala were rehabilitated and reconstructed when as a matter of fact the current government has not done anything in Kabala; adding that right from day one the people of Kabala have been crying for electricity and water supply.