There is a big split in the ruling Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP). This is according to a ranking member of the party who said what has happened can be called ‘out with the old, in with the new’.
Daybreak is reliably informed that President Bio was not pleased with the performance of certain members of the past regime that resulted to his government’s poor performance ratings last term.
The split is the president’s shift in focus and message for this his final term that is inconsistent with the PAOPA ideology, image and reputation. The past regime’s focus was on what we generally refer to as ‘bread and butter’ economics. But they woefully failed to deliver and became notorious for being complicit in the very things they preached against.
‘The PAOPA ideology of itself is negative. There was the need for change. It gives an impression that everything will be accomplished by force regardless of how the people feel or how it was accomplished. Their focus was the end result regardless of how we got there. But we can see that it didn’t work. Now the focus is not on force, but on the soft approach of job creation and feeding the nation,’ he said.
In the exclusive interview with this medium the well liked SLPP personality said the focus of this regime is now on agriculture, hence what people are now calling ‘Yabass en Ress’ economics.
For a shift in the focus the president made big and shocking changes to his cabinet that speak volumes about his shift in focus and a break or split from PAOPA to the New Direction ideology.
‘This is the time for the real New Direction. This is time for “tok n do”. The people of the new cabinet are those from the Green Renaissance or Revolution Movement. They are young and can speak the language of the grassroots. The hope is that they will deliver where others failed to,’ he added.
The SLPP strongman said some members of PAOPA were dropped because they were complicit in the very things they preached against. Others were dropped for unguarded speeches or social media posts that exposed the party and government to public ridicule.
Many of them also gave the president bad advice especially with the many legal instruments and decisions that both the people and opposition members were against. The president, depending on and expecting sound advice from such people, was made to seem as if he did not care how his policies affected the people. He was isolated from the grassroots, something that really affected him at the last general elections.
‘A cursory glance at the New Direction SLPP cabinet will show you that the president is serious about service delivery. The idea is to change the image and focus of the second term regime. The people seem pleased with the changes with many asking why the president took so long to get rid of such people sooner than now. But we cannot fully say that some of them would not be resurrected like former Lands Minister in the past two government regimes under Ernest Bai Koroma and Maada Bio, Dr Sandi, Nabeela Tunis. So as the world turns don’t be surprised if we see many of these people recycled in the change that will definitely come after President Bio’s term,’ he speculated.
Speaking to members of the party’s grassroots at their headquarters on Wallace Johnson Street in Freetown they praised the president for his shift in focus on agriculture as they are all hoping that when the nation get fully focused on feeding itself then they believe real development would have started in Sierra Leone.
‘A nation that cannot feed itself cannot really say they are a sovereign nation. It is obvious that the president lost the fight on corruption because of the actions of those he had trusted. Now that we have shifted focus to agriculture we hope that many of the youths in Freetown and the provinces will see the wisdom in getting involved in farming not only to feed their families and the nation but to also make a living,’ they pleaded.
