The ruling party, the Sierra Leone People’s Party or SLPP is sitting on a time bomb that could go off at any time, but more especially when and after President Bio would have left the scene after his second term expires.
The issue of a successor after the President Bio presidency is gaining grounds in the party with many people now playing games aimed at making others look bad while at the same time getting the attention of the president and party leader.
The party is creating a self-made problem with the consolidation of power under the firm grip of President Julius Maada Bio without anyone challenging him or expecting him to announce his future plans as they relate to him leaving power and getting back to private life.
So far President Bio has not shown or demonstrated that he plans on stepping down and away from the political scene even after serving his much opposed second term. This has not gone down well with highly placed party members but more especially those belonging to the grassroots.
With no one knowing what the party leader plans on doing before and after he leaves power, people in the party trying to position themselves to gain Bio’s attention might destroy the party.
‘At present there is fear among some people that they could be left out of the Maada Bio gravy train that is making its way across the country. There is talk of people grabbing what they can in the party and in government. I believe that people not knowing what the president’s plans are especially who will succeed him is the cause of all this grabbing and jousting for position and Bio’s attention. We need to know what is going on if we are to restore sanity to the party and those working in government belonging to the party,’ said a grassroots member of PAOPA from the party’s national headquarters.
The youth activist said there is a lot of speculation on who to throw their lot and support behind as the president has not made his choice on who will succeed him.
According to a member of the sixth parliament, “This is our biggest problem today; no one knows what the Pa plans on doing. We don’t know who will take over from him. We can easily count the vice president out as he himself is not showing any sign that he would want to take over from His Excellency. With many members of the first term regime falling out of favor with the president such as Professor David Francis, Jusu Saffa, former energy minister Kanja Sesay and the like it is very confusing for us who to consider. Will it be the new speaker or is it KKY or even his wife Fatima Bio. Really, will it be one of the new young ministers including the new chief minister? It is still a big guess as we don’t expect the president to go out without a bang. This is why we support the youth activists that are saying the party is sitting on a time bomb.”
Meanwhile all the talk of a time bomb awaiting explosion in the ruling SLPP has not sat well with some workers at the nation’s supreme auditing firm, Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL). A well-placed source in the Auditor General’s domain has said a lot of stealing from government including the diversion of public funds and misappropriation of donated or procured equipment happens during the mad rush to grab what one can especially when people are not sure which direction the party government is heading.
‘Since we have not had a party that can run more than two straight terms we always see this kind of madness during and at the end of the ruling party’s second term. There is no guarantee that SLPP will go for a third straight term although it is possible. However, this has never happened before. People not knowing who will succeed President Bio is also the cause for many stealing that takes place in government. So apart from causing confusion and divisions within the party, this is also affecting how people behave with the trust reposed in them being vote controllers in government ministries, departments and agencies,’ said the auditor working at the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL).
The president is advised to see reason to make his succession plans known as many in the party want to know who to throw their weight behind with those working in government saying it will go a long way to save government billions of leones in losses after the dash and grab would have taken place.