The Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) Electoral Management Body (EMB) has suspended the results for the Women’s Leader election that was held on Saturday 17th November, 2021 at the Sierra Leone People’s Party office in Kailahun District.
The election process started peacefully but later, the supporters of Fatmata Sawaneh discovered some electoral malpractices in favor of Hawa Foray the new contender for the position.
They reportedly discovered massive election malpractices such as ballot stuffing, over-voting, violence and irregularity which happened before and after the polls.
It could be recalled that Fatmata Sawaneh has been serving in the capacity of SLPP Women’s Leader since 2017 and all went well.
According to party supporters, Mrs Fatima Bio, First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone has thrown her support behind Hawa Foray and she has been accused of orchestrating all the electoral malpractice which took place at the time.
Some party supporters of Fatmata Sawaneh demonstrated by singing songs against Madam Fatima Bio as she is not the Leader of Sierra Leone but only got married to the President of Sierra Leone.
It is also reported that some electoral materials were found in the hands of Hawa Foray’s supporters.
Party supporters from the SLPP Grassroots disclosed that Madam Hawa Foray has been in the party structures for more than a decade and that she is currently serving as the Constituency Women’s Leader in one of the constituencies of Kenema City.
Some party senior members and stakeholders said the party is much stronger, older and more powerful than the First Lady because the party had produced many First Ladies before she came onboard.
Meanwhile, they advised the First Lady that in order for her not to destroy the good name of the party or drag it into disrepute, they would like her to take a back seat in the SLPP’s internal politics and allow the party to structure its executive.
In other words, the women are of the view that Fatima Bio must allow the women of SLPP to vote for the candidate of their choice and the right candidate who will provide them with the quality leadership they deserve.
According to AG’s 2019 Report:
Lead Way to Account for $5.48 Billion
According to the Auditor General’s Report of 2019, the export levy on timber revenue was valued in line with Legislative directives.
The Report adds that the method of valuation for timber products prior to exportation was not in accordance with section 3 of the finance (Amended) Act of 2018. Instead of using cubic metres as required by law, 20-feet shipping containers were used as unit of measurement. Based on the ASYCUDA data from the Customs Department, a total of 2,202,024.88 cubic metres valued at US$5.5 Billion was exported. Revenue of US$25.7 million was recorded in the GPFS, thereby leaving a difference of US$5.48 billion.
According to the Ministry of Finance, the discrepancy is due to an error in the drafting of the Finance Act (Amended) of 2018, but the necessary correction will be done in the Finance Act of 2021.
Based on the above, Lead Way which is the sole exporter of timber in Sierra Leone has a case to answer in the area of causing this country to lose over $5.48 billion which money could have been better used to develop the country but which Lead Way headed by Babadi Kamara could not account for at the time of the audit.
It could be recalled that President Bio some years ago appointed Babadi Kamara, CEO of Lead Way Company as the sole exporter of timber in Sierra Leone. Since that time, he has been solely answerable to the president. However, the 2019 AG’s Report has a lot of evidence to prove that Babadi kamara in his capacity of sole timber exporter for Sierra Leone is to account for billions of US Dollars.
Investigations continue.
Pres. Bio decorated & installed Chancellors for public universities
The President of the Republic of Sierra Leone HE. Dr. Julius Maada Bio has installed and decorated Dr. James Sanpha Koroma who is now Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone, Professor Sahr Gevao, Chancellor of Njala University, Mr. David Omatshola Carew, Chancellor of the Ernest Bai Koroma University of Science and Technology, and Justice Nyawo Finda Matturi-Jones, Chancellor of the Kono University of Science and Technology.
Dr. Koroma is a celebrated banker, economist; founder Managing Director and now Chief Executive Officer of Union Trust Bank Ltd. Before then he held several national public offices and international leadership positions in the UN, World Bank, and was former Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone in 1998.
Prof. Gevao, appointed Chairman of the Sierra Leone Council for Post-Graduate Colleges of Health Specialities in 2019, has a distinguished academic and professional career with the College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone and Ministry of Health and Sanitation.
Mr Carew is a distinguished economist, who served as Minister of Trade and Industry and before then he was Minister of Finance from September 2007 to February 2009 in the previous government. Before becoming minister, Mr Carew was the Managing Partner for KPMG, before it became Baker Tilly SL.
Justice Matturi-Jones is a retired Supreme Court Judge, described by her peers as a fine woman with unblemished character, who worked across Sierra Leone right from being a magistrate to serving for many years as High Court Judge in Kenema and eventually became a Supreme Court Judge in 2016.
While welcoming the gathering, Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Alpha Tejan Wurie, said it was a unique occasion for a sitting President to relinquish his position in the university, saying that it was indeed hard in Africa for one to give away such a prestigious position.
He added that such a drive, by President Julius Maada Bio, was to depoliticise public universities and to expand the educational sector, promote effective management and proper productivity.
“As chancellors, you will be the exclusive administrators of your various institutions. I, therefore, urge you all to work hard and add more value. You will be managing and protecting the image of those universities,” he noted.
Chairman of the Tertiary Education Commission, Professor Aliyageen Mohamed Alghali, noted that it was a bold step by the government, adding that the step was a show of commitment to increasing access to education in the respective institutions. He added that the Commission stood ready to advance the management and development of the universities for quality service delivery.
Speaking on behalf of her colleague chancellors, Justice Matturi-Jones thanked President Bio for the confidence reposed in them to govern the various universities and for his drive to support and strengthen the educational sector.
She assured that they would be diligent in the exercise of their duties as chancellors and further reminded her colleagues that the task before them was a difficult one expressed hope that they would work harder so as not to fail in their various duties.
In his statement, President Julius Maada Bio recalled that when he made the decision to depoliticise public university governance, he was intentional and had thought about it, adding that his decision was also about assuring a future of effective and autonomous governance for public universities.
“So, we are here today to not only celebrate a promise delivered but to work towards a future of excellence and development at our universities. The constraints and challenges are still many, no doubt. But that is where focused and autonomous leadership supports the growth and development of our public universities.
“With the politicisation of university governance, public universities relied on what subsidies the Government could allocate to those institutions. Lower allocations led to frequent student strikes as student rations and services were reduced to bare minimums and university hostels, faculty housing, libraries, and lecture halls fell into rapid disrepair.
“The correlated decline in the economy had impacts on investment in public universities. Financial mismanagement and a lack of investment in physical and digital infrastructure were evident,” he said.
The President bemoaned the already diminishing university autonomy, which brought about diminished participation of faculty and staff in the operations and future of their institutions. He added that because of the arbitrary executive interference in everything about the university, faculties were dispirited and staff eventually saw themselves as having lesser stakes in ensuring excellence in their own institutions.
“The consequence was obvious – a sharp decline in the quality of higher education in our country. Curriculum offerings were not aligned with the skills development needs of the country.
“So, when I made the decision to depoliticise public university governance, it was well thought out and intentional. It was about assuring a future of effective and autonomous governance for public universities. “In the New Direction Manifesto, we made a firm commitment as a party to ‘establish a university system that employs its own leadership as chancellors.’ These would be persons with ‘distinguished and proven records of higher education leadership, significant international clout and contacts (funding and research networks), and who are reform-minded,” he said.
