November 16, 2016 By Mohamed Massaquoi
The Acting Publicity Secretary of the main Opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party,( SLPP) has called on President Ernest Bai Koroma to resign, stating that the current economic situation in the country was allegedly a complete manipulation by his government to undermine the tenant of democracy.
Lahai Laurence Leema told Concord Times in an exclusive interview that the APC was allegedly bent on using key democratic institutions, like the Sierra Leone police among others, against the civilian populace, as a circulated ploy to undermine the democratic gains that the SLPP meaningfully contributed to.
He said SLPP had more than what it took to have retained power after president Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, but that they respected the views of Sierra Leoneans, who had looked forward to a change of regime, as a result of the propaganda by the APC .
“We are calling on president Koroma to resign because he has failed the nation. President Koroma came to power through mischievous political propaganda. For example, he is on record as then Minority Leader of Parliament to have misinformed Sierra Leoneans that the Gadiffi rice donated to the country was mismanaged by the SLPP to the disadvantage of Sierra Leoneans. In actual fact, SLPP made prudent decision to sell the rice and established the National Social Security and Insurance Trust NASSIT, so as to create better future for our people,” he said.
“The APC met a stable economy, with a foreign reserve and hard currency in the central bank .They have wasted that to the disadvantage of Sierra Leoneans. Today, the agenda for change and prosperity have been translated into agenda for austerity and the implication of austerity is seriously hitting Sierra Leoneans.”
He added that the current APC government has clearly shown complete lack of competence to manage the value of the country’s currency.
“We have just ended a meeting with our members of parliament to collectively examine the 2017 national budget, as well as the increment in the fuel price,” he said.
“The objective of the meeting was to look at the current trend of the country and how we could speak with one voice to counter this bad policy of the APC. As a responsible opposition, the concerns of our people are paramount. That is the reason the party is concern about the hardship, which this failed APC government has created for our people. We will not relent in raising these issues to the understanding of Sierra Leoneans. We are confident that it is only the SLPP that will liberate the current economic mess created by this failed APC government.”
He added that very soon the SLPP would come up with a press statement regarding the current situation.