By Mohamed Sheriff
The 2018 general elections were a critical process in the advancement of the country’s democracy, peace, and development. April 4th, 2018 when President Julius Maada Bio became the fountain of honour of the Republic of Sierra Leone, it was a defining moment in the history of the country’s political dispensation. Also, a moment to reflect on the specifics development outcomes citizens want political parties to address in the face of the dying economy and development challenges.
The campaign manifesto of the New Direction Sierra Leone people’s Party (SLPP) attracted many citizens on how they want to leapfrog development and other social amenities.
Three years on, President Julius Maada Bio is making remarkable strides to address the eleven years of the APC’s failed economy, youth unemployment, social injustice, inclusive governance, among others.
Firstly, President Bio launched the Medium-Term National Development Plan, through the Ministry of Planning and Economy Development (MoPED), to address the socio-economic and cultural problems of communities and citizen holistically across the country. Citizens, political parties, and development partners are expected to support the plan in making the areas of agriculture, foreign direct investment, fishery sector, energy, education, telecommunication, among other things, achievable.
Education: Gains have been made significantly, especially when naysayers were thinking the Free Quality Education Programme was impossible, given that it was the flagship program of the Government. The Free Quality Education scheme is recording huge achievement; according to reports, school completion rates for boys and girls are at an all-time high. In 2015, for example, 48. 7% of boys and 65.4% of girls completed basic school education.
According to the Ministry of Basic and Secondary School Education, the school completion rate in 2019 stood at 92% for boys and 90% for girls. In three years, the Government increased budgetary allocation towards education from 15% to 21%, constructed and furnished new classrooms; paid examination fees for all, recruited school inspectors, recruited over five thousand (5,000) new teachers, promoted over two thousand teachers (2,000), provided 30% salary increments to teachers, and expanded school feeding program in the rural areas, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of pupils have returned to schools across the country.
Woman & Girls: The Government has made enormous efforts to promoting gender equality, equity, empowerment, and the protection of the rights of women and girls in Sierra Leone. Among the goodies include the First Lady’s successful ‘Hands off our Girls’ campaign; the Government’s reversal of the ban on pregnant girls from going to schools; the declaration of sexual violence as a national emergency; the establishment of a special court for rape victims, and the enactment of the Sexual Offenses (Amendment) Act, as recent developments in the promotion and protection of human rights, especially of women and girls, support to small business enterprises and loans to farmers.
Human Rights Accountability and Transparency: Recently, Sierra Leone submitted its national human rights progress report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, making a significant milestone in respect of His Excellency, President Julius Maada Bio’s commitment to Human Rights Accountability and Transparency.
The report underlines, particularly, the Government’s to the Independence of the Judiciary as envisioned under the 1991 constitution, the Government’s commitment to “fundamental human rights and freedoms of the individual,” noting that “all the core non-dirigible rights have been firmly safeguarded”, there are no political prisoners in Sierra Leone under President Bio’s led administration.
It is on record that President Bio fulfilled his manifesto commitment to abolish the Criminal Libel Laws by repealing part v of the Public Order Act of 1965. His government has taken to fight the Coronavirus pandemic and mitigate its impact. Those actions are rooted in the rule of law and are fully compliant with national law (Section 29 of the 1991 Constitution) and International human rights principles (Article 4 (1) of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights). Government’s financial support packages to people and businesses to soften the harsh impacts of COVID-19.
The International community notes impressive records of actions and measures taken by President Bio to implement the 177 recommendations it had accepted from the UN during the last review of Sierra Leone’s human rights record. Through the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the Government of Sierra Leone worked with Parliament to ratify in July 2019 a total of seven conventions from the International Labor Organization. With these conventions, Sierra Leone is now in a better position to protect victims of forced labour domestic and migrant works, as well as guarantee minimum standards in the provision of social security.
Corruption: President Julius Maada Bio has received accolades from the world and African leaders for his outstanding performance in governance, especially the war against corruption. Billions of Leones has been recovered by the ACC from past and current government officials, with Francis Ben Kaifala, the Anti-Corruption Commissioner, making frantic efforts in the fight against corruption.
