Commentary
By: Mohamed M. Sesay (Lucky)
President Julius Maada Bio’s New Direction utopia (the New Direction world where every developmental activity is enviably working perfectly), has unarguably embarrassed the All People’s Congress Party leading to the rightful impediment of their chances to win the June 24th 2023 multi-tier elections.
Beginning with the glorious glory this New Direction regime has accorded the nation, the construction of the Brand New Freetown International Airport has helped inked the country’s image to be among countries with standardized airports. The undiluted truth is that our out-fashioned Lungi Airport terminal and its facilities, were just like an advanced parking lot for any advanced village. The status quo of the old airport is retrospectively infra dig to match with international standards.
Unlike the outdated Lungi Airport, the Brand New Freetown International Airport is well sophisticated with New Presidential Lounge, New Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, New Cargo Terminal, New Taxiway of 2,300m, New Ultra-modern Passenger Terminal. This New Ultra-Modern Airport also has the capacity to service 1.2 Million passengers a year with 4 Passenger Boarding Bridges, New Parking lot with space for more than 200 vehicles, New Ground Handling and Management Building, New Passenger Terminal Apron, Runway pavement of about 3,200m, Solar Farm that generates 1.8mw electricity. This New Airport also has Air Traffic Control Tower of about 38m high and New Commercial Zones. With all of these facilities, despisers of development mainly supporters of the All people’s congress Party, are still going with erroneous notion that the Airport is an extended one.
As recent as on the 14th of March 2023, women across the country including school pupils, converged at State House with the pretext to register their profound and genuine thanks and appreciation to President Bio for protecting them through the enactment of the Gender and Women’s Empowerment Act 2022. School pupils were also out in the thousands just to say thank you to President Bio for his thoughtful implementation of the Free Quality Education which has astronomically increased school enrolment of over two million pupils.
Embedded in his New Direction Manifesto to construct Foreign Service Academy, the General of Development H.E President Maada Bio, on the 6th of January 2023, translated his New Direction Promise in to fruition by commissioning an ultra-modern Foreign Service Academy housed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Corporation. This historic Foreign Service Academy is the first in the sub-region and one of the best across the globe.
The district and chiefdom electrification projects under this New and Right Direction regime, have been inclusive and commendable nationwide. Districts like Kono which used to be in perpetual darkness for more than three decades, are now big-headed of enjoying an uninterrupted electricity supply. Solar installation for the provision of sustainable power supply has also been rolled out in most if not, all of the chiefdom headquarters across the country.
Another thing the APC cannot take from President Bio is his quest and passion for the promotion of free speech, democracy, Human Rights among others. Journalism used to be under attack under previous governments making it a life threatening profession by merely choosing to practice as a journalist. Unlike under previous governments, the New Direction Government holistically disassociated the mysticism and phobia for the practice of journalism through the repeal and replacement of the 1965 draconian Public Order Act, which used to decriminalize journalism profession. President Bio is on record since he took over governance for not placing a single journalist in prison.
Part of his credo to promote Unity and National Cohesion across the country, President Bio’s Government has been dubbed as the most inclusive government. The establishment of the Peace Commission for National Cohesion is also part of the President’s aspiration to achieve national cohesion. The abolishment of the Death Penalty in the 1991 constitution has been one of the best legislative modifications by the President under the auspices of the Fifth Parliament of the Second Republic of Sierra Leone.
All of these avalanches of developmental activities have made the New Direction utopia to suffocate and dwindled the chances of the APC in winning the June 24th 2023 elections. In fact African Leaders saw the impeccable and admirable leadership in President Bio which prompted them to crown him as African Leader of the year 2022.