By Mohamed T. Massaquoi
The Independent Member of Parliament for Constituency 104 in the southern Pujehun District, Shiaka Musa Sama, has accused members of the “Presidential Visiting Coordinating Committee” in the district of unfair disbursement of State funds relating to the recent visit of President Julius Maada Bio.
Ahead of the visit by the president as part of his ‘Thank You Visit,’ since his election as president, the Ministry of Finance allocated about Le300 million, which was managed by the Presidential Visiting Coordinating Committee.
The Committee headed by the Pujehun District Council Chairman, Sheik Suaibu Sowa, also comprises Sierra Leone’s Ambassador to Liberia, who is also the District Chairman for the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP), Eddie Sidikie Massallay and his entire executive as well as other actors in the local council.
The committee planned and coordinated arrangements for the President’s visit to the district from December 18 to 19.
According to Sama, each MP, with his exception, was given Le11million for logistical arrangements, including transportation and food for their constituents. He told Politico that stakeholders in the District also contributed some money towards the preparation, noting that he was given Le2million from this amount.
“I am sure other MPs or their representatives received this amount too,” Sama said in an interview.
Leader of Government Business in the House of Parliament, Sidie Mohamed Tunis, a major stakeholder in the district, told Politico that he also personally donated $300 and Le5million to the district coordinating team as part of the preparation, and another $300 to his constituency to facilitate the transportation of people who intended to participate in the presidential meeting.
Sama said his Independent Councilors were also sidelined in the entire arrangements by Chairman Sowa.
“Chairman Sowa has always made derogatory remarks about me and my Councilors. Instead of bringing us closer to SLPP to mobilize more support for the President and the party, he was busy discouraging us,” Sama lamented.
He said the attitude of the SLPP district executive and the Local Council Chairman were not only unhelpful in terms of mobilization of additional support for President Bio, but were also counter to the interest of promoting transparency and the president’s war against corruption.
Sama argued that public funds should not be personalized, noting that Council Chairman Sowa should be a servant and a unifier instead of dedicating his time to dividing the district.
“It is unfortunate that certain Sierra Leoneans love their political parties more than Sierra Leone, so they don't see the need for national unity or national integration and may not appreciate the move by President Bio to bridge the gap, hence they are busy building walls and not bridges,” Sama said.
Sheik Sowa dismissed all the allegations made against him, when contacted by Politico. He said on a telephone interview that the money came with clear instructions as to how to spend it, noting that Constituency 104 wasn’t in any form disadvantaged by the Committee as presented by the MP.
Sowa said contrary to Sama’s claim, each Constituency was given Le14, 330,000 from the money. He added that only two MPs among six of them directly received the monies meant for their district, citing Dixon Momoh Rogers of Constituency 100 and Abu Kemokai of Constituency 103.
“This was an event for the visit of the president. Everybody was supposed to be there one or two days ahead. If he [Sama] was there and was part of the coordinating team, we would have given him the money. The instruction we got from State House is that, yes this is a public event, but it cannot be disassociated from the SLPP at all,” Sowa explained.
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