Bio’s Govt inflicts blow on Accountability

President Bio is being accused of taking Sierra Leone backwards into an increasingly authoritarian State, where the President, with the support of the ruling SLPP MPs in Parliament, has captured key public institutions that are vital for sustaining a viable democratic society, including the National Electoral Commission, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Judiciary, the Police Force, and the Military.

Not even the country’s Bar Association has been spared, after the President’s candidate for heading the Bar Association was steamrolled two months ago into taking up office, following an election marred by irregularities and violence.

With the passing of a new law banning the use of jury in criminal trials, and the refusal of the electoral commission to publish the disagregated polling stations results for the 2023 Presidential and General Elections, many Sierra Leoneans are afraid that their civil liberties and democratic rights have been seriously undermined.

Few days ago, the President ordered the country’s Attorney General to proceed with the sacking of the substantive Auditor General – Mrs Lara Taylor Pearce, who has been in suspension for over three years, after publishing an audit report that called the financial propriety of the Office of the President into question.

A committee appointed by the President, which itself was condemned by many legal experts as unconstitutional, presented its investigation report into the professional conduct of the Auditor General last month.

Although the findings and recommendations of the report have not been made public, the Office of the President issued a statement, saying that President Bio has accepted the recommendations of the committee report, including the sacking of the suspended Auditor General and her Deputy.

This is what the statement says: