Citizens urge President Bio to replace Lands Minister

By Thaimu Thullah

Sierra Leoneans in an opinion pool conducted recently, have called on President Julius Maada Bio to replace the current Lands Minister, Dr. Turad Sennesie, who, many believe, is causing serious problem for the SLPP Government.

In an opinion pool conducted by TSL, over thirty people interviewed expressed that the Lands Minister, Dr Turad Senessie, is worse than his predecessor and should be shown the exit door, especially as the President is considering to reshuffle his cabinet.

TSL gathered that quite a good number of the citizenry are unhappy with the Lands Minister, whose “unlawful dispossession of private lands has caused more burden on the lives of poor Sierra Leoneans. They argue that for President Bio to continue enjoying the confidence and trust of the masses, he should think of replacing Dr. Turad Senessie, who has been demonstrating ego, disrespect and bully against peaceful citizens. They claimed that the Minister has succeeded in taking away their lands in areas like Angola Town, Tokeh, No. 2 and many places within Freetown, under the pretext of reclaiming state lands. This blatant disregard for private ownership of land by the Minister has not gone down well with land owners, and the sale of the said dispossessed lands to the highest bidder has gone to confirm the view that it is simply a business venture at the expense of the dispossessed.

There are concerns from citizens that some of the lands now deemed to be state lands, have been originally acquired legally and lawfully by citizens over the past years, who have been paying taxes and other charges for same, yet the Minister took upon himself to have those lands dispossessed.

With wild rumor doing the rounds of a possible cabinet reshuffle anytime from now, there is growing calls for the Minister of Lands to be shown the exit door. This call is the cry of many Sierra Leoneans, who believe that Dr. Senessie’s tenure has caused more harm than good to the good intentions of the Bio government.