By Joseph S. Margai
The Groove 106FM has learnt that the Sierra Leonean Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Bangura, has been barred from partaking in public discussion on behalf of government because of his encounter with Sierra Leone People’s Party’s (SLPP) Jacob Jusu (JJ) Saffa in recent Radio Democracy’s “Gud Monin Salone” program.
According to our sources, the government accused Mr. Bangura of being unable to articulate the issues of government very well as he allowed the opposition party representative to ridicule him and by extension the ruling All People’s Congress (APC)-government on public media.
JJ Saffa had claimed that there had been a problem with regards the award of contracts for road construction. He claimed that officials of government would just sit in the northern city of Makeni and award contracts instead of going through competitive bidding processes, thereby calling for a transparent bidding process of road contracts.
JJ Saffa also claimed that when it comes to the construction and rehabilitation of roads, the government selects where roads should be constructed or rehabilitated.
He cited the roads in Kenema city as a mess, and major roads leading to district headquarters are terrible, noting that the road from Bo city to Mattru Jong in southern Sierra Leone is in bad shape.
“Take a look at the road from Moyamba junction to Moyamba town, which is a district headquarter town of Moyamba District. There is an uneven distribution of road construction projects in the country,” he said.
JJ Saffa claimed that in the process of constructing road, US$28m ECOWAS-funded Fiber Optic lines have been destroyed and government has not replaced them.
Mohamed Bangura in that radio program instead of responding to the issue of the toll road contract and other issues raised by JJ Saffa, said, “If JJ Saffa has any problem in the cost and implementation of the toll road’s contract, he must take it to the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).”
Asked how much government has spent on the construction of roads in the country, the Information Minister could not tell but instead he claimed that government has spent a lot of money.
He said every district headquarter towns has good road but said the size of the district is determined when it comes to the allocation of kilometers to those towns.
According to sources, the Information Minister’s response shows that he could not represent the voice of the government very well and which was why he was barred from public discussions.
However, Presidential Spokesman, Abdulai Bayraytay, said the allegation is 100% false, saying that he has the right to speak on behalf of government issues and that is why he continues to enjoy the confidence of President Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma.
Minister of Information and Communications, Mohamed Bangura, told our Correspondent in a telephone interview that the allegation is misleading.
“I was just going to AYV television when I received a call from the presenter that the program has been postponed. I don’t know where people are getting such information. If President Koroma is not happy with me, he would have sacked me, but I’m still in my office,” he said.
