Opposition, Ruling MPs Trade Blows in Parliament Over National Challenges

By Mo Hamad Kargbo

Sierra Leone’s Parliament opened the debate on President Julius Maada Bio’s address delivered at the State Opening of Parliament on August 7, 2025. The debate, which began on Monday, 13th October 2025, featured five Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) and the opposition All People’s Congress (APC). The discussions focused on key national issues, including drug abuse, education, infrastructure, national security, energy, and economic performance. The session exposed sharp partisan divisions but also echoed calls for unity and responsible governance.

Honourable Aruna P. Lakkoh (Tonkolili District, APC)
Honourable Aruna P. Lakkoh opened his debate by emphasizing the rampant drug crisis in Sierra Leone, refusing to localize the issue but framing it as a national emergency affecting youth nationwide. He highlighted the proliferation of substances like kush and tramadol, noting that regulations passed last year have failed to curb their impact. Honourable Lakkoh cited reports of over 200 kush-related deaths in this year alone, arguing that this signals a declining nation where the young generation is in peril and requires urgent support from Parliament and the executive.

Shifting to the President’s speech, Honourable Lakkoh critiqued page 31, paragraph 304, which portrays Sierra Leone as shaping its future regionally and globally, contrasting it with the grim reality of escalating drug issues. He pointed out increasing death rates, school dropouts, and loss of parental control, with drugs infiltrating secondary schools and even sales occurring there. Honourable Lakkoh urged Parliament to address this as a major concern for all Sierra Leoneans, stressing the absence of a clear strategy to combat the menace despite its widespread effects.

Honourable Lakkoh then referenced page 12, paragraph 103, questioning the government’s claims of providing technical training in mechanics, construction, hospitality, and welding to thousands of youth, as well as digital literacy programs for over 250 young women. Drawing from his interactions in Tonkolili District and other regions like Bo and Kono, he demanded specifics on who benefited, highlighting hundreds of youth under bridges engaging in drug use rather than empowerment programs. He argued that facilities like car washes, intended for youth empowerment, have instead become hubs for drug intake.

Finally, Honourable Lakkoh turned to page 7, paragraph 59, where the President describes youth as the heartbeat of Sierra Leone and commits to investing in their skills for prosperity. He contrasted this with the discovery of hundreds of corpses in Freetown streets over recent months, unrelated to any health emergency, calling it unprecedented since 1961. Urging non-partisan objectivity as suggested by the government business leader, Lakkoh warned that no one is safe from the drug menace and called for a national effort to address it before it destroys families and society.

Honourable Alex Rogers (Pujehun District, SLPP)
Honourable Alex Rogers focused his debate on national security and the rule of law, describing it as the bedrock of all themes in the President’s speech on page 28. He argued that without a secure environment, progress in other sectors like creation and development is impossible, emphasizing its global importance. Honourable Rogers diluted on the concept of national security, referencing paragraphs 284 and 277, which outline government reliance on political, economic, military power, and diplomacy to safeguard the state.

Honourable Rogers elaborated on the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces (RSLAF), established under Section 165 of the 1991 Constitution, highlighting their functions in securing the republic, preserving territorial integrity, and contributing to development. He praised the introduction of the tri-service structure Army, Navy, and Air Force as a landmark under the current government, including the establishment of the Defense Establishment Services (DES) for investments. Honoursble Rogers noted recent job advertisements in newspapers for DES operations and celebrated milestones like the appointment of the first female battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Alice Corrier from northern Sierra Leone, deployed in Pujehun.

Discussing RSLAF’s developmental role, Honourable Rogers highlighted investments in agriculture, such as a 500-acre cashew plantation in Port Loko visited by his defense committee. He mentioned upcoming initiatives for the military to produce uniforms and boots, underscoring pride in these advancements. Honourable Rogers also commended the leadership of the new Chief of Defense Staff, Brigadier General Idara, for these reforms.

Honpurable Rogers shifted to the Office of National Security (ONS) in paragraph 278, praising innovations like the early warning and rapid response mechanism, enacted by Parliament as an autonomous body under the President’s office. He lauded the formulation and launch of the national security strategy paper, a first in Sierra Leone and rare in Africa, as a responsible achievement enhancing intelligence and state protection without delving into sensitive details.

Honourable Daniel Amadu Bangura (Tonkolili District, APC)
Honourable Daniel Amadu Bangura began by thanking the President for his speech but positioned himself as a voice for disillusioned Sierra Leoneans, critiquing the divergence between rhetoric and reality under President Bio’s leadership. He referenced paragraph 36, where the President states no nation rises above its people’s equality, questioning national aspirations amid dashed hopes. Honourable Daniel. A. Bangura recalled the 2018 promise of free quality education as a flagship, giving hope to poor families, but argued it remains unfulfilled.

Focusing on education in paragraph 38 of the 2025 speech, Honourable Daniel. A. Bangura acknowledged the completion of over 1,500 classrooms as significant but insufficient when divided across 1,300 administrative sections, equating to minimal per-section allocation. He questioned if this met promises of primary schools per section, junior/senior schools per ward, and equipped labs per constituency, noting that even in Tonkolili’s Yonimabanta Chiefdom, home to the SLPP district chairman no schools benefit from the feeding program, urging the Speaker to intervene for these Sierra Leonean children.

Honourable Daniel Amadu Bangura then addressed infrastructure in paragraphs 141-152, praising the President’s words on roads connecting farmers, traders, and patients but lamenting Tonkolili’s reality. He highlighted the death-trap Mile 91 to Magburaka road, forcing patients via Masiaka, Lunsar, Makeni, to Magburaka Hospital. Honourable Daniel Amadu Bangura amplified cries from his people, feeling abandoned despite the road’s prior manageability.

On climate and water in paragraphs 87, 239, and 89, Honourable Daniel Amadu Bangura noted the urgent threat, extending condolences for rainy season tragedies and stressing access to clean water as a basic right. He warned of losing River Pampana and potentially River Rokel in Tonkolili host to Bumbuna hydro and vital for Freetown’s water due to illegal mining, calling for non-political national action to prevent catastrophe.

Honourable Ing. Fallah Tengbeh (Kailahun District, SLPP)

Honourable Ing. Fallah Tengbeh thanked President Bio for a magnanimous speech, extending appreciation from the Kissi people and all Sierra Leoneans for advancing the nation. He described the address as a ledger of delivery and blueprint for transformation, covering agriculture, electricity, roads, education, and economy. Honourable Tengbeh asserted facts cannot be ignored, with seeds bearing fruit in agriculture, light replacing darkness in energy, and roads connecting destinies to the international community.

Honourable Tengbeh highlighted agricultural policies yielding $15 million in foreign exchange savings and a 20% rice price drop in 2025, with three operational rice mills stabilizing the economy. He praised strengthened national security and addressed the Yenga issue, assuring patience as diplomacy progresses, with President Bio vowing not to cede an inch to Guinea. Honourable Tengbeh emphasized the government’s super achievements, including ongoing water infrastructure projects in Freetown.

As an electrical engineer, Honourable Tengbeh focused on energy, stating no nation prospers in darkness and that energy is vital for hospitals, schools, and industrialization. He critiqued the APC’s legacy of only 25% electricity access in 2018 at 130 megawatts, contrasting it with the current 270 megawatts and the Mission 300 compact aiming to transform Sierra Leone. Referencing paragraphs 128-129, he noted generation capacity doubling and future quadrupling through compacts like MCC, benefiting all constituencies including rural farmers.

On the economy, Honourable Tengbeh lauded transformations from a battered state in 2018, with inflation dropping from 54.5% to 7.9%, revenue exceeding targets by $5 billion in 2024, and a 14.6% increase in 2025. He highlighted rebounding growth, strategic investments in roads and energy for prosperity, and a 56% rise in petroleum imports to 250,000 metric tons per paragraph 109. Honourable Tengbeh concluded that history remembers transformations, affirming the SLPP’s delivery in education and beyond.

Honourable Mohamed Alpha Jalloh (Falaba District, APC)

Honourable Mohamed Alpha Jalloh expressed disgruntlement from Falaba and Koinadugu Districts over neglect, focusing on paragraph 151’s emphasis on roads as central to transformation, reducing disparities, and boosting activities. He questioned why these districts are cut off due to the unreconstructed Makeni-Kabala road, despite its lifeline role, asking if their people deserve progress and opportunities amid ignored calls from stakeholders.

Honourable Alpha Jalloh detailed a recent bus incident carrying 80 passengers, including women and children, nearly ending tragically due to poor roads, noting reduced vehicle availability and trips now taking over four hours instead of one. He lamented the shame of the government presiding over such isolation, feeling the people are neglected.

Shifting to water, Honourable Alpha Jalloh referenced the 2018 promise in paragraph 112 to restore pipe-borne water in every district headquarters, calling it unfulfilled after eight years. He highlighted the nearly 90% complete Musaia Waterworks Project stalled at 10% remaining, dubbing the government “tok and lie” rather than “talk and do.”

Honourable Alpha Jalloh appealed for the $105 million livestock funding in paragraph 19 to revive the Musaia Livestock Project for milk, cheese, and meat production, noting daily tea consumption creates a huge market. Finally, he questioned fiscal performance in paragraphs 201-202, where revenue rose 14.6% but MDAs, institutions, and schools lack allocations, probing violations of the Appropriation Act’s “use it or lose it” clause and demanding clarity on unissued funds.

Honourable Musa Lahai (Kailahun District, SLPP)
Honourable Musa Lahai thanked President Bio for his August 7, 2025, speech,4 narrowing his presentation to economy, security, water, and proportional representation. On the economy amid challenges, he noted a 4% GDP increase in 2024 from agriculture, mining, manufacturing, and services, with inflation declining from 55% to 13.8% in 2024 and 7.1% in June 2025 per paragraphs 106 (2024) and 178 (2025), crediting open market operations and petroleum importation.

Honourable Lahai explained open market rice importation beyond CTC, coupled with Feed Salone, reduced bag prices from NLe1,000 to NLe650, expecting further drops. For petroleum, increased storage allowed more players beyond NP and Total, lowering fuel from NLe30 to NLe25, anticipating more reductions in 2026-2027.

On security, Honourable Lahai stressed peace’s necessity, thanking the sector and noting RSLAF’s shift to productivity under Bio. Referencing 2024 speech paragraph 74, he highlighted RSLAF’s registration as a public liability company for commercial activities, and paragraph 29 (Roman VII) on their Feed Salone role for self-sufficiency. He praised the tri-service transition per 2025 paragraph 284, offering career opportunities and preventing self-interested misuse.

For water, Honourable Lahai noted heavy investments, with Guma Valley completing Babadorie Dam and Nile Reservoir, progressing distribution in Regent, Imatt, and others, expecting completion by Q1 2026. SALWACO installs 100 solar boreholes provincially. On proportional representation, he advocated it to reduce “winner-takes-all” tension, include more parties for democracy, and support Bio’s objectives, urging its acceptance for inclusive governance and development continuity.

Honourable Mariama Bangura (Western Urban District, APC)
Honourable Mariama Bangura thanked the President and team for their work but structured her debate on the 3 Game Changers and proposed PR system. On Feed Salone, she noted its constitutional duty per Section 7(1)(c) for economic activity, agriculture emphasis, and food self-sufficiency, linking food to the right to life. While happy with the premium, she questioned affordability amid NLe800 minimum wage and scarcity.

Honourable Mariama Bangura critiqued diversification to eggs, wondering accessibility in rural areas like Golantunkiah, suggesting alternatives like gari or plantain, whose costs rival rice. She stressed food as a duty, not favour, and moved to human capital development, urging rehabilitation centers over skills training amid widespread drug addiction in homes, schools, and universities.

Honourable Mariama Bangura called drug abuse a pandemic, with youth the nation’s heart in limbo, demanding well-paid anti-drug teams and monitoring, as low pay enables corruption. She questioned visible jobs beyond Clean Salone, noting underage boys’ exclusion, and critiqued the 5,000 youth jobs as invisible.

On PR, Honourable Mariama Bangura labeled it a de facto one-party system, recalling Bio’s fight against APC’s one-party rule via NPRC for multi-party democracy. She cited contentious 2018 and 2023 elections, urging genuine power-sharing per Constitution Section 61, resisting cunning returns to one-party rule. Concluding, she overemphasized drugs, calling for professional rehabs to rehabilitate youth before skills training.

Honourable Mohamed Alpha Jabbie (Falaba District, SLPP)

Honourable Mohamed Alpha Jabbie thanked the President for his excellent August 7, 2025, speech and corrected opposition claims, clarifying the Makeni-Fadugu road by Tijerol and Fadugu-Kabala by CSE, not as stated. He noted the Kamabai layover ended near ex-President Koroma’s mother’s area, and defended unfinished classrooms as the president term has three years left.

Honourable Jabbie addressed school feeding, noting NLe190 million to Plan International, $2 million to WFP, and donations from China (2,000 metric tons rice) and India, targeting marginalized chiefdoms. He emphasized education’s role in economic development, drawing from Singapore’s model under Lee Kuan Yew, which propelled it ahead despite no resources, focusing on human capital.

Honourable Jabbie argued pre-2018 education was “rubbish,” with leaders demonizing Fourah Bay College by poaching lecturers for politics, frustrating remaining staff and driving exodus. He praised Bio’s 2018 free quality education declaration for laying a foundation like Singapore’s for progress.

Honourable Jabbie concluded by reiterating education’s foundational importance, without which nations cannot advance, and urged recognition of the President’s purposeful adoption from successful models to build Sierra Leone’s economic future.

Honourable Mahmoud Kamara (Western Urban District, APC)

Honourable Mahmoud Kamara appreciated the President’s comprehensive address, emphasizing national aspirations beyond party lines for democracy and inclusive governance. He urged the SLPP to transcend partisanship and address proportional representation concerns, noting many communities lack directly elected representatives, undermining accountability and trust.

Honourable Mahmoud stressed representation as democracy’s foundation, warning exclusion erodes bonds and risks instability. He critiqued the ineffective 2024 drug emergency per paragraph 108’s last sentence on enforcement and borders, contrasting optimism with rising dead bodies, swollen youth, and failing law enforcement.

Honourable Mahmoud demanded modern rehabilitation centers nationwide, empowering families, schools, and communities for prevention, and targeting drug profiteers to save the nation, as youth are its future. On Feed Salone, he admired paper achievements like 8% rice production increase and 20% cost decrease but questioned reality for low earners spending NLe750 on rice amid high local prices versus imports.

Honourable Mahmoud highlighted inaccessible local rice despite operational mills, then addressed health, saddened by Lumley’s 90,000+ population relying on a deplorable three-bedroom hospital despite 43,000 voters. He questioned investments excluding the unfinished 100-bed Lumley hospital, calling quality healthcare a right, and advised relocating the overhead bridge to hazardous Juba barracks area.

Honourable Musa Fofanah (Kono District, SLPP)
Honourable Musa Fofanah blamed past governments for issues now attributed to the six-year SLPP rule, shifting to energy and critiquing a 2015 speech promising 1,000 megawatts by 2017, yet only 15% access in 2018 per Midterm Plan. He praised rising to 36% and nearly 270 megawatts, despite vandalism like Koinadugu’s 60% transformer loss.

Honourable defended Feed Salone, contrasting past unfulfilled promises like 7.7% agricultural funding in 2012, 69,000 farmers in 2015, and 42,000 in 2016 with current progress, including Tomabom irrigation and rice prices dropping to NLe510 from near NLe1,000, aligning with SDGs.

On infrastructure, Honourable Fofanah highlighted page 15’s focus, noting completed bridges like Senehu, Tonparay, Bandajuma, and Kenema, plus ongoing Kailahun-Koidu construction. He emphasized strategic nationwide road developments in under seven years as unprecedented.

Honourable Fofanah concluded on water, praising Guma’s million-liter stainless tanks for reserves, expansions after 50 years, and pipeline installations for household access in Western Area, hoping for widespread improvements and concluding the government is delivering despite criticisms.