OPINION
SALONE IN 2025:
DRUGS, HARDSHIP, DISGRACE, MORE…
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
As the year 2025 began in Sierra Leone, so it is ending with a bloated wage bill amid a heavy debt burden, high inflationary trends, poor electricity and water supplies, weak health system, high cost of living, and many more social woes. Sierra Leoneans have endured dire socioeconomic circumstances, and 2026 is signalling its emergence without any renewed hope of seeing an end to the sad state of affairs.
2025 saw the highly respected career auditors, Mrs Lara Taylor-Pearce, and Tamba Momoh, officially terminated from service as Auditor-General and Deputy Auditor-General, respectively, after being hanged on an indefinite suspension since 2021. The journalist, Melvin Tejan Mansaray, who reported the parliamentary voting process and procedure that removed the duo from office as “illegal” and “improper”, was indefinitely banned from accessing the premises of parliament on alleged flimsy grounds of malicious reporting. The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) condemned the ban and called for its swift reversal, but Speaker of the House, Sengepoh Thomas, maintained it, citing receipt of several complaints from Members of Parliament across party lines about the journalist’s “malicious” reporting to mislead the public on the Auditor’s issue.
In 2025, Sierra Leone got the harshest experience in the history of its diplomatic mission and international relations. An ambassador was put under house arrest by the Guinean authorities, who discovered in his diplomatic vehicle a cache of cocaine while being smuggled into that country. This incident and the subsequent rampant arrests of Sierra Leonean drug traffickers around the world places the country on the international spotlight, now being classed a narco state. The worse came when it was unearthed that a drug criminal of international fame, Jos Leijddekers—badly wanted by Dutch authorities— was harboured in Sierra Leone, and enjoying high-level state protection. With all requests for his extradition seemingly proving futile, critics say it has the tendency to taint the diplomatic ties between the two nations.
While other countries have passed anti-terrorism laws to counter the negative impacts of terrorism on human rights, liberty, physical integrity, and the entire societies, the Counter Terrorism Bill that the Bio government passed into law contains sections and clauses that criminalize free speech, academic freedom, free press, opposition and dissent. Critics say it did not come in a vacuum, it was designed at a time when the nation was not in any way threatened by terroristic activities as a tool to violate individual privacy, silence critical voices, political opponents and their family members—move to replace democracy with dictatorship.
Hawa Madiana Hunt, Reality TV star of Sierra Leonean-Canadian nationality was arraigned by the Inspector General of Police for allegedly sending insulting messages via her Facebook account against the First Lady. The defence lawyer termed the matter a blatant abuse of Hunt’s right by “frivolous, malicious and vexatious charges.”
The Julius Maada Bio-led government became broke and debt-ridden in 2025 more than any other time of his presidency. Donor lethargy was evident and escalating amid a poor local revenue mobilisation. The thin coffers of the state would be incessantly drained for foreign presidential trips that made no substantial returns, making the provision of basic services for the people an uphill task. The much touted rebranding of the country from these trips also fared no better while the financial gaps remained. Attempts by the government to mitigate its lack by harsh Financial Acts—hiking taxes and tariffs—did not help the situation either. It only plunged the people into more suffering and impoverishment because salaries remained fixed.
President Bio himself repeatedly said it loud and clear that he cannot change the status of Sierra Leone into the better, citing democratic tenets and norms—an indictment that his government is not only a hater of democracy but it’s not fit for purpose. No wonder, one could count the numerous failures of his administration across all sectors without ending shortly.
The Paopa government was to face the reality of its corrupt nature when stripped naked of receiving from China a rice gift of over 1,114 metric tonnes (21 ships). Why the authorities decided to keep sealed lips over this gift to Sierra Leoneans left tongues to wag and suspicion of corruption to run wild, especially as the price of a bag of rice kept rising to the ceilings— almost sold NLe1,000 in Freetown but more than that in the provinces.
In real time, Sierra Leone remains embarrassingly at the low webs of global rankings and indexes, and overwhelmed by drug trafficking and money laundering scandals—a transshipment point from South America/Asia to Europe and the United States. Sierra Leoneans were rampantly arrested with drugs across borders while internally the youthful population has been devastated. Youngsters of both sexes have been firmly seized by the use of kush, tramadol and other varieties of addictive substances, leaving them roaming the streets like zombies, and have to visit the dump sites only to make a daily meal—a lost generation without any hope for the future.
A report by the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) flagged corruption as a pervasive problem in Sierra Leone. The Police force remained compromised, and the justice system inefficient and backlogged. At the country’s main revenue generation hub, NRA, systemic looting of state finances was rife, with top officials implicated in a sophisticated web of fraudulent transactions. Several billions of revenues accumulated from tax and customs were diverted from the national treasury into the accounts of individuals involved in the special syndicate, directly injuring the socioeconomic welfare of vulnerable citizens.
Sierra Leone continues to face significant governance challenges rooted in longstanding institutional and political dynamics. Corruption remains a critical challenge to sustainable development, and continuous informal practices, politicized appointments, and elitism have undermined the independence and effectiveness of key institutions and oversight bodies. Here is Sierra Leone where members of the opposition in Parliament would expose the existence of ghost workers in the very Parliament without anything coming out of it.
Albeit reports of passing Millennium Corporation Compact (MCC) indicators, it must be emphasized that Bio’s Paopa administration has fallen short in nearly every critical sector of governance, making itself a regime of broken promises. These MCC passes are out of touch with the reality on the ground.
Meanwhile, plans have been hatched to not just divide the capital city Freetown into three municipalities, but instituting power sharing and the proportional representation in Sierra Leone’s governance system—moves to override real democratic governance and hold on to power.
As we went to press last night, confirmed reports were rife about the expanded U.S. travel ban. This means effective 1 January, 2026, Sierra Leoneans will be blocked from entering the U.S.
Sierra Leone was previously under partial restrictions, but it has now been placed on the full travel ban list under the new proclamation. By January 1, 2026, therefore, Sierra Leonean nationals outside the United States who do not have a valid visa will no longer be able to obtain any. Even students seeking F‑1, M‑1, or J‑1 visas (study, exchange, vocational) will face bans if they are outside the U.S. without valid visas. Though some exemptions exist for green card holders, diplomats, athletes for major events, they are limited and narrowly defined. Those Sierra Leoneans with valid U.S. visas may still be allowed to enter the U.S. but enhanced screening could still apply.
Whatever might have been the reason(s) for the expanded ban, Sierra Leoneans have been adversely affected. Many planning to visit family, work, or migrate to the United States will face significant barriers and delays. Even students who want to study in U.S. universities and colleges, including family visits, cultural exchanges, and business travel between Sierra Leone and the U.S. may be severely restricted.
Worse still, the ban could be as a setback for bilateral relations, especially given development partnerships and investment ties between the two countries. And this is happening under Maada Bio’s presidency despite assuring the people of rebranding the image of their country by numerous expensive international voyages.