Former Minister of Tourism and Publicity Secretary under the All People’s Congress (APC) then government, Sidie Yahya Tunis has criticised President Julius Maada Bio for failing to travel with members of the APC party at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

In an interview with Radio Democracy, Tunis asked that President Bio should replicate his predecessor, Ernest Bai Koroma who, he said, used to travel with members of the then opposition Sierra Leone People’s  Party (SLPP) on official trips.

“When president Ernest koroma was in power when here were sighting trips, he carried people from the opposition,” Tunis stated.

“How many APC Parliamentarians went with President Bio to the United States?” he enquired.

He affirmed that people should not draw example from Mohamed Bangura who the APC party consider as a betrayer.

“If he goes well that fine, but let me say this, we all know what is the position when it comes to hon Mohamed in the APC party,” he said.

The former minister said that the opposition members in parliament are there to present people and that Bio should send an invite to them when travelling. According to Tunis, that is what “responsible” countries do. He said that to his knowledge, no APC parliamentarian has ever travelled with Bio’s multiple trips overseas.

Sierra Leone’s President Bio is facing increasing pressure from some citizens especially supporters of the opposition party for his multiple oversea trips since he took over as president in 2018. This recent interview with Tunis was greeted with mixed feeling from some grassroot members of his party who hold the opinion that the president’s trips are waste of the country’s resources.