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Former Minister and political commentator Dr. Sylvia Olayinka Blyden has publicly challenged Presidential Press Secretary Yusuf Keketoma Sandi over his recent claim that the Bio administration has constructed 23 bridges since 2018, surpassing the number built during the 11-year tenure of the previous All People’s Congress (APC) government.
In a series of social media responses, Dr. Blyden disputed Mr. Sandi’s assertion, arguing that several of the bridges listed were legacy projects initiated under former President Ernest Bai Koroma and funded by the European Union as part of the Trans-West African Coastal Highway .
“The Moa River Bridge is an APC legacy that was part of the major bridges built in the Southern Province as part of the EU-funded Trans-West African Coastal Highway that was granted to Sierra Leone due to the leadership of President Ernest Bai Koroma,” Dr. Blyden wrote. “The current President, H.E. Bio, merely commissioned an APC legacy.”
She made similar claims regarding the Waanje Bridge, the Sewa Bridge, the Magbele (PC Adikali Modu II) Bridge, the Kobolo-Gulama Bridge, the Atlantic-Juba Bridge, and the Sengbe Pieh Bridge, asserting that all were APC-era projects completed under the Bio administration.
Dr. Blyden also took issue with Mr. Sandi’s inclusion of smaller infrastructure, suggesting that some items on the list were culverts rather than bridges. “If we list culverts, APC built scores of them,” she stated. “Me alone, got President Koroma to build THREE solid culverts to reopen the Buedu to Liberia Highway in Kissi Tongi Chiefdom.”
Responding to Dr. Blyden’s criticisms, Mr. Sandi defended the government’s record, stating that some projects had been mismanaged under the previous administration. “The project was on ‘life support machine’ after APC badly mismanaged it. We took over, gave enough oxygen and President Bio commissioned it,” he wrote.
The exchange follows Mr. Sandi’s original post on 20th June 2026, which listed 23 bridges including the newly commissioned Manowa Bridge in Kailahun District. That bridge, along with three others, was constructed under the World Bank-supported Smallholder Commercialisation and Agribusiness Development Project (SCADeP).
The Sierra Leone Roads Authority has previously stated that the government has overseen the construction or rehabilitation of over 56 bridges between 2018 and 2025. However, the Lungi Bridge, a major campaign promise from President Bio’s 2018 manifesto, was notably absent from the list of completed projects.
