Amidst Sierra Leone’s economic tempest, the proposed Finance Bill of 2024 reads like a recipe for financial turbulence, with taxes swirling around staples like rice, gas, cement, and iron rods.

It’s as if the ship of our economy is being steered into stormy waters by those who should be guiding us safely towards the ‘New Direction,’ prosperity, and the much-talked-about Feed Salone Plan.

Rice, the bedrock of many Sierra Leonean meals, is now under the taxing gaze of the government.
In a country where more than half the population struggles to put food on the table, this move seems as sensible as dancing in a thunderstorm.
Chief Minister Dr. David Sengeh might soon advise us to savor each grain of rice with newfound wisdom, as he recently suggested on his Facebook page to use our data wisely.

The Finance Bill 2024 paints a vivid picture of tough choices. Instead of trimming the excesses from the government’s expenditure — flying to Saudi for conference which the hosts have postponed, the V8 Toyota Land-cruisers, the free fuel allocations, the rapid political appointments to bloat the wage bill, and the perks that seem to float around the political class like confetti—the decision was made to heap more tax woes on the already burdened citizens.

In this financial drama, President Bio faced a crossroads: protect the privileges of the political elite or alleviate the tax misery on the poor. The choice, unfortunately, seems to be taxing the pockets of those who can at least afford it. We find ourselves teetering on an economic cliff edge, praying for salvation from above.

The Finance Bill unveils a tale of government indifference, where tax hikes rain down disparately on the masses already grappling with their daily challenges. As the government calls for more from the people, a plea arises to plug the loopholes, reduce per diem, and combat corruption instead of squeezing the populace even tighter.

Sierra Leoneans, left to weather this fiscal storm, are in dire need of a silver lining. Perhaps in the humor of hardship, we can find solidarity in collectively navigating these choppy economic waters. God/Allah save us all as we strive to make sense of a Finance Bill that seems to tax our patience as much as our pockets.

All of this, is in the context of poor monetary economic policy, with no credible plan to take the old Leone out of circulation and to reverse its depreciation against other currencies, combined with very high interest rates for businesses, which is deepening the stagflation of the economy.