President receives honorary degree ahead of elections

Last Friday, three months ahead of presidential elections, incumbent president Julius Maada Bio received an honorary doctorate from Njala University in Sierra Leone for what the heads of the university described as “his outstanding demonstration through his public service and leadership, and for also infusing the country with a renewed and revitalised sense of purpose”, writes Abdul Rashid Thomas for The Sierra Leone Telegraph.

Critics of the president and political observers say that universities should stay out of politics in order not to compromise the principles of impartiality and public trust in their work.

The citation for the conferment of the degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt), Honoris Causa, reads: “The university notes Your Excellency’s outstanding record of public service as a brave soldier; a daring patriot who initiated peace and a pluralist democracy after a generation of repressive autocratic rule; as a visionary and transformational leader over the last five years; and, as a key driver of irreversible, inclusive and sustainable progress in Sierra Leone.”
Full report on The Sierra Leone Telegraph site