BY NED GAGAHE
Guadalcanal Province Premier Francis Sade is the first Premier of Guadalcanal to hold office for a full complete term of four years since 1985.
Former Premier the late Ezekiel Alebua came close to setting history however he managed to serve only three years.
Premier Sade came into power after the 2019 Provincial Elections. He won the Sahalu Ward in Northwest Guadalcanal Constituency.
Since 1985 the political landscape in the Guadalcanal province has been shrouded with lack of consistency often resulted in frequent motions of no confidence sometimes over insignificant matters.
This has negatively affected the service delivery in Guadalcanal Province over the past 30 years.
Premier Sade since taking over the helm of the Guadalcanal Provincial government has managed to established political stability through vibrant good governance practices.
When he entered office, the Guadalcanal Provincial Government has incurred a huge debt of more than SBD$30m.
Premier Sade also faced a lot of challenges during the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Despite these hardships, Premier Sade managed to reform Guadalcanal Provincial Government financially with a strong debt-servicing and revenue collections.
The current debt of the provincial government in the 2023 – 2024 FY is believed to be less than SBD$2M.
Premier Sade also does some reforms with the human resources and policy reforms.
Some of the key highlights of Premier Sade’s government achievements includes; paying off the remaining debt (less than $2 million from $28 million since 2003), strengthening the financial sector, implementing the 14 ordinances, delivering tangible services, emphasizing robust good governance practices, and addressing land related issues.
According to political analysts Sade’s example will undoubtedly lead to improved governance and political maturity in Guadalcanal.
Despite facing numerous challenges from the November Riot 2021, the global Pandemic and managed to survive attempts to overthrew him through motions of no confidence, Premier Sade is the first MPA for Sahalu ward that will be remembered as the first premier to serve a full term of four years in Guadalcanal Provincial politics.
This sets a historical precedent for future policymakers in Guadalcanal.
Meanwhile, Premier Sade’s Executive will continue as the caretaker government until the synchronous elections of both the provincial and national governments next year.
