Concord Times (Freetown)
Ibrahim Seibure and Tanu Jalloh
25 August 2008
interview
Concord Times' Ibrahim Seibure and Tanu Jalloh recently called on former president Alhaji Dr Ahmed Tejan Kabbah at his Juba Hill residence in Freetown to talk on a couple of things.
The interview session was largely confined to his life after active politics and some of his achievements while he was still president. From peace building to infrastructural development to his relationship with his party to his favourite past time the meeting also looked at his international commitment in recent times.
Q: Dr. Kabbah since you left power what have you been doing?
Ans: I have been preoccupied with reorganizing my life because during my tenure I gave almost all my time in running the affairs of the state. Since the election I turned my attention to my family and my personal affairs. And also, I have been responding to various requests internationally for me to share my experience with other countries in resolving either some of their problems or planning strategies for future development of their countries.
Q: you took two consecutive terms as President what were the most memorable times you had?
Ans: Well in the first place I should let people know that I was very reluctant to get involved in active politics. After 22 years in the United Nations system, I came home to retire and my wife followed about a year later. So, our intention was to concentrate on the affairs I have mentioned already. But there was a lot of pressure on me to accept the leadership of my party in a pending election.
I have to accommodate a lot of talking even to the point that my late wife reminded me of some discussions that took place in New York between myself, herself and a very good friend of mine, the former secretary general of UN Kofi Annan and a British colleague. We all agreed that we will not involve in politics after our retirement.
But with the pressure I considered very seriously that I owe something to my country and that my country through the important people who had approached me to vie for the leadership of my party. I decided that if my country needs me I should go along. I remember very clearly discussing this with my late wife, when I got to that stage, on the phone from New York. She laughed about it and I assumed she had agreed for me to go ahead. And two weeks after she arrived, she saw a lot of political activists here packed with people and then she said to me I thought we had agreed to stay out of politics. And I said I thought we discussed it and agreed so she responded positively.
And then she said alright don't disappoint your people. She said you carry on with your politicking I shall pack up my things and move out of the house, when you finished with your politicking I will come back home.
Well, one of the people that really finally pushed me into getting involved is a schoolmate of mine, Arch Bishop Ganda. So, I went to him and said Jose you were one of those who encouraged me to go ahead with this and I have given a nod, but I don't have a wife any more. He laughed and of course his family relation with my wife's family relations was good and strong and also my wife was a Catholic so he was able to clear that problem for me.
When my wife decided to come onboard, she came fully with all the imagination, experience and energy sew could muster. She was a real help for me. For the rest of the things in my campaign message to the people of Sierra Leone at that time when I was endorsed as chairman of the party. Really, the promise I made to the people was that I will do everything to end the war; I will create the opportunity for people of Sierra Leone realize their potential. Because I noticed the massive poverty and I felt that this perhaps was the root cause of the war at that time. It was a very difficult time in terms of security of the country.
So, I campaigned on that ticket and I won the elections. In fact in the first few weeks of my becoming president I flew from here to Abidjan to talk to the rebels there. We went and we were able to sign an agreement and the RUF reneged on it to the extent that we even lost some help that was to come from the UN by way of UN observers. But I didn't give up. I continued until we signed the Lome Peace Agreement. And even after that it was not easy to get the rebels to comply with all the provisions of that agreement.
So in the area of the type of destruction that the country had gone through, the war, our infrastructure was completely damage. Major bridges destroyed; highways destroyed; hospital burnt down even religious institutions like churches. You don't have to go too far opposite Annie Walsh School and by Bombay Street junction. What happened to those two churches? But that was what happened throughout our country. So, the financial position of the country...oh oh oh we were minus.
In every country you have to keep a proportion of your earnings. In convertible currencies so that you can import things at that time we were minus at about 16% we had no money we work hard and we built up a decent economy where we were able to pay salaries at the end of the month we started building up infrastructure we built so many schools, so many hospital even Connaught Hospital in Freetown and the PCMH hospital. We arranged a colossal amount of money to be spent rehabilitate those ones.
In the area of education we found out that the girl child in both the north and the east of the country...their education was not a priority. What the parents were concerned about was that their children should grow up and do some street trading and then get married. We tried to create opportunities for them to go to school and to be able to manage the economy in such a way that particularly in those two areas - the north and the east. We paid their school fees, bought uniforms, books all these were paid for including their examinations fees.
We extended this to the tertiary institutions. You see there are times when people start off their tertiary education they get only to the Bachelors level, diploma level and they don't have enough money because they don't go overseas for further education. So, we tried to create institutions so that people in the major areas of this country would have access to higher education. We decided to set up a second university since Njala was a university college. It became a full university. There are the Eastern and Northern Polytechnics and there is another institution in Bo. In fact for the very first time a university convocation took place in Bo because of the facilities that have been created in those areas. I can go on and on and on.
Q: With all what you have said people accused your government of been corrupt and that was why people voted against your party; what do you have to say about that?
Ans: In the first place the question of corruption was endemic in this country. To mention the word corruption was a taboo. You mention somebody is corrupt they will lock you up or dispose of you. That is what it was here and I was able to beg the British, they didn't want to get involved but I begged them so that we can set up the Anti Corruption Commission. Now, it was being managed by people who didn't see anything wrong with corruption here. And therefore some of them made mistakes. Even the British that were really helping us with this some of the things they were doing were not quite in the interest of the country. Take for example they made a public pronouncement that one stage that they were going to give us money to buy one fixed wing aircraft and three helicopters. They announced it but we never received them. We kept writing reminding them but people were expecting to see that we had those assets. That never happened.
Well politics got dragged into this whole thing, the ACC thing that people will push for certain people to be prosecuted. Others had a field-day but the whole thing about really fighting corruption was not just to arrest somebody and lock up in jail or sack people. One way to avoid it, and that's what these developed countries did, was to create the opportunities in the country for people to reflect and say no corruption is not good. Take for example, to be in a situation where people work for the whole month and then they have to wait for two or three months to takes their salaries and they have families to take care of, you can imagine what happens in that situation. For somebody to spend all his life in the government service, may be even at the senior level, occupying government quarters and they were given two weeks to vacate it because you've either reached the retirement age or you have fired for one reason or the other.
Because of these difficulties people retiring don't have enough money to save for their retirement and they don't have a home to live. That is why based on my own experience in the UN and since I became President to the last day in my office the government of Sierra Leone did not pay single penny for my health. I have what we called After Service Health Insurance policy with the UN where I can go to any part of the world for any sickness that I have and the United Nations will pay. I have a decent pension paid to me in dollars very month automatically which I can live with comfortably in any part of the world. It is just because of love for country, that's why I am here.
These were the factors that convinced me to bring in the National Social Security and Insurance Trust (NASSIT). In fact when President Koroma and I met for the first time after his inauguration, I asked him I said pleased whatever you do encourage people in that institution to continue, and where possible enlarge it to meet the needs of the people. These people are there they do not have where to sleep and then because they are old they don't have anything to eat they have to go and beg in the streets. And people who jobs are not earning enough for them to move on. These were the types of things that I should myself concentrate on to really rebuild our country. Get rid of poverty as much as possible and let these people who have been appointed to manage the ACC for them to go ahead and do their job.
Q: Do you think the fight against corruption is on course?
Ans: To be frank with you I do not like to be unfair to people. You see, I see myself as an elder statesman here. I promise myself that I will not make any statement that may appear to be a political statement, unless I have had the opportunity to study the issues or to discuss it with those involved, particularly the government, before I go to the press.
I have kept out of the day-to-day running of government. And I think if I were to do that I will be undermining the state. Sierra Leoneans whatever problems we have we should identify them and try and resolve them. For example, this morning from my own party, they were saying they will never go to the state house again. I have taken upon myself to discuss with them that look if it is for their security that is why they have problems of going there that I believe that we should find a way to get the government provide that security for them. Because the head of state is there and he is the highest authority in the country and if there is a problem they are concerned about, they should discuss it with him, bring the problem to his attention and find a solution and not keep away, waiting for the next election coming about five or six years time.
Q: What is your take on the local council election that was conducted?
Ans: My position that I have decided that I am going to be an elder statesman. And to be an elder statesman put yourself in the position where you can be looked upon as impartial. But that does mean that I am not a member of a party. The only party I have ever joined in my life is the SLPP and I have made statements that I will continue to be SLPP until I die. But that does not mean that I should go about making public pronouncements, one way or the other, about political issues.
Q: What is your take on the present administration?
Ans: Again I have told you...
Q: But what do you have to say about Concord Times?
Ans: Concord Times with this programme this plan that you have I think is a good one. I hope we shall all listen very carefully and learn from it and move the professional journalism forward in this country.
Q: Which sauce do you like best?
Ans: (laughs) oh oh oh 'peela' in Mende
Q: What do you do as a past time?
Ans: Well I like reading and I spend a lot of my time to be well informed about what is going on. We have a global village and I believe that you can get that feeling of belonging to the global village if you really get all the skills about getting all the information that you need from the internet. There is a lot of information there.
Q: So do you go jogging, at east once on a while?
I have an exercise machine right in my bedroom. Some bicycle thing and I have another one that helps me. You know don't I look young? I am 76 years of age... (laughs). 76 years of age is lot of years and I thank God I feel strong. And I have a swimming pool here which is also very good things.
Q: What is the relationship with your former Vice President?
Ans: It is fine but please I beg you don't get me involved in things I will have to go and start opening up all over again.
Q: Do you stay with your family here?
Ans: Yes, my children some of them are overseas. My daughter is married to a research scientist and she herself has got a science degree. There is another boy who was teaching pilot in New York. I am trying to see how I can get them to come and help.
Q: How many do you have?
Ans: I have up to five, 3 boys.
Q: So how does it feel to come back after running up and down as a President?
Ans: As a statesman I want to see myself as someone who brings people together; who helps to sustain and solidify the peace that we have all worked so hard for. This is very important.
Q: You spoke about the British not been helpful in terms of promises they made, so what is you take on British involvement in Sierra Leone?
Ans: There is a big section on that in my book that deals with the British relationship.
Q: So what is the major issue that you dealt with in the book?
Ans: I am giving the whole history of my life; when I was born and what I have done and what I did in managing the war; the problem with the rebels; those countries that helped us bring about peace and all the rest of it.
Q: Is it going to be your first major publication
Ans: Yes.
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