Concord Times (Freetown)
Kenday S. Kamara
27 January 2009
opinion
Freetown — To the majority of Sierra Leoneans who gave the All People's Congress (the party that encapsulated much of the character of the politics of fraction, penetration and contestation experienced under Siaka Stevens and Joseph Momoh from 1968 to 1992) a second chance following the presidential elections of September 2007, it was done in great anticipation and hope for change. Considering the history of Sierra Leone, the successful conduct of parliamentary and presidential elections in August and September 2007 was not a commonplace occurrence. Historically, transfer of authority as called for by the Constitution was not usually orderly. Sierra Leone democracy was known to change leaders with numerous challenges of rigging and violence. For the many Sierra Leoneans who stood up against the grossly incompetent incumbent (the Sierra Leone People's Party which for eleven years--from 1996 to 2007--hid under the shadow of the international community and remained a vehicle for corruption and injustice) that was determined to rig the elections; nothing less than a miracle happened.
Much was thus expected from President Koroma following this democratic victory in September 2007. But, over 480 days in power, Koroma has still to show an anxious nation that he is really committed to lead a political system which guarantees a fair and just society to a greater degree than any other. The business of the nation does not seem to be going as expected. What should have been a huge first step towards moving this country in the right direction is slipping away.
Inventory of Blunders
Today, just like the way things were in previous regimes, Sierra Leone is confronted with an economic affliction of great proportions. The government wants more and more money from international donors when it cannot harness and manage available resources and tax payers' contributions. The UNICEF representative in Sierra Leone, Geert Cappelaere, who is quite frustrated with the manner in which the health sector is managed and is cynical about the government's persistent calls for donor support explained in an IRIN report titled 'SIERRA LEONE: Children Dying But Hope Persists' that "more money is not a panacea. [What is amiss is that] Sierra Leone does not have enough people or systems in place to absorb and invest all the money allocated to healthcare. [The UNICEF health expert elaborated that,] in 2008 the government spent just half its health sector budget, partly because of not having basic financial systems in place. Systems,
infrastructure, the human resources are not always available to do what needs to be done. You may have lots of money but if you have no capacity to deliver it then you have a problem" (IRIN, 2009, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82400).
Again, Koroma's concern to improve and develop the water supply systems has not gotten anywhere. The Guma Dam's capacity has not been increased and the distribution system to ensure adequate water supply to all areas of the city (Wilberforce, Gloucester, Leicester Road, Kissy, Cline Town, and Wellington, among other areas, as promised in his inaugural address of October 5, 2007) has not been achieved. "Sierra Leoneans have seen no new investments in the rehabilitation of water purification and distribution infrastructure although donors have committed $35 million dollars of funding to this sector" (The New People Newspaper, 2009, http://www.thenewpeople.com/090117water.htm).
The country continues to suffer from the worst forms of corruption which distorts the government's economic decisions, penalizes thrift, and crushes the struggling young and the elderly alike. The corruption in Koroma's government threatens to sustain conditions of extreme poverty for millions of Sierra Leoneans. Koroma's 'zero tolerance' against corruption has no substance to it. There is no commitment to create jobs. Human misery and personal indignity is seen everywhere. Those who do work are sustained by petty corruption which keeps the nation from maintaining full productivity. For decades Sierra Leoneans have been misled by politicians, mortgaging the nation's future and the future of the country's children for the temporary convenience of their greed. To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political, and economic upheavals.
The administration seems to ignore as well the full extent of the gun crime epidemic sweeping the country, with official figures showing that gun-related killings and injuries have risen more than fourfold since the official end of the war in 2002. The main concern is that the deadly activities of armed robbers in the country and the growing number of 419ers and fraudsters are negatively impacting Sierra Leone's business environment. The country lacks good investigative policing and maintenance of law and order. The president should be embarrassed by public outcry over the corrupt practices of the command of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Within the past year, the media is awash with reports of the command of the CID using their offices to line their pockets while failing to investigate cases. The prosecution of cases is defined by the whim of the CID command whether a case is to be prosecuted or not. Therefore, police theft and
extortion, official impunity, arbitrary arrest and detention, and insufficient investigation of cases are commonplace occurrence (US Department of State, 2008, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100503.htm); more over, the country lacks a functioning criminal justice system to respond to either the drug trafficking problem or official corruption.
Within the past year, allegations of corruption have enveloped the president's ministers and State executives. In August 2008, the Awareness Times Newspaper did an extensive story detailing the alleged corrupt practices of Attorney General Serry-Kamal. The report described the attorney general a "wheeler dealer" who literally mortgaged Sierra Leone by issuing an 'irrevocable security bond' for a pay out of $25 million to the Lebanese merchant Mohamed Wanza for very questionable claims (Awareness Times, 2008, http://www.news.sl/drwebsite/publish/article_20059373.shtml). In spite of the weight of the allegations against the attorney general, no action is known to have been taken against him by the president. And despite Koroma's 'zero-tolerance' rhetoric, since taking office in September 2007 very few high-ranking officials have been brought before either the regular court or indicted for prosecution by the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC).
Even more alarming are the flawed monthly "capacity and energy" charges of approximately Le2.5 billion being paid to Income Electrix "when the company is only generating 2MW power for the East end of Freetown, when it is supposed to generate 10MW. Notwithstanding the Anti Corruption Commission investigation which reported a verdict of "flawed contract and recommendations made public, it is not known why the commission has refused to adopt the necessary action to correct the wrong and fraudulent contract" (Standard Times Press News, 2008, http://www.africanpath.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=6550).
Again, there is a conflict of interest when cabinet ministers and State executives are deeply engaged in gold and diamond mining. Vice President Sam Sumana, for instance, has been associated with the Mexivada Diamond Mining Company (SL) Limited ("MGD"), alluvial diamond mining deal in the Gbense Chiefdom where Mexivada is pursuing small scale rapid gold and diamond mining opportunities. When ministers and State executives who are the regulators are involved in private exploitation of gold and diamond, this conflict of interest will not guarantee optimal benefits to the people of Sierra Leone from the exploitation of the country's mineral resources. Standards of transparency and accountability are compromised. Not surprising "Sierra Leone's exports of [rough diamonds dropped from] 448,928 carats worth US$141.5 million in 2007 to 371,285 carats of diamonds in 2008 worth US$98 million, marking a fall of 31 percent, according to data from the country's
Ministry of Mineral Resources (MMR)" (Diamond Intelligence, 2009, https://www.diamondintelligence.com/magazine/magazine.aspx?id=7516). A clear separation of the roles of regulator and producer is necessary for the mining sector to guarantee optimal benefits.
Ministers and State executives, as individuals, can, by stealing public funds, live beyond their means, but for only a limited period of time (at the greater detriment of destroying a whole nation). Why, then, should they think that collectively, as a nation, they're not bound by that same limitation? People live in an illusion that the aim of life is to earn money by hook or crook. The aim of life should be not to make money but to bring about change. Constructing roads, building schools, hospitals and power plants, for instance, will bring about change. No matter how many millions public officials steal, one day they will all be gone leaving their millions behind. But the roads, the hospitals, the schools and the power plants and the change they bring about will stay on. And let there be no misunderstanding: Without the selfless commitment of political leaders and public servants to nation building, there is no hope for the nation of Sierra Leone.
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As a child born in Sierra Leone, I felt pain,as a boy growing up in the Diamond area of Tongofield,I felt pain and as a man now I'm still feeling the pain of poverty that most of my Sierra Leonean people are surrounded with. I felt pain, not because it was the worst country to be born in,but due to the fact that the Leaders of the Country at that time caredless for the well-being of the citizens. They allowed corruption to take control of all the good things that could have saved Sierra Leoneans from that mess-brink of untold… [Read Full Text]