“The country is not secure,” said Mohamed Jalloh yesterday as he made haste to shut down his store. This, he said, can only worsen the hardship that the people are already experiencing.
Panic and insecurity has hit Freetown with reverberations heard as far as the provinces. Yesterday, further gunshots and explosions that were heard coming from the Murray Town Wilberforce axis has added to the fear and insecurity that has gripped the country thereby making the suffering and hardship the people have been experiencing much worse.
The partial lockdown of shops and other businesses coupled with scant public and private commercial vehicle movements have created panic further causing great stress on the fragile economy, our social interaction, fear and a complete breakdown in trust that the situation will get better.
On the economic front, government has lost billions if not trillions of Leones that it could have collected in tax revenues from businesses.
Jalloh went on to state that “The obvious lack of security is killing whatever is left of our economy. November to December is the festive season when we expect to make plenty sales. Also this is the time we expect many people coming from the diaspora to visit. These people bring in a lot of foreign exchange that boosts our foreign exchange reserve at the Central Bank. But with all this fighting, we do not expect any of our people from the diaspora to visit this December.’
Other business people that commented on the present state of affair in the country say that the state of insecurity and panic has affected investor confidence as no sound company would consider Sierra Leone as a destination for investment.
Investors who are already in Sierra Leone are operating at skeleton staff not sure of what will happen next as the nation’s peace and security hangs on a flimsy thread.
“At present many stores and businesses are closed. There is not much business being conducted. We should be expecting for many businesses to either be closing down or laying-off many people because of the poor business climate. This will undoubtedly affect our foreign exchange rate with leading world currencies. If this situation persists we cannot rule out a run on the banks with depositors withdrawing huge sums of money at once which would cause a panic,” added the head of a manufacturing concern in the east of Freetown.
Entertainers and event planners that have staged shows and other events planned for December say they are worried about making a profit because of the hardship and suffering the people are currently experiencing without any end in sight. While they are hopeful of a reprieve, they are nonetheless operating with contingency plans in the offing. Should things don’t go as planned, they all assured of a Plan ‘B’ to make up for what they have spent to promote their events.
The continued state of insecurity and panic has also affected the people’s social interaction. The fear is that we have returned to the warring 90s, a time of curfews and widespread distrust among the people.
“The 9pm-to-6am curfew has impacted business operations and the government’s revenue collection effort. Many businesses, hotels, restaurants, nightclubs and many transport companies operate at night, especially overnight. Those in the entertainment industry will feel the curfew, the most as they will not be able to operate. This will lead to many Sierra Leoneans losing their jobs. We should not count out the possibility of a run on the banks if traders don’t make sales which will weaken the banking sector. Already investor confidence is at an all-time low. We will see the weak Leone getting weaker against the dollar. The Le24 per dollar exchange rate is expected to rise further in the coming weeks. All this is adding to an already perilous situation for the people and economy of Sierra Leone,” said a nightclub owner at the centre of Freetown.
Panic and insecurity from the events of Sunday, 26 November when soldiers from the nation’s armed forces stormed the arms dump at Wilberforce Barracks, made away with arms and ammunition and went to the central prison at Pademba Road where they freed thousands of prisoners, with many of them trained in the art of war, has led to more fear, thereby creating confusion in the hearts and minds of the people.
Is Sierra Leone insecure? Yes! Insecurity is described as tension created by political forces within the country that affects the social and economic activities of the nation. Has this insecurity worsens the nation’s hardships? Yes! Without local business operating at optimal level, we should expect more price hikes, a higher exchange rate and more rumours of unrest across the country.
The economic impact of the activities of the past two days is already being felt by the citizenry who are praying for an end to this hardship and suffering.