After three years in governance, SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) Government says it has been plagued by two shocks that reduce their capacity to deliver services to the people of Sierra Leone. Claims of inheritance of a bartered economy and outbreak of Corona Virus are two shocks confronting the Bio administration.
Water and sanitation, electricity, health, education, agriculture and other essential services still remain Sierra Leone biggest headaches at the moment. Government cannot sufficiently meet its obligation in those areas apparently owing to the twin shocks.
The New Direction administration is telling a story told by the previous administration at a time they were riding into the sunset. The past APC (All People’s Congress) Government said it wrestled with a sharp fall in Iron Ore price and Ebola Virus outbreak in May, 2014.
The past government made some Sierra Leoneans believe that the shocks weakened their service delivery capacity. The same thing goes for the current administration.
The complaints made have led many Sierra Leoneans to conclude that the Bio administration is gradually and slowly riding into the sunset. Persistent complaints are signs of a weak government ready to take an exit.
It is already clear that the Bio administration is standing very close at the exit door. Inheritance of a bartered economy phraseology was first made public by former Chief Minister now Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor David Francis.
In his Governance Transition Team (GTT) report of April, 2018, Prof. Francis referred to the country’s economy as a debt-driven economy.
Sierra Leone, the report says, had the highest debt burden ever seen since independence. The government of former President Koroma was labelled by the report as a ‘Criminal Racketeering Enterprise.’
Inheriting a highly indebted country seems not easy for the New Direction despite promise made in the people’s manifesto about a swift economic turnaround through diversification. The report further noted that servicing the debts alone means a big expenditure for the New Direction.
Government spokesmen have insistently blamed Sierra Leone’s indebtedness on reckless management of state resources by the previous administration. A government official who anonymously spoke to this press indicated that the period between 2007 and 2018 was one of economic buoyance for Sierra Leone.
He said, the Trade and Investment conference led by former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair presented Sierra Leone as an investment destination. World class investors, he went on, made investment commitments to the people of Sierra Leone.
Their commitments were turned into success stories by coming to Sierra Leone and tapped the untapped business opportunities. The mining sector became one the most lucrative sectors of the economy for investment.
Minerals particularly, Iron Ore, Bauxite, gold, Chromite among others constituted the untapped wealth and no doubt captured investors’ minds and hearts.
Key British, American and Chinese Companies: African Minerals Limited, London Mining Company later taken over by SL Mining, Shandong exploited the Mineral Wealth of Sierra Leone. Koidu Holdings, a Diamond mining company continued its mining of diamonds in the eastern district of Kono while Sierra Rutile continues its Bauxite exploitation in Moyamba district, south of the country. He said the combined sum of all investment quickly transformed Sierra Leone into a buoyant economy.
The investment brought huge finances that were ploughed back into the country’s economy. Little wonder that in 2013, Sierra Leone was rated by the International Monetary Fund as the fastest growing economy.
But, it was a big wonder when APC handed over governance to SLPP with high debts and little reserves in state coffers. He said SLPP never had the start in politics which APC had in the early days of its administration.
SLPP, he went on, took over power in the face of an economic meltdown and a ravaging global pandemic. He said the virus hit hard countries considered as strategic development partners. Sierra Leone became a largely donor-driven country after the war in 2002.
Although the country has made significant progress in the post-war period, Sierra Leone still remains a donor-driven nation.
40% of the national budget is still funded by the donor community. It therefore makes it extremely difficult to run an economy largely funded by donors especially in the face of a global catastrophe.
Speech from the throne on Tuesday also painted a picture of how Sierra Leone’s economy has been hit hard by the global pandemic. Para-59 of President Bio’s speech shows that Sierra Leone like all other economies has been adversely affected COVID-19 effect.
Government, the President said, however continued to implement policies to mitigate COVID-19 impact on the economy. Despite much-trumpeted measures for an economic turnaround, the result is yet to be seen.
Spending cut for Sierra Leone by donor community was re-echoed few days ago by Prof Francis during Europe Day celebrations at EU Office in Freetown.
Prof Francis made it clear that Britain had reduced its funding to Sierra Leone by 80%. The percentage in monetary terms could run up to US$4Bn.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs however informed Sierra Leoneans that the spending cut was understandable. He said Britain was wrestling with a dangerous virus.
An opposition politician, Ibrahim Sesay contradicts claims by the New Direction. Sesay said the twin shocks were not a justifiable excuse for New Direction’s failure. He made reference to the aid and donations pumped into the economy after Sierra Leone’s civil war in 2002.
He said the period immediately after the war was a glorious one for Sierra Leone.
He said it was a period Sierra Leone would have lain a solid foundation for her transformation. The Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction project championed by the current Minister of Energy, Kanja Sesay attracted huge funding. The current Minister was head of the National Commission for Social Action formerly known as National Commission for Resettlement, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation.
Sesay who witnessed history said great chunk of aid money was completely mismanaged by SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) Government then. He saw it as a great blunder on the part of SLPP Government at that time.
APC, he said, was not inclined on dwelling on past errors because it had signed a social contract with the people of Sierra Leone. The Ernest Koroma administration, Sesay continued, started the task of nation building on the day it was elected unlike the New Direction which set up an all-out Commission of Inquiry.
He is of the opinion that APC did not waste too much time in setting up investigative tribunals to probe government’s past deeds.
He said the Commissions of Inquiry weakened SLPP’s capacity to serve. Sesay ended up his argument stating that SLPP’s persistent complaints about the twin shocks is almost equal to a lazy worker who blames his tools after a bad job.