Mohamed Rahman Swarray is Minister of Foreign Affairs as indicated by a State House press release, thanks to President Julius Maada Bio for having a top-notch performer at the right seat.
Mr. Swarray represents a generation of hardworking minsters in the Bio-led administration and therefore the right man at the right time and at the right place. Sierra Leone needs a foreign affairs minister that can position the country well in the international space for national development.
The new and noble appointment is a feather to the cap of the new minister, a move which depicts a determination and resolve to serve his motherland, Sierra Leone.
He has been doing great things before this time, and he is ready to do more.
As Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mohamed Rahman Swarray popularly known as ‘Rado’ is expected to rebrand re-position Sierra Leone at the global map for the achievement of national development goals that resonate with the aspirations of the people.
The new post is a big responsibility for the new minister implying that hard work should be rewarded with more work.
Behind Swarray’s latest appointment, there lies a package of beautiful success stories that must be explored to get a good picture of the gentleman who will be carrying Sierra Leone’s flag abroad.
Political journey:
Mohamed Swarray is an ardent member of the ruling Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) where he has spent almost a good part of his life. He knows no other political party except SLPP and remains deeply committed to the party’s ideals of peace, unity and development.
Swarray also quietly but zealously contributed to SLPP’s victory in the 2018 presidential and parliamentary elections, and became the first Minister of Information and Communications in the new administration.
The ministry, prior to its unbundling in months after 2023 elections, had wide and complex responsibilities.
It is the overall supervisory body for National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) currently known as NaTCA (National Telecommunications Authority), all GSM operators (telecoms companies), internet providers, Sierra Leone Cable Network (SALCab) and the media regulator, Independent Media Commission (IMC) among others.
Undertaking such a big task is no mean feat, but Mohamed Swarray used his managerial experience and tact to dispense his responsibilities well.
He is also the government’s spokesman, and with his oratory, he is better suited to explaining and defending government’s policies.
SLPP government, in 2018, was a new administration, and therefore called for highly experienced political strategists to smoothly navigate the rough and rugged political terrain at that time.
Mr. Swarray is one of those strategists who plan and implement policies to endear SLPP to the vast majority of the people of Sierra Leone, and scored a resounding success towards such direction.
As one of the party’s leading political strategists, and also Minister of Information, Mohamed Swarray adopts a plethora of activities to polish the image of the Bio regime.
Advocates and strengthens Press Freedom through repeal of Part-V of the Public Order Act, 1965:
It has been argued consistently in several media circles that no government can succeed if it keeps media practitioners in the dark by restricting media and practice and freedom.
On the contrary, freedom of the press and communication is at the heart of change and development.
It is in fulfillment of this criterion that the Information Minister broke away from a tradition of the unfulfilled promises of the repeal of part-v of the Public Order Act, 1965 made by successive governments.
Part-v of the said Act contains several criminal media offences such as defamation, sedition and publication of false news among others which were matters for the police.
Breaches of the said provisions have triggered police raids in media institutions, seizures of computers, Ipads, recorders and mobile phones as well as arrest and detention of journalists.
Prior to the repeal, media practitioners who came into conflict with the media law were treated as criminals.
To end the syndrome, the former Information Minister, convinced his boss, President Bio to repeal the said part of the law to making media offences as torts or civil wrongs.
In October, 2020, President Bio made a landmark declaration on press freedom by repealing part-v of the Public Order Act, 1965, a move that bolstered press freedom in Sierra Leone.
The declaration stopped the police from harassing and intimidating journalists while plying their trade as offences relating to the media should be channeled to the IMC or the civil courts and not police stations or criminal courts.
The decriminalization move led to a tenfold increase in rapid media investment as seen in the massive registration of the print and electronic media institutions.
The minister’s foresight several years back, has benefitted Sierra Leone’s media as EU provides financial assistance to the media for growth and development.
Sierra Leone’s Media Reform Coordinating Group (MRCG) and Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) are championing the course of the public interest journalism and press freedom here at home.
Builds and Nurtures a Strong Working Relationship With The Media:
It was during Mohamed Swarray’s tenure as information Minister that SLPP government enjoys a very good relationship with the media.
He held weekly press briefings where journalists are given the opportunity to know and report what is going on in ministries, departments and agencies of government.
In collaboration with State House communication team, the minister would also organize annual press cocktails where media practitioners would interact with top government dignitaries including the President.
Journalists would also not forget the annual three-day retreats which the then Minister would host in any part of the country where all ministers and heads of government departments and agencies give account of their stewardship to the nation by explaining how they run their institutions.
Kenema retreat, three years back, which was launched by Vice President, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh was one of the most remarkable media interactive sessions.
Media practitioners from all media houses in Sierra Leone descended in Kenema city, east of Sierra Leone to get the facts from government officials and credible bring credible information to the public. The session is about bringing government to the people’s doorsteps.
Carves and Maintains a Positive Image for the Government:
With such interaction and free media space, Mr. Swarray carved a very good image for the government as shown by news in the print and electronic media. Under his tenure, there was no such thing as a sustained ‘bad press’ for the government except in few isolated media publications.
Whenever such a negative publication is wired by any media institution, the Information would quickly debunk and diffuse any misleading information by giving a proper account of the issue to be reported outside there.
He displayed such fantastic quality during the SALCAB phenomenon which was turned overnight into a public saga by somewhat misleading news stories.
As a media strategist, he immediately organized a press conference where he changed the narrative by giving out the facts to the media for quality reportage of the situation.
Just within days, an ostensible threat to the image of government was converted into an opportunity by the Information Minister.
Mr. Swarray aligns the Telecoms Sector With National Development:
It was under Mr. Swarray’s tenure that the Telecoms sector became viable and highly contributory to national development, with Orange Sierra Leone, Africell and Q-cell being leading players.
The telecoms companies supported government in such facets of development which hallmarked the ‘New Direction’ governance system between 2018 and 2023.
The telecoms company therefore conscientiously invested resources in education, healthcare, women empowerment, environmental protection and cultural promotion initiatives as ways of showcasing their contributions in the spheres of national development agenda.
Orange Sierra Leone and Africell offered Le2m (two billion Leones) in old currency to the Free Quality Education (FQE), government’s flagship project following its launching in 2018.
The FQE’s launching is an actualization of a manifesto promise made by President Bio during campaigns ahead of the 2018 polls.
The FQE is part of government’s grand plan and investment scheme in the human capital development, and it therefore sought the cooperation of all business entities and philanthropic organizations.
Orange Sierra Leone and Africell readily answered the President’s call through its interventions and made a significant difference to the FQE initiative.
In response to the minister’s appeal, Orange Sierra Leone alone launched an Orange Digital Centre in September, 2021, distributed digital school kits to 10 schools in Sierra Leone, supported autistic and other physically and visually impaired kids and adopted 50 SOS Ebola orphans in Freetown, Makeni and Bo. Perhaps, the Orange company’s greatest contribution to the education sector was the construction of six ECD (Early Childhood Development) schools in rural communities in Bonthe, Port Loko, Kambia, Pujehun and Moyamba districts with the mantra of ‘catching them young.’ The move is to ensure that children in deprived communities access education at an early age.
The telecoms companies also played a great role in rolling back Corona when it struck Sierra Leone in March, 2020 by putting in place a robust online education schemes to prevent its spread.
The companies’ support to government is also seen in the provision of hygiene pack for girls in various secondary schools, stopping the rolling statistics of maternal and mortality deaths, protection of the environment through tree planting projects and uplift of Sierra Leone’s culture.
Mr. Swarray was also keen on Digital transformation of Sierra Leone in almost every activity to catch up with the contemporary world. He would argue in several fora by metaphorically presenting Sierra Leone as a dinosaur if it is left far behind in the global digital competition or resists change.
The Dinosaur is one of the animals that got extinct several years ago because it resisted change.
The former Information and Communications Minister continued his brilliant work right to the 2023 general election which retained SLPP in power for a second term, a process to which the minister immensely contributed by leveraging on his popularity.
Revamp Of the Ministry Of Labour, Employment and Social Security:
The beginning of President Bio’s second term reveals some cracks at the Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Employment, with human trafficking, fake employment schemes abroad and irregular payment of gratuities and pensions to retirees.
Hundreds of Sierra Leoneans, prior to the appointment of Mr. Swarray, were trapped in different parts of the world especially in African, Asia and Middle Eastern countries as they became preys to false employment schemes.
Algeria, Senegal, Lebanon, Kuwait among others are several countries where Sierra Leone’s illegal migrants were held in detention facilities for illegal entry into such countries.
Most times, they would enter legally, but sold as slaves and exposed to sweatshops at the pleasure of the masters and mistresses.
The situation caused a barrage of deportations from Asian, sometimes European countries and the United States to Sierra Leone, creating multi-faceted social problems for Sierra Leone.
The human trafficking spree became scary so much that government and International Office for Migration (IOM), one of the agencies of the UN, became overstretched in terms of resources to ferry the deportees back home.
These weaknesses or cracks produced a cumulative effect that tainted Sierra Leone’s image abroad, relegating Sierra Leone to tier-2 watch list, a bad status that will either stop or repel credible investors from Sierra Leone.
Tier-2 watch list in human trafficking means Sierra Leone is doing little or nothing to stop the trade in human beings, and it would have been one of the worst nightmares had the country relapsed to tier-3.
In light of the sad situation, Mr. Swarray became the President’s ultimate choice to right the wrongs in the Labour Ministry.
As is the case with the Ministry of Information, the Minister started off with a clear road map for genuine employment schemes through consultations with heads of employment agencies, the employment environment was sanitized.
Only registered and credible employment agencies were allowed to operate in the country, as employers would be held responsible for any inhumane treatment of Sierra Leonean employees abroad either intentional or negligent.
Mr. Swarray did not stop at creating a sound management framework to curtail human trafficking but also liaised with the Attorney-General’s office for prosecutions of employment agencies that broke the law.
Almost invariably, the late or irregular payment of gratuities and pension to retirees as well as payment below the minimum wage which once plagued the ministry was trampled in the dust of history.
Currently, active workers get their correct pay and retirees receive their pension at the end of the month.
This Minister’s cool but effective policies and schemes in tackling human trafficking created a fundamental turning point in the Labour Ministry.
Such glorious achievements makes Mohamed Rahman Swarray an unsung hero in the Bio administration and in the President’s wisdom, Mr. Swarray is made Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, one of the Class-A ministries in any government anywhere in the world.
Migration From Narrow Diplomacy To Development Diplomacy:
Sierra Leone currently needs a development diplomacy built by sound foreign policy objectives.
Today’s world is a “global village” by virtue of the proliferation of ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) as postulated by a respected Canadian Communication Scholar, Professor Marshall M’CLuhan. No gainsaying that a globalized community calls for keen international competitiveness which the new Foreign Affairs Minister is sure to go through without much head scratching.
By hitting the ground running, the new Foreign Affairs Minister will work hard to get the MCC (Millennium Challenge Corporation) grant of US$480m which Sierra Leone has almost worked for.
The new Foreign Affairs Minister will also canvass the United States authorities to halt or lessen the mass deportation of Sierra Leoneans to Sierra Leone as such policy will create a big strain on government’s finances.
Sierra Leone will also subsequently compete with other countries in passing MCC good governance benchmarks to attract more funding and investment.
The migration from narrow diplomacy to development diplomacy also entails forging and strengthening foreign relations with the United States, United Kingdom, EU, United Nations and Commonwealth since Sierra Leone is well positioned in regional and sub-regional blocs, AU, ECOWAS and MRU.
China and Russia as world powers must also not be ignored while navigating the international environment.
Strengthening foreign relations with countries of Sierra Leone’s strategic interest will bolster national development.
It enhances government’s capacity to provide the essential services to the people and cater for the people’s welfare needs and common good.
To sum it all, Sierra Leone is a nation of resilience, a land where the echoes of history meet the aspirations of tomorrow. Its people, from the bustling streets of Freetown to the quiet villages of Port Loko, Kambia, Moyamba, Bo, Pujehun and Kenema among others, carry with them a spirit and endurance that refuses to be broken, yearning for a leadership that listens and understands and acts with integrity.
Mohamed Swarray with his silver hairs will bring such leadership to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation with the required political support and cooperation.
Welcome, Mohamed Rahman Swarray, good bye, Timothy Kabba.