Ex-president Ernest Koroma and President Maada Bio
By Ralph Sesay
The Government of Ernest Koroma came under the spotlight throughout its ten years reign for politicizing almost all our state institutions in the appointment of party cronies to serve either as directors, chairpersons or heads of Boards.
Many Sierra Leoneans believed that this defeated the true purposes for which they were established and reduced their effectiveness in terms of providing the services for which they were created.
This practice came to the spotlight during President Koroma’s second term in office when he appointed Momoh Conte, who was by then already implicated in the Aljazeera Timbergate Scandal, as the Chairman of the National Telecommunications Commission. He also doubled as District Party Chairman for the APC in Koinadugu.
Another political appointee was Wurroh Jalloh, Executive Chairman of the Sierra Leone Maritime Authority. He also doubled as APC Party Chairman for Karene District, etc.
We all saw how these gentlemen and a host of others, not mentioned in this piece, wasted state resources and abandoned their jobs in Freetown to campaign for the APC in their respective districts. They openly promoted the APC party in their day to day management of these institutions, stifling personnel who are not perceived APC supporters and also awarding contracts to underperforming contractors/suppliers mainly from the then ruling party.
It was even rumoured that the Maritime boss had wasted resources meant to pay his workers in elections campaign thereby starving the workers for few months without salaries. Such salaries, which the workers should have received before independence, were only received in the third week in May.
These are the inherent problems associated with the appointments of party cronies to state institutions by the APC.
This state of affairs was hugely condemned by President Bio’s New Direction as he campaigned on disciplined leadership, inclusive politics, inclusive economic growth, inclusive development and governance.
The President specifically stated in his state opening address to Parliament that he would de-politicize the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM) on the basis that, political meddling, by the past APC government, has paralyzed the role of the Commission, which is supposed to be an independent regulator.
This was welcome news by many Sierra Leoneans, who were of the opinion that all sectors had been politicized over the years by the appointment of party cronies while professionals in these sectors were marginalized.
But the recent appointment of Dr. Alex Prince Harding, Sierra Leone People’s Party Chairman and Leader and Party Scribe, Umaru Napoleon Koroma, as proposed Chairmen for NATCOM and the National Commission for Privatization (NCP) has thrown spanners in the works of the new President.
This action is by no means representative of his earlier stance on depoliticizing our state institutions as it is going to be business as usual: like Ernest Koroma, like Maada Bio.
Rumours were traded here and there that the President was under immense pressure to bring on board party cronies into sensitive government institutions. He should have stoutly resisted these perceived threats and worked for the people of Sierra Leone. This is largely because, Dr. Alex Prince Harding and his Scribe would highly likely go to these institutions and promote the SLPP party rather than focusing on the national agenda. They would likely preoccupy themselves with party functions and leave the jobs for which they were appointed, especially during elections.
No wonder Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella once stated that the SLPP and the APC are ‘Alhassan’ and ‘Alusine,’ typical twins who are inseparable.
As once said by former President Bill Clinton, Africa needs strong institutions and not strong leaders. But the politicization of these institutions has left Sierra Leone’s democracy in shambles, even with the huge resources our donor partners and the international community continue to spend on strengthening these institutions to be able take up their rightful role in the governance of the country.