By Kayce Brown
“Corruption Is Fighting Back” was a popular saying of President Julius Maada Bio in the early days of his presidency.
And the statement was easily understandable because we saw it clearly at play; people who were been sought for alleged corrupt acts in the last administration of former President Ernest Bai Koroma, were fighting back through either seeking to discredit the allegations against them or reducing it to ethnic politicking – a dangerous but effective tactic, if you asked me.
I still believe that all those people subsequently mentioned in the report of Commission Of Inquiry (COI) have questions to answer. And I hope someday they will.
As for now, I believe the concern of all Sierra Leoneans and all people who love Sierra Leone should be on those in government. Frankly speaking, it is disappointing that we are talking about this at this time. Even before the ‘New Direction’ administration, which came to power on the platform of fighting graft, clocks three years, it is itself guilty of what it has always accused its predecessors of.
The act of sacking Josepf Sannoh, the Pro-Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) activist, from his position as board member at the National Telecommunications Commission (NATCOM), is a typical display of this “Corruption Fighting Back’ syndrome.
At this point I have to say that I have no sympathy for Mr Sannoh; he is one of the people who are the reason why Sierra Leone is like this – at the mercy of corrupt politicians. They only complain when it affects them. As a matter of fact, I do not consider him as a civil society activist, because civil society activists are supposed to be free from political bias. They are supposed to be the eyes and ears of the poor masses. And we all know that Sannoh got his appointment to the NATCOM Board because of his bias support towards the governing party.
But in spite of this, we can’t just dismiss him without listening to him. He is no doubt a whistleblower. And that is why the decision to sack him for his stance against alleged corruption involving Basic Education Minister Dr David Sengeh is a slap on the face of Sierra Leoneans who placed their hope on President Bio and his government.
If President Bio considers his fight against graft as truly important as he has always tried to let Sierra Leoneans and the world believe, here are two important questions he must answer in relation to this Sannoh saga.
Firstly, Sannoh’s sacking came on the hills of his allegation against Dr Sengeh and some State House operatives. At a press conference a day before his sacking, Sannoh told journalists that Minister Sengeh appointed his younger brother to a senior post at the ministry. And he added that some people at State House were complicit in alleged corruption taking place at the ministry.
The question is: Did Dr Sengeh really appoint his brother as alleged? What justification can be availed to the nation for this appointment?
Granted, Mr Sengeh (the man appointed) is a Sierra Leonean and, if qualified, can hold any position in government just like any other qualified Sierra Leonean. But this has to be inline with the laws.
Sannoh said he had video and audio evidences, which he is yet to produce though, to back up his claims of nepotism and corruption involving the education ministry and State House.
Curiously, State House promptly issued a statement saying President Bio had ordered the sacking of Mr Sannoh from his highly paid job at NATCOM. There was no reason given by the presidency in the letter for the decision.
This brings me to the second question: Is there any reason for the sacking of Mr Sannoh other than his move to accuse the minister of corruption and naming State House as being complicit in corruption at the education ministry?
The nexus between corruption and the under-development of Sierra Leone is well documented. And no one has highlighted this more that President Bio. I know a lot of Sierra Leoneans who, in spite of their politically divergent views with the president, support him for his anti-graft stance.
But developments like the sacking of Sannoh forces us to want to give up hope.
One of Bio’s most recent remarkable pronouncements in his anti-graft crusade is that Sierra Leoneans should draw a line on widespread corruption and use all resources and tools available to fight it. But the sacking of whistleblowers is making such pronouncements sound like joke.
The last several months has witnessed countless allegations thrown at not just close allies of the president, but even family members, of corruption. And all we have seen from the president is pretense that nothing is happening. We even saw his government fight back by attacking people whom they are supposed to protect, like the Auditor General.
We are not saying once they are accused, they are guilty. No. What we are saying is that we must see the president and his administration live up to his promise of making sure that there is no sacred cow when it comes to the fight against graft. This means everyone has to be investigated accordingly.
Mr President, we love to see you succeed that is why we are calling your attention to these things. You should know that whether you heed to our call or not, the day of reckoning must come. However long it takes, your presidency must come to an end and we will have the chance to see who did what. It may just be too late for you to do anything at that time.
That is why you must make hay while the sun shines.