President Julius Maada Bio has been waiting for congratulatory messages from the United States and the United Kingdom after the June 24, 2023 elections. But, none has congratulated the President as they do not recognise his victory owing to rigging. It was a bizzare move by the world’s two leading countries who often convey sentiments of good will to African Presidents including Sierra Leone after elections.
An African President is unsafe and worried if the United States and the United Kingdom do not recognise them. Sierra Leonean President, Julius Maada Bio too is worried as no congratulation comes from the two countries, but the issue has been a closely guarded secret. The cat was however let out of the bag following a media interview with the US Ambassador, David Reimer.
The Ambassador minced no word when he made it clear that they did not recognise Bio’s government since the elections were allegedly rigged. As it stands, they have no official business with President Bio until the elections results are looked into by an outside team of investigators, a move Bio and his government frown at.
No government official would like to see the election investigated by outsiders being quite aware that they do not genuinely win the elections. United States and United Kingdom turned their backs against Bio after June 24, 2023 elections.
Bio who is accused of rigging the elections have not been in good terms with the two leading countries who are Sierra Leone’s key development partners. The notion that when the United States frown at any country, several countries and international organisations too have less to do with such country is still honoured.
Although other strong economies are emerging, The US remains a leading economic power in the world. The US is the biggest funder of the UN, World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) as well as other organisations that have been contributing to Sierra Leone’s socio-economic development.
The millions of dollars the United States pump into the economy is unquantifiable. Under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), USD400m is about to be pumped into the economy as Sierra Leone has scored well in all scorecards except one: free and fair elections.
USD400m is a lump sum for a country that is badly in need of development funds. Despite challenges confronting Sierra Leone, the United States Ambassador has made it clear that the money will not be released until the results are investigated and that the US’s position towards the credibility of the results will not change even if another ambassador is posted to Sierra Leone.
Ambassador Reimer says “the incoming Ambassador will have his own lifestyle, his way of doing things, but the US position is the US position.”
Apart from the MCC grant, Sierra Leone will also miss out on millions of dollars in aid from the US. Suffice it to say that the World Bank and IMF will also turn against Sierra Leone in accessing loans and grants. Sierra Leoneans will not underestimate World Bank and IMF’s role in ensuring a stable economy in a donor-driven nation.
The two entities, most times, come in handy whenever needed by the country. Throughout the years, the two institutions have been providing funds to fund budget deficits in the form of loans and grants.
Hardly a fiscal year passes by without Sierra Leone turning to IMF or world bank to fill in budget gaps, and there has been no time in which Sierra Leone’s Finance ministers either APC (All People’s Congress) or SLPP (Sierra Leone People’s Party) have tabled a balanced budget let alone a supplementary one.
Even the emergency budget recently presented by the Finance Minister needs external funding. What happens if the two too frown at Sierra Leone? The United Nations, the biggest organisation in the world, is largely funded by the United States, and might snub Sierra Leone if Bio does not comply with US demands.
Other countries and global financial institutions will also turn down Bio’s call for aid, loan or grant now and in the future.
What about those living on remittances from Sierra Leoneans in the United States. It would soon come a time when the remittances will scale down or stop to come. What a dangerous moment for Sierra Leone?
Like the United States, the United Kingdom too is a strategic development partners for Sierra Leone. A number of governance, human rights and security projects are being funded by the UK. The Department For International Development (DFID) has spent a lot in fighting against corruption and ensuring accountability. The UK, for years, has been paying salaries to a genealogy of Sierra Leone’s Anti-Corruption Commissioner through DFID to ensure that donor and public money trickles down to the last man in the country.
It was reported that the British Government funded the defunct commissions of inquiry that probed past government officials. The UK is also funding other governance projects which may stall if Bio maintains his intrasigence. Like the US and UK, EU’s contribution to Sierra Leone since the end of the civil war in 2002 is beyond measure.
It has been huge financial resources in election observation missions as well as democracy and peace building. Currently, a project to support election management bodies is being rolled out through an agency known as international Idea to strengthen democracy in the country. EU also has gained a reputation for financing infrastructural projects in the country.
It funded the Masiaka-Kambia, Bo-Liberia and the Freetown-Bo highways among many others. The Union also funded the construction of key bridges such as Magbele Mabang and Moala bridges in PortLoko, Moyamba and Pujehun districts.
It also takes credit for the construction or rehabilitation of major streets in regional and district headquarters throughout Sierra Leone. Funds have also been reserved for the next government if elections were free and fair. Swords however have been drawn between the international community and President Bio as the latter seems uncompromising.
He is on record to have openly challenged the international community saying they did not help when the country was at war. Bio’s claims however have been debunked by those who witnessed history firsthand.
The deployment of the largest UN peace-keeping force in Sierra Leone, the landing of British troops at Okra Hills, stronghold of the ‘West Side Boys,’ the deployment of British troops in PortLoko during the war, the construction of a monumental edifice to try those who bear the “greatest responsibility” for crimes committed during the war and the restructuring of the Sierra Leone Police and the Republic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces by the Commonwealth and IMATT (International Military Advisory Training Team) among several interventions will not be forgotten. Bio only downplays such contributions to demonise the international community so that Sierra Leoneans can stand by him to protect his forceful grip on power. But, one who imagines a Sierra Leone without the international community will snub Bio.