FAILURE OF APC LEADERSHIP TO FIGHT CORRUPTION IN SIERRA LEONE

Wednesday, 30 November 2011 17:47

Written by Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

PRESS STATEMENT

FAILURE OF APC LEADERSHIP TO FIGHT CORRUPTION IN SIERRA LEONE

Freetown, November 30, 2011: Under the yoke of abject poverty and economic hardship, the people of Sierra Leone continue to suffer. This has been their lot since the Government of President Ernest Bai Koroma acceded to power in 2007. This suffering, born out of a rapidly crumbling economy, inflation and rocketing prices, reduced food security, mounting unemployment, and hopelessness especially among the youth and a weakening currency, has now reached pandemic proportions and there seems no end in sight under the Koroma administration.

As if condemning ordinary Sierra Leoneans to the margins of economic deprivation and destitution is not bad enough, the stench of official corruption in the Koroma administration is now suffocating even the uppermost echelons of political power to an extent that it is posing a serious threat to the country’s hard-won peace and stability and is denting the image of Sierra Leone overseas.

The latest corruption scandal to rock the Koroma administration is the Al-Jazeera Television Africa Investigates programme broadcast to the world on Wednesday, 23 November 2011. It has been rebroadcast many times since. That programme showed that even the Office of the Vice-President of the Republic within the Presidency, Hon. Samuel Sam Sumana , is not immune from the corruption virus afflicting the Government of President Koroma. In the instant case, it was alleged that the Office of the Vice-President had no scruple demanding a bribe of US$50,000 in return for a licence for logging or for the illegal export of timber even though there was an extant official ban on such transactions.

A Government Press Release, emanating from a “special meeting at State House on 24 November 2011”, has informed the public that investigations of the matter by the Police and the Anti-Corruption Commission are underway; that they would be kept fully apprised of progress; and that any breach of the law by anyone, irrespective of status, would be met with the full force of the law. It is to be hoped that, unlike the Al-Jazeera programme, the Commission’s investigation is not going to be limited to the Office of the Vice-President.

Applying the minimum standard espoused in developed democracies like the United Kingdom, where the mere appearance or hint of corruption by a high official of Government is sufficient for that Government to admit leadership failure in fighting graft, such a standard is yet to be embraced by President Koroma. His decision on the matter (or lack of it) clearly shows, once again, that he is truly not serious about curbing corruption from his Government. Does President Koroma really need undercover investigative journalists from Al-Jazeera to air their documentary for him to know about the serious breaches of his moratorium on logging and the huge graft associated with them? How else can anyone characterise the President’s decision (or lack of it) in the instant case when even little children know that illegal logging is going on in forested areas around the country contrary to the official ban on such activity? Or indeed can any objective analysis ignore the fact that no logging or export of timber can ever take place without the prior knowledge or connivance of Ministries such as Agriculture and Forestry, Trade and Industry, the Police and the NRA, etc. etc.?

In the documentary itself, the award-winning journalist, Sorious Samura, claimed that their “sting” investigation into illegal logging in Sierra Leone was carried out with the prior knowledge of President Koroma. The investigation focussed mainly on the Office of the Vice-President while the sector Ministries and other government agencies with oversight responsibilities for enforcing the ban received only scant attention.

And, in all this, President Koroma is quietly absolved from blame. His action (or lack of it) was treated, somewhat erroneously, as unassailable. In the circumstances, should anyone be surprised if Vice-President Sam Sumana decides to resist any pressures to vacate his office? Under the terms of the Constitution of 1991, President Koroma is powerless to sack him.

At the risk of recycling earlier SLPP Press Statements, it is worthy to recall here the catalogue of corruption allegations that the SLPP had previously highlighted and in respect of which the public is still awaiting a response from the President. This catalogue includes custom duty waivers to the friends and relatives of the President; preferential treatment in the award of contracts to the President’s friends and relatives; issuing Presidential certificates of urgency to debar open and frank debates on important Parliamentary Bills such as the Mines and Mineral Acts 2009 and the Oil Exploration and Production Act 2011; inflating contract prices of Government-funded projects; financing of political parties; illegal fishing in Sierra Leone waters; cocaine trafficking; and illegal logging and export of timber. To this catalogue may now be added the “sting” revelation by Al-Jazeera alleging blatant and unbridled corruption in the Office of the Vice-President involving the demand for and taking of a bribe for lifting the ban on logging and export of the country’s timber.

The public is left pondering what meaning to give to this latest revelation. The political reality is that the country is reeling from a grave failure of leadership in the Presidency, compounded by an under-performing Government whose main interests are defined by considerations other than a commitment to the principles of good governance. Failed economic policies continue to plague the country and place tired and angry looks on people’s faces. Moreover the Government’s inability to enforce its own ban is not only tarnishing the country’s image abroad but also compromising its efforts at “re-branding”.

While all this is going on at the apex of Government, governance at the national level is getting increasingly precarious and the masses continue to suffer.

Let me take you back to my Maiden Address to the nation on November 3, 2011. The high rate of inflation in the country is giving rise to a culture of corruption that is going unpunished. But if our long-term goal is sustainable economic growth, and the alleviation of poverty, none of this can occur in an environment riddled with corruption. Our fight against corruption, therefore, has to be robust, complete, transparent and non-political.  This fight is about ending impunity; it’s about probity, about holding public officials accountable; about compelling them to obey the law and to do things according to the law. President Kabbah’s Government started it all. They passed the seminal legislation in 2002. To his credit, after 2007, President Koroma’s Government strengthened it. Between them, they have put in place the necessary legislative and institutional framework.

What remains to be done now is really very, very simple. Mr. President, you really have to get more serious in your efforts to tackle corruption. And you can start right now by removing the immunity you have placed around the sacred cows from amongst family, friends and business partners, and allow the anti-corruption laws to bite. Do this and you will soon see the difference in public attitude and perception about corruption in this country. Fail to do this, Mr. President, then nothing is going to change and it will all be business as usual.

I make this solemn promise. Where President Koroma fails to act to end corruption and impunity in this country, I shall act.

Rtd. Brig. Julius Maada Bio

Presidential Flag Bearer for 2012 Presidential Election