Paying the Price for Years of Idleness and Corruption – Part One By Atomic Pen If you ask a sierra Leonean to explain the paradox of Sierra Leone being so rich in minerals and yet so poor in every facet of development, they will hardly come up with a sincere answer as our mindset has been polarized by stone-age tribal and regional politics that have hampered our power of reasoning and narrowed down our minds. If I am asked as to explain the above paradox, I would say it is due to our idle mindset that does not allow us to think beyond personal gains. The Sierra Leonean may disguise in any party colour but his attitude remains the same. We have seen different party colours on the political scene but the life of the average sierra Leonean remains miserable. In effect, it is common knowledge that at one point in time, Sierra Leone existed only in name. Several years before the outbreak of the rebel war, President JS Momoh merely administered a phantom state that was on the brink of collapse when the RUF rebels struck as the last drop that overran the cup! Before the advent of the civil, sierra Leone was bereaved of everything that qualifies a country as a state. Sierra Leoneans queued for everything ranging from the stable food, rice to fuel. I have recorded the testimony of a former military officer who told me that when the rebels invaded Bomaru and Baiwala in Kailahun District, the Sierra Leone Army did not have anything that qualified it as an armed force. The Force Commander, Maj. Gen. MS Tarawally went to Fourah Bay College to request the Head of the Geography Department to provide him with a comprehensive map of Sierra Leone for him to locate the two pillaged villages. The Sierra Leone Army had only a few obsolete Armoured Personnel Carriers and defective AK 47 rifle that made the soldiers so vulnerable before the heavily armed RUF rebels backed by their Liberian mercenary allies. The soldiers received a bag of rice and something below USD 30.00 as monthly salaries. The soldiers sold their bags of rice to several people before the end of the month as part of their coping mechanisms to go through the vicious circle of poverty and misery imposed on the people following the collapse of the country’s economy in the early 1980s. The state of Sierra Leone had been dehumanized and stripped off its dignity at all levels. The country had been held hostage by a vicious circle of poverty and misery that forced most its brains and youthful population to flee to the West and The Gambia in search of greener pasture. The country’s economic situation was extremely grim. The national currency was hoarded and basic commodities like onions and vegetable oil became scarce in the market. Pa, it was a long long “toe line” for everything. Ravaged and decayed by years of massive corruption and mismanagement, the old APC administration under President JS Momoh became as fragile as an empty eggshell which a band of junior officers and other ranks of the Sierra Leone Army styling themselves as the National Provisional Ruling Council (NPRC) easily crushed between two fingers- almost by distraction. However, though the NPRC coup was very popular, the euphoria that characterized the takeover ended even before it started as the khaki boys embarked upon the systematic looting and destruction of the country with impunity. The summary executions they carried coupled with their level of lawlessness and reckless administration that only propelled the escalating with the “sobel” phenomenon were enough to dash the hopes and aspirations of the people of Sierra Leone who came to realize that in fact, the so-called redeemers were nothing other than a bunch rag-tag soldiers who were desperate to amass quick wealth at the expense of the people they claimed to have redeemed. The people of Sierra Leone had disowned the nationally much hated and discredited APC administration that had been an obstacle to development and thus, the SLPP led by the former UN top official became the most credible alternative. The 11-year SLPP rule that was characterized by massive corruption, poor leadership, partisan politics, cronyism and gerontocracy made clear revelations that the APC and the SLPP were only different in party colours and tribal strongholds. In 2002, I accompanied the UNCR Representative to the launch of the UN Human Development Index Report in which Sierra Leone was crowned the poorest and least developed nation on planet earth. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) had also planned to make a presentation on its Food Security strategy to assist returning refugees and IDPs in their war-devastated communities. So, the FAO Representative, Mr. Moroshi Raditapole (may his soul rest in peace) requested the Minister of Agriculture and Food security, Dr. Sama Mondeh to first present the Government’s Food Security Strategy that would make “no Sierra Leonean go to bed hungry come 2007”. Members of the diplomatic corps were all visibly curious to discover the Government’s unexplained strategy. The tall and handsome looking minister stepped forward but with no papers in his hands. So, members of the audience thought perhaps he knew the strategy off head and would do the presentation without reading any documents. When Dr. Mondeh took the podium, he made the SLPP administration look so stupid, so childish, and so deceitful! “I have no knowledge about the President’s Food Security Strategy. I only heard about it like everyone of you here through his inaugural speech as it was replayed through the national radio and television”, Dr. Mondeh told his audience. Some deep murmurs ran through the audience as diplomats kept watching one another. They found it difficult to believe their ears. Throughout my work with the UN in Freetown, the only good thing I heard diplomats say about President Kabbah was that “he was a good speaker”. As a matter of fact, he spoke English with a middle class English accent probably due to his studies in England and his many years of working abroad. In broad language, the president’s 5-year food security plan was just part of the country’s long history of idle talk. “I can’t defend the president’s food security policy when I have no idea about it”, Dr. Mondeh told his audience disappointingly before leaving the podium adding that the president did not consult him before making the statement. It may be recalled that Dr. Mondeh succeeded Dr. Harry Will who was sacked and charged to court on 17-count charges of fraud, corruption and conspiracy to embezzle USD 5.5 million dollars meant for the purchase of improved husk rice seeds from Ghana as part of the Government’s strategy to empower impoverished Sierra Leoneans returning to their war devastated communities. Dr. Harry Will was found guilty of the said charges but was given a ridiculous fine of Le 500,000 (about USD 200) as per the exchanged rate at that time. Justice Tajudeen who delivered the verdict was arrested on charges of corruption and miscarriage of justice. He was released from prison a couple months later just like the Transport Minister Momoh Pujeh was released from prison without explanations. This mockery of justice is just part of the country long history of corruption and idleness. To be continued up to the current Ebola tragedy…
Posted on: Tue, 23 Dec 2014 12:38:25 +0000
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