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Road Map To A New Sierra Leone -Part 1

We have closed another political chapter by democratic means ushering a new dispensation with renewed hopes in the faces and hearts of the people of Sierra Leone. With hindsight, not many good or positive things were said or achieved in the last 12 years. But candidly strides were made in certain structures put in place by Ex President Kabbah to name a few NRA, ACA, NATCOM and SNNIT with positive vision but managed in bad faith and negative intentions by selfish and greedy individuals. There is no art in the world that can read the minds and hearts of those chosen by any leader or person for public or political offices. Ex President Kabbah was not a soothsayer to predict occurrences or events should not have taken the best of him twice he was over thrown by circumstances within his control on his watch. He has played his part and has left his mark and legacy on the footprints of time, good and bad as he is only human time will tell. No fellow country man, I repeat no one Sierra Leonean has the moral capacity to judge Dr Kabbah that use to work, sleep and make decisions with him. One can clearly see that Ex President Kabbah`s critics and venom is coming from his own very political house and people using him today what they exactly did to others yesterday as sacred cow buttressing statements in this document which is without prejudice. Why didn’t they attempt so when he was at the helm of power as President of Sierra Leone? This shows you the hypocrisy and evil embedded in our society continuing to create bad blood and ferment trouble.

The people of Sierra Leone has a lot to learn from the “Kabbah Experience”, the “Stevens Factor” and the “Momoh Legacy” if they are to progress and move forward sensibly utilizing the experiences of the past as a mirror and yard stick by which to measure their actions. A nation that does not embrace experiences in its history is dome to oblivion. History is what shapes the present and prepares the future. Sierra Leoneans must learn to move forward influenced by historical events both negative and positive rather than continuing with the same societal default patterns of behavior (the blame game) which has been the status quo since attaining independence in 1961.

I am not holding brief for anyone. My capacity to appreciate and prudent in generosity stem from my experiences under the three dispensation but more explicit in the former President Kabbah`s rule for which I have all reasons and justification to be revengeful, intellectually rude and disrespectful. My predicaments during the SLPP reign are not the single responsibility of ex President Kabbah but collective bargain with political functionaries, perpetrators and executors of a grand scheme to eliminate perceived threats in the maintenance of political power in statements made by Mr. Solomon Berewa fondly called SoloB in his word; if the APC could rule for 23yrs, the SLPP is going to rule as well for 33yrs. I am neither bitter nor vindictive for what I went through in the hands of SLPP politicians and operatives but steadfast and focused, risen above such because vengeance is not mine but for the Lord our God. Though not all the facts, including personal emotional traumas were advertised. I suffered silently, lost all my business assets and foundation built with my sweat and hard earns money in my own country. Some sympathized; many laughed and rejoiced in my calamity, misfortune and persecution by virtue of my generosity to fellow citizens by association and collaboration, many not by my volition but by divine circumstances. Friends, families, colleagues, business associates all adjusted and rationalize episodes to suit their ends to survival. Today I thank the almighty God I am still alive, better and enlighten than I was, bear no grudge and let the great architect of this universe be my judge. It is only fools that do not change, and only change people can change things.

Our new beloved President Ernest B Koroma has been very magnanimous and generous in creating a very laudable and ambitious path bringing on board all sides and shades not monopolizing incumbency but accommodative to build a better country. Again how many accepted for self aggrandizement or sincerely embracing the philosophy and vision of the president in his wisdom only time will tell. President Koroma is enjoying today what Stevens, Momoh and Kabbah did at a point in time popular consensus of the people. They were at the end, let down by the very people and system they presided over. The archives are there to substantiate. History in most times has never been kind to good men who are intern with their bones. It has always repeats itself, but we never learn by its experience. Reading about the ECOWAS indictment of Ex President Kabbah by Mohamed Wansa of all people is painful and a big disgrace to our country. This individual has been involve in many shady deals and contracts inimical to the welfare of Sierra Leone. I do not want to elaborate on this issue since it is subjudice. The very system and every Sierra Leonean are to be blamed for this unfortunate episode.

This is not any more about Ex President Kabbah but about our sovereign integrity been insulted and put to disrepute. Do you know how many Lebanese or foreign business entity can be charged to court for nefarious activities to the State of Sierra Leone? What about the Abbess Brothers case with the agricultural ministry and others swept under the carpet with blatant impunity? Do you know how many ran when they abuse the system and return when the heat is off without been indicted back into the system even doing more damage to the economy exploiting our ignorance and sentiments by hoarding and price fixing running a parallel economy thereby frustrating genuine efforts from pasts and present governments?. Just Look at the sad COMIUM mobile phone company employee SAGA. It is an irony and sadden to hear outside what some of these so called business characters who identify themselves with economic exploitation through vices are saying about our citizens and officials; government and officials wanted free mobiles and free calls for themselves and family including friends, who do you think should pay for this? It is a boomerang effect there is no free launch these days in business stated emphatically by a so called investor.

This clearly shows there are too many personal interests in the affairs of the country, too many stake holders from outside than from within the people who owns the land. The country is in a state of economical and social confusion pursuing self aggrandizement and personal retributive justice rather than national reconciliation as the barometer for positive change. The TRC report was a splendid material and its conclusion said it all. “The kind of situation the country finds itself is not in the best interest of the people and development”. Everything must be put behind the annals of history. The country must moved ahead to the next stage of rebuilding the wreckages and carnages of war by implementing the Koroma`s Peoples Plan (KPP), which should be an economic and social blueprint formula that must give birth to a national blueprint and strategy to revive the country. If we want to go by what transpired since 1997, it shows we continue living in the past, lacks the capacity to be compassionate and tolerant, still in the pursuit of political justice. The justice system including the international court is in a snail pace. Justice delayed is Justice denied period. What kind of justice do the country wants or looking for? If it continues to go down the “an eye for an eye” adage, it will finally make everyone blind to the actual truth and reality defeating the whole purpose and objective of democratization and the human right and compassionate factor of any civilized society. This kind of individual pursuits for personal justice as against the country`s overall interest must be discouraged. The greater national holistic picture and interests is the priority as now. People needs to rebuild their lives, rehabilitate their broken homes and families, jobs to survive, food, shelter, medication and education as a prerequisite for hope in the present and confidence into the future.

The APC administration as leaders of the Sierra Leonean nation which many are looking up to for dynamic and clear direction on local and continental fronts would need to work hard to develop a radically robust like visionary governance as it has already been established and the political will to take certain bold initiatives which many might deem over-ambitious as demonstrated in the Presidents Vision “let there be light by 20th December 2007 and there was light”.

A short term intensive plan is needed to address the factors which have resulted in the country’s economy falling short of propelling buoyancy through past neglects. It must be remembered that at the millennium summit, governments agreed to reduce by 50% the number of people in the world living on $1 per day and by another 50% those living on $2 per day by the year 2015.

Whilst in agreement with the fact that overseas development assistance, foreign direct investment, debt relief, the setting up of anti corruption regulatory body by international assistance to recipient countries are some of the ingredients if taken sincerely and honestly  can help lift growth levels per annum, it is worth noting that an innovative and visionary macro-economic framework, coupled with an urgent action plan need to be put in place to confront immediate challenges facing the nation in its programme to attain the targets of it’s national aspirations. “No people can profit by or under institutions which are not the outcome of their own character”. Maintaining a consistent strategy within the confines of it’s macro-economic framework, Sierra Leone should make job creation an urgent priority whilst actively pursuing the policy of managing inflation and also gradually lowering interest rates to reflect the lower inflation in the country, explore the possibility of reducing government expenditure in order to reduce government dependency from the international donors and IMF thereby encouraging commercial banks to lend to the private sector which ultimately will result in the lowering of lending rates and the strengthening of a viable private sector. Other crucial measures to take are, a closer monitoring of speculation on the parallel so called grey market, negotiating a free trade zone agreements to access more foreign markets, diversifying and strengthening the agricultural sector, boosting competitive exports, and informed, aggressive, strategic country image projection, publicity as well as investment promotion. The need to pursue small business investment through tourism arguing that in countries such as the united States of America and Canada, small business investors, rather than the so-called major corporations form the back bone of the economy. Investors can invest in certain facilities and essential tourist attractions.

With a high poverty and unemployment rate, the biggest challenge facing the country is obviously the development of industries and the subsequent increase in employment. A very robust and expanding economy would obviously create several avenues for generation of government revenue. Sierra Leone must look into new areas including the growth and export of spices, tuna fish, sardines and shrimps processing for export, cultivation and export of organic foods to Europe, provision of credit facilities and modern agricultural methods to farmers backed by good storage facilities, an organised marketing scheme, good access from farms to major transport routes, the introduction of Youth Agricultural Camps for major agricultural programmes which could develop into International Farm Camps, access to the huge Chinese market development of the industrial and service free zone through global research, progressive reforms of her Investment Code, aggressive marketing and investment promotion.

A free zone should be able to attract investment for the establishment of a large bunker storage facility, petroleum refinery to process crude oil from oil producing countries for supply to nations and ships within the West African sub-region, world-class gold refinery, diamond cutting and polishing, packaging material production, state-of-the-art security printing for the African market. We have Banana Island, Pepel and Bonthe Island to name just a few as viable tax free haven and free trade zones to attract international investors with very attractive and generous tax free plan to encourage rapid development.

Manufacturers can also produce in the free zone and access markets in the United States and Europe. Efforts should be made to create the right conditions to facilitate the speedy legislation and implementation of an offshore policy so that banks and investment congloromat could come in. I wondered why Sierra Leone the first institution of learning in Africa cannot rekindle such legacy develop into a centre for learning where European and American institutions of higher learning could be established like Durham and Cambridge in the colonial days. Africans as well as Arabs, who can no longer study in the West for security reasons, could study in similar institutions in Sierra Leone. A major foreign currency earner which SL has failed to explore is the training of a highly skilled labour force including tradesmen and information technology technicians for export and to support the industrial free zone development as well as technology development.

The Security agencies could also be introduced to and engaged in civil and construction works as well as agricultural activity to generate funds for those institutions to improve their lives whilst relieving the tax payer of some responsibilities. A highly organised and efficient re-export trade centre, a world-class equipment leasing service within the ports to compliment the work of the Ports and Harbour Authority would result in greater efficiency in the port, quicker turn-around time for ships, encourage more frequency of vessels, lower freight rates, more volumes of goods on the market which generates competition, larger flow of merchandise through into neighboring states, foreign capital flow/centralization through local banks and an eventual fall in prices on the market. A very serious concern to the investor community, which is the frustrating non existing one stop shop bureaucracies, the absence of a fast-track business commercial court to concentrate on and speed up business cases. The country should aspire to becoming a service support and semi-production base for other West African countries blessed with a diversity of natural resources?

On Sierra Leone’s relations with the international community, “It is a time of understanding and forging closer partnerships and not upsetting relationships”.

I believe Sierra Leone would benefit very much from forging closer ties with Ghana, Liberia, South Africa, Nigeria, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea and Niger.

I called on President Koroma and his administration to embark on short term education programmes which would prepare the nation for aggressive country publicity, investment promotion and to properly receive and constructively blend foreign direct investment to expand as well as strengthen the country’s economic base. Investment is a market and with every nation aggressively out there, grabbing its share of the market, the Sierra Leonean leadership could take the best option of creating awareness amongst the citizenry home and abroad and involving them in the process towards achieving the very crucial national development goal of having a sovereign credit rating. A sovereign credit rating provides an important baseline for investors to use in evaluating the economic environment in which they may or may not choose to make an investment. Attracting this money is not easy because countries have to compete with each other for investment against other countries in the same region and against the rest of the world. Money is a coward and will go nowhere when it is put in fear. It will fly away from corruption, bad policies and would not hang around conflicts. Neither would it want to be around political unpredictability or instability.

Investment would go where it is welcome and where the investor can be confident of return on the money they put at minimum risk. Many at time, the resources that an investor puts at risk are not only that of that particular investor, but shareholders, stockholders, average citizens across development nations who have invested in a particular company and expecting that company to make good use of the money entrusted to it. By attaining a good credit rating, the country will help reduce risk, encourage investment and give courage to capital. It is the nation’s ticket to the benefits of the global economy and to the capital flows that exits in the global economy.

Countries without ratings are more mysterious to the investor and therefore more risky. The criteria for attaining a good credit rating includes a stable society which is structured in a manner that all it’s people in society have understanding of what works for everyone and especially an adjudication process that can settle disputes about whether the law is being followed in a civil way without resorting to violence, enforceable contracts as well as minimized corruption, a fast track concept. Investors are concerned that they are going to lose their property or their liberty in society. China had such impressive figures in foreign direct investment not because they had everything perfectly in place, but they created appreciable shelters inside the country’s major development areas where there is a rule of law and enforceable contracts as well as a government that does not permit corruption in the traditional sense. White colour crime which has eaten into the recesses of a number of prospering economies, should not be permitted to deter investment in the implementation of Sierra Leone’s economic vision including an offshore banking programme like Jersey and Cayman Island. The local business community and Sierra Leoneans abroad need to be armed with the right information and tools to effectively present the nation’s opportunities to the international business community for positive reaction.

Sierra Leone should reposition and anchor on the fundamentals of improving it’s competitive and comparative advantages in it’s core competencies of diversifying it’s economic base, move from it’s heavy reliance on donor funding and import trade to a deliberate policy of export diversification and value-added manufacturing as the foundation to industrialisation anchored on the vast potentials of our agriculture, fisheries, minerals, horticultural, data-processing and other services. A new partnership needs to be created between the government and the citizenry to attain the targets of the countries dream. We need to work together to create necessary conditions so that Sierra Leone is seen once again as friendly to foreign direct investment, then we will begin to see job creation that creates the realisation of human potential as well as reduced poverty. Passionately this is the only way we can restore our sovereignty, integrity, dignity and morality to move forward.

In conclusion, I appealed to the APC administration to continue to respect human rights as it has generously shown and demonstrated, engaged seriously on repairing both political, tribal and social division within the society, exercise a true spirit of compassion and tolerance to continue to make its conduct reflect an administration which is diligently at work to make a better life for its people and one that wins new friends and investor confidence. Times have been difficult for the people everywhere, not just in Sierra Leone, but we must still have faith with the President and his government.

Despite the continued hardships they are enduring, coupled with some minor hiccups and errors here and there, Sierra Leoneans realize that PresidentKoroma is trying hard charting the right course but too sentimental and magnanimous. He needs more genuine, creative, sincere, honest and flamboyant hands on deck sooner to help him achieve his vision. Time is not his best allied. Sierra Leonean’s living abroad and in the Diaspora including friends must assist in providing  foreign business links, grants for rail road rehabilitation and construction of a new airport, road construction and other infrastructure, aid to schools and hospitals, country publicity, revitalize and prioritize vocational ICT training, aggressive investment promotion and influencing positive change. In pursuit of a nation’s golden future, the collaborative, cooperative and patriotic spirit should be the pivoting force coupled with the knowledge that the advancement of a nation is made through positive change and the innovative contributions of all. We must heal as a team or die as individuals. It is therefore worthy of note that we have a shared responsibility. We should not let yesterday’s wars, tribalism, partisan politics, victimization, persecution and disappointments over-shadow tomorrow’s dreams. If Singapore, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, India, Ghana and Mauritius have been able to make it, Sierra Leone too can succeed. You may ask yourself will it work? “It must work, and it is already working”....

About the Author

Syl Juxon Smith is a Member of ASIS & WABA: Commercial Industrial Business Security Consult (Africa) CCTV SYSTEMS-ALARMS-ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS TENDER AND DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS HOME GROWN INTEGRATED SECURITY SOLUTIONS WITH EXPERIENCE IN AFRICA - Offering PR International Trade and Business Consult and Representation

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