Author
By Umaru Fofana
Generally I think there is an over-concentration of eligibility for positions in Sierra Leone on the legal profession. While I think some make a lot of sense such as to be appointed Minister of Justice - even though the same should apply to being made a Minister of Health (a medical practitioner) and Minister of Information (a media professional or academic) for example - some others are debatable such as being made a Company Secretary or even being made the Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission. If the rationale for the ACC boss having to be a lawyer is to ensure ease of prosecution then the string of cases lost recently makes a mockery of that.
That said, I still cannot understand the need for the rush-through amendment of Section 79 of the 1991 constitution which prescribes the appointment of the Speaker of Parliament and his having to be someone with a legal background. I am flustered not only because there is a much broader review of the country's entire constitution underway, but also because the pace of the amendment smacks of something suspect or even sinister if you prefer. And the conspiracy theorists seem to be being proved right.
I cannot understand this not least because proponents including the MPs themselves have been arguing more about the fact that those who are elected as legislators should preside over the House. As the constitutional provision stated before it was amended, that was not precluded. Section 79/1 reads: "The Speaker of Parliament shall be elected by the Members of Parliament from among persons who are Members of Parliament or are qualified to be elected as such and who are qualified to be appointed Judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature or have held such office."
The two eligibility criteria in that provision are: having to be an MP or qualified to be so, and being an experienced lawyer or qualified to so be. I will return to this in a moment which comes in the wake of allegations that there is a deliberate and conscious effort to erode the democratic gains made in the country since the war ended. Those reversed trends include the reversal of accountability and transparency in governance.
The latest score card by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has yet again underscored the resistance at government level to transparency and accountability in Sierra Leone. It comes just a few months after the country’s suspension by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with the risk of being delisted from the minerals accountability mechanism in December this year if it does not meet some of the most basic transparency and accountability benchmarks.
It is fair to say that there has been some improvement in the way government talks to the people about what it does especially in the realm of infrastructural development. More and more ministers and other public officials talk to journalists and at community meetings of some sort. I was impressed a few weeks ago when, just after a couple of phone calls, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mineral Resources was willing to talk to me about a story of apparent corruption in that ministry which I was investigating. But she could only say what she should say and not what she must say, for fear of political repercussions. The bulk of my investigations rested with her boss, the Minister himself. But for weeks he would not talk to me. Secrecy? Cover-up? It is safe to say that such a tendency is more often than not tinged with what they feel like saying and not what they must say.
Almost every study on Sierra Leone under President Ernest Bai Koroma has found the country's accountability credentials wanting. It is a case of finagling the masses with some tangible infrastructural efforts - never mind at what cost and who benefits more - while dodging by dodgy means the actual accountability pillars in giving details of how the contracts for such were awarded.
And even the relative openness I spoke about above is enmeshed in opaqueness. The detail of such, which is what contains the devil, is being spinned at best or even papered over or not even talked about.
When a government official is challenged on transparency, or the lack of it, the challenger is accused of being an opposition sympathiser or labeled a downright fifth columnist or even cowardly referred to as lacking in patriotism. How much is President Ernest Bai Koroma worth in monetary terms, in relation to what he was worth before he became head of state is something that should interest every patriotic Sierra Leonean. I have just listened again to the recording of an interview I did with him in 2008 shortly after he had signed his assets declaration form to the Anti Corruption Commission at State House. I asked the president how much he was worth. He would not say. Then I pushed him by suggesting figures: "Millions, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars?" I asked. "Hundreds of thousands of dollars" he replied.
Now the president's recent doling-out of US dollars, in thousands of dollars, to people high and low if only to apparently compromise them or buy his popularity, is concerning if not worrisome. And it will make future presidents look terrible to especially people whose minds are corrupted by such "gifts". Now, even though we know that the recent pilgrims to Mecca were partly financed by some Arab countries - do not say so loudly or else sycophants will put your head on a chopping board - some of the money was said by some government officials to have come from the pocket of the president. I have been finding out where the National Commission for Democracy gets some of its money from to function and I have not been able to get any trace from the treasury which only means that such money will not be accounted for as should.
State land is being acquired by some of the nouveaux-riches, some acting as proxies, without due process. Property of the defunct National Diamond Mining Company in the west of Freetown is gone under similar circumstances. Where were the tenders put out? How was procurement made by someone said to be close to State House. Some people said to be close to the seat of power are serving as partners for murky investors who set aside procedures. And they do so without consequence. Are other Sierra Leoneans any less Sierra Leonean? Where has equal opportunity gone? Those who stand in the way of wrong-doing or refuse to kowtow are shoved out and left to burn out. Ruling party executives and functionaries are given state positions leaving them with divided loyalty to party and state. and we clearly see where their real loyalty lies.
Back to the issue of the conundrum facing Speaker Abel Stronge and the apparent sinister intention that may have precipitated that. And I would be surprised if he did not resign in the coming days or weeks. The move to amend that provision so crucially in the review process of the country's constitution is a coup. Without conjecturing, even the Vice President who is mourning the passing of his mother-in-law should be concerned. I say no more on this.
Perhaps an overly optimistic person may say that the passage of the Right to Access to Information will address the opaqueness in governance. Well, the fact that RTI was passed by government willy-nilly, makes me think it will be implemented as and when it pleases the high and mighty. Not for genuine reasons of disclosure. You wait until you see the Information Commissioner. An opposition MP who has more sympathy for the ruling party lately than for the his own party let alone the masses. And the courts for redress as stated in the Act? Well you know the bench enough. See you next week.
(C) Politico 21/11/13
