Sierra Leonean journalist, Umaru FOFANA, who is also of Free Media Group, publishers of Politico newspaper, was invited to be the Guest Speaker at the 25 anniversary of the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership (SLIP), a group made up of Sierra Leoneans and Irish nationals who have served in various parts of Sierra Leone as missionaries, teachers and health workers. SLIP was founded at the height of the rebel war when Irish priests started returning home as the rebel war spread and as some missionaries got killed by them. The following is Fofana’s address delivered in Dublin on the night of 3 June 2016, to an impressive audience which also included Irish Government officials.
Keynote Speech 25th anniversary conference of the
Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership (SLIP) Dublin, Ireland 3 June 1016
Mr Chairman, other executive and ordinary members of the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership (SLIP), distinguished guests including the Irish Ambassador-designate to Sierra Leone, Good Evening.
I am very honoured to have been invited here to be the Guest Speaker at this three-in-one event marking significant anniversaries of my beloved country: 55 years of Sierra Leone’s independence from Britain, 25 years of the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership conceived and born here in Ireland, and two years since the deadly Ebola virus was first diagnosed in eastern Sierra Leone.
I am also heartened that all of this is happening as Ireland marks the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising which culminated in the country’s independence movement.
Sierra Leoneans are known for their hospitality. Ireland is rich with kindhearted people. For generations (about 150 years) Ireland has been concerned about Sierra Leone and the welfare of its people so far away. Such was its CONCERN that it sent in not only missionaries but also Concern Worldwide. They went in with AID through Irish Aid to achieve one GOAL with the assistance of GOAL, to provide TRUE CARE supported by TROCAIRE. Irish organisations that have been monumentally supportive of Sierra Leone’s development. Not to mention their support through the European Union.
Perhaps one of the dissimilarities between Ireland and Sierra Leone - despite so many things we have in common such as our size and family values - is the history of how we gained our independence from Britain. May be that has come to make Sierra Leoneans treat our post-independence era with such cavalier attitude - taking for granted what we should protect with our life. So much so that our country has considerably eroded in its standing on the continent in many areas.
Despite having the first girls’ high school in sub-saharan Africa (The Annie Walsh), first boys’ school in West Africa (Sierra Leone Grammar School) and first Western-style university in Sub-Saharan Africa (Fourah Bay College), our education sector is in deep crisis. Despite having the first psychiatric hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa (the Kissy Mental Home), the country can only boast of one mental health specialist in Dr Edward Nahim who has passed his retirement age but has to remain in service as a consultant because there is no one else to take over from him.
Sierra Leone also has one ophthalmologist, one radiologist in government service the last time I checked - with a second one in private practice. We have no virologist since Dr Sheik Umar Khan died of Ebola as he led the fight against the virus. And even Dr Khan had to pay for his specialisation despite the state having promised to do so. In the lead up to that outbreak the country had less than 140 doctors for a population of over six million. 10 of them succumbed to Ebola. Scores of nurses were also killed for whom I pray silence.
Fellow Sierra Leoneans and distinguished friends of Sierra Leone here tonight, our health workers had no idea about Ebola before the virus arrived in the country, but poor state policy and plan to respond to the virus despite enough foreboding worsened matters. Matters which were further compounded by the fact that there was a lack of prior training, tools and gear such as gloves for the workers. The case of how Victoria Yilliah was responded to before she was confirmed as the first Ebola patient in the country left a lot to be desired.
Mr Chairman and all else present, since independence we have been confronted by dictatorships - both military and civilian. We have borne the brunt of a brutal civil war. And just as we were about to pick up the pieces from the war, with democracy holding roots and the economy turning around thanks to the iron ore find, Ebola struck. The country’s economy shrank. As I speak to you now our economy is in deep crisis with some austerity measures having been put in place by the government. Add to that deep-rooted corruption, then you get a clearer picture.
The above notwithstanding, Sierra Leoneans remain the resilient people they have been throughout history. They seem to have completely put behind them violence at any significant or sustained scale, even if the police need to be unshackled from political control which is due largely because there is no firewall to protect them from such. The country’s Police Council is headed by the Vice President and the Minister of Internal Affairs. A council so powerful that even promotion in the police from a certain rank is recommended by them.
Throughout my life almost every single day of which has been spent in Sierra Leone, I have never seen road infrastructural work at such massive scale as it has been happening in the last seven years or so. I am sure for those of you who were teachers in Pendembu, if you went to visit today you would be surprised at the magnificent nature of the Kenema-Pendembu highway.
The road infrastructure expansion has happened in part due to the support of the European Union of which Ireland is a member. Among others roads, the EU has taken care of the highways linking the country to the borders with its two neighbours. While the Kambia road to the northern border with Guinea was completed a few years ago, the one leading to the southeastern border with Liberia was commissioned by President Ernest Bai Koroma a few weeks ago. This road, when completed in 36 months will open up an otherwise sleepy part of the country and will boost trade between Sierra Leone and Liberia.
The Sierra Leone Government has also carried on with its own self-funded road projects in main towns and cities with the dry season dust and the rainy season mud considerably reduced in virtually all the district headquarter town.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, hours after arriving in Ireland this week I had the honour of visiting a very wonderful lady at her retirement home. On the eve of meeting her, Sister Dr Hilary Lyons had been made an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. This wonderful meeting was made possible by Jim and Geraldine Horgan, my hosts and guides around Ireland who are themselves extraordinary Irish people with a heart for Sierra Leone many native Sierra Leoneans only pretend to have. They taught for years in Kailahun District.
In the two hours or so I spent with Sister Dr Hilary, the 92-year-old physician, paediatrician, surgeon and obstetrician took me on a journey of her 42 years of dedicated service that saved innumerable lives in Sierra Leone. And she did so in sometimes fluent Krio. And I could tell she genuinely misses Salone. Such is the positive infectiousness of my beloved country!
Sister Hilary was forced to leave Sierra Leone by rebels of the Revolutionary United Front. That rebel war rudely ended the lives of tens of thousands of people, among them Irish nationals including Father McAlester and his colleagues whose passing the people of Panguma are still reeling over.
But theirs was just the more recent version of altruism that has gone on for 150 years. Ireland’s assistance, especially towards education and health in Sierra Leone, is legendary. The Serabu Hospital in the east of the country continues to save lives up to today. From the establishment of the St Joseph’s Convent in Makeni in northern Sierra Leone, to the St Edwards and St Joseph’s Convent secondary schools in Freetown; from Christ the King College and the Queen of Rose School (QRS) in Bo, Convent in Moyamba and St Paul’s in Pujehun; to Trinity, Holy Ghost and Holy Rosary secondary schools in Kenema, Yengema Secondary School, Kissy Bendu and Penduma secondary schools in Kono, Irish missionaries have for generations helped build the human capacity of Sierra Leone.
But for their health care provision, many of today’s population would have been long lost; but for their schools dotted in all the regions of the country, ignorance emanating from a complete lack of education would have strangulated Sierra Leone. There is not a single Sierra Leonean family that has not been directly impacted by Irish - ranging from God to humanity.
Unfortunately, largely owing to poor leadership over the generations, our human capacity is plummeting if not already. This is because as education has taken a battering, corruption has flourished. And to fix things, we must address those two as a matter of priority - and Ireland could help, again. I have to say that Ireland is helping address some of the most fundamental things needed to deal with this. More is needed.
Irish government presence:
Since it opened its office in Freetown in 2005, Irish Aid has helped in a wide range of areas from peace consolidation to recovery, and poverty reduction. This has included the provision of funds and policy guidance. In more recent times the Irish government aid agency has spent millions of Euros focusing on health especially in the area of maternal and child care, food security and nutrition. This has included funding key hospital services in Kenema such as the purchase of essential drugs and a blood transfusion service. Irish Aid also supported 1,200 farm families to help them increase rice production both for their own consumption, and as a means of making a living.
Concern Worldwide, another Irish agency, was exemplary during the Ebola outbreak. I sometimes wonder what the fight against the virus would have been like without them. Their management of safe and dignified burial through their running of the two cemeteries officially allowed in and around the capital Freetown throughout crisis helped stem the spread of the virus. You may know that an Ebola corpse is far more contagious than a sick person. They trained local burial teams who handled that very well and redefined the meaning of respect for the dead, and keeping records of the dead. I visited the cemeteries several times and never found them wanting.
Education:
You may have noticed that the central theme of my speech is education. Like those Irish missionaries who invested so much into schools all those generations, I believe education is the key to unlocking someone’s potential. Building the human capacity of a nation is what moves it forward. In fact I believe education is not the BEST gift to a people or a nation - rather it is THE ONLY gift.
In this regard, I wish to plead with the Irish should return to salvage the collapsing state of education in Sierra Leone. A massive teacher training is required, as well as teachers to fill in the gaps that currently exist in their numbers. Heartily, the school enrolment rates are high because every parent now wants an education for their child. But the reality on the ground is displeasing. Classroom facilities are poor in most public schools, and teacher quality is unsatisfactory, to put it mildly.
This intervention could be done in many ways including through the Sierra Leone Teachers’ Union as local partners, as well as the teacher training colleges. It can include curriculum review for the training of future teachers, and a remedial or refresher training programme for those who currently teach. Please take back our schools as education is on a slippery slope. Where possible a teacher training centre could be established in Sierra Leone, while related postgraduate courses in Ireland are also considered.
Corruption
Official corruption in Sierra Leone is more than just a perception thing. Ireland has and will continue to have its own issues to grapple with hence cannot be expected to be helping Sierra Leone forever. Sierra Leone managing its own resources, and not its leaders siphoning them into their private bank accounts, is the sustainable solution for Sierra Leone and its donors.
My country has a very good Anti-Corruption Law, and President Koroma, his government, Parliament and a former head of the Ant-Corruption Commission Abdul Tejan Cole, must all be praised for toughening or agreeing to toughen the law. Among other things, the law gives the commission prosecutorial powers and it enshrines a mandatory declaration of assets by public officials. It also makes unexplained wealth and illicit enrichment as corruption offences.
That said, implementation has been a serious problem in recent years. Every sees the sudden change of lifestyle after some people are appointed to public positions.
The ACC has a new and younger leadership that looks promising. But through my observation as a journalist, it needs capacity-building. The assets declaration is to be done every year for obvious reasons so assets finagled can be tracked, at least on paper and there could be stolen asset recovery. But as things stand, it is not. I do not think this is due to reluctance on the part of the commission - having an annual renewal of assets declaration; rather the lack of the requisite capacity not least because of the confidentiality nature of handling those assets declaration forms.
But the commission should also be urged to eschew the notion of sacred cows. People should not be charged with corruption - or spared - because of their political affinity. And I say this not just based on the fact that they support or oppose the ruling party, but rather even within a party there are vested interests in certain individuals. This must be discouraged! The public must also stop supporting or opposing the indictment of individuals simply because of their personal relationship with them.
Until we fix education, we cannot adequately train our health workers and engineers and teachers and leaders. Until we fight corruption we cannot afford to fix education for the Irish of this world are not going to be there forever.
Surfing:
On a very light but significant note nevertheless. I reckon Sierra leone is still the newest member of the International Surfing Association after it became its 98th member early this year. You wonder, or maybe not, why I am talking about this? After all in parts of Ireland they love surfing, while in Sierra Leone those who surf are all concentrated in one tiny village community - and that is because of one Irishman.
Shane O’Connor has been an aid worker in Sierra Leone for many years. His singlehanded efforts brought the country to the pedestal of surfing membership. Shane went to Bureh Beach, one of the many beautiful beaches dotted along the Freetown peninsula, and fell in love with the warmth of Atlantic Ocean and the beautiful mountains overlooking the shores and thought that would make a mecca for surfing.
He later provided the Bureh village community with surf boards and trained the youth on how to surf. That attracted tourists to the community and the surf club Shane founded has been using proceeds to pay school fees for the children in that village. And, as I say, the country became a member of the International Surfing Association early this year.
SLIP
I have probably saved the best for the last. The good work of SLIP is acknowledged by all. 25 years may seem like a short time, but 25 years of SLIP has witnessed a sea change in Sierra Leone-Ireland relations. The outgoing Irish high commissioner to Sierra Leone, Sinead Walsh acknowledges the fact that their intervention in Sierra Leone recently has been largely made possible by this partnership. To the extent the country now has a resident ambassador in the country. Talking about Ambassador Walsh, during the Ebola crisis I saw at first hand her involvement in the fight. Her background in development work gave her that special significant edge.
Some five years or so ago I was to visit this great country with so many Nobel laureates in literature and Roy Keane and Joh O’Shea of Manchester United fame, and West Life. I could not, because by the time my visa arrived in Freetown the conference had already got underway. This time around I got it in a couple of days. The opening of the Irish embassy in Freetown made that possible. As SLIP neither sleeps not slips, it should consider having a branch on the ground in Sierra Leone A great job you are doing!
Through great initiatives and intervention, and the development cooperation programme they have built, Sierra Leone has become one of Irish Aid’s eight top priority countries in the world. In her speech on St Patrick’s Day this year, the ambassador said: “The work carried out in Ireland for the last 25 years by the Sierra Leone Ireland Partnership group is also a key contribution in strengthening the relationship between our two countries. What’s more, the developing country representative on the Irish Aid global advisory panel is a Sierra Leonean since 2014.”
Irish Aid has invested over €100m in Sierra Leone in the last decade in areas including health, nutrition, gender and governance. I am personally happy that the governance intervention now includes press freedom especially a repeal of criminal defamation. I understand that Ambassador Walsh today address the largest annual gathering of journalists in Sierra Leone where she assured of her government’s commitment in supporting the repeal of a very backward law we have in Sierra Leone - the criminal and seditious libel law. This will ensure the end to the criminalisation of free speech.
Ireland is also helping curb teenage pregnancy which is alarming in Sierra Leone today. A third of the children born in the country are born to other children. This has not only added to the grim statistics of maternal deaths, it has also increased the rate of school dropouts as an official government policy says pregnant girls cannot be allowed in class with other girls.
That is how and where I will end up: Help Sierra Leone ensure no child is left behind in education. Ireland, please help improve our education, and please intensify your support to emasculate corruption. That way, we will not continue to appeal to you for financial support. That way we can develop our human resource and harness our natural resource; and I bet Sierra Leone will become donor nation. May all Sierra Leoneans be educated about the need for a good quality education for all. May our leaders wake up to it.
Thank you Ireland. Thank you SLIP. Long Long live Sierra Leone. Long Live Ireland-SierraLeone relations.
(C) Politico 07/06/16
