By Umaru Fofana
I write this piece on the premise that the former Executive Representative of the United Nations Secretary, Michael Von Der Schulenburg was recalled by his boss, as espoused by the Freetown Government, and not declared personna non grata as conventional reasoning seems to indicate. So the government account being the case, I am lamenting the absence of the German diplomat. Come to think of it it seems German diplomats have put the masses at the core of their sojourn here perhaps more than other Western diplomats have done. Excepting Peter Penfold who had and continues to have a close affinity with this country. I am not saying this about Germans because Europe's largest economy is doing a fantastic job to ensure accountability in our murky extractive industry through its technical cooperation outfit, GIZ. Rather because when I mentioned Schulenburg I just reminded myself of that People's Ambassador called Karl Prinz. As Germany's ambassador to Sierra Leone Karl challenged the excesses of the NPRC military junta in a way typical only of the US ambassador to Kenya in the 1990s, Smith Hempstone who stood by ordinary Kenyans to usher in democracy to that country. He was framed by the government of Arap Moi but he would not budge. He kept pushing on in the interest of the Kanyan mass. Karl was declared persona non grata by the military junta. But his cult hero status has not diminished a bit in the eyes of reasonable thinkers. But back to Schulenburg... Yesterday local staff of the United Nations Peace-building mission in Sierra Leone started an indefinite strike action. Their demands can be reasonably referred to as very basic: what is good for the goose must be made good for the gander. (See our front page story). Local staff working for the United Nations are an important crop in any UN mission and must be treated as such. Not in Sierra Leone. Their knowledge of local issues can in no way be surpassed by any expatriate. When I worked there between 2001 and 2005, they used to say we were all “International Civil Servants”. Whatever that meant! The truth is that without the local staff no UN mission will survive one day longer. And it seems the scorn with which local staff are treated in Sierra Leone is most unfair. They even go without payment of their social security contribution. Anyway... Despite their grievances largely bordering on their terms and conditions of service and their inevitable dismissal, some of the striking workers – and even expatriate staff outside the strike – have questioned the suitability, efficiency and approach of the new Executive Representative of the Secretary General, Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen. Hardly does anyone outside the UN and Government know him. Since his arrival almost four months ago he is yet to address journalists. He has hardly, if at all, met with civil society. He has sentenced the opposition parties to snobbery. At a time like this when there is so much controversy over the forthcoming elections notably over the Nomination Fees announced by the National Electoral Commission for those wishing to run in November's elections, the head of the UN family in the country has not uttered a word on it nor has he held meetings with civil society to talk about it. This is something his predecessor would have held a series of meetings about if only to get a reasonable solution to it. Schulenburg would have held a wide range of consultations and taken a position on the matter either in public or in private. Now look at the approach by parliament in all of this conundrum over the nomination fees: An agenda item on the order papers indicates that the NEC fees be debated. It would have needed two-thirds majority vote to uphold, which would have required an agreement only at the say-so of all three parties in the House. Then a supposedly opposing MP, now a declared supporter of the governing party, gets up and moves a motion that the issue be not debated. All he needs to let that motion pass is simple majority. He gets it with all ruling party MPs giving it their “AYE”. Keep the proposal for 21 days and it becomes binding by effluxion. Nomination Fees stand. Seven of the country's ten registered parties have said, unequivocally, that they will not cooperate with the electoral commission. One of them, Elizabeth Alpha Lavallie, even told a visiting ECOWAS delegation that they would call on their supporters to take to the streets and “let them kill us like they are doing in Syria”. Now, if all of this does not concern Mr Toyberg-Frandzen nothing else will. He may be enjoying his job but that job is not restricted to flying from New York to Freetown while our nation tinkers on the brink. No problem, if Toyberg-Frandzen thinks the fees are in place let him say so. I will not be as angry with him if he takes a position, whatever that may be, as much as I am that he has failed to say anything at all which smacks of a scornful treatment towards the masses and being cavalier or even reneging on his duty. With just over two months for Sierra Leoneans to go to the polls to vote for a president, parliament, municipal and local council heads the ERSG is nowhere to be seen. Our elections process is led by the National Electoral Commission, which we all know. But it is largely driven by the international community led by the United Nations. The head of the UN Family for a long time now has always been the UN envoy in the country – the Special Representative of the Secretary General and later the Executive Representative of the Secretary General (ERSG). So for him to be as reticent as he has been since he took up office is nauseating to say the least. There has also been grumbling over the handling of the basket Fund on the elections which the ERSG handles. It is the central repository for donor funds coming into the country towards the conduct of the polls. How healthy it is, how it is being handled, who and who have contributed to it and how much, all remain shrouded in secrecy. These monies are for the people of Sierra Leone and they have a right to know, don't they! If Mr Toyberg-Frandzen does us the basic thing to let us know what progress is being made it will be helpful to us and I should think the UN which has spent billions towards our peace and our democracy. I understand he is in New York, may I suggest that he should convene a press conference on his return to brief the nation about these and many other things he is or should be handling. If no-one else misses Schulenburg, I surely, sorely do. (c) Politico 14/09/12
