REF: Publication-President Ernest Koroma names and shames corrupt government institutions.
Author: Sheka Tarawallie
From: Mohamed C. Bah
Date: 1/28/2010
Your Excellency:
I am writing you this open letter not for political necessities or personal patronage but to comment on matters of urgent concern regarding the recent emergency meeting with high level government officials at State House on January 26, 2010. I am of the strong conviction that whoever seeks to protect the national integrity and welfare of our citizens deserves our sincerest form of appreciation and utmost respect. This open letter does not represent my affiliation to any political party but to the national interest of my beloved country. I am compelled to directly write you because of your principled stance and the unconditional patriotism you have demonstrated recently on the above referenced official matter. I seldom mention political parties or write about our President, but your unwavering character of statesmanship has strongly influenced me to humbly do so.
As a former community leader in Atlanta, GA (USA), I understand that people spend more time looking at what is wrong and hardly do we lift up or appreciate those who shoulder the burdens of responsibilities, those who are the last to leave the hallways of decision making or the first to answer to the agonies of others mostly feel undervalued and unrecognized. Your towering obligations are such that sometimes even a few words of appreciation and encouragement will give you thousands of reasons to continue the sacred duty of service to our nation. It is in this spirit that I hope this letter meets you in good health.
The publication on January, 26, 2010: “President Ernest Koroma names and shames corrupt government institutions” by Sheka Tarawalle (Cocorioko) was commendable, very patriotic and remarkably inspiring. The tough and uncompromising emergency meeting with the Ministers of Justice, Internal Affairs, Mineral Resources, Marine Resources, Transportation, Lands, together with the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, and the institutional heads including the Inspector General of Police, National Registration Secretariat, the Mayor of Freetown, Standards Bureau, Birth and Death, National Revenue Authority and Immigration is a defining moment of your Presidency. If I may represent the voices of millions of our citizens, your unequivocal position against fighting the fastest growing religion in Sierra Leone (corruption) is uniquely a milestone in the 48 years of our nation’s history. This is a crack in the glass ceiling of Sierra Leone’s battle against the war on corruption.
No modern President has been so eloquently serious about taking such bold effort in protecting the welfare, safety and wellbeing of our nation than what you have done. This open letter does not claim that you are a perfect citizen nor does it coronate any assumption that you are infallible. However, it seems that any President who deeply cares about his people will stand up against the conditions that creates poverty and the people who seek to destroy the good reputation of our beloved country. Such a high level meeting of admonition, to quote you: “I have invited all of you to this meeting and I have carefully selected each and every one of you because you are law-enforcement agencies and you are expected to interpret and implement the law” captured the depth and magnitude of your commitment to confronting these unpatriotic behaviors that are affecting the lives and dreams of millions of Sierra Leoneans.
I was deeply and particularly impressed by your foresight and fortitude of guarding our nation against those who will use the instruments of government or the good name of our nation to harm us by promoting their terroristic agenda. To quote you: “Exposing Sierra Leone to people who could make this country be branded as a terrorist country” is unwittingly the height of irresponsiblity and even an act of terrorism itself. The collaboration of different governmental institutions to “promote corruption” are the oldest marriage alliance in our nation’s troubled history. If those who represent the wheels of justice, the custodians of our vital records (birth and death) and law enforcement cannot protect the integrity of our laws and country, how vulnerable are we in this era of global terrorism? If those who hold the badge of public trust lack the ethical character and unyielding love for our country, how can our nation move forward? Why do we compromise the security of our nation for short term monetary gains?
Mr. President, you conceptualized the adversity of such unwise and corrupt behaviors by saying: “No infrastructural development will take us out of the woods if the situation continues as it is now.” Indeed, you are adamantly right and we are ominously confronted with such human frailty and moral upheavals.
At a time, when our nation is faced with mounting challenges of global recession, low income per capita, poverty, unemployment and the slow pace of foreign investment, we are being held hostage by some ill minded citizens who seek to destroy the foundation of our young democracy. Sadly enough, it will not take one cabinet meeting or anti-corruption commission alone to fight against the bulwark of corruption. It takes the good will and collective patriotism of a whole nation to defeat the oldest anti-social behavior of corruption in Sierra Leone.
The President by himself cannot solve this problem. No one person will find the cure to this contagious public immorality. And corruption of such proportion has been the prime hindrance to our national progress. The people of Sierra Leone have lost the respect of many public officers because as you mentioned: “they have not been treated fairly because of the interest of those who want to mortgage the sovereignty of Sierra Leone.” That is why government institutions have not been credible partners to the citizens, the private sector and even to multi national investors. The international community famously knows that Africa and Sierra Leone are the modern laboratory of entrenched corruption and the golden palaces of poor governance.
Your Excellency,
At no time in your Presidency have you demonstrated your sterling commitment to the security and well being of the citizens of Sierra Leone than the vision you charismatically articulated at the January 26, 2010 special meeting with your high level government officials. I fervently hope and pray that both of our opposition leadership, Mr. John Benjamin (SLPP) and Mr. Charles Margai (PMDC) will sincerely work with your administration to combat the institutionalized corruption that has sent adrift our nation into the deep sea of uncertainty. Mr. Benjamin, a gallant and courageous patriot, who seems to be passionate about nation building will make a giant effort to support you in this endeavor. Mr. Charles Margai, undoubtedly, a man who possesses grit, charm and aptitude will stand together with you in forming a strategic alliance to dismantle the hamlets and havens of corruption in Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone has suffered too long from these self-destructive attitudes of corruption, lack of nationalistic values and the egocentric politics of division.
Mr. President, may I hastily recommend, on behalf of every well meaning and concerned Sierra Leoneans, that you take the following corrective measures if the institutionalized corruption persists and continues. Sierra Leone does not have the luxury to have people who are intentionally working against “the security, peace and welfare of the people.” I would therefore like to recommend the following:
Immediate action to be taken swiftly if the anti-corruption commission found compelling evidence that an individual or institutions are engaged in corrupt behavior. The anti-corruption commission must arrest, prosecute and convict such person or people with the interpretation of the full extent of the 2008 anti-corruption laws.
Government must be able to pay public officers salaries that are decent and adjustable to the cost of inflation. Working conditions must be improved and the resources to perform institutional operations must be readily available.
Government must review and strengthen the judicial system so that justice is impartially dispensed. The code of conduct and the ethical guidelines to performing job functions/duties must be signed by every department head, Minister and other high level government officers.
Government must enforce the MDA’s procurement system and improve the public financial management of under performing ministries with a history of corruption through periodic internal audit by the Auditor General of Sierra Leone.
A national anti-corruption strategy must be developed to uniformly tackle the problem from general standards. Civil society, NGOs and the public must be stakeholders in reporting anti-corrupt practices to the ACC. There should be a broader management and implementation authority for the anti-corruption commission.
A witness protection program must be established to provide shelter and security to citizens who offer valuable information that leads to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of corrupt government officers.
An educational strategy must be designed to educate the public and bring awareness to the growing problems of corruption.
Your Excellency,
Only the implementation of the existing legal instruments of anti-corruption laws of 2008 will deter such unwarranted behavior. It takes political will and the moral fortitude to change the status quo of transgression perpetrated against the ordinary citizens of Sierra Leone. But we, the people, have been privileged to have your gifted leadership and one that will continue to guide us into the unknown future. Sierra Leone has survived the turbulence of a long, brutal civil war with abject poverty that have over burdened many generations since independence. Our people have kept the faith by hoping for a way out of no where. The dusty towns of Kono districts or rural Kambia still believe in the divinity of deliverance and the power of miracles. That is why they will keep the faith in your political leadership and sense of direction for our country
By standing at the hilltop of justice and representing the good conscience of every Sierra Leonean, our people are once again redeemed from the dark valley of fear and doubt. And when the history books are written, you will be among those of whom the following will be written: “mighty the nation that they led” and “mighty they made thee, so too may we.”
Thank you for helping to make Sierra Leone a “Land that we all Love.”
Sincerely Yours
Mohamed C. Bah
Citizen of Sierra Leone
Ex-President Sierra Leone Community, Atlanta, GA (USA).
Comments