Commentary
By Andrew Keili, Freetown, Sierra Leone
President Bio’s opening salvo in this year’s speech at the State opening of Parliament set the scene very well. He reaffirmed his government’s commitment to Human Capital Development, which he said was not a mere slogan. Indeed, his litany of achievements seem to be skewed firmly towards Human Development.
The President is rightly proud of the recruitment and training of thousands of teachers and hiring and deploying more school inspectors in every District. The construction of the University of Kono will start later this year. NACSA has embarked upon activities for protecting the most vulnerable by building school and community infrastructure. Government also provided cash transfers to over a hundred thousand poor and vulnerable families and informal sector workers and is implementing the National Micro-Finance Programme (MUNAFA FUND) to provide finance to targeted SMEs.
One also has to give credit to President Bio for two bold decisions, whereas his predecessors were too hesitant to change the status quo. The repeal of the obnoxious criminal libel law recently after several decades of hesitancy by previous governments was certainly music to the ear of journalists and Human Rights activists. For us Engineers, the proposed review of the Professional Engineers’ Act will be immensely appreciated as we had fought for decades to be enabled to better regulate Engineering practice in this country and bring sanity to infrastructure development. We wait with bated breath for the Act to be passed unadulterated. He was also bold in his promise to do away with the death penalty…”We have maintained the moratorium on the death penalty. My government believes that the death penalty is cruel, inhumane, and unusual. Legislation will be brought forward for the abolition of the death penalty”.
President Bio also touted notable successes which cannot be disputed. The USA’s Millennium Corporation Challenge (MCC) has declared Sierra Leone eligible to develop a compact. To support youth livelihood skills, the Government has constructed several car wash sites in the Western area and will construct more nationwide. Fifteen more High court judges and 11 more magistrates have been appointed and there are now regular High Court criminal sessions in nine Districts.
Other achievements mentioned are not without contention from some quarters, unless they get firmly off the ground. These include the $54 million investment in rice cultivation in the Rhombe swamps and the $30m to support rice cultivation around Torma Bum. Legislative and other policy changes to fast-track devolution and local government reform have met with resistance from opposition parties. The construction of over 200 kilometres of major township and trunk roads in the Western Area and some parts of the provinces are laudable but not unexpected as previous governments also embarked on such. Replacing 13 cable ferry crossings in the country with modern bridges with donor assistance is also laudable.
Plans for the construction of the $270 million New Airport terminal Project at Lungi by the Turkish Summa Group also leave a lot of questions unanswered. He has set his sights lower on the Lungi bridge project and now says: “My Government has completed the pre-feasibility study of the Lungi Bridge and the cable-stayed design concept has been reviewed to reduce the total cost of the bridge to $1.2 Billion. A developer to finance the bridge construction has also been identified and once ratified by Parliament, work will start.” There is however still a lot of scepticism about this project. He also touts the resumption of operations at iron ore mines as one of his achievements and as in previous years he still talks about revising the Mines and Minerals Act.
The $55 Million grant from the People’s Republic of China to construct a fish harbour and its ancillary structures is currently the subject of considerable criticism for its potential adverse environmental effects. Many have questioned the wisdom of creating yet another Agency-by enacting a separate National Reforestation and Timber Governance Agency Act that “provides for sustainable forest resource management and reforestation”. His mention of the constitution of a technical team to review the White Paper on the Justice Cowan Constitutional Review Committee three years into his term of office has not engendered confidence amongst those who have been clamouring for constitutional change.
Perhaps the area that has received most criticism is the statement, “we now generate sufficient electricity in Freetown” at a time when power outages are being experienced frequently. He quite rightly blames the decadent transmission and distribution system and the vandalising of equipment but does not seem to offer solutions His speech mentions increased investments into the sector, opportunities with the CLSG/West Africa power pool 225KV line, commissioning of rural mini-grids and 4 smaller pilot systems in 54 chiefdoms with 8,000 households and the electrification of 7 District towns.
Though he says legislation that establishes an Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion has been ratified, this is another issue that has not quite met with the concurrence of opposition parties,
Altogether, this year’s was a much more realistic speech. It is surprising, looking back at the previous three speeches at the State opening of Parliament how many pronouncements have either had difficulty in being realised or have been abandoned altogether. These include the feasibility studies for supplying water from the Rokel river made in 2019.
In President Bio’s first speech in 2018 the following promises which are all currently unfulfilled were made:
Rehabilitating and developing historic and cultural sites, establishing Public-Private Partnership to manage historic sites and designating tourist attraction areas and providing them with the needed infrastructure.
Reviewing of the Mines and Minerals Act 2009 as well as Mining Lease Agreements
Establishing Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and Export Processing Zones (EPZ)
Harmonizing the wage structure in the public sector to keep the wage bill sustainable
Introducing a Students Loan Scheme for higher education
Establishing in every district capital one Polytechnic Institution
A pledge to cease to be the Chancellor of the University of Sierra Leone by 2019
A pledge to review the 2005 Universities Act
A pledge to equip laboratory facilities in all district hospitals with modern equipment and materials for testing and x-ray facilities and provide modern equipment including CT and MRI scanning and other diagnosis and treatment equipment in all regional hospitals
Establishing a National Arts Gallery and Theatre for Performing Arts and establishing and developing a cultural village
Conducting appropriate feasibility studies for the re-institution of a National Railway Scheme
Undertaking reforms in the water sector including unbundling water generation from distribution as it is in the energy sector to improve on efficiency and cost recovery
Establishing an Electronic Governance system to manage government business electronically
Improving the management of state lands with a view to ensuring equitable distribution and setting up a Lands Court to help speed up the trial of land cases
Building affordable housing around the country for the underprivileged
Creation of an Independent Commission for Peace and National Cohesion to be established by an Act of Parliament.
In his defence, one may argue that these lofty promises were made when his government was still “wet behind the ears” and he had to parrot what was in the manifesto. However, with several doses of reality now setting in, he would have to concentrate of what is achievable. Whatever its challenges, the rationale and successes of his flagship Free Education programme should be applauded. The commitment to social programmes and roads construction projects have also met with relative success. President Bio’s government and indeed any other government under prevailing circumstances will find it difficult to satisfy the insatiable desire of a restive populace for a marked improvement in the provision of electricity and water. It would seem there are no quick fix solutions for these now and no major projects that could change the situation even in the medium term. For water, both the Orogu dam and Rokel river projects seem to be in the back burner. For electricity, though there are numerous plans for generation and to some extent transmission, the decadent state of the transmission and distribution network, coupled with problems created by some members of the very citizenry served such as illegal connections and damage to infrastructure further compound the problem. As a consequence, the high subsidy to a loss making EDSA will only get worse as more electricity is distributed-quite an unenviable situation!
On the governance front, the inability after three years to address issues such as the Constitutional Review process, the National Peace and reconciliation Commission, the Mines and Minerals Act and reaching a consensus on “fast tracking devolution and local government” would make the sceptic entertain doubts about the government’s commitment to having a profound change for the better in our governance system.
On the issue of grandiose infrastructure projects, they would eventually have to be justified on social and economic grounds- so for now, the least said about these, the better.
For now, the productive areas of the economy face immense challenges and are not able to fund our ambitious social programmes without a massive infusion of donor assistance. Sustainability therefore should become the watchword for the future.
Not to end on a negative note, President Bio will most probably have a positive legacy bordering on Human capital development, especially in the education arena. He could in other areas but only probably with a change of course. He now undoubtedly knows what can be achieved in the limited time frame available to his government and should perhaps concentrate on these rather than make lofty promises that may be hard to fulfil.
Congratulations Mr President for this year’s more realistic speech. Much has been done, but much more remains to be done!
Comments