Corruption in Sierra Leone 2013-2018

Negative Impact of Corruption and Bad Governance on Sierra Leone as at 2013

Corruption is defined as a situation where an individual uses his/her position for personal gains. It can also be defined as a dishonest exploitation of power for personal gain. The various forms of corruption include but not limited to the following: bribery, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, theft and embezzlement, misuse of state fund etc. Corruption occurs in both private and public institutions in Sierra Leone.

Corruption in Sierra Leone has reached an unprecedented proportions and costs billions of Leones to the country thus, affecting a significant portion of our national budget. Almost 20 years after the civil war, the country continues to face challenges of weak governance, wide spread poverty and systematic corruption.

Sierra Leone ranked the most corrupt country in 2013

The current administration’s performance in tackling corruption since 2012 compared to the efforts of other countries in Sub- Saharan Africa is shocking according to figures published by Transparency International. Sierra Leone’s corruption index averaged 25.3 points from 2003-2018, reaching an all time high of 31 points in 2012 and a record low of 19 points in 2008. The Corruption Perception Index ranked Sierra Leone 119 out of 168 countries with of a score of 29 over 100 in 2015 compared to 2014 (31 over 100). In 2017, the country was ranked 130 out of 180 countries least corrupt countries (Transparency International).  According to the report, countries scoring below 50 points indicate serious corruption. This rating shows that Sierra Leone’s performance in terms of corruption is worse than the Sub-Saharan African’s average of 32 over 100. Botswana and Rwanda topped the region in the fight against corruption scoring 63 and 55 over 100 respectively. Recent reforms of the Anti-Corruption Commission have extended its powers and contributed to significantly improve its capacity to investigate and prosecute corruption cases in the country. Majority of the populace are however, of the view that some cases investigated by the Commission are witch hunt.

Our low scores can be attributed to weak public institutions like the police, media interference, and the lack of accountability (60% of over $500 million cannot be accounted from 2007-2011). Scores of our citizens are struggling to make ends meet and do not earn more than $1 a day. More than 60% of households do not have access to drinking water. The struggle to access clean water has increased the rate of teenage pregnancy and accidents in the country. Many of our girls fall prey to irresponsible male adults who take advantage of the situation using seductive techniques. Others also lose their lives in the hands of reckless drivers.

Thousands of our citizens die needlessly each year as a result of corruption and between 2015-2016 amounts exceeding $14 million meant to treat and care for Ebola victims was stolen by public officials. Fast track to 2017, several millions of dollars donated by international bodies to assist mudslide victims could not be accounted for. Whiles countries like Rwanda and Botswana are hooting at corruption, there is little change in the lives of our citizens. The per capita income of an average (PCY) Sierra Leonean is $700 while an average Ghanaian’s PCY is $1683 as at the end of 2017. Our GDP in the same year is $9 billion compared to Ghana’s $50 billion.

The political will to fight corruption has been questioned on several occasions. Poorly equipped schools, counterfeit drugs, back room deals and elections decided by money are some of the consequences of corruption in the country. God has endowed our beloved country with precious minerals such as diamonds, gold etc. but these are being over-exploited at the expense of our future generation, the rule of law is undermined and public officials who engage in such illicit activities go unpunished.

Source: Cokorioko,net

Corruption is responsible for the abject poverty in the country and to worsen the situation, funds meant to lighten the burden of the poor are never available. Corruption distorts decision-making because large capital projects provide tempting opportunities for our leaders. Owing to this, public officials often undertake projects that may not warrant the needs of the country. For example, instead of investing heavily on health and education, the government constructed a Toll Gate which has been greeted with murmuring and chackling. With many asserting that, its introduction is only to increase the burden on the poor citizens who cannot afford a square meal on a daily basis.

Corruption evidently undermines foreign direct investment i.e. all things being equal, an investor would rather prefer to invest in less corrupt countries. The few who decide to invest in the country take advantage of this by offering low salaries with poor conditions of service. Gaining employment in the few institutions is by “Sababu” i.e. “who you know”. This practice leads to the appointment of White Elephants and miss-allocation of our labour force.

Source: Afrobarometer

Entrepreneurs with brilliant ideas are intimated by financial costs, and psychological burdens of starting new businesses. Some who can’t endure the pressure desist altogether or take their ideas to less corrupt countries. Based on these facts provided in this essay, it is imperative to say that corruption has adversely affected our economic growth.

A government is a body of elected people who lay down public policies, manage and execute these policies through customs, institutions and laws within the borders of the state. A good government should not consist of thugs as in the unfortunate case of Syria, Somalia, Libya, etc.  Good governance has become the yardstick by which the developed nations are being measured. On the other hand, bad governance is the yardstick by which failed nations are being measured. Some of the characteristics of bad governance include: pervasive corruption, weak public institutions, absence of monitoring institutions lets say the National Revenue Authority, the Port Authority etc. which seriously affect economic growth and poverty reduction strategies. 

In Sierra Leone, bad governance has resulted to huge economic loss as well as negatively affecting the personality of the citizens. The minority groups, the poor and illiterate often suffer the consequences of bad governance.  Basically, bad governance has directly or indirectly led to the mismanagement of our natural resources and the consequences include: population displacement, migration and depletion of forests. Anas and Sorious Samura investigated the causes of illegal timber in a period the government had placed a ban and their findings reveal that the office of the former Vice President Chief Sam Sumana was used to approve such dealings. An allegation he vehemently denied.

However, the effectiveness of the Anti Corruption Commission mandated to fight and expose corrupt officials is minimal due to poor investigations and lack of political will to take actions against well connected personalities. Considering the effect of bad governance in Sierra Leone, the general public expects any government elected on March 7 2018 to act without compromising accountability and transparency. Adhering to these principles will enable the new government design prudent plans matched with strategies for the mobilization of resources, focused on clear and tractable indicators of progress as well as eliminating corruption.

Source: Sierra Leone web

Bad governance breeds government’s inability to finance budget deficit. The Sierra Leone Government recorded a budget deficit equal to 4.90% of the country’s GDP in 2016. Government budget in Sierra Leone has averaged -4.56% of GDP from 1999-2016, reaching an all time high of -0.98 and a record low of -9.47 in 1999. The civil war could be attributed to the country’s deficit in 1999. A 2011 report by Standard Times Newspaper indicate that the country has a Le. 1.1 trillion Deficit. As at September 2017, Sierra Leone recorded a budget deficit of Le. 28180 Million.

Source: Sierra Leone Telegraph

Another effect of bad governance is inferior public infrastructure: the allocation of public procurement contracts through corruption leads to inferior public infrastructure and services in Sierra Leone. This is evident in the procurement of buses from China for $12 Million. The IMF strongly condemns this decision calling it illegal. Sierra Leoneans vent out their anger by stating that the Government has no business in running transport business while others say the procurement violated our constitution calling for an investigation by the Anti Corruption Commission in 2015. 

Based on the facts presented in this essay, it is clear that corruption and bad governance have a strong potential to steal the wealth of the land that we love our Sierra Leone. The more corrupt officials we elect to office, the lower our economic growth. My objective is to sensitize my fellow Sierra Leoneans about the cancer of corruption and bad governance and in that regard I say, baby steps are enough now.

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