Grim Audit report : How long will President Kabbah’s government continue to play ducks and drakes with the country’s money ?

EDITORIAL COMMENT

PESIDENT TEJAN KABBAH : GOVERNMENT SO CORRUPT

Thursday February 3, 2005

The recently-released audit report in Sierra Leone is causing a firestorm of anger and disappointment all over the world, wherever Sierra Leoneans may be found. The report , which is a graphic exposure of how we have been playing ducks and drakes with money meant to develop the country and alleviate the suffering of the masses is a disgrace to the Tejan Kabbah SLPP government.

Now Sierra Leoneans know for sure that corruption and wilful mismanagement of the economy did not die with the much-maligned APC government or ruthless NPRC military junta. Indeed, as the TRC report warned, the SLPP government may be as worse as the APC–or even the worst ! ! ! How President Kabbah, who held so much promise when he came to power, could now supinely preside over a kleptomaniac government is beyond everybody’s understanding. Where are all the lofty promises ? Has Kabbah nothing at stake ?

Wilful waste causes woeful want and if there was anybody still searching for the reasons why Sierra Leoneans are suffering at home and all over the world where they have been dispersed by the greed and wickedness of their leaders , the audit report should provide answers.While millions of citizens look up to those they have put in power to run their country well, what is happening in Sierra Leone is SQUANDERMANIA at its most heinous . It is “you chap-I chap-palaver finish ” .

For how long will President Kabbah let the grass grow under his feet ? For how long will this rampant feasting on the people’s money continue unchecked in Sierra Leone, while the majority suffer ? Our frank opinion is that before they invest a single cent in Sierra Leone again , donor nations and stake-holders should flood the country with their own expatriate financial experts and expediters to control the money they send into that roguish country. If our people are possessed by demons that make them want only to steal, they must be denied the opportunity to have access to foreign loans and other financial investments in the country.

The audit report is a shame. Every ministry was found wanting. Huge sums of money were never accounted for or ever recorded . Where did all the monies go ? If Kabbah is a serious man, this audit report should lead to criminal prosecutions because economic crimes have been clearly committed. When will we ever pretend to be patriotic even once ?

READ COCORIOKO FOR MORE DETAILED ANALYSES OF THIS SHAMEFUL AUDIT REPORT.