APC to convene major press conference on SLPP’s GTR, as former government functionaries debunk the report

HERE ARE SOME VIEWS BY APC OPERATIVES AGAINST THE REPORT :

Moses Ben Kanu

WHO IS THE CHIEF MINISTER AND WHY THE REPORT IS A SHAM…..

The Chief minister contradicted himself during the presentation of the transition report which completely lack credence / merits based on the following :

1.. The Transition Report lacks Substantial evidence to prove most of their claims completely far from evidence
2. There findings are purely built on Suspicion with nothing to support their claims
3. No proper Audit exercise was done with the support of neutral bodies to substantiate the claims of the said reports. There by is a complete waste of tax payers money

BASED ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE REPORTS. ONE MAY SENSE THE FOLLOWING LAPSES WHICH CALLS FOR SERIOUS CONCERN IF THE SAID REPORTS IS TO BE EXECUTED WITH OUT FEAR OR FAVOUR

If there is substantial evidence to try economic Criminals in Sierra Leone, the the current Bio Led Administration must produce it with no form of witch hunt

If the slpp administration already ve suspects found wanting for economic crimes must be supported with cogent proof or evidence as all related matters needs further investigations beyond all reasonable doubt as Sierra Leone is far from a jungle justice nation

Above all a sober audit is required to conduct a thorough examination of all given situation and note down findings and make recommendations appropriate for implementation as the whole world is watching for any case of politically motivated witch hunt. Which in turn will chase all slpp cabal one day after their mandates

SO FAR THE WHOLE PROCESS IS A COMPLETE SHAM AND WASTE OF OUR NATIONAL RESOURCES WITH THE REPORT JUST BASED IT UNIQUENESS ON RECOMMENDATIONS WITH ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO SHOW CASE AS MAJOR LAPSES OF THE PAST GOVERNANCE WHICH WE ALL LONGING TO HEAR

We are still watching the whole exercise as time goes by :

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FORMER SIERRA RUTILE BOSS :

JOHN BORNOH SISAY BLASTS TRANSITION REPORT

Former Chief Executive Officer of Sierra Rutile and campaign manager of the All People’s Congress (APC) 2018 Presidential campaign John Bornoh Sisay has described the Sierra Leone People’s Party (SLPP) government transition report accusing him of acquiring and disposing a 30 percent shareholding of a government stake in Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL) as baseless, preposterous, absolute nonsense and a complete fabrication.

Please see Public notice below:

We write with reference to your transition report accusing Mr. John Sisay of acquiring and disposing a 30 percent shareholding of a government stake in Sierra Rutile Limited (SRL).

This is a baseless accusation. In the first instance the report claims that the Government of Sierra Leone (GoSL) procured a thirty percent stake in SRL through an EU-funded loan of 25 million Euros. We refer you to the loan between the GoSL and SRL, which is on public record, and also suggest contact with the EU delegation to confirm the conditions and purpose of this Loan. It was called a loan due to the fact that it attracted a rate of interest, it was certainly not a share purchase agreement. The loan was made to facilitate the restart of the SRL operations and was negotiated between the Company, the EU delegation in Freetown and the EU Commission in Brussels.

Given that the premise as to the purpose of the loan is wrong it follows that the government did not at any time own 30 percent of SRL and there are documents in the public domain that clearly negate these accusations. It is evident that the committee investigating this matter has chosen to ignore these documents and overlook the actual facts.
In 2004, the first amendment to the Sierra Rutile Act was negotiated with, and ratified by, the then SLPP government. The purpose of this amendment was a laudable attempt by the government to kick-start the mining sector at a time of unfavourable market conditions and an even worse country risk profile. As part of the various concession granted to the company a provision was made that in lieu of the company making PAYE payments, the government would have the right to earn shares in the operating entity of the Company up to a maximum of thirty percent. A formula was agreed as to derive the value of the shares in order to calculate the accrual of the government shares. This formula and the mechanism of the governments share accrual is clearly stated in the first amendment document, again which seems to have be ignored by the committee.

At the time of the disposal in 2012 the government had earned a 7 percent share in the operating entity of the Company. This was calculated using the above-mentioned formula within the amendment document.

With regard to the disposal of this 7 percent shareholding, we refer to as statement from the 2012 Company Annual Report:

“On 30 April 2012, the Group entered into an agreement with the GoSL to pay, in cash, PAYE taxes that had historically been satisfied through the issuance of shares in Sierra Rutile’s operating subsidiary in Sierra Leone. As part of the agreement the shares held by GoSL were transferred back to Sierra Rutile. The total cost of this agreement was $13,123,000, which included payment in respect of PAYE liabilities that had not yet been settled by share issuances.”

This agreement between the Company and the government is a matter of public record, as are the relevant RNS announcements, on the matter, made to the UK stock market. Again, this documentary evidence seems to have been overlooked.

To say that these government shares were procured by Mr. Sisay is an absolute nonsense. The transaction was approved by the Company Board of Directors and minutes would be available to verify this. Additionally, the transaction was overseen by the international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills with regulatory oversight by the Company’s nominated adviser, The Royal Bank of Canada, to ensure it complied with the stringent and well monitored rules of the London stock exchange.

The allegation that Mr. Sisay owned the SRL BVI entity is also complete fabrication and we would welcome any evidence to support this outrageous claim. The SRL BVI entity was the holding company for the Group and was the entity listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London. Hence, the shareholding of this company is also a matter of public record which shows that during the period from 2011 to the date of the Iluka transaction, four major shareholders – Pala Minerals Ltd, M&G Investment Management, JP Morgan Asset Management and Neon Liberty Capital Management, accounted for over 90% ownership of the company.

The exact share ownership at the time of the Iluka transaction would also be a matter of public record which would show that the bulk of the monies (over 90%) would have gone to the above-named investment companies, with the balance going to small private investors and management. Again, if the committee had chosen not to ignore publically-available facts then it would not have made these preposterous allegations.