Why it is wrong to equate or explain the rise in cost of living in advanced industrialised economies with the perennial neglects and poverty in Sierra Leone.
The advanced economies such as in UK have long established structures in place backed by strong functional and democratic institutions to measure up to world economic volatility or emergency.
Right now the UK government has taken measures to helped those most vulnerable in society and those who will be affected most by increase in cost of living, in relation to gas and electricity.
There is also a social security safety network that entitled everyone who is out of job to claim some financial assistance from the state, for his accommodation, which is a statutory obligation on the state– irrespective of which government was in power.
You don’t see people fighting for water ,you don’t see people living in darkness, defecating in bushes or drinking from the swamp in UK.
I have seen these terrible things in Sierra Leone.
According to UN ,report only one percent of the population in Sierra Leone have access to clean running water.
Also, only 12 percent have access to electricity, 10 percent in the capital city of Freetown and 2 percent in the provincial town.
There is no clear policy by the current government to level up-distribute resources and develop the provincial towns to aid productive economic activities and growth.
There are those who beg but they are mainly drug addicts and those suffering from some mental illness, but even here there are institutions to help them.
The government provided hotel accommodations for all rough sleepers in UK during this winter as it was very cold.
Millions have now been allocated to provide permanent accommodation for them.
In contrast, the economic problem in Sierra Leone is self inflicted. In fact, we don’t have an economic structure at all as we depend on external foreign aid and loans. But even here,it is mismanaged and stolen by politicians.
The president has travelled over 90 times in under four years when we have our foreign diplomats and foreign ministers who can conduct the business of government overseas on behalf of the president.
I can tell you specifically that the several millions of dollars and per diems president Bio has wasted on these travels with his wife sleeping in expensive hotels that could cost anything from 3 000 to 6,000 dollars per night could have utilise in building pipe borne clean drinking water across every city, every town and villages in the entire country.
It cost 6 000 dollars to build a primary school in Sierra Leone.
500 dollars or less can build as many as 20, 000 pipe borne water in Freetown alone.
We use to have pipe borne water in my father’s compound in Kenema and so were many compounds and streets.
The late President John Magufuli of Tanzania never travelled out of 4 neighbouring African countries. The central bank of Tanzania published a statement to report that 443 million dollars were saved due to the banned of most travels by his officials and under the president’s directives the few officials who travelled used the economy class.
Here we are in Sierra Leone to read the audit report that implicated the presidency in forgery of hotel bills, double dipping and possible money laundry.
Lastly unlike the west, I speak on UK, no one depend on others or beg for hos bills, to pay his children school fees, university fees or eat.
The right to work is a statutory responsibility as the government also has a statutory responsibility to create jobs for its citizens.
That is why the state give money to those who are out of work but on condition that the individual looks for jobs.
It’s terribly sad to equate the animalistic prehistoric living conditions and ghastly poverty that has turned our fellow citizens into beggers.
A cleaner in UK can still pay his rent and feed his family, whereas in Sierra Leone only politics pays.
For some of us who have travelled deep into the country and villages I would commit a crime to measure the cost of living crisis in UK to Sierra Leone.
The government in Sierra leone had already failed in its very first 2 years, before COVID came in, to lay a sound fiscal foundation to balance the economy. Instead they have been busy with their reckless and irresponsible spendings of public funds like it is their household income.
This is a government that bought 30 brand new SUV jeeps and distributed them to ministers to fight COVID19 whiles the government hospital in the second largest city in Bo, didn’t have a single oxygen metre, which cost £25.
Here lies the country’s problem- greed, wickedness and shameless stupidity.
Yankuba Kai-Samba
Writing from Chelmsford UK
