By Kabs Kanu
The World Bank today approved yet another $ 41.1 million International Development Association (IDA) grant for the SLPP government, this time to support “the establishment of an efficient and accessible land administration system. “ Even my cat, Tabby, could not help laughing .
Is the World Bank monitoring monies being dished out to this irredeemably corrupt and impish SLPP Maada Bio government ? Do they have anything in place to ensure prudent management of these funds ?
The World Bank seems to be disbursing funds to corrupt African governments without any thought about whether the monies are being used for the purposes . Why are they throwing monies around like drunken sailors ? Is it profligacy , idiocy or corruption ?
Is the World Bank not monitoring the financial records of regimes like the Maada Bio government ? Are they not aware of the plethora of media bombshell revelations of the massive corruption going on in this Bio government ?
What idiocy is that ? Why is the World Bank enabling corruption in our motherland ? Why are they enriching President Maada Bio, his wasteful and ostentatious wife Fatima and money-gobbling officials of the Bio government ?
I am putting it directly to the World Bank that they have no proof that the Bio government is utilizing well all the millions of dollars they have been disbursing to the government. If what I am saying is not true, I challenge them to come out with evidence about how prudently the government has been spending the money. I want to put it to them that they will not be able to provide any such evidence.
We Sierra Leoneans are concerned because the World Bank is not only facilitating corruption in Sierra Leone but they are the among the very ones empowering this abusive and diabolical president to continue to be puffed up with the worst spirit of impunity and to continue harming the citizens of the country. When a president is waxing worse with human rights abuses , incompetence , lack of concern for the welfare and feelings of his people , lack of development initiatives and rampant corruption , like President Bio is busy doing and they keep pouring money into his pockets, he will not pay heed to the evils he is busy committing. He will feel no sense of the inevitability of reprisals.
We expect the IMF, World Bank, international stakeholders and the international community to be worthy partners with the people in ensuring good governance, respect for human rights , democracy , probity, transparency and accountability . If wicked, heartless, immoral , incompetent and repugnant leaders like President Bio must see sense and change their ways, the impetus must come from moral guarantors like our donor partners and international stakeholders. But if they are the very ones empowering the president to continue his unacceptable anti-people governance style and abuses, are they helping our country or harming us more ?
Much has been written in books about the corruption of the international aid industry. It would seem like these allegations are true and the World Bank is one of those corrupt aid agencies.
President Bio has just conducted a bogus census that has the potential of robbing opposition strongholds of government assistance, providing the government the opportunity to rig the forthcoming elections and to even plunge the nation in chaos. What a time to strengthen the President’s hand with what I would regard as filthy lucre. What a Wrong timing indeed and wrong message to the president, his acolytes and even to the country . Don’t you care for the suffering of our people ?
Let nobody talk to me about patriotism because World Bank money is not being used by this government to better the lot of our people. World Bank money is going into private pockets and purses. THERE ARE NO SIGNS OF HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT OR UPLIFTMENT OF VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES OR INFRASTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENTS. Teachers are about to go on strike and flooding is soon to start with incalculable damages to homes of vulnerable people and even loss of lives.
When the last government was in power , at least citizens were able to see a lot of national development—New roads, infrastructure , continuous education of our kids and new initiatives to bring relief to vulnerable communities. But this SLPP Maada Bio government is doing nothing of the sort. All we see is our president traveling all over the globe for sweet nothing and his wife dancing on TikTok whole day. Yet the World Bank keeps pouring money in their coffers. Bio has every right not to care about the harm he is causing Sierra Leoneans . His wife has every right to dance whole day on TikTok. The World Bank is continuing to enrich them and their tribesmen snd supporters.
Is it profligacy, idiocy or corruption ? INQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW.
