Since 1978, I have been a frequent visitor to Sierra Leone
When I arrived in England in October 1978, it was
still possible to exchange the Leone to Pounds at a rate of Le 2 = 1 Pound.
The Leone currency was delinked to the pound and
started its downward trend. As the 1980’s progressed, the economic situation
of the country continued to deteriorate, and for many Sierra Leoneans it was
becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet. As job prospects declined, many young
educated Sierra Leoneans started to leave the country as economic migrants to
find work elsewhere. Thus started a
major brain drain in Sierra
Leone.
As the deterioration continued and the standard
of living got more difficult, Sierra Leonean professionals: lawyers, doctors,
lecturers and the like also started leaving to practice their professions in
other African countries and beyond.
Towards the end of the 1980’s, war had broken
out in Liberia and in
addition to all the economic and social woes in Sierra Leone, the country had to
absorb an influx of Liberians.
The rebel war broke out in Sierra Leone,
initially in the southeast but then rapidly to the rest of the country,
especially the diamond areas of the east.
For most of the early part of the war Freetown, the capital was spared.
A major consequence of the war was that a nation
already depleted of a large number of its professionals and educated population
in their 20’s and 30’s, now created another flight of Sierra Leoneans:
displaced persons and refugees who fled the war and headed any and everywhere.
We all know enough about the destruction the war
brought to the people and nation through the 1990’s.
Peace came to Sierra Leone and the country needed
to come to grips with the consequence of the war and how to live in peace and
more importantly how to pick up the pieces.
Democracy was reinstated.
While there was no Marshall Plan to get Sierra Leone
back, international agencies and other countries donated aid, finance and
assistance to lift the country from the bottom of the heap. For most of the last decade Sierra Leone
was rooted at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. For a lot of us outside of Sierra Leone,
we were ashamed by this but understood that the country was slowly picking
itself up. The continued exploitation of
our natural resources seemed to only benefit a few and not the masses.
The lack of maintenance of infrastructure,
facilities and property by both official and private entities resulted in
deplorable and impassable roads, buildings and a lowering of health, sanitary
and safety standards.
Resurgence in Sierra Leone’s music industry
heralded an awakening of challenging the status quo. “Corruption” by Daddy Saj and “Borbor Belleh”
by Emmerson, both international hits come to mind.
In 2007, general elections were held in Sierra Leone
that ushered in a change of government that promised “Attitudinal Change” and
departure from past practices. In the
four years since, we have seen both a mix of attitudes from the past and
glimpses of more accountability.
However, credit must be given where credit is due and Sierra Leone is
now no longer at the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index.
One of the biggest hindrances in my opinion to
welcoming and encouraging businesses to Sierra
Leone is the location of our only international airport, Lungi Airport. Depending on when you arrive, it can
sometimes take almost as long or longer as the international flight one took
just to get to Freetown. While the airport needs to be upgraded to
meet international standards, relocating the airport to the mainland side,
possibly somewhere between Hastings and Masiaka should be considered in the
medium to long term planning. There are
many obvious advantages to this: driving from there to Freetown is less than 2
hours, travelling to the hinterland from the airport will not require
travelling into Freetown, locating the airport in this area will create
development within the vicinity of the airport, there is already a good roadway
network in place to transport passengers to the main towns and cities from this
area.
Since the demise of the railway and not nearly
enough infrastructural development by previous governments, the road network in
the country has to be significantly improved.
There is currently a much improved focus on infrastructure projects, but
this needs to increase significantly.
This will also have the added benefit of improving the trafficking of
produce from the hinterland and enhance trade within the country.
A consequence of the war has been an influx of
displaced people to the main cities, especially Freetown, which has probably tripled in size
or maybe more. This has resulted in a
city that cannot sustain its current bloated population, is bursting at the seams,
has unheard of traffic congestion, significant unemployment, especially of the
youth and could soon face a potential environmental catastrophe. To begin to tackle this, there has to be an
incentive for people to move elsewhere.
In order to do this, I believe two things must happen; the seat of
government must move out of Freetown,
creating a new planned capital city (maybe not too far from a new international
airport) and a change of the archaic land tenure system.
The population of Sierra Leone is anticipated to grow
from its current total of about 5.8 million people to about 9 million by
2020. This is nearly a 40% increase in just
under 10 years. Planning for this type
of growth should already have started.
Increasing significantly the level of education
for all should be a high priority. Most
Secondary Schools in the country are either private or started by a religious
entity. Government schools are too few
and far between. The teaching profession
needs to be incorporated into the Civil Service and respected nationally. I am proud to say I attended the Prince of
Wales School, the country’s premier government school and by being an active
alumnus over the past 27 years know intimately the problems the school in
particular and education in general has had to deal with.
An untapped and potentially lucrative boon for Sierra Leone’s
economic and cultural growth is the preservation and marketing of our
historical treasures. While many of you
may now be more aware of the importance of the Bunce
Island Slave
Castle, which is currently being
stabilized and preserved, its direct links to African-Americans and America should
be more widely publicized. Renovation of
the Old Fourah
Bay College
building in Cline Town I believe could herald a renaissance in Sierra Leone. Re-constituting the Sierra Leone Historical Society
can empower Sierra Leoneans to be more conscious of our cultural and historical
treasures like Mabang College, the first Agricultural
College in sub-Saharan Africa.
1978 – 2010
Having lived
outside of Sierra Leone
since 1978 and returning intermittently, my views below are based on trips
home, news from family and friends and information through media sources:
2011 and the Future
As Sierra Leone
celebrates 50 years of independence, I have done a reflection of the past as
articulated above and now it is time to look at the future. I am a structural/civil engineer by
profession and so some of my suggestions below for the future of Sierra Leone are
from that perspective.
I am very hopeful
for the future of Sierra
Leone, though we are all aware of the
plethora of challenges that it faces.
However, moving forward for the next 50 years, Sierra Leone has the
potential to be the diamond of Africa with a rich and unique history that should
make us all proud and be worthy of celebrating.
Thank you very
much for listening.
