DESPERATE TO GET RICH USING WHATEVER MEANS - A PART OF THE ERNEST BAI KOROMA CROOKED AND ANTI-PEOPLE LAND DEALS

It was the BBC Network Africa's report of Thursday 9th June 2011 that first alerted us to the goings-on in Sierra Leone between the government of President Ernest Bai Koroma and the land deals he's been making between land owners and "investors" who have been given a field day in the country. From what we could glean from that report and our knowledge of the players in Sierra Leone, it was quite clear to us that Sierra Leoneans were being sold down the river by a President whose main ambition is to bring "investors" into Sierra Leone with offers that are just too good to be true....but in reality which are going on in the mother country between our hapless unsuspecting and uneducated land owners and rogue officials at the seat of power, State House. In one part of the narrative on the BBC programme it was quite obvious that the land owners of the areas occupied by the Swiss company Addax for the cultivation of sugar cane were bullied and duped by state officials including President Koroma himself. The hapless and helpless voice of one of the indigenes clearly demonstrated just how the fear of the government forced them into accepting any deal choked down their throats - for they did not want to be seen to be opposing the government. In a part of a recent report could be found this bit which clearly illustrates the bullying nature of the government

Under traditional Sierra Leonean social structure, there is little tendency to publicly question authority. This makes rural people all the more vulnerable to those individuals who, from positions of authority, convince community members that a land lease is in their interest. The land deal case studies illustrate how this has played out in Sierra Leone: an MP acted as representative for Addax Bioenergy and a well-connected individual acted on behalf of Quifel.

The US-based think tank Oakland Institute should be congratulated for bringing this to the ears and eyes of all those who are interested in the development of the country and here we would like to particularly stress the unwholesome role of the World Bank and other Bretton Woods associates in encouraging a deal that robs the poor of land which could be used for food production into a massive enterprise aimed at satisfying the needs of the fuel industries of the western entities. In a report entitled "Understanding Land Investment deals in Africa", the organisation has this country report on Sierra Leone - Country Report: Sierra Leone - which paints a picture of deceit, bullying and exploitation by these so-called investors actively encouraged and in connivance with government and associated officials from President Ernest Bai Koroma himself to his minions who are paid from the backs of the taxpayers in the UK and Sierra Leone.

A part of the conclusions in this report also highlights the lack of transparency over how these land deals with foreign "investors" are manipulated to suit government officials at the expense of land owners whose fear of the government coupled with a high level of illiteracy creates a suitable environment for deceit and thieving at the highest levels of government. What land owner in Makeni would say no to a lying and sugar-tongued President who has expressed an interest in his/her land? None would for fear that State House would use all its intimidating tactics to coerce such a farmer into agreeing. Any resistance to such a plan forwarded by the President would be interpreted as being anti-government and worthy of a treason charge and while the hapless landowner is forced to eat humble pie, he/she has no idea that it is all a part of an anti-people initiative by the same government that has sworn to defend the rights of the people.

Everything is cloaked in secrecy, officialdom and all the instruments of intimidation at the beck and call of the government. The report noted:

Local community members do not receive full disclosure from “coordinators” (agents hired by investors to convince locals to agree to land leases). Local communities, town and section chiefs, and landowners are generally persuaded that investments will only bring benefits, whether employment or other forms of “development.” Potential negative impacts,such as loss of farmland, social tension, and food insecurity are rarely predicted or acknowledged. In none of the case studies do investors provide landowners and chiefs with copies of the lease agreements. Furthermore, there is evidence that, when locals are unable to read, only parts of the lease documents are read aloud to them before they sign. With the exception of one Paramount Chief, all landowners and chiefs interviewed during OI fieldwork asserted that they had not been given copies of leases they had signed, nor were they able to recall the contents of the agreements.

And this from a government that gets praised to high heavens by the government's Goebbels and his array of internet flying toilets whose constant and never-ending praise-singing is now the butt of jokes whenever serious-minded Sierra Leoneans and friends of the country talk about how to move the country forward.

[As we published in one article - with the Ernest Bai Koroma internet flying toilets, read one (we know it is quite an effort), and you know what will be in the rest with "editors", "managing editors", "chief executive officers" and others harvested on a daily basis from the gutters of ill-informed beggary.]

What is even more worrying in this report is the role of the international financial institutions in all this, including but not limited to the World Bank. One would have thought that these organisations would be development-oriented having at their core a poor people-friendly face - a face that would ensure that the poor and disadvantaged are given their just dues, respect and recognition. They have been a complete disappointment in this and one may begin to question the role of these institutions in creating food sufficiency/scarcity in Sierra Leone. Here's what the report has noted:

The World Bank Group has been instrumental in increasing foreign investment in Sierra Leone by funding institutions and leading reforms to attract investors and to ensure their access to land and resources. In particular, the IFC provides financial support and works closely with SLIEPA. The World Bank Group is also financing a hasty process of land tenure reform. There are concerns that reform measures, in their desire to accommodate foreign investors, are overlooking the issues of equitable and secure access to land for all Sierra Leoneans, particularly women farmers.....They do not respect usufruct rights to land use or local needs for water and farmland, and there is little or no accountability. There is no proper regulatory framework to deal with FDI in land resources (all those materially affected are not consulted), and they do not strengthen food security.....The World Bank promotes and enables land deals that clearly do not respect their own principles of responsible agro-investment.