Extreme Poverty, High youth unemployment, Rampant Corruption, Political Repression….are the root causes of Political Instability” Says Maada Bio in Montreal

The Rt. Brigadier Julius Maada Bio made this statement as he delivered his speech in a plenary session in this year’s prestigious International Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal, Canada on Tuesday 12^th June 2012.

In his address to an international audience comprising world business leaders, international investors, policy experts and academics from around the world, the Rt. Brigadier Maada Bio spoke on global imperative for poverty reduction, job creation and democratic governance in West Africa. In his speech, he argued that “extreme poverty, high unemployment among youths, rampant corruption, political repression and income inequality are variously identified as the root causes of political instability”. Hence, he told representatives of both international and regional bodies who were part of the audience that they should consider a policy reversal which will ameliorate these problems and enhance political stability. As he delivered his address, you could tell that some of the sponsors of the conference like the African Development Bank, Commonwealth Secretariat, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or even the respected Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) realised that there could have been no better speaker to talk on these issues than the former Head of State who also holds a Masters Degree in International Development.

Therefore, on the various issues of extreme poverty, youths’ unemployment, rampant corruption, political repression or income inequality, Maada Bio opined that people elect their political leaders to govern so that those leaders can implement policies, programmes and projects to address those very issues which threaten the political stability of a country. As a result any government which fails to address those issues do not deserve both the moral and political legitimacy to govern its people. But he stressed that the only means through which people can remove those governments is through the ballot box. This is why he called on the international community to strengthen West Africa’s democratisation process especially Sierra Leone because “people are less likely to engage in insurrection if they know that they can remove non-performing leaders through the ballot box”.

The Rt. Brigadier was re-echoing a similar message made by President Barack Obama in his historic speech in Accra on 11^th July 2009 when he said “As I said in Cairo, each nation gives life to democracy in its own way and in line with its own traditions. But history offers a clear verdict: government that respect the will of their own people are more prosperous, more stable and more successful than governments that do not”. President Obama went on “Repression takes many forms and too many nations are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20% off the top or the head of the Ports Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery. That is not democracy, that is tyranny and now it is the time for it to end”. Therefore the obvious question is: have the APC government, its spin doctors and paid journalists ever read this speech by President Obama?  And just from the quotation, don’t you see clear evidence in the present APC government of what President Obama spoke about in 2009?

No doubts, under President Koroma’s government, Sierra Leone has become an illustrative example of how issues of extreme poverty, high youth unemployment, rampant corruption, political repression and income inequality have the tendencies to result in political instability. For instance, when Maada Bio spoke of extreme poverty, he must have been thinking of those 72% of Sierra Leoneans who live on less than a dollar a day. When he spoke of youth unemployment, he must have been thinking about the 70% of our young people who do not have decent jobs or the skills or trainings for future job opportunity. When he spoke about rampant corruption, he must have been thinking of an APC government which dishes out government contracts to their families and friends. When he spoke about political repression, he must have been thinking of the hundreds of SLPP supporters who have and continue to be subjected to political intimidation and persecution by state security apparatus and APC thugs. And on income inequality, Maada Bio must have been thinking of the widening gap between the rich and the poor in our society. Therefore, he said government can only enhance political stability “when it offers the people what he regarded as “Clean” elections (those that are devoid of illicitness) where the people decide what type of leader they will prefer to govern them”.

Therefore, as a former head of state and with his wealth of experience in state governance, he noted that “West African political leaders must be made to understand that they have a duty to promote good governance, “clean” elections and human progress”. As a way of revealing his vision as a presidential hopeful, he highlighted a five-point plan which West African governments should do:

1. Improve the health and welfare of its average citizen – not just those politically connected (maybe this was an advice directed to President Koroma)
2. Invest in education and healthcare as a means of increasing their countries’ human capital base and also reducing income inequality;
3. Promote rural development in order to reduce rural-urban income inequality;
4. Recognise the crucial role of women in economic and human development and therefore promote gender equality (surely an advise he is better placed to give as leader who appointed a respected woman like Dr. Kadie Sesay as his running mate); and
5. Promote appropriate labour-intensive technology to reduce unemployment.

The plenary session in which Rtd Brigadier Julius Maada Bio delivered his address was moderated by the renowned Ferry De Kerckhove, former Canadian Ambassador to Egypt and other speakers were Dr. Hisham El-Sheriff, Chairman, Nile Capital (a leading private equity firm and IT investment in Africa and Middle East) and Pierre-Olivier Pineau, Associate Professor and Expert in investment and privatization in developing countries.

The international Economic Forum of the Americas is one of the most prestigious week-long yearly event organised to discuss major issues concerning economic globalisation with emphasis in the relations between the Americas and the continents. As a major forum it annually brings together heads of states, the private sector, international organisation and civil society. Therefore, it was no surprising that Rt Brigadier Julius Maada Bio was invited as one of several guest speakers because of his now credible international reputation and his expertise in good governance which formed part of his Masters Course in International Development. Other guest speakers at the International Economic Forum included the Donald Kabaruka, President African Development Bank, David Jacobson, United States Ambassador to Canada, Tom Donohue, President and Chief Executive Officer, United States Chamber of Commerce, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director – The World Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, President, Asian Development Bank and several other distinguished personalities from Bank Governors, academic professors and business leaders.

By: Yusuf Keketoma Sandi

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