Civil Society calls on the government of Sierra Leone to immediately address the acute economic hardship particularly the momentous fuel price escalation and youth unemployment in the country

Coalition for Justice and Accountability (COJA) in consultation with the undersigned representatives of civil society wishes to draw the immediate attention of the government of Sierra Leone and its development partners  to their dozens of  international, regional and sub regional human rights and good governance instruments in particular article 2 of the UN Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights which obliges developing countries to seek international assistant in order to achieve economic, social and cultural rights of their peoples

To this end we laud the effort of the government of Sierra Leone in its strives towards massive infrastructural and social developments in the areas of agriculture, energy and infrastructure. However we appeal that these initiatives as dictated by the agenda for change (PRSP2) be more people centered or driven. For instance the people of this country were taken aback when government announced its decision to simultaneously withdraw all subsidies on petroleum products and that we have changed from a century old imperial system to a new metric.

We wish to draw the attention of government to the recent developments in the northern African region and in the Middle East where people are agitating the removal of their dictatorial regimes primarily because with all their development strives very little positive impact is felt on the livelihood of the average citizens. In this vein we want to remind the government of the efforts of western powers such as the US, EU etc where billions of dollars have been pumped into the private sector in the name of bail out and compulsory loans or grants to cushion  their economies; all in a bid to avert  the economic shock  by their ordinary citizens. Such approach is clearly provided for in section 2 and 5 of our 1991 constitution which clearly stipulates that Sierra Leone is a sovereign state and that its sovereignty belongs to the people from whom government through the constitution derives its powers, authority and legitimacy.

At this juncture we wish to reiterate our moral obligation as CSOs to empower our people to enjoy this constitutional right in full.

In the light of the above we urge the government of Sierra Leone to take the following immediate steps:

• To revert  the payment of subsidy on all petroleum products so as to maintain the old price
• To come up with a statement on transportation prices for all routes in the country
• Considering the small number (about 90%) of non calibrated machines in filling stations nationwide  we urge government to extend the implementation of the metric measurement system
• To fast track the formation of National Youth Commission by appointing the youth Commissioners and setting up of the secretariat in order to address the high rate of youth unemployment in the country
• Considering that about 70% of the people of Sierra Leone live below $2.00 a day we urge government to address the acute hardship in the country

While awaiting government response, we are continuously embarking on our nationwide consultations among our colleagues on how to effectively engage the government and its development partners on the next steps

Long live Sierra Leone at 50

Long live democracy and good governance

Long live civil society solidarity

For further information or inquiries please contact the following persons:

• Sulaiman Jabati on 033 547 627 Executive Secretary  Coalition for Justice and Accountability, Email pressj2002@yahoo.com
• Mr. Victor Lansana Koroma on 077/076/033-758 511, Chairman Civil Society Consultative Forum
• Mr Abu Daffae Centre for Civil Rights Education on 076 470035/077 711 429
• Mohamed Kunowah Kiellow Human Rights and Democracy Alert on 0031686182350

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