In what his critics call playing to the gallery, President Koroma displayed an increasingly practiced style (near perfection) of interspersing serious issues with political punctuations aimed at ridiculing the opposition, while delivering his second address to the third session of the third parliament in the second Republic.
In his two hour speech from the throne, President Koroma blamed the “greed and recklessness” of bankers in the developed countries who “pushed the world into economic crisis. The impact of this he said has been profound and in Sierra Leone “remittances slowed down, revenues from our exports slumped, (and) donor resources for our programs decreased.” He noted that “These external shocks threatened many of the gains we were making, and created great difficulties for our country.”
He paid tribute to “the resilience of our people and the sound economic management of my government,” adding that IMF reviews were ongoing and inflation has remained a single digit while the Central bank increased the amount of foreign exchange made available in its weekly auction.
In response to the political violence which rocked the nation early this year President Koroma lashed out at “some amongst us, who would prefer to widen our differences, than to work towards strengthening our common bonds” adding that “these forces of disunity have sought to raise political tensions, discredit this country, and denigrate our collective achievements.”
However he said “together with the leaders of the other main political parties, we stood firm, and reaffirmed our commitment to the authentic Sierra Leonean values of tolerance, friendship and good-neighbourliness.”
He then launched into his political diatribe saying that his “government is guided by the cherished values of Action, Progress and Commitment,(APC)” adding “We are a government of all the people, dedicated to ensuring that our programmes benefit the common man and woman in every region, every district, every chiefdom and every village.” He further reiterated that his is “a government that responds to the needs of the many” and does “not feed the greed of the few.”
In an obvious swipe at his political opponents he stated that “In partnership with our people, and with you as representatives of the people, we will prevail over those who act in bad faith and malice towards our people’s aspiration for change.”
Turning to his achievements, President Koroma disclosed that in agriculture his “government ensured that over 62,000 acres of rice fields have been ploughed, a 35% increase since the previous year;” that he has “secured funding for the construction of rice mills, stores and drying floors countrywide” and “following the highest ever recovery of seed rice last year, more than 90,000 bushels have again been distributed to farmers.”
Furthermore the President revealed that “The Rokupr Agricultural Laboratory has been upgraded to one of the best in Africa” and he has “procured 265 tractors and 30 motor bikes through a line of credit from the Indian Government” along with “58 power tillers and 23 new combined harvesters” which “have been procured and pre-positioned in strategic areas of the country.”
He promised that since his administration has been named the “Champion of agriculture in the continent” that trust has to be repaid with increased production and therefore his government “will offer farmers an increased package of support: subsidized inputs including improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides; access to machinery in each chiefdom; improved storage and processing infrastructure to reduce post-harvest losses; new feeder roads to get produce to market; and better access to research on appropriate methods and practices.” He also disclosed that his “government is also interested in ensuring that each chiefdom has a chiefdom farm, communally supported, with proceeds utilized for projects within the chiefdom.”
On forestry he said “As a result of my government’s prudent management of forestry, revenues from the subsector have increased to Le.3billion, more than twenty-one times what they were when we took office” and promised that “Next year, 100 acres of afforestation will be undertaken in each district.”
Turning to the energy sector President Koroma proudly announced that after 35 years his government had completed the Bumbuna Hydro Electric project, disclosing that “Plans are far advanced to ensure that towns situated along the Bumbuna line benefit from its supply.” He further disclosed the “starting (of) phase two of Bumbuna, which will be seven times bigger than the current phase one” adding that they “will ensure that once we commence work on phase two, it should be completed within six years.”
He disclosed more plans for power generation stating that his government is “securing availability of electricity supply to Freetown through the installation of two thermal plants at Kingtom Power Station with total generating capacity of 10 Mega watts,” and that his “government has signed a contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of a 16 Mega Watts thermal plant at Blackhall Road.” Also, “The start of the 161KV line which commences the establishment of the National Grid connecting our country to other West African States as part of the West African Power Pool will begin this month (October) as well.”
Furthermore the President disclosed plans of “an intensive development of mini-hydro-electric plants between one to ten megawatts in Bankasoka and Makali in the Northern Province, Charlotte in the Western Area and Moyamba in the Southern Province. We are also strengthening the Dodo project to double its supply of electricity to Bo and Kenema,” adding that “We will also increase our production and use of bio-fuel through a proposed ethanol factory in Makeni. This is expected to supply another 30 megawatts of electricity.”
With regards to Water the president disclosed a loan of “2.1 billion Leones to the Guma Valley Water Company for the purchase of chemicals, construction of 150 additional stand pipes and the laying of sub-mains to replace the numerous unsightly spaghetti pipes and reduce leakages.”
Stating that his government has “embarked on one of the most ambitious road-building programmes in our country’s history” the President proclaimed that “From Kabala to Pujehun, Kailahun to Freetown, we will unite this country through infrastructural projects that link up the towns, cities, villages and all the ethnic groups of this country.” He went on to recount a medley of road projects under construction and in the pipeline. Construction and funding plans for bridges, jetties and feeder roads were also revealed.
The President announced new measures for maritime activity inorder to forestall any recurrence of the recent sea disaster. He said “We have made regulations stipulating that no boat should have more than 60 passengers and the Sierra Leone Maritime Administration’s standard manifests are now being used. Additional monitors have been recruited and deployed in accident prone areas and punitive measures have been incorporated in the Merchant Shipping Act for those in breach of regulations.” He disclosed that they “have procured communication equipment with repeater stations for installation on jetties for timely reporting of sea accidents,” and “A Search and Rescue Boat has also been procured and will be delivered by the end of this month.”
With responses of appreciation from both sides (opposition and party in power) the President noted that “our country’s once proud reputation as a beacon of quality education is under serious threat.” He stated that “Together, we must rebuild the schooling infrastructure, improve the quality of teaching and learning, and strengthen the links between education and employment.” He pointed out that “Our children are also saddled with too many distractions: foreign football games, foreign films, and a belief amongst many that they could get good certificates, good jobs and good wages without working very hard for them.”
The President spoke about securing “funding to construct over 70 schools” signing “an MOU with George Mason University, USA for the creation of four community colleges in Sierra Leone”, the Islamic Development Bank supporting the construction of 46 Technical/Vocational institutions, and the Swedish Development Agency (SIDA) having pledged a grant of 17.5 million dollars to support basic and vocational education.”
The President also announced for the first time that “A policy has been introduced through which all disabled persons automatically qualify for grants-in-aid on admission to any of our tertiary institutions.”
On Health the President spoke of plans for “the establishment of a national health insurance scheme. This scheme will be geared towards a total abolition of user fees. They will be replaced by new financing mechanisms through contributions, taxes and subsidies. Contribution waivers will be introduced for pregnant women, children and the very poor.” He also noted “earlier this week the United Nations published the Human Development Index for the period up to 2007, naming Sierra Leone one of the least developed countries in the world. These findings underscore the immense challenge my government faced when it entered office. But with the commitment we have shown and the policies we have introduced since 2007, I am confident that future updates of the Index, based on more recent data, will reflect the progress our people are already seeing on the ground.”
On the youths he said “In the next twelve months, we will make the National Youth Commission operational, ensuring that it becomes the hub for designing, implementing and coordinating programmes that promote skills acquisition, employment, and political inclusion of youths.”
On the issue of gender the President said “we are increasing the number of women with degrees and other tertiary education certificates by giving automatic grants-in-aid to female students studying mathematics and science in our tertiary institutions.” On mining the President disclosed that “A new minerals agency is also envisaged as well as the setting up of a diamond cutting industry in Sierra Leone. We have re-negotiated the agreement with Koidu Holdings and we are at the final stages of drafting the contract. The next agreement to be renegotiated is that of Sierra Rutile.”
On Petroleum he said “Samples have been sent for laboratory analyses while another exploratory well is planned for 2010 to determine the commercial status of the discovery.” He also disclosed that he has “established a Task Force to devise modalities for the transformation of the Petroleum Resources Unit in the Office of the President to a full-fledged oil company.”
On fisheries he said “It is painful that we cannot export directly to the EU market yet our resources are illegally fished here, repacked in neighbouring countries and then sold to the EU. Our priority for this coming year is to systematically deal with this anomaly and the other constraints preventing us from realising the full socio-economic contribution of this sector.”
On Tourism the president said “We have also reached an agreement with the Libyan Government for the construction of a five star hotel in Freetown. Also, NASSIT is seeking partners for the redevelopment of Cape Sierra Hotel; and the Mammy Yoko Hotel is being refurbished. This will improve the stock of first class hotel accommodation in this country.”
On security the President said “Earlier this week, I invoked Military Aid to Civil Power to ensure a more robust response to this malaise (meaning the spate of armed robbery).” And promised that his “government will leave no stone unturned to secure the lives and property of our people.”
There was laughter in the house when the President said “last year, I called for a cultural renaissance in this country.” He himself laughed as the opposition SLPP stood up to showcase their cultural attire while the ruling APC were dressed in black European suits and spotting red ties.
“To conclude,” he said “let me reiterate my pledge: I was elected president of the whole of Sierra Leone; I will serve the whole of Sierra Leone; I will unite this country by fulfilling the promise of the Agenda for Change to the common man and woman, regardless of their sex, ethnic group, region or political party.”
By Ishmael Bayoh