By Saidu Ibrahim Kamara
As inflation keeps soaring globally, with Sierra Leone not an exception, families are struggling to survive on a daily basis while some struggle to afford basic amenities. Most people view this economic crunch on Sierra Leoneans as a lack of committed leadership by the leaders.
Committed leadership is one of the areas that TRC report, which was published to look into the causes of the decade long civil war in Sierra Leone, looked into.
“Committed leadership means many things. It means acting with integrity, understanding and compassion. It involves hard work and self-sacrifice. Committed leaders are those who have no desire to live their lives at the expense others. These qualities enable such leaders to develop the foresight and wisdom needed to build communities and to build the country,” Vol 2 Chap 3 P 152 TRC report.
The inflation trend in the current administration has been seen by many Sierra Leoneans as the worst in recent history. Economists and Sierra Leoneans blame the policies of president Bio, who has introduced a new currency and the frequent firing of finance ministers since he took over the reins of power.
“Life is not easy, living conditions are difficult, everything is expensive,” said John Cole a strong supporter of president Bio.
Inflation rate for consumables in Sierra Leone, moved over the past 41 years between 3.3% and 178.7% for 2021, an inflation rate of 11.9 was calculated according to world Data 2022.
“During the observation period from 1980 to 2021, the average inflation rate was 31.2% per year,” World Data 2022. “Overall the price increase was 2,027, 048.47, and an item that that cost 100 Leones in 1980 costs over two million Leones at the beginning of 2022”
Salifu Kamara, an economic analyst, noted that the data by World Data shows that Sierra Leone’s economy has lost its value, and one key tool to help curb or evaluate our currency value is through controlled monetary policy.
“Our development challenges as a nation will not pass from sight in a flash. We remain resolute in our commitment to execute our national development agenda to bring sustainable economic growth and social progress to the land that we love,” president Bio wrote on Twitter one month ago.
The effect of rising prices has fallen particularly hard on the poor and the middle class.
More than half of the working Sierra Leoneans earns around the minimum wage, which is less than $100 dollar a month because of the Leones vast devaluation against the dollar. As the Leone continued to sink, people have watched their salaries lose purchasing power and value of their savings evaporate.
Both the coronavirus pandemic and the war between Ukraine and Russia have made inflation a threat to economies around the world.
But while other countries have set up policies to keep prices down, our leaders are at their wits ends as to control inflation.
The IMF, on the 15 March 2021 approved US $50 million for Sierra Leone to address the continuing impact of COVID -19 pandemic as it followed an earlier approval of US $143 million last year.
“The prices of goods do not only rise on a daily basis, but by hour,” Mariama Muctarr a trader at Abacha.
When you complain about prices of goods, they will say that the dollar has gone up, she said, and I and my family do not cook every day. I have to give my children lunch every day, and I find it very difficult providing their everyday lunches.
President Bio has never in his speech or tweets acknowledged the economic crisis that country is going through.
“Despite the global economic downturn since the onset of COVID- 19 pandemic, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine my government has achieved considerable results in implementing our New Direction Agenda,” president Bio wrote on Twitter.
Neighboring Guinea enjoys economic stability as the dollar rate is lower than the dollar rate in Sierra Leone.
John Cole, who sells bread and fried egg to support his family, acknowledged that the government should be blamed for the skyrocketing of consumer goods.
“Government does not go to the market and check the prices of goods, “he said.
John Cole said as a result of the high increase of prices he cannot give lunch to his children.
The TRC report vol 3 Chap 3 P. 152 stated that committed leadership should not just take place in homes, the streets, workplace, bar rays, schools, colleges, associations and sport fields. Committed leader change lives for the better, regardless of where they find themselves.
But yet there is an untold suffering among Sierra Leoneans as they keep hoping that lives become better.
“Prices are going up every day, and if you go and buy something today, tomorrow the price will change,” said Fatmata Bangura also a trader.
She said that she finds it very difficult to give her children lunch.
With these economic challenges that the country is going through, Sierra Leoneans are becoming disgruntled and aggrieved by the president Bio’s administration. As this is one the reasons that made Sierra Leoneans became open to radical means of affecting change.
“The successor to Stevens, President J. S. Momoh, attempted to decelerate the economic and political decline through the promulgation of an economic state of emergency and a multi-party constitution. These measures were, however, managed in a dictatorial and abusive fashion, which rendered them ‘too little, too late’ to salvage the situation. Against this backdrop, Sierra Leoneans became increasingly disgruntled and aggrieved with the malaise in governance and their inability to do anything to alleviate it. Many citizens, particularly the poor, marginalized youths of the provinces, became open to radical means of effecting change: they would readily answer the call to arms when the so-called ‘revolution’ began to enter the country in 1991,” Vol 2 Chap 1 No 20 P 8 TRC report.
This article is produced with support from MRCG through the ATJLF project on “Engaging the media to change the narrative on Transitional Justice (TJ) Issues in Sierra Leone.”
