BUSINESS WORLD Economic Turmoil....Weak Sierra Leone Currency Strong US Dollar Posted by Philip Neville Executive Editor on Nov 3, 2009, 12:09

"Too much money chasing few goods" some in an economics class would described as INFLATION, while the layman in the village would say its hard time. Excuses most time advanced for poor economy in the case of Sierra Leone is that exports are non available to complement local economic activities to foster growth and economic development,. The question is how long shall the political power and the so-called micro and macro economist experts in the country continue to advance incomprehensible economic theories that the layman in the village cannot underastand, when all he cares to know is how he can afford not even three-square meals a day for his family, but a square meal that he can survive on with his family till the next day?.

The plight of the ordinary masses in a situation where the Leones is depreciating regularly, thus giving the upper hand to the Dollar to emerge victorious is sad and disappointing. Where are all the economists in the APC administration who were very boastful of their intellectual background and oversea exposures, who have worked at down town Washington at the IMF/World Bank office, but here they are cannot turn the economy of Sierra Leone around. They rely on excuses and heaping blame on the financial crises that is currently subsiding in the western world where it torn apart families, rendered unemployment to a number of people and crumbled home owners.

The Sierra Leone situation, it would appear is destined to remain stagnant as long people like Dr. Samura Kamara is the Minister of Finance,  a braggadocio who is very boastful about his Washington World Bank/IMF experience, yet he cannot use any of his previous knowledge to salvage the economy of his  country of birth . What he has perfected since his appointment as Minister of Finance is to be the bag bearer of President Ernest Koroma to attend  international conferences, workshops and seminars and make some perdiems. The sad chapter about it all is the fact that the very President who appointment him as Finance Minister is overwhelmed by his doctorate degree and not how he can  prove his mettle as somebody made of good stuff, knowledge, experience and wisdom.

It is not only shameful, but disappointing and in a situation where the government is focussed and sober-minded with set objectives, Dr. Samura Kamara should have long ago shown the exit door for failing to devise  and implement economic strategies and measures  that would  halt the battle between the Leone and the Dollar so that the local currency could be respected.

From all indications, President Koroma is not learning or has failed to learn from experience, which in human endeavour is the best teacher. It is evident from the ugly development that  has taken grip of the economy and the poor performance of most of his ministers that he has been traped. Others critical than this writer would say that he has been hipnotized, while political forcasters would say that he has been displaced and for him to reverse the decision in the interest of the state to weed out non performers in his government has become an insurmountable task, because he has been hipnotized by bogus degrees that the individuals cannot defend.

One of causes for fingers to be pointed at the Kabbah administration was the inclusion  of Dr. Samura Kamara in his government. He failed Kabbah several times as Financial Secretary and even as a minister, which left ex-President Kabbh with no alternative but to quietly ask him to take his exit. This is the individual that President Koroma initially appointed as Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone and later re-appointed him as Minister of Finance even when he could not prove his mettle as a credible individual who can improve the status of the banking industry in the country. Whether the APC as a political party lacks human resources that individuals like Dr. Samura Kamara can be considered for Governorship  and Ministerial positions is very hard to comprehend.

In these days of  global competition  performance takes priority over big and undefendable degrees and qualifications. It is time that President Koroma should come to terms with the reality and understands that the economy of Sierra Leone is in a mess, a deplorable situation that requires immediate positive action. Now that it is explicitly clear that the Minister of Finance is not a go- getter, but a bag bearer and commission agent for contracts and payments made to contractors, he should first  be discouraged from being the President's bag bearer to international conferences and workshops and be relieved of his position, because the economy of the country as it is now requires a performer and not the opposite.  

With the Dollar running fast against the Leone, it is disheartened to even be proud of a Finance Minister with big degrees who cannot perform.  The people are tired of listening to the same excuse every morning when they wake up or when the sun goes down that Africa is receiving the weight of the financial crisis. In Nigeria the Central Bank Governor fired those Managing Directors that were not able to effectively manage their industry. In Sierra Leone, though the situation has not reached such dimension the economy is  however weeping  and the President is unable or cannot do anything because the man at the Ministry of Finance is  a Doctorate Degree holder who cannot salvage the situation as his ambition, objective and focus are far different from his master