OPINION > Something To Think About Mr. President the Amount Should Be Le2.4 Billion and Not Le1.3 Billion Sir Posted by on Feb 23, 2010, 23:55

The penalty calculated by President Koroma in relation to the false declaration of goods shipped into this country by Lebanese born Ibrahim Moshen was based on the assumption that he is a first time offender, and therefore imagined that the sum of Le1.3 Billion was enough to caution him to avoid a repetition. President Koroma, since his elevation to the position of the First gentleman of the Republic of Sierra Leone has never openly demonstrated his anger to such magnitude, which clearly indicates that he was not only in a no-nonsense mood but to teach the criminals an unforgettable lesson for all to see. The lines of contour and dark appearance that took over his face was enough to tell Ibrahim Moshen and his accomplices that this time round action was the only answer that President Koroma wants to see and not as he put it “business as usual”

The calculation, whether done consciously or not has to be revisited. This was what Board Members of the National Revenue Authority (NRA) painstakingly went through yesterday at a meeting and were able to discover that Ibrahim Moshen has a chequered history of dishonesty and fraudulent business style throughout his stay in the country. He was sometime back discovered to have made false declaration of goods he shipped into this country and a fine was imposed on him, which he reluctantly honoured and retrieved back from the poor consumers of the state. This second time according to research conducted into the books including the Customs/NRA Acts, the fine should be tippled not only for the interest of the state or for the greater good for the greater majority of people but for Sierra Leone to benefit from her resources so that everyone including the Customs fraudsters to enjoy.

Browsing through pieces of documentary evidence relating to the matter, it became explicit that the conspiracy took place among the importer, supplier and the shipper to which the Bollore Shipping Company is not excluded because of the financial benefit it had realized and was going to realize in the deal. When criminal Companies partner with criminal business individuals the state is always deprived of its needed resources, which could have been used to provide the necessary facilities for good governance. People like Ibrahim Moshen, (there are many of them in our midst) pretending and behaving hypocritically as lovers of this country, when in reality they are rippers and reapers of state resources. As rightly indicated that this is not the beginning and would not be the end of perpetuating such criminal activity to which he should be made to know that honesty is a great gain not to himself alone as an individual but wherever he finds himself on this planet.

When closely watched, the Customs and Excise Department should not be blamed in the sense that when the criminal offence was detected, the containers were refused smooth passage from the ports to Sani Abacha Street where the false items declared would have been deposited. The act of conspiracy can only be accomplished with more than one person is involved, and in this case Ibrahim Moshen and his partners whom he instructed to prepare documents, which he could have used to clear his goods undetected as he used to do in the past were neck deep in the act. It did not complete where the goods and documents were prepared, but aided by some unpatriotic Sierra Leoneans whose personal benefits are above the interest of their country.

To them “SELF”  should be served first before nation, but when President Koroma hit hard during his brief speech to a mammoth gathering at State House on Monday, they came to the realization that caution should be the watchword as the GRAND CHIEF COMMANDER is determined to put an end to their unpatriotic enterprise. If the containers had been released to Ibrahim Moshen before this time, there would have been no excuse for them to advance as to why they released them, but they should bless their stars for holding on to them until the matter finds itself in the public domain.