Bumbuna town was the centre of government business over the weekend following the decision of His Excellency President Ernest Bai Koroma to conduct the first ever presidential retreat for ministers, deputy ministers, and other distinguished government functionaries.


The motive behind the retreat was for the President to share his vision of moving the country forward through his agenda for change and how he expected his ministers and all other government officials to assist in actualizing that vision.


In presenting this vision on Saturday 12th January 2008, President Koroma told his audience that he inherited a country with a constitution that called for separation of powers but questioned whether this was actually being practised. He said the people had given the government a mandate to significantly upgrade the administration of the country so that Sierra Leone would not revert to its ugly past. The President said he wanted to see an organized and disciplined Sierra Leone where the rule of law prevailed, with equal opportunities for all Sierra Leoneans to develop their talents.


President Koroma said there were high expectations out there, and the people were looking for miracles. He said the social indicators were terrible, with a life expectancy of 48.3 years and a high illiteracy rate with which the country could not be developed.


In the drive to change the situation, the president outlined an agenda with key areas to concentrate on. These were:

(i) Energy and water supply

(ii) Transportation: roads, air, and riverine

(iii) Youth unemployment

(iv) Growth sectors: (a) agriculture (b) mining (c) fisheries & marine resources (d) tourism

(v) Social services: (a) education (b) health care (c) affordable housing

(vi) Capacity development: (a) public sector (b) local government (c) private sector (d) justice system


Elaborating on these priority areas, as he referred to them, the President explained that within his mandated 5 years there would be urban and rural electrification of Sierra Leone; there would be well-constructed intra and inter-city road networks with a view to easing the transportation problems in Freetown through the completion of the peninsular and hillside roads plus ring roads round Freetown and round the country connecting Kambia, Kenema, Kono, Tongo, Pujehun, Moyamba, Shenge and Songo. The President said that within the districts, feeder roads would be constructed through local councils with support from the Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA).


For Freetown, the President said he had discovered in the books that there was a plan for a coastal road linking Fourah Bay in eastern Freetown to Goderich through Wilberforce in the west, and this would be urgently explored.


The President further said that transportation problems would be greatly eased by developing riverine mobility. He said this would help in moving commodities and people by sea and lessening the burden on land movement. He envisioned transportation from Portee along the coast to Goderich.


On air travel, President Koroma said as at now the creation of a new international airport would be too costly. He therefore wanted to rehabilitate the Lungi International Airport to meet modern international standards with an efficient transportation network from Lungi to Tagrin and Lungi to Port Loko.


In the area of youth unemployment, President Koroma said government would create employment centres all over the country where all unemployed people would be registered as government would launch a census of the unemployed youth as a basic source for recruitment. He said the country needed qualified and skilled labour, and it was therefore necessary to find channels by which the youth would be trained. The President reminded ministers about his commitment to setting up a youth commission soon. He also said that the private sector would be crucial in determining the level of employment.


Dilating on the growth sector, President Koroma said Sierra Leone should move from subsistence to commercial or mechanized agriculture. He said there was the need to add value to the country’s agricultural products. He also said there was the need to review the land tenure system in the interest of progress in a manner that would be understood by both land owners and bankers.


On the mining sector, President Koroma said there was the need to review licenses and leases in order to put in place a policy to increase returns to government and communities. He projected that there should be a system by which diamonds would be cut and polished in Sierra Leone before export, and that the primary process of bauxite usage should be started here.


Speaking on Fisheries, the President said the country could only benefit from it when she had the capacity to protect her territorial waters. He said he wanted to create opportunities for artisanal fishermen so that facilities of cooling, storage and drying would be provided for both the national and international markets.


For Tourism, President Koroma said Sierra Leone had got the potential to maximize her tourist industry through her God-given gifts through her topography and beautiful coastline. He said there was the need to build and develop the right infrastructure for boosting tourism. The President said there was an urgent need to raise the standards of existing hotels. Specifically, he said Bintumani, Cape Sierra and Mammy Yoko should be transformed to five-star hotels. He said there was the need to explore other places like Bunce Island and Lake Sonfon, and to create game parks. The President also said there was the need to revive our culture, which unfortunately we were fast losing. In doing this, the President said there was the need to give more support to the national dance troupe as a vehicle for cultural reactivation.


In achieving all this, President Koroma said his government would pay great attention to finance, trade, and lands, which he described as the catalysts or facilitators.


On finance, the President said government would look at the country’s tax regime to promote economic growth. He said the populace should have access to finance by urging banks to go back to the core business of promoting economic activities rather than participating in activities outlined by the Bank of Sierra Leone, and to put in place structures that would promote small and medium size enterprises. The President informed his audience that there was the need to reduce the hurdles of doing business in Sierra Leone so as to develop her investment potential.


On the issue of lands, the President said it was necessary to plan the country. He said it was essential for the Ministry of Works to come up with architectural designs for our cities and towns, and that this would be done by February this year. He said in transforming Sierra Leone, however, there were certain structures that would have to be demolished. He said the underlying factor in this would be the political will.


Moving on to social services, President Koroma started by stating that the 6-3-3-4 educational system should be reviewed because it was not serving the purpose of supporting progress since educational standards were falling. The President said he would emphasize on the education of the girl child. Also, the President said, for education to improve, government must motivate service providers, especially teachers, and that incentive priorities would be given to teachers willing to render services in remote areas of the country.


On health, the President also said workers in this sector must be motivated so that we would regain the capacity to retain personnel. He lamented on the country’s terrible doctor-patient ratio, with only one psychiatrist, less than five gynecologists, and a similar number of doctors and nurses who could not cope with the demand on their services. He therefore said government would prioritize training, motivating and retaining medical personnel. He also said government would put in place a system that would guarantee that drugs for the citizens, especially the poor in the rural areas, would reach their destination. The President also said there was the need for more sensitization of the populace on the dangers of HIV/Aids as there was an alarming increase in infection rates.


The President also spoke about government’s intention to provide affordable housing, and that the institute of architects would soon come up with a design on how houses would be constructed with local materials.


President Koroma moved on to expand his vision on capacity development. He started with the public sector by saying that government would be unable to achieve the dream for a better Sierra Leone with a weak public sector. He said it was therefore imperative to reform the civil service immediately.


On local government, the President said there would be a continual devolution of power to local authorities by strengthening both their political and administrative capacities. He said local councils would be urged to look at more avenues for revenue generation.


The President described the private sector as being weak, and that this sector should be strengthened to take the lead in economic development as there was still a thin line differentiating the private sector from the public sector.


On the justice system, President Koroma said he inherited a corrupt and inefficient judiciary, with lawlessness and delayed justice. He said his goal was to ensure that the rule of law reigned in Sierra Leone, and that a task force would be set up to review the whole judicial system.


President Koroma concluded his vision statement by appealing to ministers not to tear each other apart, not to create empires, but to work as a team in the interest of the nation.


Following the President’s statement, participants were placed in groups for each of the priority areas for detailed discussion and analysis so as to come up with targets on how each area could be addressed in concrete terms. In groups, ranging from 6 to 10, ministers and deputy ministers deliberated and debated the issues. They subsequently made individual group reports to the general body.


The special guest of the retreat, the Rt. Hon. Hilary Armstrong, a former minister in the cabinet of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, did a presentation on the topic, “Communicating With The People”. She stressed on the need to follow the APC party’s manifesto, for which the government was elected, and the need to continually be in touch with the media. She said government could not do without the press. She said former Prime Minister Tony Blair succeeded largely by engaging the press and even allowing interviews by people who totally disagreed with him. She urged ministers to work together and find ways of communicating effectively and coherently. She encouraged the government to keep repeating straightforward simple messages consistently and to go out and communicate with the people.


Also doing a presentation was the new Commissioner of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Mr. Abdul Tejan-Cole. He said he was adopting a comprehensive approach to the fight against corruption, emphasizing that this should be part and parcel of all government policy reforms. He said his work would be greatly enhanced by partnering with other institutions like the Accountant General and the Auditor General’s offices. The Commissioner said he was taking a three-prong approach in the anti-corruption crusade:

(i) prevention, which would be aided by the declaration of assets by public officers, monitoring the procurement process, transparency in all government business including taxes in the extracting industry, fair play in dealing with the public, and the intention to question public officials deemed to be living life-styles beyond their earnings (ii)education, which meant there should be an increase in the sensitization and public awareness of the anti-corruption drive and to know the true meaning of corruption (iii) prosecution/confrontation, which required more strengthening by primarily giving the commission the power to prosecute. He said there was the need to create toll-free telephone lines, more protection for whistle-blowers, adequate protection for witnesses, greater anonymity and confidentiality, protection from false allegations and respect for human rights.


The ACC Commissioner spoke of the commission’s challenges, including the inadequacy of the Anti-Corruption Act itself, the small number of investigators, the lack of adequate equipment, while stressing the need to restructure the commission. He paid tribute to Britain’s Department For International Development (DFID) for agreeing to fund the commission’s activities.


The Minister of Finance, David Carew, also made a presentation on “The Current State of Sierra Leone’s Finances: Challenges And Prospects”. He said government would continue to maintain and preserve economic stability by upgrading the national revenue collection. He said local councils should be in a position to manage and generate funds. He said between now and 2010, inflation would have been contained. He spoke of the low salaries and generally poor conditions of service of workers, and how he would address these and the issue of reducing the unemployment rate. He said he would mobilize revenue collection and wished to harmonise Sierra Leone’s tax system with neighbouring countries. He made mention of his intention to change the administration at the National Revenue Authority (NRA) and modernize the collection methods at the ports. He explained that the mining sector, particularly mining agreements, would be reviewed, and initiatives to boost agriculture would be taken.


After plenary discussions, the President responded on “How This Government Will Function”. He said he was impressed by the level of commitment and the ideas from participants. He insisted that the groups should reconvene and format the reports along the guidelines presented so that he and his ministers would eventually enter into a contractual agreement to monitor and assess their performance. The President said the retreat was useful with international good-will and local support. He reiterated that failure was not an option for his administration. He made mention of the past political scenarios when regimes would start on a high note of popularity but waned after a while. He said he would not let this happen under his presidency. He said he wanted to be the Chief Executive Officer of Salone Ltd, expecting ministers to meet their targets and to be ready to be held responsible if things were to go wrong. He said the exercise was the first step in a result-oriented management in government. He said his government had been in office for a short time, but long enough to know how the system worked.


President Koroma said the public service was fragmented, as functions overlapped and there was insufficient consultation, thereby creating the tendency for public officials to make their own empires. He said the system must be changed for government to function efficiently. He said he had advised the public sector within his office to run a single presidency, bearing in mind the functions of both the President and the Vice President as stated in the constitution. He said restructuring was underway for effective monitoring. The President said he would not run a parallel or kitchen cabinet at State House, but that the idea of having a strategic unit was to give support to the presidency.


The President emphasized on the need to comprehensively restructure the public service, especially the civil service, with professionalism, motivation and commensurate salaries for civil servants. He said it was for this reason that he had appointed the Director for Public Service Reform who would report directly to him.


The President further said he would want government to introduce or develop a new relationship with the private sector. He said the relationship before now was not cordial, but rather based on suspicion. But he said now the private sector must be considered as partners in development. He said it was only when the private sector would live up to the expectations of taking the driving seat in being the principal employer and provider of services that market forces would be operational and functional as in other economies in the world. He said he intended to set up an economic mansion to engage the private sector so that they would take the lead in even mining and agriculture, while government would not sacrifice its regulatory and supervisory responsibility.


The President said he would pay attention to information technology and research. He also revealed government’s intention to start the process of establishing diplomatic relations with India and Brazil.


President Koroma said he was aware that the buck would stop at his table, but it was the responsibility of all to ensure that the government succeeded. He therefore said he would enter into contractual arrangements with ministers and he would take the responsibility of being the judge.


On the last day of the retreat, Sunday 13th January, the groups reconvened and later reported (reports would be got from the different groups) to the general body. Afterwards, the President gave closing remarks, starting by saying that now that they had adopted an agenda, the question was what next. He said ministers would have to look into issues that would affect their individual ministries. He made a request that all should go back and report/discuss the issues with their administrative and professional staff this week because it was important for them to know the results of the retreat’s deliberations. President Koroma said it was the duty of ministers to delegate specific responsibility to units within their ministries in terms of the way forward. He encouraged them to set annual targets for themselves. The President said his office would distribute the contractual management format to all ministries, for filling and submission to his office. He said ministers could also enter into similar arrangements with units in the various ministries. He said they should contact him if they needed any further discussions. The President said he was just living up to his promise to run the country as a business concern. He said in order to let the people fully appreciate what had happened during the retreat, there was the need to quickly organize a one-day seminar with Permanent Secretaries and other managerial heads within this week. Thereafter, the President said all ministers should be in a state of readiness to enter into the contractual arrangement with his office. He said there would be a quarterly review and if by the second quarterly review any minister had not performed, he/she would have to ask themselves what to do next. The President said the government only had a five-year mandate, and that time was not on their side, stressing that all should fully understand the implications. He said they all now had a clear picture of the direction of where they wanted to take the country. He said the retreat had also created an opportunity for government functionaries to know each other better.


He said it had been hard work for everybody, but was sure some people had time to have some fun. He said what was important was that government had now known its priorities, and that they were leaving with new optimism to take Sierra Leone to the next level. He said they should all remind themselves of the pronouncement that failure was not an option. The President said judgement would purely be based on performance and that there would be no compromises. He said business had to be business if we wanted to see a turn around.


The President thanked the Rt. Hon. Hilary Armstrong for honouring the invitation. He said she would be our ambassador to the parliament and government of the United Kingdom. He also thanked the facilitator, Rwandese-born Mr Ernest Rwamucyo of the United Nation’s Development Programme, for the guidance he provided during the deliberations. He said he looked forward to inviting him in one of the reviews.


President Koroma ended by saying that he did not intend to go back on his words, hoping that everybody was committed to his vision. He said it would only be business, business and business.


He thanked all for coming and wished them a safe return journey.


Submitted by


Sheka Tarawalie

(State House Press Secretary)

15 January 2008