By Allieu Sahid Tunkara
Co-chairman of the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) has warned the Sierra Leone subset of the global initiative against the implication political interference.
The Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) is seeking to promote transparency in payments in the extractive sector.
Dr Steave Manteaw was assessing the work of the Sierra Leone Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) in Freetown.
“Your roles are complementary and not about power play,” he said, warning that SLEITI must be protected from government interference so that it could function well.
EITI came into existence following the completion of a world summit for sustainable development in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. That summit was launched by the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Sierra Leone signed up in 2006.
A member state is tasked with producing annual reports for the assessment of the performances of extractive companies and actors in its extractive sector.
Invited as the lead facilitator of a day’s conference, at the Hill Valley Hotel, the GHEITI co-chair called on officials of the secretariat of SLEITI to work together with the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) so that there would be progress in the work of SLEITI, particularly in the timely production of reports.
In Sierra Leone the Chief of Staff at State House is the head of the country’s subset of the initiative. And the country was temporarily suspended in 2013 by the global board of EITI for failure to comply with the demands of the initiative after two validations.
The annual reports include payments made by oil, gas and mining companies to the government of a member state and how those impact the lives of citizens.
Dr Manteaw said the Chief of Staff, as the Chairman of SLEITI, was there only to provide political leadership for the institution and not to interfere with its operations.
But he also told the conference that the appointment of the Chief of Staff as the sole chairman of SLEITI meant that the work of the institution would be delayed since the holder of the office had to attend other important functions of government.
The present Chief of Staff and Chairman of SLEITI, Saidu Konton Sesay, had spoken before Dr Manteaw.
Mr Sesay explained that transparency in the exploitation of the country’s mineral resources was at the heart of every Sierra Leonean and that the business of EITI compliance was no longer about disclosure of revenue, but how this would be utilised for the benefit of the nation.
According to him, since 2010, SLEITI had produced three annual reports and the next one would have wide circulation.
“We will avoid the mistakes we made in 2013 which will lead to our suspension,” he said.
“The delay in the publication of SLEITI reports will soon lead to the downgrading of Sierra Leone in terms of compliance,” he added, citing the Asian country of Azerbaijan as example of one that lost its compliant status because of political interference.
Dr Manteaw’s statement also came after the presentation of SLEITI’s acting national coordinator, Mina Horace, who highlighted some of their challenges in the past few years.
She said SLEITI lacked a legal and policy framework and a strategic development plan, which she said negatively impacted their work.
She told the audience that with all those challenges, the country was compliant with the EITI requirements and referred to the timely publication and submission of the 2013 annual report as one of the indicators to that effect.
According to the coordinator, Sierra Leone was due to present the 2012 report when the Ebola virus broke out, which pushed her to request a six-month-period extension to complete their work.
“As we are about to submit the 2012 report, we are also working on the 2013 report. We will focus mainly on the 2013 report because it is more urgent,” she explained.
The sacking of Dr Richard Conteh as Chief of Staff, she said, had had a negative impact on their work since he also ceased to act as SLEITI’s head.
However, Ms Horace assured that they were working on a SLEITI bill and policy, stating that she had contacted CEMMATS GROUP for consultancy.
Abu Brima, who is the Executive Director of the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), said when Sierra Leone got to the EITI process, it had been struggling over the years but the institution had been “resilient.”
He said the EITI process in the country had been “evolving” and that the country’s compliance with the initiative was very much important.
Brima however urged the Multi-stakeholder Group which, he said, was a SLEITI complementary organ, to ensure that government and mining companies complied with the EITI requirements.
The country, according to the NMJD boss, would suffer if civil society groups failed to play their roles, as “government cannot provide the services that can improve the lives of the people.”
“Civil society will set the leadership environment in the governance of the state. We will always remain strong and we will not be forced to do what we should do,” he assured.
The Resident Minister of the Eastern province, Maya Kaikai, said strong coordination was paramount to ensure enhancement of transparency and productivity in government ministries.
He said in some mining activities in some towns in mining communities were recipes for disaster.
“How can we stop these activities when there is no coordination,” asked the resident minister.
(C) Politico 16/06/15
