Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio turned one year in office on 4 April 2019. It followed his declaration by the National Electoral Commission on that date in 2018 as the candidate duly elected after receiving the most votes in the runoff election.
President Bio sat down with Umaru Fofana at State House for a self assessment of his stewardship.
Umaru Fofana: Mr. President, it’s one year since your election what would you say your achievements have been?
President Bio: I think it’s been an extremely difficult year for us in trying to establish governance right around the country. But as modest as I am there are a few things I think I must confess that I have achieved. I will start with education. That was the pledge I made to this country, taking into consideration the way education had been torn apart and within four months of taking office I was able to launch the Free Quality Education. That is no mean task when you look at the sheer amount of money needed to put that right across the country and the organization that goes into that. I think that is quite an achievement. And I want to say thanks to the minister and all the officials there and the whole government for supporting the program. But we also have to talk about human capital of which education is a component and that means I have to talk about health and agriculture.
In the area of health as you know, the Ebola devastated not only the human capacity but also the very infrastructure necessary to support the healthcare system of our country. What we did was to do a full assessment of that ministry and we’ve started addressing the challenges and we’ve realized that the maternal mortality rate is unacceptably high, the child mortality rate is also unacceptably high. So we have developed a system by which we are going to monitor that and bring down those rates as quickly as possible. And one of those things we established as a reason for those high child mortality rates was the fact that there was no sensitization about how we can actually stop teenage pregnancy. Teenage pregnancy accounts for the greater part of the child mortality rates, and my wife is involved. I am also involved with sensitizing this nation that we have to give opportunity to the girl child to learn and the boys too. It’s a national issue: The HANDS-OFF OUR GIRLS, as my wife has termed the project. We are cascading that, we are taking that to schools, we are getting everybody involved and also providing safe spaces for them at school.
In terms of really tackling maternal mortality we have made available 167 ambulances and they are available 24 hours a day, free of charge. And this is meant to be able to take our women to the closest medical facility for safe delivery. I paid a visit to maternity hospitals and we realized that there is no means by which poor people can get to hospital quickly to deliver. And in the process some of them die.
Umaru Fofana: But the hospitals themselves are few and far between and even those that exist do not have the things that they need to function well.
President Bio: That is correct. We are not disputing that fact and we are working on that. And around Freetown alone I think about four are five of them are going on as we speak. The physical infrastructure is the easy part of addressing those challenges. But actually making sure that you have the other arrangements in place to complement, especially the human capital, is where the problem is. So we need pediatricians, we need more gynecologists, we need a lot of trained midwives and a lot of nurses to address that.
Umaru Fofana: Interesting you say you need more nurses, there are many nurses who are qualified out there and they have not been absorbed into the government system
President Bio: That one is ongoing. A thousand of them have just been approved and another 1,000 will be approved. And what we have done is not only to have the numbers. We have also provided extra allowances to medical personnel around the country so that they are motivated. They have the means and wherewithal, not just the knowledge, to be able to provide quality health care and – services to our people.
Umaru Fofana: What would you say regarding the economy – clearly you need money to be able to do all of those things – are you pleased with the state of the economy?
President Bio: I’m pleased. Of course on the one hand yes, on the other hand, no. I know there is quite a lot of hardship among the ordinary people. This is because of our strong handling of the macroeconomic situation of the country. I was expecting that and that is normally expected. But I want to let Sierra Leoneans know that we are going to address that. When you manage the economy very well at the top, it’s going to be tough at the bottom. One of the things we have done is not only to increase revenue intake to stop waste and fraud, we have been able to let people understand that the economy itself should be managed in such a way that it does not only provide indicators that are pleasing to the World Bank but also the ordinary people should be able to have a comfortable life and that is where corruption comes in.
Umaru Fofana: How do you ensure that ordinary people get that comfortable life? Like you rightly said, people say there is a lot of hardship and you say you are going to fix it. How and how soon?
President Bio: Well I want us to understand as a nation that things had gone wrong for a very long time and national issues are never simplistic and [therefore] don’t have simplistic solutions. I did not promise I would make this country heaven in a year.
Umaru Fofana: But you promised you would look into hardship to mitigate those things.
President Bio: And I am doing that. One is to stop corruption. I am fighting and will continue to fight corruption as you would have heard for the past one year. We have given more strength to the institution that has been set up to deal with corruption, the ACC. Their successful prosecution rate has increased to 100%. They fetched about a million dollars which we are using as seed fund to provide a medical diagnostic center for all Sierra Leoneans so that we can prevent people from having to do those long trips to India or Ghana. What we are going to do is to pay attention to social issues so that the people who are the target of all government activities, the people who elected us also have a comfortable life. At the moment we are in discussion with the World Bank and IMF to provide more facility for us so we can now look at eh eh like the Sierra Leoneans say de gron dry – So that we can wet the ground for them. We can make it comfortable for them to go about their daily businesses without having to wonder too much about where the next meal comes from.
Umaru Fofana: In a language that they [the people] understand, how do you intend to tackle this de gron dry – meaning things are hard – job wise?
President Bio: Well definitely I accept the fact that [things are hard] but again, we have to be patient. We have been patient with corruption. We had a role to play to stop corruption as a nation. We didn’t play that. So all of us – I don’t want to start pointing fingers. I just want us to be a little patient. Some of the actions we are taking will pay off not immediately but gradually. Why I talk about corruption and I talk about management of the economy to the extent that the World Bank that had stopped activities in this country – and we were out of program as a country – have come back. We have put up a very good show as a government and people are beginning to respect Sierra Leone again. We are going to encourage foreign direct investment in this country. This is going to encourage more credible investors to come back. When they come they are going to create the jobs. Elsewhere in the world those that create the jobs are the small business enterprises – not the state itself – which is the opposite here. So we are providing a business environment that is conducive to attract foreign direct investment and those investments are going to create the jobs that we need for our people. We don’t have to give handouts but to create an environment in which those who have the necessary skills can be employed and they can take care of themselves.
Umaru Fofana: You talk about your fight against corruption which many say is laudable…but are you concerned that some of those you have appointed might just fall into this trap? Some people say some of your appointees are living ostentatious lifestyles.
President Bio: The fight against corruption is not designed for a specific group of people. It is designed for Sierra Leoneans. Our reputation has to be repaired and we don’t pick and choose who falls into that net. That’s why the ACC and the Commissions of Inquiry are going on. Whoever is required to answer questions relating to any activity should definitely do so. It is meant as a deterrent for us serving now, but it is also meant for those who have served to give account of their stewardship to the people.
Umaru Fofana: The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. You may have all these good intentions but one thing which has characterized the behavior of leaders in Sierra Leone, is this idea of deifying leaders. Do you allow people who praise-sing you to get their praises into your head and create a monster.
President Bio: One thing I enjoyed in the interim when I had been the Head of State of this country and between that time when I left power and a year ago when I took over the mantle of leadership.
Umaru Fofana– That was in 1990
President Bio: Yes, correct! Well over 20 years ago. I enjoyed quite a lot from the admiration I had from a lot of people who said “you did what was right at the time”. And so I have more value for what I do for my nation than what people tell me I have done. So I believe that doing the best for the majority of this country is actually my goal and my business. I don’t listen to praises. So we are going to continue to work as if we have achieved nothing in the past one year. I just want to make sure that Sierra Leoneans can have a smile on their faces, informed by a better quality of life. They can go and have a good medical care, their kids will be doing well in school and that the general condition of life will be better for all of us.
Umaru Fofana: What would you have wanted to achieve in the last one year that you haven’t achieved?
President Bio: The delivery of most of my promises depends on the human capacity. We have civil servants, we have public officials that I have to work with. I made a lot of promises and I am working on all of them. But then I cannot as a person deliver on all of those promises. I have to depend on a system that has been in place, on the people that have been working and a few others that I have brought in. But the few others I have had to bring in have to work with the huge number of public servants and civil servants and bringing them in tune with my rate at which I want to work and for them to buy into some of the deliverables has been difficult. I wish I could convince all civil servants that we are not we are doing this for SLPP, we are not doing this for Maada Bio we are actually doing it for a better Sierra Leone. We can all be motivated to want to change this country and work as hard as we can because I want to catch up with the rest of the world. I want to place Sierra Leone back on the map. We have done quite a lot with that already. We are beginning to gain our respect around the world as a nation that is building human capital and a nation that is progressive. But we need to do a lot more. In fact that takes me to why I believe that using science, technology and innovation we can actually provide a short cut to catching up with the rest of the world.
Umaru Fofana: Your critics have criticized you for your many overseas trips. What have you to say to that?
President Bio: Well we live in a highly interconnected world. This is a global community that we have today. And as a nation that is supported – even our budget is supported – by our international partners we need to be in touch with the world. For a very long time, our reputation internationally…around the world has been very bad. We are known for war, Ebola, natural disasters and when you go out there that’s what people tell you. I remember in my last trip somebody asked, ‘is the Ebola finally over?’ My area is not PR but I am the Chief Executive Officer of this country. I have to lead that public relations to tell people that the Sierra Leone you knew before is not the Sierra Leone that is here today and the Sierra Leone we want is totally different. We want to shed off those negative labels that have been attached to us as a nation, some of which we rightly deserve like being one of the most corrupt nations. You don’t do that sitting at State House here. You have to go out. One thing I can assure Sierra Leoneans of is that I am going to continue to do that because the pay-off for that is very good. We are not going out just to beg for money. I remember somebody said you came back empty-handed. Sometimes I come back with more knowledge, enthusiasm and motivation more than the money people talk about. When I was at Harvard [University] recently and even elsewhere I told them we are not going cap in hand, we are looking for credible partnerships that can impact positively on the development trajectory which we have set. But we are also getting resources actually. Those things are going to pay off with time. I want to assure Sierra Leoneans that it is not a waste of my time or money. If it were I wouldn’t do it because I am here for the betterment of Sierra Leone.
Umaru – Finally, how would you rate yourself over 10
President Bio – I think it is wrong to do that. In fact I don’t want anybody to rate me now. Give me an opportunity to serve for the first term and after that you will have the opportunity to understand fully where I am heading. My vision and my programs may not be understood but one thing is for sure – I want Sierra Leone to regain its respect and place in the community of nations.
Umaru – Thank you very much Mr. President
