Africa, Headlines

ECONOMY-SIERRA LEONE: Disillusionment, As Cost Of Living Skyrockets

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jan 27 2004 (IPS) - Three years after the end of Sierra Leone’s devastating civil war, the living conditions of the majority of the people is getting worse by the day, as the economy shows no signs of picking up.

“These are indeed troubling times,” explains Ibrahim Sesay, a spokesperson for the Consumers Association of Sierra Leone in the capital Freetown.

“The cost of living has skyrocketed and people are suffering, with unemployment on the increase, low incomes and rising costs of goods on the market,” Sesay adds.

Sesay, like many Sierra Leoneans, cites the sudden increase in the cost of the staple rice, which has risen by 100 percent over the past couple of months.

Says Marie Kamara, a single mother of six children: “We used to buy rice at Le 25,000 (10 dollars) a bag. Now it costs Le50,000 (20 dollars) and slightly more, depending on the variety. This is unbearable.”

The price of palm oil, an important ingredient in the Sierra Leonean diet, has also shot up from Le 700 (28 U.S. cents) to Le 2000 (80 U.S. cents), forcing the poor to adjust their feeding habit to less nutritious ingredients.

Government officials claim most of the country’s palm oil is being smuggled across the porous borders into Guinea and Liberia. And they seem incapable of halting the trend of this illegal cross-border trade.

A senior government official told IPS Monday: “This is sabotage by unpatriotic citizens. They are trying to give the government a bad name.”

The official, who preferred anonymity, said “measures will be taken to reverse this trend.” He did not elaborate.

Everywhere on the streets, Sierra Leoneans are complaining openly about the rising cost of living. Young people, who form more than 70 percent of the population, are mostly unemployed. Many of them had fought as active combatants during Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war. Now they are disillusioned. They hang around the street corners and engage in criminal activities.

“What else do they expect us to do?” asked Mustapha Sillah, a former rebel of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). “We gave up the guns and brought back peace, but there is nothing for us to do. I am particularly disillusioned.”

The demobilised combatants number about 45,000.

Recently, a leading human rights monitoring group, the ‘Campaign for Good Governance’, conducted a survey that reflected overwhelming public disaffection with the plummeting economy. It called on the government to take measures to reverse the decay.

Charlie Hughes of the ‘Forum for Democratic Initiatives’ (FORDI), an independent local think-tank, said the economy: “. is hopeless. The Leone keeps plummeting against all major currencies, as the parallel market gains strength against the banking institutions. Exports are low or insignificant and there seems little will on the part of the political leaders to turn things around,” Hughes commented.

People’s anger seems to be boiling over. A planned public demonstration by youth groups, against the worsening economy has been banned. The government does not seem willing to tolerate open dissent that may be exploited by disgruntled and frustrated elements of the society.

Critics say the conclusion of Sierra Leone’s civil war in 2001 has failed to turn things around and improve the lives of the majority.

Diamonds and agriculture, which form the country’s core export sectors, were hampered because the mining and agricultural regions were seized by rebel forces for most parts of the war. The government was blockaded.

Now the entire country is back in the hands of the government. Even so, diamonds are still being smuggled and farmers are not encouraged to till the land.

“It is massive corruption in official circles that is depleting the economy,” claimed Patrick Sesay, a lecturer at a teacher training college in Freetown. “Also, our imports far exceed our production base. And making matters worse is that our economy is donor-driven and the donor funds are drying out,” he added.

Donors aid accounts for over a third of Sierra Leone’s annual budget, according to official figures.

Sierra Leone’s economic hardships seem to find expression through the voices of young musicians. People now tend to go more for highly political albums released locally as they decry the authorities for failing to arrest the nation’s declining economic fortunes.

“It seems to be a music revolution. The young artists are fighting the cause of the suffering masses. I like their songs,” quips Aisata Kabba, a businesswoman in Freetown.

 
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