By Millicent Senava Mannah
“Most of the State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and Parastatals that are established to make profit and deliver effective services in the country, are consumed by debts and they are reliant on taxpayers monies for salary.’’ This statement was made by Andrew Lavalie, Executive Director, Institute of Governance Reform, during the launch of their ‘Tragedies in Politics’ Vol 1.
This documentary chronicles the effects of 20 years of bad political decisions on the performance of SOEs and Parastatals, as the Government embarks on reviewing the Privatization Law.
He maintained that like any developing country, there is a strong belief in Sierra Leone that solutions to dire poverty must come from abroad and therefore, from health care to education down to governing they depend on external aid for everything arguing how they are failing to build capable institutions to manage their economies and welfare of citizens.
“In this documentary we asked what are our state-owned Enterprises and Parastatals doing with the trillions of Leones they receive for the welfare of Sierra Leoneans,’’ Andrew Lavalie revealed.
According to Andrew Lavalie, they asked that question because before politicians head off to the IMF and the World Bank for funds to buy books and drugs, for them, it is useful to know why their State Enterprises and Parastatals fail to create wealth, jobs and services and more importantly how to stop that failure.
“We know that Government is currently reviewing the State–Owned Enterprises Law and so we decided to deepen the debate. But first let us look at State Owned Enterprises and Parastatals at a glance,’’ he averred.
Andrew Lavalie pointed out that the Road Transport Corporation which has received 350 buses from both SLPP and APC over the last 20years has never replenished its fleets using its own resources, even though millions of Leones are paid in transport fares every day.
“In fact eighty mystery buses procured in 2014 disappeared in three years. At the budget hearing few years ago, the State Lottery declared that the company’s account was in red for 8 years running but its Managers were still paid hefty salaries,” he further revealed.
He also lamented that Sierratel, once the only gateway to communicate to the outside world and supposedly the highest source of revenue for Government years back is dead adding that Sierratel cannot compete with private telephone operators.
He revealed that, successive Governments have dumped Sierratel into $20 million debts and how with hundreds of its idle staff now going on regular strikes for backlog pay.
Andrew Lavalie furthered that the National Insurance Company which was regarded as Mother of all Insurance Companies 20 years ago has become Mother of Failures. And how in 2018, NIC was almost been dwarfed into nonexistence by private insurance company RitCorp .
Lavalie also revealed in the documentary that in 2015, the State Owned Banks, SLCB and RCB, went broke and how they were only bailed out by the State Owned Social Security Scheme, NASSIT.
“Like State Owned Enterprises, Parastatals are also a source of waste, debt and what is more troubling is the impunity that goes with the waste,’’he bemoaned.
Andrew Lavalie continued by saying, ‘’Because State Owned Enterprises and Parastatals operate in a zero fiscal discipline environment, they have made widespread poverty part of our collective memory and our reality. So it is time to ask why these state enterprises are failing.’’
According to him, since 2004, the so-called privatization has merely been a scheme benefiting a few individuals in many ways. And how it gives fat salaries to people politically connected.
On his part, the Coordinator, Abu Bakarr Kamara of Budget Advocacy Network, said that, even the money the past and present ruling parties used for electricity is enough for the country to have its own Karpowership through special financing arrangement, the same as NASSIT.
He continued that, there is no real commitment of privatizing these entities or ensuring efficiency of these Parastatals further maintaining that, the State-Owned Enterprises are reliable source of secretly financing politics
