It is most unfortunate that Sierra Leoneans generally love to see the downfall of their hard-working brothers and sisters. What we love to hear about others is not the good things that they do on behalf of the country and their fellow citizens.
A disgusted former President Kabbah after carefully observing this malignant malice among us Sierra Leoneans commented ‘Salone man get bad heart’.
The pull-him-down syndrome is destroying hard working Sierra Leoneans. Sam King and many patriotic Sierra Leoneans that genuinely sought to contribute to economic recovery are leaking their wounds after been pulled down by their enemies and detractors. MIK who was operating a Foreign Exchange Bureau was also destroyed as well as Med T of the Wanword International fame was destroyed. The elder brother of Chief Minister Professor Francis, Paul Francis, suffered a stroke because of such ill-treatment at the hands of fellow Sierra Leoneans who hated him for his pioneering entrepreneurial strides.
In the same vein, without shifting the chaff from the grain, enemies and detractors of Mohamed Gento Kamara have inundated social media with the erroneous claim that the roads contractor cannot account for the whopping sum of USD5 million.
The fact of the matter is that, what was not stated is that, it was the Roads Maintenance Fund Agency and the Ministry of Finance that failed to do proper reconciliation.
There was a memorandum of understanding wherein, SLRA which is the parent body of RMFA agreed to fund roads contractors on behalf of the Government of Sierra Leone.
The USD5 million in question is very easy to explain. SLRA through RMFA was to pay Gento 30 percent advance for the Waterloo township roads project. The amount should have been Le12.8 billion. Gento received Le7.8 billion.
The balance account remained with RMFA which had the onus of reconciling its books with the Ministry of Finance.
What however emerges from the bad press directed at Gento is that his fellow Sierra Leoneans want to see him go down the drain.
In Nigeria, Dangote was able to become the richest man in Africa because he got sovereign guarantee by the Government of Nigeria to borrow money.
In Guinea, to finance and promote local businesses the Head of State recently borrowed big, up to the tune of over 700 Million dollars, from the international money market to capitalize the local private sector in advancing that country’s local content policy.
On the other hand, in the case of Gento, he singlehandedly attracted the Italian firm FIMET-BETONVILLE to support him in contributing to national development through engaging in the road construction industry.
How many Sierra Leoneans know that in the absence of government funding, Gento soldiered on with the Hill Cut bypass road through self financing.
Any insinuation that Gento Group of Companies owes RMFA is preposterous as he has authentic document to the effect showing the contract signed in December 2015 did not breach any protocols.
What Gento was paid as advance is clearly recorded at the Accountant General department and with his bank. He was to receive USD12.8 million. He received less the USD5 million paid not in dollars but in Leones.
We should as a nation be appreciative of fellow Sierra Leoneans like Gento who have the vision and daring to venture where very few of us do, even those who are very rich.
Gento from very humble beginnings has over the years grown and developed to become one of the largest indigenous employers.
Is that not a cause for celebration?
The point being made is that Gento, during a period when the nation was suffering economically from the Ebola outbreak, continued to faithfully believe in the Government whilst his bankers breathed down his throat for payment of the interest on the heavy overdraft that he had taken out to continue doing the roads whilst awaiting payment from Government.
That notwithstanding, Gento has documentary evidence that in 2017, Ministry of Finance recovered the money. What is not said at one of the Commissions of Inquiry is that RMFA wanted the money paid by the Ministry of Finance as cash payment into RMFA account.
Gento has said that is why he is very pleased with this Government introducing the Single Treasury Account as it now centralizes all Government accounts making it very easy to track payments into Government coffers.
He concluded that he was invited by the Commission of Inquiry to just help in the ongoing investigation which he successfully did with documentation but he was not called as a suspect as some have perceived.
He reiterated that it is totally wrong to pull down progressive individuals who are making meaningful contributions towards national development.
