PONDER MY THOUGHTS BY Andrew Keili CLOSING UP “OPEN GOVERNMENT” I have hitherto not been a fan of the Open Government Initiative (OGI) mainly because of the plethora of spurious statistics spewed out in its reports. I was therefore surprised that the OGI was on the ropes recently for providing a platform for a stakeholders’ symposium on a report highly critical of Government and the major mining company, African Minerals. I listened to its Director Khadija Sesay being pilloried on a radio programme for her “unpatriotic stance” in doing this. The combative Khadija gave as good as she got and I must confess to being impressed with her toughness. “I work for the people of Sierra Leone and not for any personal interests. It is my duty to provide a platform for the public to discuss issues. I will always be true to my conscience”, she said affirmatively. She and the main researcher for the report have had their own share of bad press, sometimes bordering on the bizarre. One foreign newspaper in an article Sierra Leone: “Mining boom brings rights abuses” says this about the report: “The 96-page report, ”Whose development?: Human Rights abuses in Sierra Leone’s mining boom” documents how the government and London-based African Minerals Limited forcibly relocated hundreds of families from verdant slopes to a flat, arid area in Tonkolili District. As a result, residents lost their ability to cultivate crops and engage in income generating activities that once sustained them. Police carried out a bloody crackdown in the town of Bumbuna in April 2012 to quell a protest by workers who went on strike after being barred from forming a union of their own.” The paper further stated: “The Sierra Leonean government, while promoting the company’s operations as essential to Sierra Leone’s economic development, permitted corporate actions that violated the rights of Tonkolili’s residents, Human Rights Watch found. For example, the government failed to provide adequate oversight of the company’s consultations with local communities or respond to repeated complaints about the forced relocation of residents. Both the government and the company misled villagers about what would happen once they were moved to the new site.” Serious accusations indeed! The Press has been in overdrive since this report and Government spokesmen and African Minerals have come out fighting with all guns blazing. It is however the newspapers that have been the most vitriolic. One newspaper Sierra Leone News Hunters literally “hunted down” the OGI in its publication of February 24 with the following lead stories: -HWR: Throwing “ san san” into our “Garri” -State House Aide frowns at OGI -Conspiracy against Sierra Leone foiled -Madam Peligal: Is it envy, malice or hatred? In its special commentary it stated “Somebody out there could be paying huge sums of money to destabilize AML. Somebody out there could be paying a few greedy Sierra Leoneans to join ranks with one loafer of a researcher to help destabilize AML. The New Citizen, not to be outdone accused the OGI of “not dancing”: “The OGI an institution set up by government to bring government closer to the people has come under the spotlight for seemingly conniving with the Human Rights Watch to come with a damning report of government and the activities of African Minerals Ltd. By all standards the office should be dancing to the whims and caprices of the government as no institution should be seen biting the finger that feeds it.” The Pro Government We Yone newspaper also joined the fray. Representatives of African Minerals were on the defensive, accusing the report of being biased and having spurious information only meant to unfairly discredit a company which had “done so well in bringing development to the area and contributing to Sierra Leone’s economy”. The government spokesmen particularly took umbrage to the reference to the government “conniving with the company”. When the Open Government Initiative was formed by President Koroma in 2008, it was with the realization that disrupting free flow of information, undermines accountability and transparency and discourages greater participation in the decision making process. The OGI would ensure transparency and accountability and promote participation and the rule of law through dialogue between the government and its citizenry. It has however now become increasingly obvious that some quarters would like the “Open” in the Open Government Initiative to be slightly “shut” in certain instances. The HRW report focused on four major issues: 1) labor rights, including working conditions and the ability to form a union; 2) displacement and relocation of local farmers; 3) the April 2012 protest in Bumbuna town; and 4) AML’s relationship with the community in the Bumbuna area HRW recommendations to the government include to: • Provide sufficient resources for the Labor Ministry to oversee and inspect labor conditions throughout the country and allow multiple unions within the same industry; • Put into effect Sierra Leone’s new law on access to information and publicize all mining contracts; • Clarify the role of paramount chiefs in questions of land administration and ensure that the pending land law is transparent and equitable; and • Provide immediate relief to the people who have been forcibly relocated by large-scale land investments, and put in place long- term measures to remedy negative human rights impacts of relocation, particularly concerning access to food, water, and livelihoods. “Sierra Leonean authorities should also meaningfully address longstanding human rights problems such as corruption, opaque governance, unrestrained security forces, lack of clarity in land ownership, and abuses of authority by powerful local chiefs.” For anyone familiar with the mining industry these seem fairly sensible recommendations that should not be subject to dispute except perhaps for the last bulleted one which refers to “forcible relocation”. Relocation has indeed proven not to be an easy matter for any major mining company in Sierra Leone and has always been fraught with difficulties. Ensuring that people are consulted and their rights are not trampled upon and that their standard of living should be better in their relocated communities should not only be desirable but mandatory. On the other issues, who does not know that the Labour Ministry has capacity problems? What can be wrong in asking for greater transparency with information dissemination and in publicizing mining contracts? Who can honestly say that “corruption, opaque governance, unrestrained security forces, lack of clarity in land ownership, and abuses of authority” do not take place? Who does not know that land problems abound and that there are schisms between Paramount Chiefs and landowners on this issue? Land issues, surface rent and compensation problems in mining communities are as old as the hills. Nearly all recommendations in recent mining and environmental reports have pointed to the need for greater transparency and consultation in resettlement issues. In a study in which I was involved in 2007 we made the following recommendations : “The new mining law should include a framework for compensation and resettlement that is centred on the long-term livelihoods of the affected families. It should include as a requirement tripartite negotiations between mining companies, local communities, and governments. While clarification of land tenure is desirable, until land policy can be reformed, land users should be included in allocation decisions for leases and licences for all scales of mining.” The report may have misrepresented certain issues, which could easily be clarified. Indeed some positive developments may have taken place on the part of Government and the company to address some of the issues. This was a golden opportunity for these to be espoused. Indeed there are several issues that require the effort of various MDAs and the current governance and social environments may not lend themselves to easy solutions. “Killing the messenger” would not however make the problems go away. Though one does not expect them to admit it, both AML and the Government toned down their rhetoric toward the end, perhaps realising that they had gone a bridge too far in their criticism of the OGI. A latter press release stated “the Minister of Information and Communication Hon. Alpha Kanu said the Director of OGI Khadija Sesay is a mother for the nation for advocating for transparency and accountability among government functionaries.” What a mea culpa! Don’t hide Khadija, all is forgiven. Please don’t close the door! HIP HOP’S HOPS IN PRESS RELEASE I was pleasantly surprised to see a group of young hip hop supporters put out a press release on the need for unity and tolerance. In their press statement the leaders of specific youth groups operating in the hip hop music industry pledged to uphold peace amongst themselves-very reassuring. But what had brought this on? The press release provided some more clarity: “We have seen mails sent to the manager of Jamaican musician BUSY SIGNAL which allege unfortunate threats and which have been widely circulated on social media watsup and facebook.” Perhaps suspecting the supporters of BUSY SIGNAL would not be so busy as to completely ignore these threats the release continued: “We wish to denounce in its entirety the threats from these anonymous writers claiming membership of the REDFLAG MOVEMENT (RFM) supposedly in support of our Sierra Leonean artist LAJ”. They had made a Phone call with Kao Denero welcoming him and BUSY SIGNAL to Sierra Leone. Well now that peace overtures have been made it would appear the real gripe is between supporters of LAJ and Kao Denero. Just when I thought one might want to make it to the concert if BUSY SIGNAL were not to get too busy, my attention was caught by the “aliases” of some of the drafters of the press release aka “Gun shot”, “Shine”, “Body and soul” and “Timberland”. Whatever the case, come to Sierra Leone, BUSY SIGNAL. All is well on the western front! Ponder my thoughts.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 20:33:25 +0000
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