Champagne government in a garri economy – Where are the new roads?

Alpha Amadu Jalloh: Sierra Leone Telegraph: 16 April 2025:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded its latest mission to Sierra Leone this April 2025 with troubling findings, troubling, but not surprising to those of us who have been watching the direction of this government.

This time, the IMF reportedly suspended over $248.5 million in funding, citing budgetary overruns in road and energy sectors, among other fiscal violations. That’s almost a quarter of a billion dollars put on hold, not because the IMF is being difficult, but because our government has been reckless.

The so-called “New Direction” has proven to be a dangerous detour, a detour into a landscape of lies, waste, and mismanagement. This government spends like a headless chicken, careening from one misplaced priority to the next, while the average Sierra Leonean can’t afford a daily meal, let alone dream of the “roads” or “infrastructure” we’re told are being built.

And that’s the crux of it. The IMF has begun asking the same question the rest of us are:

Where are the roads? The Ministry of Finance, when pressed, is unable to give a convincing explanation. They had agreed to a strict fiscal policy framework with the IMF, spend only within your budget, focus on high-impact projects, improve revenue collection, and report with integrity. But once again, they’ve failed.

The government claimed to have spent millions on road projects. But the roads are invisible. The neighbourhoods are still flooded. The potholes are still craters. In fact, the only new “constructions” we see are the mansions of government ministers in gated communities and high-rises springing up for the well-connected.

The Chief Minister and his allies speak of “priority capital projects” in vague press statements, but nothing materializes. Instead, ministries and agencies have been warned to stop spending outside the 2024 budget. Why? Because even the IMF is now aware that the Sierra Leone government has been paying for projects that exist only on paper, phantoms funded by very real money.

So again, we ask, Weh di road dem? Show us. Where are they?

Sierra Leone earns approximately $800 million annually from mineral exports, yet less than 1% of that is reportedly reflected in the accounts of the National Revenue Authority (NRA). How is this possible? Where is the money going? Why are the mines active, the trucks moving, the gold and diamonds leaving the country, but the Treasury still empty?

At the same time, the government is crushing small businesses and over-taxing the very people who sustain our fragile economy. The market woman, the Okada rider, the corner shop, they all pay more, while foreign corporations and insiders get generous tax breaks. It’s exploitation disguised as governance. Champagne Government in a Garri Economy And while the people suffer, what do our leaders do?

They fly. They dine. They host lavish events in foreign hotels, post filtered photos on social media, and bask in the glory of awards that mean nothing back home.

President Julius Maada Bio has turned the presidency into a global tour operation. From New York to London, from Samoa to Saudi Arabia, he travels more than a touring musician. His wife, the First Lady, is not far behind, clad in expensive couture, attending global forums that bring no tangible benefit to our people. This is a “champagne government in a garri economy”.

While Freetown floods and Kenema drowns in filth, the Bio family is jet-setting, grinning for photo ops. These are not leaders; they are tourists funded by taxpayer money.

This extravagance extends to embassies packed with relatives and party loyalists, many of whom are unqualified and have no diplomatic training. But they enjoy the perks, salary in dollars, posh cars, and official immunity, while real Sierra Leoneans suffer abroad without consular support.

Worse still, the president surrounds himself with characters of questionable reputation. Known drug barons and convicted fraudsters are given VIP access to State House. Corrupt officials roam freely, untouched by the Anti-Corruption Commission, whose head is too busy planning flamboyant weddings and flaunting his wealth on social media.

Where are the arrests? Where are the resignations? Where is the moral compass? Instead of accountability, we get propaganda, glossy PR campaigns, state-run media that spews lies, and journalists-for-hire who defend theft as “development.” These are the people paid to polish the government’s image while the country’s reputation is dragged through the gutter.

It is clear, this is not a government, it is a cartel of comfort-seekers.

Tax Exemptions. A Hidden Drain on the Economy. While ordinary citizens bear the brunt of heavy taxation, the government has been granting extensive tax exemptions to businesses closely linked to political elites.

Between 2018 and 2023, tax exemptions in the industrial sector surged from NLe177 million to NLe3.5 billion, marking a nearly 20-fold increase. These exemptions now account for 60% of Sierra Leone’s domestic revenue losses, raising pressing questions about the effectiveness and sustainability of the current tax incentive system.

A World Bank study estimated that tax exemptions reduced government revenue by 2.1% of GDP between 2009 and 2019. Notably, a significant portion of these exemptions benefited government officials and other special interest groups, directly causing two-thirds of the tax revenue lost in 2019.

These exemptions, often granted without transparency or clear criteria, have deprived the nation of funds that could have been invested in critical sectors like education, healthcare, and infrastructure.