Sierra Leone
This post is a research on the republic of Sierra Leone. The author gives a discussion on the geography, political environment and on the population of Sierra Leone. The author also gives a critical discussion about the economic growth that have been witnessed in the nation up to date and it implication to the living standards of the citizens.
Sierra Leone as a republic
The republic of Sierra Leone is found in the western region of the African continent. It is a small nation whose total area is approximated to be 71,740 square kilometers with a population of 6.4 million citizens (U.S. Department of State). Bordering Sierra Leone are nations like Guinea and Liberia to the northeast and southeast respectively. To the southwest the West African nation borders the Atlantic Ocean. This makes it to house Queen Elizabeth Ii Quay which is claimed to be the third largest sea harbor in the world. Being a constitutional sovereign nation, Sierra Leone is comprised of three provinces and fourteen districts which act as government bodies of the nation.
To be noted here is the fact the nations 6.4 million citizens are from sixteen varied ethnic group each of which has its own language and cultural customs. However, of all this many tribes, only two are evidently dominant as they make up to 30 percent of the nations population (Kanu 61). This is the Mende who mainly occupy the south eastern province and the Temne tribe predominantly found on the north and west area provinces of the nation. It is however to be noted that the population of Sierra Leone is evidently marked with the different ethnic groups tending to dominant a district if not a province. A unique ethnic group in the Sierra Leone nation is the Krio tribe. This group is mainly comprised of freed slaves from both West Indies and the United States of America and is the main occupants of the nations capital city Freetown (Hirsch 101).
The climate of the nation is tropical type just like other West African nations. This is mainly owing to the fact that it borders the Atlantic Ocean. Another reason is that the nation closely neighbors the equator being only on the 7th parallel north of the equator. The nation experiences dry and rainy seasons between the months of December to may and may to November respectively. It is however to be noted that the nation as a diversely varied environment which ranges from savannah to rainforests. Still to note is the fact that the nations forest cover has greatly reduced over the last past few decade (Kanu 21). This has been attributed to the extensive and unregulated logging and mining practices in the nation. Such decrease in forest cover has also been claimed to the cause of the reduced overall wildlife population in the nation.
The Sierra Leone nation is formed of mixed religious faiths among its many ethnic groups. However, Muslim religion is the most popular religion as it forms an estimated 65 percent of the population. Here the Mandinka ethnic group is the leading Muslim believer with over 99 percent of its members being Muslims (U.S. Department of State). They thus evidently know for upholding Islam in their practices. The Christian believers form an approximated 30 percent of the all population while the remaining 5 percent are African indigenous religion believers. It is due to such mixture of religion in this nation that the Sierra Leone constitution recognizes and protects freedom of religion. This recognition and protection of the freedom of worship the nations has been seen by many as the main reason why the nation has rarely witnessed any religious conflict unlike other African nations.
History of Sierra Leone
According to archeological evidence, Sierra Leone has been inhabited by humans for over 2,500 year by varied tribes from different parts of the African continent (Hirsch 41). Historians have on the other side claimed that the dense tropical forest in the nation could be the major reason why it was never threatened by powerful pre-colonial African empires. The recognition of the Freetown harbor by the Portuguese traders in the mid 15th century however marked the subsequent exploitation and colonization of the nation by the Europeans in mid 16th century. It is to be noted here that during this time Sierra Leone was acting as a trading point for slaves (U.S. Department of State). However, attempts by the Europeans to colonize Sierra Leone during the 17th and 18th centuries were greatly hampered by diseases and the natives hostility to the colonists. Historical evidence has in it that such attempts were executed through resettling formerly enslaved Africans in the nation along with some whites. This saw the liberation and settlement of many slaves or Krio in Freetown.
Due to the dominance of trade by the Krio community with the Europeans, colonizing sierra Leone was easily realized in the early 20th century making Freetown the official home of the British governor who oversaw other British colonies such as Ghana and Gambia. To be noted is that even with the many struggles and fights against the Krios and the whites by the natives, they rarely succeeded to overthrow their dominance until in 1951 when a new constitution that provided for a decolonization framework was implemented. This process continued until 1961 when Sierra Leone officially gained its independence. However, the Sierra Leone nation has ever since its independence been a victim of civil and military rule and conflict until 2004, a factor which has greatly compromised its economic and infrastructural capacity (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).
Government and politics of Sierra Leone
After experiencing many military and civil governments, a new constitution for the nation was drafted and adopted in 1991. The constitution recognizes the nation as a republic which is governed by a democratically elected president and a unicameral legislature as well as having a judicial arm of the government (Kanu 21). It is however to be noted that 1997 marked the worst political era of the republic owing to the violent overthrow of Kabbah the then civilian president by a military coup led by Koroma. It has been claimed that it was during Koromas military rule that the economy of Sierra Leone got its worst depression. It was also during his era that many of those perceived to be political enemies were murdered. However, this ended with the reinstated of Kabbah as the president in 1998 through the help of the Nigerian led peace talks but this never went without eminent attacks from political rebel forces. Such forces have been evidently been claimed to have been strong supported by the Liberian government due to its interest in dominating the nations rich diamond fields (Kanu 61). This led to a joint attack on the nation by rebels and Liberian mercenaries who wanted the release of the revolutionary united front leader Sankoh. Such conflicts led to Sankohs release and eventual signing of a power sharing deal which saw Sankoh become the nations vice president until 2000 when he was captured and eventually died in custody following his partys abduction of UN peacekeepers in the nation. Sankohs capture led to an intensified human conflict in the nation which left an estimated 50,000 people dead forcing for UN to initiate a disarmament operation in the nation which saw over 70,000 solider disarmed by 2004 (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). This move has evidently improved the human conflict situation in the nation and thus increasing the democratic space for the people. This is evident from the success democratic elections of 2007 which saw Ernest Koroma become the current president of the nation.
The economy of Sierra Leone
Dispute the many natural resources such as minerals, agricultural and fishery, Sierra Leone has evidently remained one of the poorest nations in the world (Kanu 58). This has been closely with the recurrent civil wars which have been witnessed in the nation up to 2004. This is because such evidently hampered economic activities in the nation as well as discouraging investors. Also, such conflicts have been accused of the serious destruction of the nations infrastructure and its export base. Still to be noted is the fact that most of the nations wealth has been drained in supporting the war.
It is however to be noted that the economy of the nation is currently experiencing remarkable signs of recovery to attain sustainable growth. This is because following the increasing peace in the nation, investors and potential customer confidence is seen to be constantly increasing. In 2008 alone, the nation recorded a GDP of close to 2 billion (Hirsch 213). This was a great growth from the estimated 11.7 percent inflation rate in its economy in 2007. Economists projections have also identified that the nations economy will grow by two percent in the year 2009. It should be noted that such have possible due to the increased freedom of movement among the people of Sierra Leone as well as the successful resettlement of the displaced citizens. This means that they can contact their day to day
Sierra Leone has its economy highly viable due to the fact that it has many exploitable resources. First and foremost, this nation is in the top ten list of diamond producing nations in the world. Export of diamond for example earners the nation an estimated over 250 million annually (Kanu 62). It is however to be noted that historically the nation have made many struggles to control the exploitation and exporting of its minerals. Nevertheless, the current political environment in the nation is quite viable, a factor which has seen an increase in the number of genuine investors in the mining sector. Such has also reduced the rates of smuggling of minerals from the nation. It is to be noted that current is experiencing increased international relationships which has ensured a sustainable market for its products. Another resource is agricultural production. Two thirds of the nations population is engaged in subsistence farming. This alone has been found to account for an estimated 53 percent of the nations national income (Kanu 64). The current governments plans to have cash crops farming introduced in the nation is seen a highly viable project which will eventually increase the nations annually revenue collections. Such will also reduce the nations over reliance of minerals as their major export goods.
The current economic growths being experienced in Sierra Leone have been a direct result of the finding of peace in the nation, support from the IMF and World Bank and other bilateral donors as well as increasing investors confidence. Statistics show that in 2002 Sierra Leone managed to have over 900 million debit relieved by IMF and World Bank (Kanu 64). Many bilateral donors on the other side have increasing funded the nation. Such funds have and are still being used for improving the nations poverty reduction policies. The policies have overseen the decentralization of government functions. It is to be realized that it is only through decentralized governance that a nation can claim to be equitably distributing its resources.
Still identified to the current economic situation of Sierra Leone are the early governments implementation good governance policies, improved education and the creation an effective nations security system (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs). Also, the relatively effective corruption in the nations government is a possible cause of such growths. To be noted here is the fact that the sole purpose of any government is to protect its citizens and their activities. The realization of just and fair competition in the society calls for the implementation of good governance policies. It is only by having good governance in a nation that we can claim successful fight on corruption. Just is none to all, corruption is the second most destructive element of a nations economy after civil conflicts. It is in fact due to this reason that many nations like the Chinese republic regards large scale corruption cases among its citizens as a capital crime punishable by death penalty (Kanu 71). Based on this, Sierra Leone governments efforts to combat corruption could be highly attributed to the economic growth that the nation is currently witnessing. Still, it is in the interest of every investor to have an assurance of security for his or her investment. The Sierra Leone governments move to have an effective police force in the nation is seen as a great incentive to both investors and consumers.
It is however to be realized that the government of Sierra Leone is evidently facing many drawbacks towards realizing a sustainable economic growth. First is the problem of the governments over reliance on mineral mining as their major economic activity (Hirsch 215). It is no doubt that this West African nation is a leading producer of diamond in the world. Still to be noted is the fact that such exports have a great potential for improving the living standards of the nations citizens. It is however evidently clear for an economic point of view that mineral as a viable resources are exhaustible and thus can eventual lead to the ultimate fall of the nations economic. It is owing to this that the governments over reliance on mining are seen by many as a great failure for a visionary government. This denies the Sierra Leone government the chances of diversity in the international marketplace.
Another drawback is the high levels of unemployment in the nation. The economic actual measure of a nations economic worthy is dependent on the living standards of its citizens. This means that the level of employment among the citizens should be far much high compared to that of unemployment. This problem in Sierra Leone has however been closely attributed to the slow pace which the government is taking to implement reforms in government offices (Kanu 91). It should be noted that failure to remove corrupt and non-performing elements from government equates to the governments failure to ensure fast expansion of its economy and thus creation of more jobs. Another reason for the low employment levels in the nation is the slow pace of privatization of public corporations (Kanu 99). Privatization programs have evidently not only improved many nations revenue but more have led to the fast growth of the corporations thus accommodating more workers. It is to be remembered that such delays of the privatization program has evidently led to donors sanctioning their economic support to Sierra Leone nation.
The last problem affecting the economy is smuggling of minerals particularly diamond from the nation. These acts are a major drawback to the overall revenue collections. It has been evidently claimed that such incidences of smuggling of diamond are the main catalyst to the recurrent insecurity particularly in rebel dominated regions. This is threat to investors and the process of realizing a legitimate economy in the nation.
It has been evidently established that Sierra Leone is a land of varied and highly viable economic resources. The nation is not only a land of valuable minerals but also a major trading base due to its Queen Elizabeth Ii Quay harbor. Still clear is the fact that the nation has a great potential of producing both agricultural and fishery products. Also to be stated is the fact that even with no much civil conflict in the region, the economy of the nation has not sufficiently grown. It is owing to this reasons that the government should be more vigorous while dealing with investment policies for the nation.