BY: MOHAMED M. SESAY (LUCKY)
The Courier has been keenly observing how the global crisis has been resonating with my beloved Sierra Leone where political centric is pervasive across every facet of society.
Sierra Leone has indeed degenerated to a celebrated gullible society coupled with lack of humanitarian feelings for compatriot Sierra Leoneans.
The Monday 4th July illegal demonstration against the unprecedented hike in prices on commodities, followed by a malicious hoarding of fuel by Gas Station owners, stands out as an outmoded sabotage.
As the nation clocks the upcoming 2023 general elections, unpatriotic Sierra Leoneans have unsoundly used the current unfortunate global crisis as a perfect weapon to use against the Bio led Government. If a leader of a whole political party could incite a nation to protest against a situation that is not only exclusive to Sierra Leone, then that shows how callous and ill- motivated our politicians can be just to score undeserving political points at all cost.
I honestly feel like crying for my Sierra Leone where patriotism is vastly evaporating.
I feel like crying for my Sierra Leone where politics has eaten the fabric of nationalism, and I feel like crying for my Sierra Leone where our love and loyalty is no longer pledged to the nation but to a political party.
The sudden vanish of that melodious line in the first stanza of our National Anthem “Firmly United Ever we Stand”, is responsible for our unnationalistic tendencies across board. We initially pledged our love and loyalty to our country Sierra Leone but that pledge has been smeared by segmented political sentiments.
I find it very difficult to apportion blame on the commercial drivers; Keke riders and motor bike riders for the Monday sit at home strike.
The shutdown of commercial services by drivers and other sources of commercial transportation could not be either attributed to government but to the gas Station Owners.
That nefarious situation of closing gas stations across the capital city of Freetown and its environs has become the new normal among unscrupulous gas station owners. They have been using this trick as bait for government to fall for so that prices on fuel will continue to go up astronomically.
Couple of days ago, a synonymous trick was exhibited which caused shortage of fuel across the country.
Such unpatriotic and inhumane behavior caused a liter of fuel to be exponentially sold out at the rate of Le 40,000 and even more than that depending on the availability in the black market.
Only God knows whether those black market dealers are not in league with those gas station owners. That is exactly the same tactics of deception they want to apply just after days when government announced Le 22,000 increment per liter for a new price list to be announced. It was indeed frustrating as commercial drivers got aggravated of queuing for whole day long without having fuel in their tanks. I would have also joined the bandwagon to sit at home if I were one of those commercial drivers.
I still maintained my initial postulation that the current global crisis especially on petroleum products has been weaponized by segmented gas station owners. Such move to politically weaponized the global crisis is definitely evident in the ownership drive of gas station owners.
It is not a secret that dominant gas station owners can be evidently attributed to another side of the political pendulum. Even to the National Petroleum Stations across the country, a colossal ownership share is attributed to the former President Ernest Koroma and his disciples.
So all President Koroma former and his disciples might care for is to ensure that they clandestinely use the fuel situation in making the state ungovernable.
Let us have a throwback as to how the nation would have somehow addressed this perennial fuel situation which was well orchestrated by the late President Kabba’s administration.
As I said earlier on, fuel crisis is a long inherited problem. Dr. Kadie Sesay, who served as Minister of Trade during President Kabba’s administration, proffered a laudable idea for every gas station to be contributing five hundred Leones (Le 500) per every gallon of fuel sold across the country. A special bank account was opened at the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank where that Le 500 was deposited. Just imagine if one million gallons of fuel were sold for a day then you deduct the Le 500 government percentage multiply by one million gallons that gives a colossal sum that was used to be deposited into that account on a daily basis.
That well-thoughtful intention of such money was for the state to have a refinery wherein, clue oil could be imported and processed in Sierra Leone which will help address must of these challenges the country is now faced with.
However, such praiseworthy initiative was disenchanted by the change of government in 2007. Upon assuming governance, the Koroma led administration also faced challenges in the petroleum market. As a means of cosmetic address to the situation, former President Koroma started subsidizing for fuel in order to have a stable price. That move was laudable also but not sustainable as the country continues to wallow in fuel crisis.
After the situation becomes unbecoming for the Koroma Administration, especially when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) threatened to blacklist the Koroma administration if he continues to subsidize for fuel.
A compelling search for an instantaneously alternative became worrisome for the Koroma Administration.
One of President Koroma’s former Minister, whose name is withheld, whispered to him that there is a huge reserve in the bank meant to address the fuel crisis.
That was exactly the money saved by the Kabbah administration to set up a refinery. No sooner that was murmured to President Koroma, than he instructed the Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank to ensure that his government have access to the aforementioned sum.
That money was availed to his administration but was preposterously lavished. The good intention of that money was thwarted and we are still living with the same problem.
Now let me address the inaction of the Ministry of Trade and that of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency over this marathon sabotage.
Perusing through section 12 subsections (1) of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency, reminds me that the agency is of late, inactive in upholding its statutory mandates. Below is the aforesaid section that mandates the Petroleum Regulatory Agency to regulate fuel dealers.
“The object for which the Agency is established is to license and regulate the importation, refining, storage, transportation and distribution of petroleum and petroleum products so as to ensure their regular supply to users at reasonable standard prices, and the efficient administration and enforcement of the enactments relating to downstream petroleum activities”.
With the emerging phenomenon wherein dealers are now regulating themselves instead of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency, especially when they determine when to sell fuel and when not to sell to the public, refreshes someone’s memory that fatigue is telling on the Petroleum Regulatory Agency.
A radical approach is definitely overdue by the Petroleum Regulatory Agency in ensuring that those dealers hoarding fuel are brought to book.
Citizens are also in constantly expectant of the Ministry of Trade and Industry and that of the Petroleum Regulatory Agency to be proactive rather than being reactive.
The Monday raid at various gas stations mandating those hoarding fuel to sell, was very unfashionable because they should have done what they did routinely and not sporadically.
The situation has now become a diabolic syndrome wherein, Sierra Leoneans inflicting suffering on innocent Sierra Leoneans in a bid to present government very unpopular to the gullible society.
Those dagger drawn politicians are now hiding under the canopy of this global economic crisis using it as a weapon to score cheap political point points. As I conclude, I want to suggest for a continuation of that joint ministerial raid at gas stations in order to enforce compliance moving forward.
