September 17, 2021
In this news analysis we are probing the question about purported rice shortage on the market in Sierra Leone and Liberia to situate the lies and political undertones.
For Sierra Leone and Liberia rice is the staple food. It is therefore a political commodity. There is the story about the rice war that preceded the fourteen years civil conflict. In Sierra Leone there had been years of political decay of then APC government of Siaka Stevens when rice scarcity created the notorious towline syndrome of the 1980s for the masses-queuing for degraded quality of rice to have warranted the scorn of that administration and reasons for the civil war.
We are now in the post war era the quality of government is measured by the rice availability and its cost. In the circumstance where we have faced the bitterness of outbreaks diseases in Ebola and COVID 19 to have locked down economies it is not surprising that we must have rice shortage and issues with its cost in the two countries.
It therefore takes the tact of our governments to mitigate the problem lest it becomes a source of public displeasure. Last time the Minister of Trade in Sierra Leone boasted that there is enough rice in the market to warrant price stability. The Lebanese importers Khalil Halloway of the Commodity Trading Company was even specific that moment of disclosure at the Ministry of Information and Communications Presser there was six hundred thousand thousand bags of rice in the country and one million six hundred bags expected to be shipped and
In early April, Khalil Halloway representing one of the leading rice importers of the Commodity Trading Company provided stock levels of rice. At that moment he said six hundred thousand bags was in stock; one millions six hundred bags was underway, six hundred thousand bags was to come in July and three hundred and forty thousand l bags landing in October. Except if the figures were lies then we should not be hearing complaints from some section of the public that there is rice shortage in the Sierra Leonean market. But if there is depleting stock levels of rice, could it be the effect of the haulage to Liberia that Minister of Trade Hinga Sandi spoke about in April? This is a question begging answer now that the BBC has reported that there is rice shortage in Liberia. Our investigation about the Liberia rice situation has denied by senior Liberia journalists Malcolm Wllmongar Joseph. He said tersely: my man there is rice here. He said the issue could be political. We can read into this explanation that some people are trying to score points in the scenario of depleted sock levels of the staple food. Also speaking from Monrovia, West Africa Journalist Association President Peter Quaqua said it is an artificial scarcity. Clearly, the Liberian government had increased tax on rice and the importers are trying to hoard and maneuver to transfer the burden on the consumers.
In Sierra Leone there has been a government declaration of tax waivers of rice importation but how that has not affected the price on the market is confounding. It is an issue that has to be explained for ordinary Sierra Leoneans to understand.
In the meantime as we anticipate official explanations about this development it safe to state that there is calculated ploy to use rice as tool for political sabotage based on the peddling of lies.