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President Kabbahand
the challenge of the UNDP Human Development Index (2)
By Sam Kargbo
(Continued fromlast
Wednesday)
President Tejan Kabbah had upon
hisre-election for a second term as president of Sierra Leone in 2002 promised
tolift Sierra Leone from the bottom of the Human Development Index. For Sierra Leone to have beenrated last in the 2004 report musthave
startled him. Both his speech and the discussions he had with me betrayedsome
deep reservations about what the institution he worked with for twenty oneyears
had done with the reports. As one who had spent most of his life as anational
and international servant, President Kabbah is in a position to assess the sincerity ofthe report. He was at
the top echelon of the UNDP when the idea of the annualHuman Development
Reports was conceived. Certainly the goal was not to exposethe failings and
inadequacies of states but rather to encourage them to attendto matters they
neglected over the years or inadvertently left unattended to.The Reports were
also meant to establish a justification for the equitabledistribution of pooled
resources in the UN system. The
identification of sub-Saharan countries as most lackingin the basic things that
enhance the life of the individual should serve asreason for the UN system to
give due attention to this region.
Sierra Leone had for sometime now been placed at the bottomof
the development ladder. In reaction to the 2002 report, President Kabbah
hadwished that the report served as a very powerful message to Sierra Leoneans
tolearn to live in peace and collectivise efforts to reconstruct the country
andreturn it to the path of development. Although he expressed a discomfort
atbeing rated as trailing all other countries in the world, he expressed
hopethat things would change for good for Sierra Leone. Obviously, the 2004
reportdoes not seem to justify that optimism.
What (in the view of President Kabbah)
isplainly unfair about the report is that it had used criteria that ab initio
putcountries like Sierra Leone that have emerged from a decade long barbaric
warat a most disadvantaged position. Civil wars are most times, wrongly viewed
asevidence of cultural intolerance and the inability of the affected country
tomanage multicultural differences. According to the President, there is nothing
wrong in giving a premiumto cultural tolerance in assessing the development
rate of a country. But thereis everything wrong in seeing wars, like that of
Sierra Leone that are causedby greedy individuals and, who use or hide behind
cultural differences to perpetuatetheir devilish ends as evidence of cultural
disharmony and intolerance.President Kabbah was emphatic that his country
presents a good example of anenvironment where cultural tolerance prevails. He
offered himself as aclassical example: he was born of Moslem parents with
different ethnicbackgrounds. Though a devout Moslem, he was educated at
Stewards, thecountry�s oldest Catholic school and was married to a Catholic.
Accordingto him, Sierra Leoneans have never shied away from confronting their culturaldifferences
and as such have lived in peace together until a war was foisted onthem by a
few greedy individuals who were under the influence and support offoreigners
who wanted to lay siege on the country�s natural resources,especially its
diamonds.
President Kabbah is certainly anxious
toshake off the stigma of the scandalous rating. But has he been able to
carryhis people along in this dream? President Kabbah definitely has no problem
withthe ordinary Sierra Leonean, though he has some regrettable moments with
them.For instance, he expressed pain that his promise to ensure that no
SierraLeonean goes to bed hungry before he leaves office was generally
interpreted tomean that he would be serving them food to eat. But even at that,
he blamedthis on the enemies of progress who tendentiously gave literal
interpretationto his assertion and poisoned the hearts of the ordinary folks.
Plainly, President Kabbah has a
grudgeagainst the elite who it seem are unwilling to sacrifice their personal
pursuitsfor the common good of Sierra Leoneans. He is however determined to
reversethis trend. To start with, he has seen the need to have a parley with
the mediarealizing that without the active support of the media, his task would
be tootall. Mr. President beliefs in partnering with members of the fourth
estate ofthe realm and he seems very prepared to achieve that. He has
tremendous respectfor the Nigerian media and he was impressed with both its
quality andobjectivity. Though sometimes extremely critical and sometimes outrightly
wrongabout the policies and actions of the government, their patriotism is
certainlyobvious.
What President Kabbah did not also fail
toexpress is his respect for President Olusegun Obasanjo who he referred to
ashis best friend. He refers to him in glowing terms and his love for
Nigeriansis beyond bounds. There was this afternoon that he wanted to go round
Abuja andinteract with the ordinary folks without the encumbrances of security
men. Hewanted to go to the market place and see the ordinary folks. The
security menwould have none of it. But Mr. President put his foot down, by
stowing awaywhile the security men ran around looking for bullet proof
vehicles. You cannotimagine how excited he was on his return with native caps
that he bought in themarket. His host could not miss a chance to make mention
about the drama whenhe called to share a dinner with him. The moment Uncle Sege
alighted from hiscar, he took hold of President Kabbah�s hand and said
�Mr.President, I heard that you went to the market today. I haven�t done
thatfor a long time. I will take you to the farm to eat roasted yam when next
youcome� President Kabbah was later to ask me what �roasted yam�meant and I
told him.
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