100 years ago, the Englishman H.O. Newlands observed the following:
“…I believe very strongly in British supremacy in
this part of the globe. West Africa must be worked by the African, but guided
and ruled by the European. There are too many differences between the various tribes,
in customs, traditions, beliefs, habits, and ideas for any one tribe to accept
the sovereignty of another, or to form – at any rate for many centuries – a
homogeneous self-governing community. In Sierra Leone, for example, the Temne
would not recognize the rule of the Mendi or the Susu, still less would any of
the three acknowledge the authority of the Creole”.
HO Newlands, “Sierra Leone: Its People, Products
and Secret Societies” 1916. Reprinted by BiblioBazaar
In today’s world, there is no longer any place for imperial rule. Evidently, the problems of Sierra Leone in the last 52 years - which led to President Koroma’s clarion call for Attitudinal & Behavioural Change in 2007 and to his desire for a constitutional review to reduce ethnic tensions – have deep historical roots.
They are not unique to Sierra Leone and have been conclusively shown by scientific research to be a feature of multi-ethnic societies worldwide. They cannot be solved, sustainably, within a Unitary State with centralised power. In the absence of a dominant power/culture to act as accepted mediator – as with the British during imperialism - ethnic tension can only be solved by devolution of power through confederalism.
150 years ago, Sierra Leone was a collection of self-governing communities, with similarities to Confederalism. The Unitary State is an alien import of Imperialism that creates instability and divisive resource conflict.
The Belgians, Swiss and the UAE have made it work. Countless African conflicts, including our own civil war, show that the Unitary State does not work for us. Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union collapsed due to over-centralisation of power in multi-ethnic States. We must seek Unity in Diversity. Sierra Leone has a historic opportunity to learn from our mistakes and those of others and lead the 21st Century African Renaissance.
The Inclusive National Conversation wants Sierra Leoneans to have a Referendum Choice between adjusting the existing Winner Takes All Politics or switching to a Confederal Economy.
TINC believes that the international research evidence clearly shows that the minimisation of harmful ethnic competition for state resources, in the Sierra Leone context, requires a Confederal Solution. The existing Unitary State serves to accentuate conflict through a winner-takes-all mechanism and is, thus, a key part of the development problems that have beset Sierra Leone.
Confederalism would deliver relatively homogenous jurisdictions in which the nations of Sierra Leone would be free to autonomously develop their unique cultural and economic potentials whilst still coming together, where necessary, for socio-economic investments that serve the common good.
The key features of a Confederal Sierra Leone are outlined below:
Revenue - Taxation & Re-distribution
- Only Districts will raise taxes; keeping two-thirds to develop their own areas. They can lend to other Districts. The National Revenue Authority (NRA) will move to the Districts before the 2017 elections i.e. there will be District -controlled Revenue Authorities (DRAs).
- A proportion of the mandatory District remittances to the Confederal level will be utilised to finance a Confederal Development Bank from which weaker Districts can compete, on merit, for financing of development infrastructures. It will also finance inter-district infrastructures on which the affected Districts agree. Districts can also enter into direct bilateral or multilateral investment schemes on mutually agreed terms.
- Only District Assemblies will have universal suffrage elections. Voting will be open to residents who have been located in the District for at least 67% of the time since the last election. Residents who do not meet this criterion will be able to vote in the District in which they last exercised a vote.
- Parliament will come from the District Assemblies acting as electoral colleges i.e.the MDAs (Member of District Assembly) will elect among their number to represent them at the Confederal level. Cabinet and the President will come from the Confederal Parliament acting as an electoral college. In this way, we will not need Aid to run elections - thus avoiding the routine humiliation of having to beg for international aid to finance our current -unaffordable and conflict prone - system of multi-tier elections. A country that cannot afford to finance its own governance mechanism cannot claim dignity or sovereignty.
- Power will be concentrated in the District Governors i.e. 19 political leaders with local accountabilities instead of 1 remote leader in Freetown. Elections will be free from tension as district populations will be relatively homogenous and malign cross ethnic competition for resources will be minimised . Free from distracting ethnic competition for state resources, Development will be Number 1.
- “Basic” laws, including Freedom of Information, will apply to all and cannot be amended by District Assemblies. They will be passed by the Confederal Parliament and may be policed by a Constitutional Court.
- Accountability will be independent of Districts; including a State Audit Service; the Appeal and higher Courts, Confederal Police, Anti-Corruption. High Courts and below will be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Districts.
- There will be 19 Freetowns country-wide i.e. each district will have an incentive to develop socio-economic infrastructure in its district capital. The socially and environmentally crushing overpopulation and the over-centralisation of development in Freetown will be relieved.
- Confederalism will accelerate the building of human capacity in historically disadvantaged Districts. They will rely, in the short term, on human technical assistance from other Districts and from outside the country. In the medium to long term, they will invest to build their local human capacity to administer their affairs.
- District police will not have guns. They will rely on Confederal forces for non-routine security.
- School
leavers will serve compulsory Confederal military service. It will be a meeting
place for our diverse nations. It will instill discipline, honesty and
patriotism among youths and develop vocational job skills.
For more, join our Facebook group: The Inclusive National Conversation.
Download the research evidence base for TINC from:
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www.tincsalone.weebly.com
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