Sierra Leone political paralysis threatens millions of dollars in aid

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Sierra Leone risks losing hundreds of millions of dollars in aid on which the west African nation depends as government activity grinds to a halt following disputed elections this year.

Millennium Challenge Corporation, a US development agency, has paused work on a five-year grant to the country amid the fallout from June’s elections. President Julius Maada Bio told the Financial Times before the election the grant was worth “nothing less than $450mn”, although the MCC said its value had not been finalised.

The incumbent Sierra Leone People’s party claimed a first-round victory for Bio despite reports by international and local observers of widespread irregularities. MPs from the opposition All People’s Congress have since refused to sit in parliament and are demanding a rerun of the presidential and parliamentary polls.

“MCC is engaging the government of Sierra Leone to discuss how the concerns raised might be addressed to enable the development process to advance,” the US agency told the Financial Times, adding that it expected “a clear and ongoing commitment to the principles of democratic governance that underpin [our] statutorily mandated country-eligibility criteria”.

Cancellation of the proposed funding would be a blow to one of the world’s poorest nations. Net overseas development assistance to Sierra Leone in 2021, the most recent figures available, totalled $697mn, according to the OECD — more than 16 per cent of its gross domestic product that year.

The country has enjoyed mostly stable governance and fair elections since the end of its civil war in 2002. But with some of its neighbours such as Guinea experiencing recent coups, the impasse has raised concerns about the threat to its democracy and the spread of instability in the region.

Work to boost growth has stalled because the government’s legislative agenda needs the support of opposition MPs to reach the two-thirds majority required for approval.

Inflation reached 50.9 per cent last month as food prices soared. Bio’s campaign pledges included policies to ease price pressures and boost mining and agriculture.

The IMF said in May that inflation, and a sharply depreciated currency after Freetown redenominated the leone last year, had exacerbated food insecurity in the country of 8.4mn people.

A swift resolution to the crisis might be hard to achieve despite the main parties tentatively engaging in talks. The US ambassador’s office wrote last month on X, formerly known as Twitter, that only “inclusive national dialogue” and “meaningful democratic and electoral reforms” would ensure progress on the MCC’s grant programme, known as a compact.

“There are genuine concerns about the independence of the judiciary, police and electoral commission,” said Jamie Hitchen, an independent analyst who monitored the vote. “This situation is not sustainable for the long term.”

Abdul Karim Kamara, an APC spokesperson and one of the MPs boycotting parliament, said his party “will sit out for as long as we think it’s right”.

National Election Watch, a local election watchdog, said its own tally showed neither side had won enough votes to avoid a run-off. The APC claimed it won the election with 60 per cent of the vote. It has also demanded the resignation of electoral commission officials.

The electoral commission has not made public the data necessary to analyse the polling figures. An inquiry into election conduct, to be chaired by Bio’s vice-president Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, was criticised by the US state department in a statement in July, in which it supported calls for “an independent, outside investigation of the elections process”. 

The US has also imposed visa restrictions on individuals it suspects to be involved in vote-rigging.

Two presidential spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment about the election fallout. In his address to the new parliament in August, Bio acknowledged “logistical limitations” in the ballot but said “key reforms” would be proposed to enhance electoral operations.

One outcome of the political deadlock could be an authoritarian turn by Bio. “There is a danger that the SLPP will increasingly use this opportunity to push through its agenda, not contested, if the APC does not re-engage in politics,” said Alex Vines, who leads the Africa programme at UK think-tank Chatham House.

Hitchen added: “It would boost the democratic credentials of the government if they had opposition MPs sitting in parliament.”

The boycott is painful for MPs, who are not receiving salaries and benefits while not in parliament. Two APC lawmakers have started attending. 

“The longer this drags out, the more [the opposition] runs the risk of people challenging the point of the boycott,” said Hitchen. “If they manage to get some wins, such as a commitment to electoral reform and independent review of future elections, that might work for them.”