Sierra Leone tries another reboot with new cabinet changes

Intro

Sierra Leone’s government has faced popular discontent around the state of the economy and political rights. This situation has been accompanied by frequent cabinet changes, wherein key proposed mining sector reforms have failed to materialise.

Main Findings

President Maada Bio dismissed his internal affairs minister Edward Soloku in May 2020, and then justice minister Priscilla Schwartz on 6 July. Three weeks later, he also dismissed his mining minister Foday Yokie. These cabinet changes typify the high turnover in the government since 2018. For example, there have now been three mining ministers and as many justice ministers in two years.

To understand these most recent dismissals, we note that Schwartz and Yokie have each played a role in an ongoing regulatory dispute affecting SL Mining, an iron ore firm owned by US-based Gerald Mining. Yokie ordered the firm to pay USD1 million “in good faith” in August 2019. By then the firm had made only three shipments since June that year, but the government had begun demanding higher royalties and questioning the mining lease agreement that was made under its predecessor. SL Mining then went to international arbitration and the government responded by revoking its licenses in October. After that, Schwartz wrote to the firm ordering it to remove its assets and staff from the Marampa mine site – or pay a USD50,000 daily fine after the deadline. The firm has since refused to give up the facility, and the issue is deadlocked.

That outcome diminished the popularity of the two ministers. But these are not the only reasons for their removal: The Bio administration has been grappling with civil unrest over the state of the economy and political rights. The prosecution of two top opposition All People’s Congress figures – Alfred Conteh and Sylvia Blyden – for treason and criminal libel has stoked tension this year. In April, there were riots in the country including one in the Port Loko district where the SL Mining Marampa mine is situated. Many in that district have been going without electricity, and the rioters there were protesting about unemployment resulting from the mine stoppage. Bio sacked Edward Soloku after those riots.

Although high profile, these developments have not resulted in material changes to the environment for most operators. For instance, other mining firms such as Koidu/OCTEA and SMHL/Vimetco have continued to operate without regulatory interruption. Additionally, key proposed reforms have not been clearly pursued amid the reboots and political tension. The Bio government came in in 2018 promising changes to the Mines and Minerals Act, which would have included provisions to allocate more mining revenue to develop host communities and supplement national health and education budgets. Those proposals have not materialized, neither has a proposed review of the land tenure system intended to promote agricultural investments.

Outlook

Sierra Leone began reopening its economy in late June after month-long restrictions to check the spread of COVID-19.

However, major economic and therefore political implications are already baked in. The World Bank estimates -3.1% annual GDP growth in 2020 before a rebound to approx. 4.3% in 2021 and 2022. In the interim, political unrest will remain a continuing concern as the government tries to maintain stability, quell discontent and ward off the opposition – though general elections are not scheduled until 2023. 

The new mining minister Timothy Kabba was promoted to the position from heading the petroleum agency and has a technical background in that sector, while the new justice minister, Anthony Brewah, is a qualified barrister and solicitor but was heading the rural development ministry before he was sacked in a previous cabinet shakeup. Their limited stature together with the high turnover in cabinet suggests that decision-making for those two ministries will ultimately flow from the president and his particularly influential chief minister David Francis.

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