JOSEPH KAIFALA CONSULTING (SL) LTD

According to the BBC, a recent audit report from Sierra Leone has revealed that 30% of internal ebola funds has not been properly accounted for by authorities. According to the report, $5.7 million dollars worth of spending has no supporting documentation showing where or how the money was expended. The government has not yet responded to these outrageous revelations in a time of unprecedented health emergency in the country. That, too, is evidence of their utter disregard for the people they serve.

Sierra Leoneans are not surprised by news of the corruption of their leaders, but even by our standard, this, like snatching bread from a starving child, is deprave, malignant and morally haram. Even though the current audit only focused on money raised locally, we can assume external donor funds have been partially squandered in similar vain. It is no doubt, then, that this disease refuses to go away.

How could we, as a people, afford to show face to those of good will all over the world who have rallied tirelessly on our behalf in the battle against this deadly virus! What sorts of leaders steal from a dying people if not those who deserve only the hottest part of jahanama! We are quick to accuse the West of ignoring us in our times of need, but it is primitive thievery of this sort that make most reasonable people ignore our cries for help. There could be no justification for throwing money to a place governed by political kleptomaniacs and halaki leaders without a figment of moral acumen.

Had these people had any conscience at all, they would have thought of the doctors and health workers who have lost their lives in the fight against ebola; they would have thought of volunteers who present themselves for duty in order to eliminate this active disease; they would have thought of the hundreds of ebola orphans left behind; walahi, they would have thought of the thousands of people wasted by the disease so far. But if not for any of these, shame in view of our helpers should have stopped these bandit salauds. Had they any patriotism at all in their hearts, they would have surrendered their corruption just this once. But they couldn’t, and that is the failure of leadership that produces failed states in Africa. It is as our elders say, rain may fall on a leopard but it does not wash off its spots.