Big trouble for Sierra Leone as…
DONOR PARTNERS WITHDRAW SUPPORT
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara
Sierra Leone appears to be in big trouble following revelations that the country’s donor partners particularly the traditional partners have stopped support to the country.
At an engagement with editors of various newspapers in Sierra Leone held past Tuesday 8th June, 2021 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation on Tower Hill, Freetown, the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Professor David Francis disclosed that donor partners particularly the long-standing traditional partners have all stopped support to developing countries including Sierra Leone as a result of the impacts of covid-19.
Announcing the new shift in Sierra Leone’s foreign policy, the Foreign Affairs Minister announced that Sierra Leone was now moving from economic diplomacy to development diplomacy adding that they have now realized that no country has ever developed on charity.
Although donor funding is still needed, he noted, Sierra Leone will no longer entirely rely on those funds to actualize the new ‘swagger’ Sierra Leone we are craving for.
However, other schools of thoughts have argued that the latest news of withdrawal of support by donor partners cannot be unconnected to loss of confidence in the Sierra Leone Peoples Party led administration.
Many believe that the SLPP has lost the confidence of the International Community particularly our traditional donor partners which ultimately has resulted to their withdrawal of support.
While the Foreign Minister was optimistic that the new foreign policy approach will yield dividends, many Sierra Leoneans fear that the worse could happen especially when the country has always relied on donor support for its survival.