IMF SLAMS SLPP GOV’T
…”Scandalous” Karpowership Deal, Sham Inflation Figures
By Ibrahim Alusine Kamara (Kamalo)
Sierra Leone’s ruling SLPP government has been plunged into international disgrace after senior IMF officials unleashed a scathing rebuke over corruption, fraudulent economic reporting, and what insiders now describe as the “great Karpowership robbery.”
At this year’s IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, finance officials from Freetown were left red-faced as their attempts to parade a manufactured “10% inflation rate” were torn apart by furious IMF representatives. According to senior IMF sources, the government’s manipulation of inflation figures — slashed from 54% to 10% without any supporting economic fundamentals — was not only laughable but insulting to international financial intelligence.
“It’s like cooking the books with crayons,” one visibly irate official said. “The economic data is a fantasy — a desperate cover-up while the country sinks under corruption.”
But it was the Karpowership energy deal that triggered the loudest outrage.
IMF officials pointed to the bloated, exploitative power agreement, under which Sierra Leone pays vastly higher electricity prices than neighboring Guinea — despite having fewer service guarantees. According to sources, the IMF is convinced the SLPP leadership deliberately trapped the country in this lopsided deal because “too many big men are feasting on dirty kickbacks.”
“The Karpowership contract is a scandal of historic proportions,” one furious IMF insider stated. “There is no economic, technical, or moral justification for sticking to that contract — except pure, naked greed.”
Both the IMF and World Bank have reportedly compiled evidence suggesting that senior officials and government-connected contractors are bleeding the public treasury dry through inflated contracts, fake projects, and endless commissions disguised as legitimate expenditures.
The consequences are dire. One Ministry of Finance official admitted that the government barely scraped together salaries for April — and openly doubted whether civil servants would see a paycheck by June. With the Central Bank’s reserves all but exhausted and state revenue pilfered at every turn, Sierra Leone teeters dangerously close to economic collapse.
The SLPP’s disgrace at the Spring Meetings marks a turning point. Behind closed doors, international partners are reportedly discussing whether to cut aid, freeze pending support, and demand full independent audits of Sierra Leone’s finances before any future engagement.
For ordinary Sierra Leoneans struggling under power cuts, skyrocketing prices, and joblessness, the scandalous betrayal by their leaders is fast becoming too large to ignore.
The world is watching. And this time, the cover-up may be harder to sell.