Reports from recent trip by Sierra Leonean journalists who travelled with the Indian Gupta-owned ARISE Integrated Industrial Platforms (ARISE IIP) to several countries in Africa, have clearly revealed the illegal and unprincipled termination of Rock Metal Group Kingho Pepel-Tonkolili Railway and Port Company Limited lease by the Government of Sierra Leone.
The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Lamin Tarawallie Esq and the Mines and Mineral Resources Minister, Musa Timothy Kabba are deceitful, disingenuous, not fit for purpose and must take leave from governance for before they keep bringing shame, disgrace and international embarrassments to the Sierra Leone, by always misleading government and President Julius Maada Bio like they did in the ARISE IIP lease agreement.
Having failed in their duties, the Chinese company’s lease agreement was brought to a final and permanent halt by government through the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice office, with a letter recently addressed to the Chief Executive Officer of Leone Rock Metal Group-Kingho, informing him about the termination of their lease agreement for the operations, management and maintenance of the Pepel Railway and Port Company Limited with the Government of Sierra Leone. A follow up was also taken by the Miners and Mineral Resources Minister Musa Timothy Kabba who also quickly acted upon directives from the presidency backed by the letter from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, to the CEO of the Chinese company, and signed a third-party lease agreement with the controversial ARISE IIP, leaving Leone Rock Metal Group-Kingho in the cold.
Both Mines and Justice ministers should have offered government and the presidency better and the right professional pieces of advice from their respective sectors on dealing with the two foreign investors in respect of what should have been done in either the termination of the Chinese company’s lease agreement or in the signing of India’s. in the wake of the failures of both professional and political leaderships, then here is how the country is being badly showered with reputational scam in the area of foreign investment outlook. A situation which no country not even the United State won’t want to be faced with such a mess, much as trade, commerce and foreign investments are concerned. But Kabba and Tarawallie backed by the presidency have done their bits in destroying the business and investment image of a very small and economically weak Sierra Leone.
Nonetheless, their failures in advising the president, government in their respective sectors, considering their expertise as a lawyer and as a mining engineer, they instead paid attention on what was placed up for grabbed by the Indians’ Gupta ARISE IIP, which is where both Kabba and Tarawallie ended up hoodwinking, embarrassing government, President Bio and entirely messing up with the foreign investment image and reputation of Sierra Leone. What a shame for a country whose leader has been on the lookout for investors to come and invest in Sierra Leone. Is that how to consolidate and sustain investors’ confidence? Kabab and Tarawallie must provide answers for that in another episode of the trending illegal ARISE IPP scam.
Moreover, on the specifics, friends and journalists closed to both the Justice Tarawallie and Mines Minister Kabba said on their returned at several public quarters they have gathered that the Government of Sierra Leone through the two-line ministries didn’t conduct themselves in ethical manners more so in signing a third-party lease agreement with ARISE IIP for the operations, maintenance and management of the Pepel-Tonkolili and Port Company Limited, referring it as ‘double standards’ and a ‘breach of contract’ with the Chinese company.
Though they were sincerely looked after and well taken care of by ARISE IIP during their weeklong safari in the subregion and in Central Africa, the pro-ARISE IPP journalists also critically observed that much as Leone Rock Metal Group Kingho Pepel-Tonkolili Railway and Port Company Limited had a six years’ lease Agreement with the Government of Sierra Leone, the line ministries wouldn’t have signed a third-party lease with ARISE IIP. They secretly opined that that is where the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mohamed Lamin Tarawallie Esq and Mines and Mineral Resources Minister, Musa Timothy Kabba completely hoodwinked President Julius Maada Bio and the Government of Sierra Leone.
It is no longer a secret that Government of Sierra Leone’s wrongful termination of Leone Rock Metal Group Kangha six lease agreement is disgraceful and embarrassing to a country desperately scouting for foreign investors. And the ARISE IIP illegal lease must therefore be immediately reversed before it continues to bring shame to the Government of Sierra Leone trade, commerce and foreign investment outlook of the country to the outside world, not to talk of its probable diplomatic standoff it has already midwifed between Government of the People’s Republic of China and that of Sierra Leone.
“Considering what China has done over the years and continues to do for the country, we expect Sierra Leone government to have protected our interests in that lease agreement which stands it remaining tenure, as was ratified by the Parliament of Sierra Leone. The Sierra Leone Government decision in terminating the Leone Rock Metal Group Kingho’s six lease agreement, was not done in the best interests of China, but to please the Indian company ARISE IIP”, observed a senior Foreign Service staff attached to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing.
