By: Aaron Bundu Lahai-Head of Media & Public Relations
The Sierra Leone Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) has on Wednesday 20th November 2024 commenced two days capacity building workshop for SLEITI-Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG), National Secretariat and Stakeholders at the Family Kingdom Resort, Aberdeen in Freetown. Mohamed Baimba Koroma, SLEITI National Coordinator informed that the new 2023 EITI standard has four thematic areas including anticorruption, energy transition, resource mobilization, gender and environmental issues. He said that the workshop was organized to capacitate the governing board known as the MSG on the changes of standard since the EITI is evolving, noting that the initiative is transitioning from the 2019 to 2023 standard.
Coordinator Koroma disclosed that some of the requirements introduced by the 2023 standard include anticorruption issues surrounding the publication of anticorruption policies by mining companies and methodology in addressing anticorruption issues by the Government of Sierra Leone and the MSG; the energy transition to address energy issues in the country among others. He elaborated that capacitating the multi-Stakeholder Group is timely for the group to implement the 2023 standard.
He revealed that EITI delegation will be in Sierra Leone in two years’ time to validate the country, therefore the SLEITI secretariat wants to ensure that the country has made progress. He re-echoed that the workshop was organized to capacitate the governing board’s knowledge for the implementation of the 2023 standard to ensure they guide the secretariat for implementation of the recent standard to ensure excellence scores for the country in the next assessment, maintaining that Sierra Leone performed beyond expectation in some of the requirement during the last assessment. He described the last two validations as a meaningful progress comparatively to the previous validations, adding that the 2018 assessment in numerical terms was seventy-six percent and the 2022 validation was above eighty-seven percent. The EITI sector has been run transparently, he said, hopeful that in the next validation, Sierra Leone would do better.
The Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President Manty Tarawally disclosed that some of her several strategies for meeting the minimum requirement of EITI and aligning with president Bio’s Big Five Game Changers was working with wider range of partners across the board, engaging companies to effectively comply with the EITI processes, proactively ensuring to meet the country’s deadline, investing in policy research to address EITI implementation among others.
She informed of keeping the vision of SLEITI alive despite many challenges, citing the achievements of MSG and SLEITI. One of the achievements she noted is the publication of eleven reports by SLEITI, adding that the findings and recommendations in the report would help strengthen governance space for oil and gas mining industries in Sierra Leone. She revealed that the report has made EITI international held Sierra Leone in high esteem, noting that Sierra Leone is strategically position as one of the best EITI implementing countries. Minister Tarawally told the participants about the commendations from the EITI Board Chairman and the Executive Director in Geneva for the progress and commitment made by the Government of Sierra Leone in the implementation of EITI in the country.
She stated that the aspiration of government is to remain compliance to effectively implement the 2023 EITI standard. She also disclosed about the provision of fund in the sum of seventy-five thousand United States Dollars by the Government of Sierra Leone as a demonstration of commitment for the production of the EITI 2022-2023 report, stressing that the final report would be published by the close of this year.
Mrs. Anne Cecilia Lansana, Finance and Administrative Manager of SLEITI Secretariat welcomed the participants at the opening session. She informed the participants that the country is moving from the 2019 to the 2023 EITI standard, and expressed hope that participants would learn more about the 2023 standard at the end of the two days’ workshop.
Emmanuel Gbondo, National Coordinator of Natural Resource Governance and Economic Justice who spoke on behalf of the civil society organizations said that the role of the civil society is not to direct the process in the EITI programme but to make suggestion in a constructive and collaborative manner by supporting the decisions of government. He said that as members of the MSG they need the requisite knowledge in the implementation proper of the EITI process. He recommended for the domestication of the EITI standard to fit into Sierra Leone context, noting that learning the provisions in the EITI document is very key for all MSG members and all others present.
Mahawa Bai Kamara, Communication and Outreach Officer, SLEITI Secretariat who gave an overview of the workshop stated that the workshop was organized purposely to address the evolving challenges in the extractive sector, SLEITI implementation of the EITI process and equipping participants with current knowledge on the 2023 EITI standard, and the role of the MSG in the EITI implementation process. She disclosed that the workshop was important because it capacitates participants and promote dialogue.
She further said that the workshop was meant to ensure that MSG remains effective in advocating for transparent, accountable, and sustainable governance in the extractive sector. The two days workshop is closing on Thursday 21st November, 2024. SLEITI is under the supervision of the Office of the Vice President.
