By Mabinty M. Kamara
The Sierra Leone Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (SLEITI) has engaged Civil Society Organizations in an orientation workshop on the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) process.
The engagement, according to the organizers, was geared towards getting the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) step up their participation in the EITI implementation process in the country.
The MSG comprised of CSOs, government and mining companies operating in the country. The country’s Vice President is the Champion of the national EITI Process, whiles the Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President serves as its chair.
The orientation workshop was held at the SLEITI headquarters at Charles Street in Freetown.
Mohamed Fernando Conteh, the Communication Officer of SLEITI, said the session was designed to address certain corrective actions that came up during an MSG retreat recently held in Kenema, where it was noted that the corrective actions related to CSOs participation, which is one of the components of the EITI requirements on MSG governance and functioning, has not been fully addressed in the country.
In her statement, Francess Piagie Alghali, Minister of State, Office of the Vice President, noted that Sierra Leone as a country has been trying to adhere to the EITI standards.
“I want to emphasize that it is Sierra Leone that joined the EITI process, not the government of Sierra Leone, not the Civil Society, not the mining companies, but Sierra Leone as a whole. That is why we always emphasized that we all work together to ensure that we adhere to the EITI standards. As government, we ensure firm and sustained commitment to the EITI process. That is why the Vice President serves as the Champion of the EITI and I am the chair of the Multi-Stakeholder Group. We believe that if we follow the EITI process, it will attract investment,” she said.
Ms Alghali went on to note that the government was committed to using the EITI process because it seeks to improve accountability and promote greater economic and political stability, while strengthening license, tax collection system, legal and fiscal frameworks. She also said that the proces would improve the investment climate in the country by providing clear signals to investors and international financial institutions that the government is committed to greater transparency.
“EITI has unique features. Unlike other processes, it is a multi-stakeholder platform mechanism, whereby government, companies and Civil Society sit together to discuss issues of transparency and accountability in order to promote good governance in the extractive sector,” she said, adding: “We need to make maximum use of it to ensure meaningful contributions from all these constituencies to make its role more effective.”
She therefore admonished the CSOs present at the workshop to effectively participate in the deliberations, noting that they would rely on their inputs into the issue.
In his statement on behalf of Civil Society Organizations, Abu Brima, Executive Director of the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), one of the CSOs advocating for natural resources rights and governance in Sierra Leone, noted that the EITI process is an opportunity for CSOs working on resource rights and governance issues to showcase their advocacy efforts over the management of Sierra Leone's natural resources and to support the process, especially at this time when the SLEITI MSG is opening the space for more CSOs involvement and participation in the process.
Mr Brima assured the Minister of State from the Office of the Vice President and the entire MSG that CSOs would properly organize themselves to embrace the EITI process for the development of the country, particularly for Primary Host Communities of extractive activities that are more vulnerable.
Conteh took the participants through an overview of the EITI process in Sierra Leone, while whiles Mina Horace, National Coordinator of SLEITI, gave an insight of the 2018 validation report and corrective actions.
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