By Mahmud Tim Kargbo
Saturday, 28 June 2025
“For decades, wealth and income have been redistributed upward, with minimal protest by the working class, who were harmed by that redistribution. During 2022, the working class in many countries was no longer willing to defer their needs in the wake of that redistribution. Labour militancy, unionisation and strikes have all been renewed with remarkable energy and enthusiasm.”
Richard D. Wolff, CounterPunch, 30 December 2022
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/12/30/the-economic-realities-we-face-at-the-end-of-2022/
This observation, though originally made in a global context, is strikingly pertinent to Sierra Leone. As workers around the world awaken to the inequities of global capitalism, Sierra Leoneans too are increasingly vocal in opposing decades of systemic exploitation, both from external imperialist institutions and from domestic elite misgovernance.
- GLOBAL FORCES TRIGGER LOCAL UPHEAVAL
The global economic shocks of 2022, including supply chain disruptions, rampant inflation, economic sanctions and aggressive interest rate hikes, amplified longstanding socio-economic fractures within Sierra Leone. Like many Global South nations, our economy was destabilized, not merely by cyclical downturns, but by a global system that privileges imperial economic centres, while structurally impoverishing peripheral nations.
By June 2022, Sierra Leone’s inflation had soared to nearly 28 percent, fuelled by the cascading effects of the Russia and Ukraine war and lingering COVID-19-induced supply chain breakdowns. These pressures were further exacerbated by International Monetary Fund (IMF) directives; mandating the removal of fuel subsidies, alongside the depreciation of the Leone. These developments culminated in widespread civil unrest.
August 2022 marked the most significant mass mobilisation in Sierra Leone in decades. Initial doctors’ strikes from 1 to 6 August over delayed salaries, and fuel allowances soon escalated into nationwide anti-government protests on 10 August, locally dubbed the “Faceless Protest”. Tens of thousands took to the streets in Freetown, Makeni, Kamakwie and other cities to protest the unbearable cost of living.
Sources:
https://www.politicosl.com/articles/sierra-leone-protests-cost-living
https://www.africanews.com/2022/08/11/sierra-leone-protests-against-economic-hardship-turn-deadly/
- A DEADLY ERUPTION ROOTED IN GLOBAL INJUSTICE
The Special Investigation Committee established by President Julius Maada Bio later concluded that widespread socio-economic despair created the conditions for unrest, even though “rogue political actors” may have exploited the situation. However, the fundamental cause was undeniable: a deeply embedded economic system producing wage stagnation, rising costs and widening inequality.
According to the Committee’s findings:
Human cost: More than 20 civilians and 6 police officers were killed during the protests.
State response: A nationwide curfew was imposed, internet services were disrupted, and over 500 people were arrested.
Labour momentum: The doctors’ union secured 80 percent of their demands, prompting similar action from teachers, nurses and civil servants.
These events were not isolated. They echoed a broader global pattern, a resurgence of working-class consciousness in the face of a worsening capitalist system.
Source:
https://statehouse.gov.sl/special-investigation-committee-report-on-august-10-protests/
- WE HAVE THE LAWS, BUT NOT THE AUTONOMY
Sierra Leone has no shortage of strong legal frameworks. The 1991 Constitution, the Public Financial Management Act, the Public Procurement Act and the Audit Service Sierra Leone (ASSL) provide the basis for responsible governance. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) also warned clearly:
“Sierra Leone’s leaders must act with accountability and be driven by the people’s interests, or else they will continue to perpetuate cycles of economic exclusion and grievance.”
Source:
http://www.sierraleonetrc.org/index.php/view-report-text-vol-2/item/vol-two-chapter-2?category_id=20
Despite this legal architecture, violations remain common. The 2020 Audit Service report uncovered over Le187 billion in unaccounted public funds. Yet, few officials were prosecuted or held accountable.
Source:
https://www.auditservice.gov.sl/report/2020-annual-audit-report-on-the-public-accounts-of-sierra-leone/
Worse still, policy sovereignty is often ceded to foreign institutions. IMF and World Bank “conditionalities”, including subsidy removals and currency liberalisation, have undermined domestic priorities. Under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Sierra Leone was compelled to adopt austerity measures that prioritised external debt repayment over investment in education, health care and infrastructure.
Source:
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/05/15/pr23139-sierra-leone-imf-executive-board-completes-seventh-review-under-ecf-arrangement
- GLOBAL CAPITAL, LOCAL IMPACT
In 2022, as the United States Federal Reserve raised interest rates to control inflation, the cost of servicing dollar-denominated loans soared. This placed additional pressure on the Leone and led the Bank of Sierra Leone to adopt contractionary monetary policies. These policies disproportionately affected small traders, rural workers and the informal economy.
The term “macroeconomic stability”, often used by international lenders, has, in practice, translated into deepening poverty. One telling example is the Karpowership energy deal: an expensive, foreign-operated arrangement that offers temporary electricity at the long-term cost of national dependency.
Source:
https://www.politicosl.com/articles/karpowership-saga-and-price-sierra-leones-energy-dependency
Meanwhile, multinational corporations continue to benefit from generous tax holidays, while market women and informal workers face routine harassment, excessive taxation and economic insecurity.
- FROM PROTEST TO TRANSFORMATION
The upheavals of 2022 revealed a dual crisis in Sierra Leone, one driven by unaccountable domestic elites, and another by an international financial order that enforces dependency. Real change requires moving beyond protest to proactive structural transformation.
What must be done:
Constitutionalize economic justice: Guarantee access to food, health care, housing and employment as fundamental rights.
Democratise the workplace: Mandate worker representation in major enterprises to dismantle exploitative hierarchies.
Reclaim policy sovereignty: Replace externally imposed reforms with development strategies based on local needs.
Enforce national laws: Fully implement the TRC, ASSL and Procurement Act recommendations through independent, empowered institutions.
Elevate public investment: End austerity for the poor. Redirect resources away from debt repayment towards essential services.
This vision is not utopian, it is the minimum that meaningful post-colonial development demands.
6.THE STRUGGLE FOR A POST-CAPITALIST FUTURE
Geopolitical rivalry between the United States, the European Union and China is forcing African countries to choose sides in a struggle they did not initiate. But Sierra Leone need not swap Western domination for Eastern dependence.
Instead, it must forge a path of sovereign, democratic and people-centred development, informed not by creditors or geopolitical blocs, but by its own citizens.
A truly post-capitalist future would:
Reject neocolonial financial architecture that enforces austerity under the guise of creditworthiness.
Promote domestic ownership and investment in key sectors such as mining, agriculture and energy.
Engage in regional alternatives such as BRICS and the African Continental Free Trade Area, but only on negotiated, equal terms.
Source:
https://www.thetricontinental.org/articles/beyond-imf-world-bank/
7.FROM PROTEST TO POWER
The economic shocks of 2022 were not merely episodic. They were symptomatic of the long decline of a global capitalist order that has consistently marginalised nations like Sierra Leone. The same system that once justified colonial rule now perpetuates dependency through financial instruments, development aid and unequal trade.
But the Sierra Leonean public is no longer passive. Trade unions, youth movements, civil society groups and journalists are all challenging the status quo. The August 2022 protests were not solely about rising fuel prices. They were an indictment of a broken social contract.
The key question now is whether Sierra Leoneans will seize this moment to demand systemic change, or whether the cycle of repression, silence and elite betrayal will repeat.
“The forces that oppress us are global, but so too is our capacity to resist. Sierra Leone must learn to say no, not just at the ballot box, but at the bargaining table, in the streets and in the economy itself.”
Source:
https://www.thetricontinental.org/articles/beyond-imf-world-bank