FREETOWN (Reuters) - A senior aide to Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has resigned amid a public outcry over a request made to parliament to increase the president's salary tenfold in one of the world's poorest countries.
Koroma, who vowed "zero tolerance" towards corruption after winning an
election in September, had not been consulted about the initiative by
the Office of the Secretary of the President and had not approved it,
the government said.
"His Excellency Ernest Bai Koroma views this action very seriously and
has regrettably accepted the resignation of the Secretary to the
President, Mr. James Sanpha Koroma, with immediate effect," an official
statement published Tuesday said.
The proposals sent to parliament last week foresaw increasing Koroma's
nominal salary from 2.5 million leones a month to 25 million leones a
month. A similar raise was proposed for his vice president, Samuel
Sam-Sumana.
Most people earn less than a dollar a day in the former British West
African colony, which is still recovering from a devastating 1991-2002
civil war and is rated the least developed country in the world by the
United Nations.
"His Excellency, President Ernest Bai Koroma wishes to inform all
Sierra Leoneans as well as our International Development partners that
this is not the time to consider salary increments when our economy is
60 percent donor supported and our internal resource mobilization
efforts need to be intensified in order to provide the basic social
needs for our people," the government said.
News of the salary proposals had sparked debate in local radio talk shows, newspapers and Internet sites.
The aide who resigned, Sanpha Koroma, a former central bank governor,
said he had not known about the request to parliament, which also
proposed retroactive pension payments dating back to 1996 for former
President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and other senior members of the previous
administration.
He said the proposals had come from his two permanent secretaries in the Office of the Secretary to the President.
"It has embarrassed the president and I am taking responsibility for it," Sanpha Koroma told Reuters.
"The president says 2.5 million leones is enough for him -- he's not
interested in any increment," Sheka Tarawalie, presidential press
secretary, told Reuters.
Daily life is a struggle for most Sierra Leoneans, who face erratic
supplies of light and water, appalling roads and poor access to health
and education services.
While declaring war on corruption, Koroma, a former insurance
executive, has sought to drum up foreign investment in mining,
agriculture, fisheries and tourism in Sierra Leone.
