quote:
In 2002, there was similar enthusiasm for post-war elections to that shown by Liberians last week but disillusionment set in for many ordinary people in Sierra Leone a long time ago. Most of the capital, Freetown, remains without electricity or running water while jobs remain as elusive as ever and huge piles of rubbish can still be seen on streets lined with tin shacks, where people live five or six to a room. Many Sierra Leoneans say corruption - one of the main causes of the war - remains a huge problem.
Even Zainab Bangura, civic rights activist and government critic, admits that to some extent, corruption is inevitable in a post-war country, although she says the scale has been unacceptable, with clinics being built but no drugs supplied and schools built without desks or blackboards because kick-backs are easier to siphon off from construction projects.
"You're bringing a huge amount of resources into dysfunctional government institutions, so seepages are bound to occur."
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posted 17 October 2005 06:45 AM
