July 4, 2019.

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Law and the New Developmental State in West Africa
Keynote Address at the 2019 Annual Conference and General Meeting
Sierra Leone Bar Association, 4th
to 5th
July 2019
By Prof. Raymond A. Atuguba
Visiting Professor of Law and Henry J. Steiner Visiting Professor of Human Rights
(2018-2019)
Harvard Law School
Associate Professor of Law, University of Ghana School of Law
ratuguba@law.harvard.edu/ratuguba@ug.edu.gh
+233244354572
Lagonda Complex, Freetown, Sierra Leone
4th
July 2019
Madam Chairperson, Representative of the Chief Justice, Madam Attorney-General
and Minister for Justice, Deputy Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Justices
of the Supreme Court and other Courts and other Officials of State, President and
Executive Council of the Sierra Leone Bar Association, Members of the Sierra Leone
Bar Association, Media Operators, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is traditional to begin a keynote address by indicating that one is happy or glad
to do so. On this occasion, and in line with the dictates of the central theme of my
address, I must be forthright and say that I am really sad, almost angry, to deliver
this keynote address. And I say this unapologetically, without fear of ruining your
celebratory mood; because that very mood, the extremely premature euphoria,
the dance before dawn, is part of the phenomenon that I am sad, angry about.
Before we focus on my sadness and anger about Sierra Leone, and about Africa
generally, let us put that sadness and anger in a global setting. In other words, what
picture, what view, what outlay, do the rest of the 194 Countries in the world
present; and how does Salone and her Bar Association fit in there? That way, we
can begin to surmise the issues we face here in their most “profound reality”, and
more importantly, appreciate the courses of action we must take as the Salone Bar,
and the sacrifices that are implicated thereby.

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Today, the Global Picture, the view of “the world we live in” is pretty simple to
crack, and does not appear to be changing in the near future; unless we
intentionally, deliberately, positively, let it. Politically, we are witnessing the death
of Democracy and Good Governance and the rise of dictatorships and a new
populism all over the globe; with the traditional democratic frontiers, the United
States (whose birthday it is today) and Great Britain leading the pack. Economically,
we are experiencing accelerated extractivism, as the G 20 countries continue to
pillage every imaginable resource from poorer countries-human, material, cultural,
technological; whilst killing, maiming, threatening, starving, corrupting, anyone in
the line of the resources. Socially, the world is so divided everyone is looking over
their shoulder to see if their neighbor is about to throw a bomb or otherwise harm
them; and nations are so scared of one another they now parade military tanks,
flyovers, and fireworks at their independence parades. Technologically, we are so
screwed up, we use it to fight wars, rig elections to subvert the authentic choices
of the people, and steal from each other. This is “the world we live in”.
No matter how much we pretend, and no matter how far we try to sweep it under
the carpet, the Liberal Democratic Model is exhausted and almost dead. That
Model, the dominant Model in our time for getting any country out of poverty and
unto a path of sustainable development and keeping it there, will be no more by
2020; yes, by next year. As Vladimir Putin told the Financial Times at the Kremlin
exactly a week ago today, “The Liberal Idea Has Become Obsolete”, having
“outlived its purpose”. Putin is one hundred percent right, but for completely
different reasons from those he espoused at the interview. I will come back to this
later.
To return to the theme of global politics, and coming closer home, the BTI Regional
Report for Africa for 2018, appropriately titled “A Divided Continent”, notes that:
“Between 2015 and 2017 Africa witnessed an overall deterioration in the quality
of political and economic transformation and governance…it is striking that every
criterion of democracy…recorded a decline. The same was true of every measure

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of economic status and governance. The combined effect of these trends was to
move the continent further away from political stability, democratization, and
economic sustainability…While almost all African states hold multiparty elections
that create the outward appearance of democracy, in many cases constitutions
continue to confer disproportionate power on the president and ruling party. The
last few years has also seen the continuation of a decade long trend of democratic
backsliding, with governments… deploying repression to deal with the challenges
posed by the spread of social media and the emergence of increasingly assertive
civil society groups and opposition parties.”
Even basic State stability appears to elude Africa. In the last decade alone, there
have been coups in Madagascar in 2009 and in Niger in 2010. After the coups and
uprisings in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia), at the beginning of this
decade and joined by Djibouti also from 2000 and 2001; the army overthrew the
governments in Guinea Bissau and in Mali in 2012. Benin, Comoros, and Chad
experienced failed coup d’états in 2013, whilst those in the Central African Republic
in 2013 and in Burkina Faso in 2014 succeeded. In 2015, another coup in the same
country succeeded, but for just one week. A “counter-counter” coup reinstalled the
new deposed President, and yet another failed coup, still in Burkina Faso, occurred
in 2016. After a failed coup attempt in the Gambia in 2014, another internationally
orchestrated “coup” succeeded a few years later. Burundi experienced a failed
coup in 2015, and the interesting coup in Zimbabwe in 2017 is unforgettable. The
attempted coup in Gabon and the successful one in Sudan this year are both fresh
in our memories. In the last two or so years, there have been 11 attempted or
successful coups in the world, and 8 of these were in Africa.
Even countries that appear politically stable are not that stable. Mali, Nigeria, and
many other countries live under the spectre and growing threat of terrorism.
Shinning stars like Ghana are slowly experiencing democratic reversals, and Sierra
Leone is learning all the bad things from Ghana. When a country starts to
illegitimately remove constitutionally protected officers from their posts, including
sitting Supreme Court judges, represses journalists, and interferes in court

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processes for really micro and meso level political agendas, the destructive seeds
of authoritarianism and the annihilation of the freedoms of the people are sown.
It is no wonder that Liberia experienced a massive citizens demonstration last
month, Sierra Leone experienced similar skirmishes in the same month, and just at
the beginning of this month, the courts were used by the government of Ghana to
temporarily subvert a demonstration.
Enough of politics; let’s move on to the economy. And I return again to the BTI
assessment:
“Economic transformation also stalled during this period. Following the optimism
of the “Africa rising” years, a combination of falling demand for commodity prices,
the failure of many states to diversify their economies…led to lower than projected
economic growth between 2015 and 2017. In turn, falling revenue placed
significant pressure on government budgets, and thus constrained the policy levers
available to many…Along with rising currency and price instability and the growing
percentage of GDP that African states spend on servicing an increasingly heavy
debt burden… this led to a deterioration in the standard of living.”
This is no news and has been happening since 1488 when the first European
explorers arrived in Africa. Since then, Africa has been a living carcass, feasted
upon for centuries by Euro-American, and lately by the other G 20 nations.
From 1980 to 2009, a period of less than 30 years, at least $1.2 trillion, spelt with a
“t”, was lost from our dear continent in illicit financial flows, a terminology that
does not cover all of the illegitimate outflows from Africa; it covers only “money
earned illegally and transferred for use elsewhere…usually generated from criminal
activities, corruption, tax evasion, bribes and transactions from cross-border
smuggling…The numbers tell only part of the story…The illicit haemorrhage of
resources from Africa is about four times Africa’s current external debt”. I take that
again: “The illicit haemorrhage of resources from Africa is about four times Africa’s
current external debt…Africa has been a net creditor to the rest of the world for
decades.” And “The African continent is resource-rich. With good resource
husbandry, Africa could be in a position to finance much of its own development.”

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The report contains another set of really profound statements that we need to have
front and center in our minds as we move into issue resolution mode:
“The composition of these outflows also challenges the traditional thinking about
illicit money…[C]orrupt activities such as bribery and embezzlement constitute
only about 3% of illicit outflows…criminal activities such as drug trafficking and
smuggling make up 30% to 35% and commercial transactions by multinational
companies make up a whopping 60% to 65%. Contrary to popular belief…money
stolen by corrupt governments is insignificant compared to the other forms of illicit
outflow. The most common way illicit money is moved across borders is through
international trade.”
Against this background, and in the last two segments of this address, I wish to
focus on two things: democratic, good governance and economic policy reversals
in Salone in the last few years, and more important, what the Salone Bar may do
about these.
Salone has experienced many democratic reversals in the last decade. In 2015, the
then President sacked his Vice President, unconstitutionally, and strangely, the
Supreme Court endorsed it. After the then Vice President won against the
government at the ECOWAS court of justice, the previous government and this
government have both failed to abide by the judgment. I know this because I was
the lawyer for the dismissed Vice President. Over the last few years, many persons
who occupied constitutionally protected positions have been sacked or otherwise
removed by government. The recent removal of Members of Parliament and their
illegitimate replacement are clearly contrary to the election laws that allow for
those seats to remain vacant when an appeal is imminent. Those laws also require
another election to be held. This was not done. The fact that these actions were
taken pursuant to judgments of the courts of law is very worrying indeed. This is
the Sierra Leone we live in today.
On the economic front, Sierra Leone is still a favourite site for vultures to scavenge.
Her mineral resources, agricultural lands, fishery resources, everything, is there for

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the taking by any multinational company that has a few dollars to throw around.
Things are so bad the government has started acting erratically. Recently, the
government banned fishing by foreign trawlers in Salone waters. This is the world
we live in.
What can be done about “the world we live in”? Let’s start with the political. Some
30 years ago, when many African countries, including Salone, experienced third
wave democracy, and adorned themselves with new constitutions, those
constitutions, representing quick, reluctant, creasy, political settlements and
compromises, were just enough for their needs. Today, those constitutions are no
longer enough for their needs, and are definitely ultra-inadequate for their wants.
What African countries need now is deep, participatory, reviews of their
constitutional governance, undertaken in a manner that simultaneously builds
citizenship and garners the nationalism that is essential for pushing through the
governance reforms that all African countries badly need. As happened with
Ghana’s Constitution Review Commission, such reviews must extend beyond the
Constitution, even beyond law, and touch the hardcore governance,
developmental, and nation-building issues that need to be confronted. I call on the
Sierra Leone Bar to initiate this process. Be reminded that done properly, such a
review will be effective even if it is not passed into law. It will serve as a constant
reference point for the democratic guidance of the nation.
Still on the political solution, we need to be reminded that liberal democracy will
be dead by next year, and so we must be brave enough to sing him a dirge (liberal
democracy is definitely a “him”); dance the funeral-war dance; bury him; shed
some tears; hug in sorrow; and move past him. The new aspiring democracies and
economic miracles in Africa-notably Mauritius, Botswana and Rwanda-did not
reach there through liberal democracy. Indeed, those countries are increasingly
becoming illiberal in several respects. A reading of “Behind the presidential curtain:
inside Out of real Paul Kagame from his former bodyguard”, gives us an
enlightening picture of the illiberal aspects of Rwandan governance. And although
Botswana looks thoroughly democratic, their last President was in power for 10
years, and before that, he was Vice President for another 10 years, and even before
that, he was commander of their army. Perhaps, Kagame is following in the same
footsteps. Let no one deceive us; 4 or 5 years, even 8 or 10 years of rule is woefully
inadequate for any serious ruler to dig out the rot in African governance, lay a firm
foundation, and begin to build a resolute structure on it. And without this, we are

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completely darned. This means that the options for democratic constitutional
design during the review process must remain open, and liberal democracy should
definitely not be the only option.
I know that many are accusing me now of being a lover of autocrats and dictators.
This is not so. Let us draw a line between African strongmen who take it out on
their citizens and African strongmen who use their power to take greater control
of their policy spaces and their economies and the destinies of their people and
their nations. The two are very completely different orientations and uses of state
power. I vote for the latter.
I move now to the second thing that needs to be done, and done now; the
economic solution. I recall once again the words of Vladimir Putin. In the interview
earlier referenced, Putin “condemned open-door policies toward migrants and said
liberalism has gone too far at the expense of traditional values’…When the
migration problem came to a head, many people admitted that the policy of
multiculturalism is not effective and that the interests of the core population
should be considered…He described German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
welcoming policy toward refugees…as a ‘cardinal mistake,’ and praised U.S.
President Donald Trump, whom he described as a ‘talented person,’ for taking a
much harder line on migration.
He continued:
"The liberal idea presupposes that nothing needs to be done. The migrants can kill,
plunder, and rape with impunity because their rights as migrants must be
protected".
To put this in context, Russia is home to some 10 million migrants, who work mostly
in construction and retail, playing a vital role in that country’s economy, especially
as the Russian population is aging.
Whilst we may hate Putin for what he says, there is a lesson in there for us Africans
to learn. The same anti-immigration rhetoric and the same “nation-first” populism
that characterise Putin and Trump, should be the same attitude and slogan for us
when it comes to Africa’s resources. African countries must wise up and create a
strong and unbreakable bond between her plentiful and much sought-after
resources and her people. Any country that rejects and disrespects Africans must

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have absolutely nothing to do with her resources. If you cannot accept African
people, then do not take her resources. For every African who is denied entry to a
G 20 country, one multinational company from that country and operating in Africa
must be asked to pack and leave. The world needs Africa more than Africa needs
the world. It does not sound believable, but that is what the data, that is what
science says. The ultra-nationalism of the big boys, right down to building of
walls and disrespectful immigration policies, must be met in equal measure with
economic nationalism and the building of economic walls around African
resources and the institution of disrespectful foreign investment policies. In this
regard, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe are showing the way, and should be
praised and goaded on, not maligned.
The third thing that needs to be done, and which is a prerequisite for the first two
solutions to succeed, is the reconstruction of what Kwame Nkrumah, that
illustrious son of the African soil, called “the African personality and identity”. The
reconstruction of this social construct that has been so badly damaged is needed
more today than ever before. “Make America Great Again”, “Brexit”, Putin’s anti-
migration effusions, and many other similar policies can only further damage the
African personality, as Africans continue to experience a rough and disrespectful
pushback from the G 20 countries they struggle to reach.
This reconstruction of the African Personality and Identity must start from the
review of our curricula and teaching methodologies; through deliberate and
intentional Africanist Civic Education; to a global occupation of new and non-
traditional media with the “profound reality” of the African situation and prospects,
as a basis for building the new African Personality and Identity. It must also reflect
in everything; our ways of dressing inclusive. I long for the day when African
lawyers will appear in African courts and African Bar Conferences in African attire.
The fourth and final action point relates to technology. Africa has experienced
three modes of domination since 1488. Political Domination in the form of
colonialism of old, and the occupation of her policy spaces by the G 20 today;
Economic Domination in the form of human and material extractivism of old, and
mainly financial extractivism today; and Social Domination in the form of cultural

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imperialism of old and anti-African media today. However, there is a fourth budding
form of domination-Technological Domination. In its most banal form, this mode
of domination is palpable when election results are rigged using technological
hijacking, and an imposter imposed on the people as their leader. Africa must begin
to rethink her encasement into a technological world that it does not fully
understand and does not control. Technology has its usefulness; but making your
electricity, water systems, health systems, everything, dependent on technology
that we did not make; that we do not fully understand; and that we do not control,
is sheer madness. Ghana’s Electoral Commission reported recently that the
controls of the electronic aspects of our voter systems are in the hands of an Israeli
company, and Ghana retains no domestic keys to the systems. For Africa, a more
strategic approach to the technological revolution is warranted.
Bar Associations in Africa have traditionally been trailblazers and harbingers of the
hard truth. This is what the Kenyan Law Society, the Tanganyika Law Society of
Tanzania, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Ghana Bar Association, the 5 or more
Bar Associations in South Africa, and many others, did and continue to do for
Africa’s progress. I asked my Personal Assistant to research your current Bar
President, Basita Michael, and this is what she found out:
“Michael is known for her commitment to saying the hard truth and she has
continued to take critical and independent positions on national issues since her
election to the Bar presidency”.
“Most legal analysts have described her tenure as one that has risen the Bar’s bar.
This has heightened public trust and confidence for the Bar”.
“Her integrity, reputation, honesty, straightforwardness, charisma and character
have never been in doubt or in question since her name came into prominence
several years ago, not as a politician but as a legal luminary”.
Owing to the appreciation of the public of the activities of the SLBA, the President
was honoured by several organisations and she accepted them on behalf of the
SLBA. These recognitions include: 100 most influential Sierra Leoneans; 50 most
influential women; outstanding female legal Practitioner; Excellence in Law; Best
Female Legal Practitioner; and an Honorary Award in recognition of the unflinching
and relentless support to the youth of Sierra Leone.

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To conclude this address, I call on the Sierra Leone Bar Association today to:
1. Get Organised;
2. Mobilise Resources-human, spiritual, material;
3. Create Working Groups for the four Themes (political, economic, social,
technological);
4. Distil Clear and Simple Action Points for Immediate Implementation;
5. Advocate, Push, Agitate, for their Implementation; and
6. Use the Annual Conference and General Meeting as a Forum to Assess
Progress on all of the above.
This is the only real role the Sierra Leone Bar Association should play today. The
people of Sierra Leone are tired of the numerous and sophist parroting of liberal
values at millions of meetings and workshops. The people of Sierra Leone are
yearning for, longing for, cannot wait for a true renaissance, a reorientation of
governance through real and effective democratic guidance; political, economic,
social, and technological governance; which meet the people at the point of their
needs and wants.
The unofficial bifurcation of the Bar along the lines of the two main political parties
must end. That is a by-product of inimical liberalism which I have told you will die
next year. The unofficial remnants of patriarchy that exist within the Bar must also
end. Basita has more than proven to us all that female lawyers are as competent,
if not more competent, than their male counterparts.
I thank you for your attention and your tolerance of me and I look forward to
interacting further with you during the Question and Answer Session.