One
of my closest friends has been working in Sierra Leone for the past 18 months –
as Team Leader of a civil service reform project in Freetown. He is back home
in Brussels at the moment but scheduled to fly back in a few days – to take up
a project extension of 12 months.
Remember
that this is the country in the eye-storm of the Ebola pandemic where deaths
are doubling every month – as set out in this powerful piece
in the current issue of LRB
I
remonstrated with him but he had a powerful argument. He has earned the
confidence of senior civil servants there – and they need the unique blend he
has of experience, common sense and
analytical skills. I don’t anyone in my line of work who is able to come
up so readily with “stories” which make so much sense about the perversities
which are perpetrated by the leaders of modern organisations (whether private
or public). I worked – very briefly – in The World Health Organisation (WHO) in
1990/91 and was generally very impressed with how much its European Office (in
Copenhagen) was able to achieve with minimal resources. But it had its
weaknesses – a few of its nationals appointed (on patronage) were disastrous
and that, according to a
leaked report in today’s Guardian, seems to be the case for its African
desk.
I remember his (unrepeatable) comments from our skype conversation a couple of months ago.
I salute a brave man
And wish him a safe return.......
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