Some well-meaning Sierra Leoneans are concerned that if President Bio is not careful, his dream of transforming the country’s minerals’ sector and using mineral wealth to propel Sierra Leone to a prosperity, will all account for nothing and possibly may lead to a national disaster.

This concern largely emanates from the character of the individuals now championing the Mineral Wealth Fund initiative may be trying to hoodwink the President into signing what is clearly a very bad deal for the country. I mean a very bad deal for the country, but no doubt a good deal for these unscrupulous individuals as their main objective is to align their pockets with huge kickbacks and hefty commissions.

The saddest thing is that some of these individuals are within the President’s most trusted circle and are even holding high ranking cabinet positions.

The mineral wealth fund itself is a good idea as it is intended to help Government to mobilise much needed capital for long-term development with funds driven from the minerals sector.

It is this noble idea that some selfish politicians in connivance with a foreign national, Igor Silberud, now want to turn into a vehicle for personal enrichment. The first strategy of this “cabal” was to convince the President to appoint this Igor Silberud, a foreign person with no experience in the minerals sector, to head the Sierra Leone Mineral Wealth Fund as if there are no competent Sierra Leoneans to manage such a strategic fund initiative for the country. This man who claims to be a Financial and Strategic Assets Management expert is believed not to have a clue about the minerals sector or managing minerals wealth. He has set up a company known as Mount View, and he has now been put at the forefront of managing Sierra Leone’s commercial interest in mining. It is through this Mount View company that this shady character and some greedy politicians are hoping to channel proceeds from the minerals sector into their private bank accounts at the detriment of the country.

However, to get a balanced account of this story since we are unable to reach out to Mr Igor Silberud on his competency and professionalism, we relied on background research about

Mr Igor Silberud is said to be ‘an experienced commercial manager and metal trader with a demonstrated track-record as a manger of State Assets with SFI Management Group. His latest tout reads as such,” As the inaugural (hash tag) CEO of Sierra Leone’s first Soverign Wealth Fund, I’m keenly interested in the potential impact of the Nigeria –( hash tag) Morocco….” We also couldn’t verify claims with the undenified politicians on them wising to create financial channels to transact state’s funds into their private accounts.

According to an agreement already signed by the former Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources and the former Minister of Finance, the company will get 3% of the monthly gross revenue of and from all proceeds from Government’s commercial interests in mining paid “on a monthly basis into the bank account to be nominated by Mount View”. This is just basic renumeration paid to this shady Mount View company for doing virtually nothing.

In addition, the company will also get 5% to 10 % in bonuses. That is not all, as the company will also get 2.2% of any amount raised during “fundraising”. This is just a tip of the iceberg, as we shall continue to dissect the agreement and expose these corrupt people in the coming days.

With all the above benefits at stake, it is no wonder that these greedy politicians, including some senior cabinet ministers, who have ganged up with Mount View are now pressuring President Bio to give his blessings to the agreement for them to start milking away the country’s resources.

President Bio, being a wise and prudent leader is taking his time to study the agreement, but these people continue to fight tooth and nail to pressure the President but to sanction their unholy plan is the call for concern for the president.

We shall bring you more as events unfold.