Financial Transparency Coalition

This report is part of an initiative to create a comprehensive, and globally representative series of country reports that touch on diverse tax justice issues. The production of this report is the collective effort of all of the organisations involved.

The Tax Justice Network promotes transparency in international finance and opposes secrecy. TJN was initiated at in 2002, and is dedicated to high-level research, analysis and advocacy in the field of tax and regulation. Tax Justice Network Africa was launched in 2007 with the aim of bringing tax issues to the foreground of the broader development agenda. We work to map, analyse and explain the role of taxation and the harmful impacts of tax evasion, tax avoidance, tax competition and tax havens.

The Budget Advocacy Network (BAN) is a network of CSOs who believe in rights-based approaches to development, promoting pro-poor, inclusive, gender-sensitive and equitable generation and use of national resources through research, analysis, social mobilization and advocacy. BAN has conducted an analysis of policies and financial statements of the 2008-09 Budgets, completed a study on District Budget Oversight Committees, developed the ability to track the flow of resources in the health sector, and cultivated strategic relationship with oversight bodies.

The National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives (NACE) is a coalition of leading national and international non-governmental organisations . NACE envisions a Sierra Leone society where there is a maximum return and benefits from natural resources endowments (mining, forestry, marine). NACE advocates for the implementation of the extractive industry transparency initiative (EITI), empowering CSOs and building a critical mass of local activists to engage on government and mining companies policies and practices. As a national platform for policy dialogue on extractive issues, NACE has established a solid reputation on engaging with mining contracts reviews, influencing mining legislations and policies and publishes evidence-based research report to inform mining policies reviews for change.

The report itself draws on months of research conducted in June- July 2010 by Wilson Prichard and Samuel Jibao. The report was written by Wilson with enormous contributions from Samuel Jibao, Amadu Sidi Bah and Kadi Julia Jumu. We owe a debt of gratitude to all those who contributed their time and knowledge to this report. Finally special thanks are due to former Coordinator of BAN, Mr. Patrick Zombo, NACE coordinator, Cecilia Christiana Mattia for their valuable contributions and ideas that enriched the contents of the report. Our thanks also go to the Mr. Tijani Hamza, Ibis Country programme director and to Mr. Mark Curtis whose work on the mining sector provided significant data for the report. We would like to acknowledge the support provided by the Integrated Public Financial Management Reform Project Unit, the National Revenue Authority, the Ministry of Finance and the host of civil society organisations that participated actively during the validation exercise of the report. We also acknowledge with thanks that this report is produced with funding support from Christian Aid UK, Ibis, UK Department for International Development (DfID) and Tax Justice Network- Africa and Trust Africa.