Phronesis And Resource Curse Hypothesis In Post-Independent Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone has over the years been identified and branded as a resource cursed nation. A situation which arises as a result of fund and resources mismanagement which subsequently led to a clear distinction between the “haves” and the “have-not”. This study therefore, explores the concept of Phronesis and the political economy of non-renewable natural resource management that ensures everyone in Sierra Leone benefit from the proceeds of sales of non-renewable resources, as opposed to the branded assertion of the country being a resource cursed nation, where only a handful of individuals enjoyed the country's wealth, while the less privileged live in poverty and at the mercy of aids provided by donor countries/agencies. Based on critical phenomenological discourse of scholarly literature and analytical hermeneutics of secondary data collected, evidence showed that bad governance in natural resource extraction and management in both the colonial and post-colonial periods contributed immensely to the resource curse syndrome in Sierra Leone; a situation which has impacted negatively on the nation’s drive to economic development. This study thus suggests an effective application of rule of law in the prosecution of perpetrators of unethical acts in the exploitation of non-renewable natural resources to deter future cases of unethical practices.