Public Urination

Despite what you may think, this is not a blog about people peeing in the street or down back alleys. What this is, is a story about taming a certain minister who is known to be a bit of a loose canon.

There is a certain Minister who is quite old, quite difficult, but also very well respected and thus, quite safe and comfortable in his ministerial role. He's quite sharp at times, quite with it at times, but also has a reputation for being, for lack of a better phrase, a bit crazy.

He actively protested during the reign Siaka Stevens who ruled the country from 1971-1985, and thus was thrown in jail and held as a prisoner several times. Perhaps its a result of his years in captivity that this Minister has become a bit koo koo.

What do I mean by 'koo koo'? This is what I mean: Imagine you're flying to London from Freetown. You're sitting in business class. The flight attendant has just brought you a hot towel to clean your face and hands and then serves you a glass of champagne or orange juice. You sit back in your chair and relax as the 757-200 aircraft pulls away from the apron and heads down to the end of the runway to take off. Its a beautiful sunny evening and just as the plane takes off, you catch a glimpse of the beautiful hillsides covered in tropical fauna that surround the airport. 20 minutes later things seem calm and relaxed on board as the pilot comes on the PA system to announce that the flight will be on time and that they don't expect any turbulence.

Then, all of sudden, a tall thin man, wearing a Govt of Sierra Leone pin on his suit jacket gets up and stands in the aisle (despite the fasten seat belts sign still being lit up). Seems a bit peculiar as he's just standing there. And then without hesitation, fear or concern for others, the well dressed pees right there in the aisle. The bathroom is just 10 feet away, but no, he decides to pull it out and pee right there in the aisle. He's careful not to pee on other passengers, keeping his stream of urination focused solely on the one aisle that runs down the middle of the plane. He finishes up, gives a little shake and then sits back down in his seat as if nothing's happened.

Now, imagine that this well dressed govt official does this 2-3 more times on other future flights??!!!

Yep, this is the Minister I'm speaking about above. With this reputation, its no wonder that people are a bit afraid or uncomfortable when dealing with him.

And thus, I embarked on a particularly contentious meeting with him, a few other Ministers and a few other Govt counterparts to discuss a particular investment/project that had gone bad. The discussion had the potential to get explosive with people blaming each other, but somehow the Minister and others kept things together, with a bit of moderation from myself. At the end of the meeting, we arrived at a consensus of the best way forward which was completely in-line with best international practices and thus, the meeting was success. Several of the attendees complimented my efforts and seem to greatly appreciate the focus I attempted to assert on focusing on solutions and not on who to blame.

For me, the meeting was wonderfully gratifying as I continually spoke as "We" in reference to the Govt of Sierra Leone, which I finally feel a part of (even if its indirectly).

But the most successful part of the meeting came when the Minister stood up for a minute and stretched his 6'3" frame. He sort of stood around for a good 3 minutes and fidgeted a bit. To be honest, he looked like a little kid who needed to use the bathroom, but wanted a parent to take him/her. And just as he adjusted his belt buckle, I prepared for what seemed inevitable...

But...

The Ministers sat back down in his chair... I've never been so happy to see a person sit down in my life...