By Steven Bockarie Mansaray in Kabala
Bike riders in Koinadugu district have expressed dissatisfaction over their district executive headed by Alphajor Barrie. In a letter dated 8 September 2013 and signed by eight park chairmen in the district, they accused the executive of misuse of funds and maladministration. Among the allegations are that President Ernest Bai Koroma gave the association US$ 1,500, Momoh Conteh donated 10 motorbikes and 10 bags of cement from the Minister of Tourism and Culture. Alhaji Bah, the chairman of the Cow Yard Park also alleged that the chairman was in the habit of withdrawing money from the union’s account for his personal use and that most of the money they were paying as daily dues and monthly contribution was also being misused by the chairman and his excutive. He said they were unhappy with the attitude of the bike monitors sent from Makeni and they wanted the district executive to organise training for the bike monitors in Kabala so they would monitor their colleagues. Bah said the other districts had offices for their riders and always sought the welfare of their members which he said was lacking in Koinadugu. Last week, bike monitoring officers from Makeni went to Kabala dressed in their uniform with some having epaulets. They arrested over 60 commercial motorbikes for various traffic offences. The riders also alleged that they demanded money from them. This created serious tension which attracted the attention of the District Police Traffic officer, the police Local Unit Commander, the district security coordinator and the chairman of the Koinadugu district council. After listening to both parties, the district biker riders’ association chairman and his executive were given two weeks against which to submit a comprehensive financial report and the status of the donations received on behalf of the union. That deadline expires on 7 October. Most of the riders told Politico that if the executive failed to produce a convincing report by 7 October they would call for the resignation of the entire district executive. The bike riders have meanwhile stopped paying their daily dues until their demands are met that deadline. The district chairman Alphajor Barrie, told Politico that the money they received from the president was used to buy helmets for the riders. He said they sold the cement and deposited the money into the association’s account. The bikes donated by Momoh Conteh, he said were given to them on loan to riders but that most of them refused to pay back. As for the dues, he said the sub parks, district executive, regional and national executives were all benefiting from the proceeds. He promised to put together the association’s bank statement, train the district bike monitoring officers by November with the use of former police officers as had been done in Makeni. Amid all this, the district police traffic officer, Inspector Mohamed Bangura told Politico that they were worried with the introduction of the Bike Monitoring Officers especially with the nature of uniform and the ranks they carried. He said the police in Kabala were not aware of the recruitment of these monitors. He expressed the fear that with time there would be conflict in terms of functions between the traffic police, wardens and the bike monitors. He said the police in Kabala would not allow the bike riders to recruit them for the training. © Politico 03/10/13
