By Umaru Fofana
My office is situated almost opposite the Sacred Heart Cathedral which is the seat of the Freetown archdiocese. This cathedral is strategically situated right in the heart of this mundane – some would say irreligious part – of the city called Freetown.
Almost four years working from the top floor of my office building, I am used to the everyday noon tintinnabulation that comes out of the roof of the church – a deep rooted catholic tradition. It took time for me to get used to the sound. Now I am so used to it that I instinctively know when noon time comes even when I am far away from the office.
But even this bell ringing does not necessarily bring about the feeling of Christmas in the centre of Freetown this year. Perhaps across the city and even the country. Normally mid to late November would set off the blaring of Christmas carols across the town. Last year it dipped owing to the economic hard times. This year it has almost disappeared. No thanks to Ebola which has worsened the economic knock-on effect that had become the hallmark of life in Sierra Leone even before the onset of the outbreak.
The Christmas festivities may have been late and slow in coming. But Sierra Leoneans being what we are may just throw away the Ebola considerations and trepidation and start acting foolish, all in the name of having fun.
I could barely sleep at my Kingtom residence on Sunday night. Not only because I had triggered my ulcers which pained me severely, but also because some guys were having a party in the neighbourhood and blared music deep into the night almost ‘til dawn.
I could not help but wonder where the law enforcement authorities were, not least because this source of the music was much closer to the Adelaide Street Police station than it was to my house. And this is the crux of my worry as we approach Christmas and with Ebola proving more stubborn that the Revolutionary United Front rebels did in the 1990s.
Soon, if measures are not put in place, overloaded vehicles will start storming the provinces for Christmas and New Year reunions with families. I am heartened to learn that the Mayor of the Bonthe municipality has decided that his council will not allow anyone to their island after the 15 December as a way to ward off Ebola. If true, that will be an example worth emulating throughout the country. So far the island has not recorded a single case of the disease largely due to its national barriers – the Atlantic Ocean – but also because the people have remained vigilant.
We all know that the quarantine in which Port Loko and Bombali districts were placed is just on paper and a mere formality. It is not being implemented. In fact it is easier to get transport in Freetown to go to Makeni and Lunsar in Bombali and Port Loko district respectively than to travel to Waterloo. That may be an exaggeration but it is a way of illustrating how easy it is to do what is banned.
Consequently Freetown and its environs, Port Loko and Bombali have proved stubborn in dealing with Ebola as they keep recycling the sick – sometimes multiplying them – and burying the dead. Canoes ferry people across to the Western Area Rural part of Freetown with no one acting to stem it. When these people move, no one needs telling, the Ebola virus moves to the same direction.
With the quarantine working extremely well in Kenema and Kailahun the result is for all to see. Unless those two eastern districts let down their guards sooner than they should, Ebola will be gone for good in those areas in a few weeks.
Because Freetown is the potpourri, extreme care must be taken as we approach Christmas. Bo town itself has recorded relatively insignificant numbers of Ebola cases. Tendency is that many will leave Freetown for Bo because it is not under quarantine. Foolish politicians will troop out to Port Loko and Makeni – their political Mecca. When they do, they disingenuously do so under some guise of Ebola sensitisation, and with some jobless youth ready to kill for money, anyone else but themselves. This will inundate those areas and heighten the exodus of people which is the main conduit through which the Ebola virus travels.
The coming weeks will see an increase in the number of Ebola treatment centres. That is good news because it will isolate the sick. But the better news would be for these centres to have no one to isolate. The hope is to not see a corresponding increase in the number of infection. In other words, a drop in new infections.
When these centres do open and people keep getting sick, it could spell doom for a nation which has already lost far too many people to Ebola. A lot of the foreign health care workers will be travelling around Christmas to reunite and worship with their families and loved ones. Staff will be skeletal on the ground, further piling pressure on our already overworked Sierra Leonean medics who have not had any away days, and will be required to stay behind because this is their fight more than it is anyone else’s.
It would not be too much to ask that no one should leave their towns and villages throughout the yuletide season unless they are essential workers. It is better to postpone Christmas 2014 enjoyment to next year, than to get infected with Ebola and forever miss out on the festivities.
And by Christmas, it has to be pointed out, it is a social event in Sierra Leone rather a religious one. Even though a Muslim majority country, Christmas shows the religious coexistence among Sierra Leoneans. My wife for example is catholic, so we observe the season as we do the Muslim Eid holidays.
It is true that our security agencies have been overstretched. But it is also true that a good number of them are idling in some of their areas of deployment. They can be redeployed and be made to be more effective in the policing of Ebola measures. Their focus should not be on suppressing free speech against journalists as dictated by politicians. It should be to restrict wrongful movement and refuse and resist bribes that we know are often offered at these checkpoints. We all live once. And a worthy life we must life, and not even it needlessly.
Be reminded that if Christ were alive today he would advise you to stay indoors until it was time to go to church, and to return straight home after service. If he could talk to you today, he would tell you the same.
Merry Christmas. May Ebola be gone in days and not weeks and months.
© Politico 09/12/14
