On Friday last week three of our editorial team were involved in a road accident in the north of Sierra Leone. One that could have been fatal, but for the infinite mercy of God.
Isaac Massaquoi, Tanu Jalloh and Umaru Fofana were travelling on a Pathfinder vehicle of the Mayor of Koidu, His Lordship Saa Emerson Lamina, who was also onboard.
The vehicle was hit to the right side back causing it to spin and somersault and land into a ditch. We all sustained injuries mainly to the head, neck and shoulder. We remain grateful to Him that we managed to walk ourselves from the rubble of the vehicle.
We are also appreciative of the deluge of telephone calls, wishes of goodwill and quiet prayer from you the reader. We were simply overwhelmed by your show of love and concern for us. Some were even worried that Politico would not be out this week. We understand that worry, but ours is a newspaper that is institutionalised and transcends the personality of any single individual.
That said, the accident we were involved in has prompted us to raise a few questions about the safety of the roads, vehicles, drivers and other road users in Sierra Leone. Around the same weekend we had our botched encounter with death, at least four other vehicles fell off bridges or into valleys in Freetown. This calls into question the promotion of road safety in the country.
The Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority should step up its licensing procedure. It is all too easy to have well designed drivers' licences, but more important is to ensure that those who carry the beautifully laminated card are well trained to drive, and are tested before they are issued with one. The Authority should also ensure that vehicle license renewal is done thoroughly. Experience has shown that some vehicles pass their road fitness without even having been seen by the fitness testers.
The traffic police officers are not helping matters either. They allow all sorts of vehicles to ply the route even with very visible defectiveness. This has been made worse by the advent of the motorbike taxis aka Okada.
We call for robust road safety measures to be put in place and to be pursued vigorously for the safety of all. Not some adhoc arrangement that will see a few workshops held here and there around certain dates and funds used to enrich a few individuals. If not, deaths by road accidents will surpass deaths by malaria.
(C) Politico 30/01/14
