CIVIL WAR IN SLPP, WHEN WILL THEY LEARN FROM THE MISTAKES OF THEIR OPPOSITION DAYS
We are only just over a year into the leadership of the Green Movement and we are already beginning to wonder if all the civil war in the party in the days leading up to the 2018 general and presidential elections taught them any lessons to those who say they love the party. Just in case they’ve forgotten we remind them here, that the NGC came out of that bitter civil war which almost wrecked their chances of taking State House. So what was all the weekend fighting and criminal activity on the streets of Bo about?
In the first place this was supposed to be a meeting of the National Advisory Council of the party with very serious issues on the agenda, so how come people vying for national offices in the party mobilized so many people to accompany them to a meeting to which even the media were not allowed? We know that when a ruling party is meeting a lot of people find their way there looking for jobs, contracts and handouts. But we know that one particular leadership hopeful had a huge convoy of many buses to demonstrate power. The point is many of those people who are normally not Green Camp supporters but voted to bring you into power, were completely put off by this same kind of unnecessary mobilization of young people and the potential for disorderly behavior. If you guys don’t handle this situation well here’s where we think the Green Camp will land itself.
1. You will alienate a large section of your own supporters who in 2019 are not going to tolerate that One Party mentality and all the violence associated with it.
2. The much-talked-about modernization of the party will never happen because you guys are stuck in the past.
3. All those people your boys distressed on the streets of Bo are by all accounts largely your supporters. What do you think is happening to them now?
4. When you make such internal contest so bitter, you destroy any possibility of a compromise later. Do you remember what happened between Alie Bangura and Chief Somano Kapen that almost sent you into the wilderness forever?
5. By that display in Bo you appear to be confirming certain narratives about your party. You must change or die! Good luck to you!
COMMERCIAL BANK RENOVATION FUND LAUNCHED SOON
We respectfully invite all our readers to join this noble effort to give the headquarters building of the Sierra Leone Commercial Bank a much-needed facelift. This is very serious.
Next time you drive pass that building in the heart of our capital just take a look at the Commercial Bank building and you will understand why we want to open this account. We are hoping that we will be able to give every Sierra Leonean a Christmas present with all those old and dirty tiles changed. We are not looking for big individual donors. In fact, we are encouraging many ordinary people to come forward with small donations to help us achieve this objective.
Since the new man in charge of the bank took over we’ve been waiting to see how things will change – and things may indeed have changed on the operational side of their work – but is he telling us he hasn’t noticed how old and ugly the building has become over the years? By the way, if the manager needs our help with the board of directors to get the necessary funds for the renovation of this building, we stand ready to help.
By the end of September work on the building will commence. We will also change those flags that have been hanging there for God knows how long.
THE RAINS ARE HERE BEWARE OF FAKE WEATHER FORECASTERS
We are well and truly in the rainy season now and we know Sierra Leone gets a lot of rain. We thank God for that, but we warn people to be very careful with social media weather forecasters who have started running riots again. They are all over social media telling people what to do, where to go, even what to eat. And the trouble is all their forecasts bring up extreme weather conditions – flooding, flooding and flooding – thunder and this and that. They never forecast a bright and sunny day and they would typically reference their fake material to credible broadcasters like the BBC and CNN. When people talk about mischief-making on social media, we really can’t find a better example. This is how our fake forecasters do their job:
1. They look at the sky, notice its dark cloudy and conclude it will rain within a few hours. Then they will run to social media and throw in that garbage.
2. The other alarmists would pick it up and spread it into the million groups of which they are a member and ask the foolish question: “is this true?” You’re helping spread lies and alarm and pretending to be seeking verification.
3. When they are challenged they would fight back saying they were only seeking clarification. How do you seek clarification from a bunch of laymen about something as complex as forecasting the weather? In fact, if you suspect there is a meteorologist in the groups why not ask an open question rather than recycle garbage?
4. So the day goes by and their forecast turns out to be the spectacular lie it always was and nobody comes back to apologize for spreading fake news.
5. The world is really blessed with smart phones and cheap internet connectivity but the world is seriously blighted by people who spend all their time in the world using those same facilities to make life miserable for many. By the way, we have just looked outside as we write this and we can authoritatively say they have lied again.
JOHANSEN TURNS UP AT THE STADIUM BUT DID ANYBODY TAKE NOTICE?
On the day the queen left the High Court a free woman after an eight-month-long trial for corruption and abuse of office, her spokesman was on TV calling the on-going national league an ILLEGAL LEAGUE and making the point that his boss would now organize a PROPER one for the people of Sierra Leone. Well, he tried to pull back from that position once it became clear many people were not impressed with what the queen was planning to do.
So when the queen crept quietly into the stadium last weekend to watch East End Lions do the double over FC Kallon, many people who only found out she was around when the stadium announced it, were quite shocked that she could turn up to watch an ILLEGAL match in a league she described as improper. In fact what was she thinking?
We now conclude that either the spokesman was shooting at his own target when he made that statement about the league, or his boss called him back after feeling the heat of negative public reaction. Anyway, did the queen notice some of the things that happened that day apart from Lions beating FC Kallon? Here are some she may have missed:
1. When Mohamed Kallon entered the stadium, the whole place erupted in joy. Even one player from EE Lions went over to the FC Kallon bench and gave the guy a big hug. Not so for the queen.
2. Wouldn’t it have been a good idea for the Queen to have taken the kickoff? We know that was suggested but the idea was immediately shot down. Did the Queen know that?
3. Very few people went over to the Queen for a handshake. Why?
4. Did the Queen notice from the quality of the organization of the game and the match itself that football has moved on significantly since the last six months than at any time during her controversial and elongated mandate?
5. Did the queen get the obvious feeling that all people are waiting for now is an elective congress to close the chapter on her leadership of the SLFA?
© 2019 Politico Online
