GREEN MOVEMENT VIOLENCE BEGINS IN THE EAST
The combat headquarters of the Green Movement has been moved to the east of the country. In the week when they 'quietly' turned the sod for the construction of their party office, partisans put on their boxing gloves and attacked each other in the most disgraceful of fashion. It seems now that every little disagreement in that movement ends in a fight.
Come on guys, you say you are the people's opposition party, what are you really up to? Disagreement and even fights are not uncommon in such places but you guys are really getting on the people's nerves now with your frequent fights. Instead of holding the government to account, you are busy wounding each other.
The people of Sierra Leone are not stupid. They are not going to elect a bunch of politicians who can't agree with each other even in their collective interests. After close to ten years in opposition, the Green Movement people are telling the people of Sierra Leone once again that they are not prepared for office. Don't worry, the people get the message guys.
The whole movement is splintering into factions like Somalia or Afghanistan under the rule of War Lords. No wonder we are getting news that even Kamarainba who was expelled from his party and is not even sure if his so-called movement is a political party, is announcing the capture of 500 of your members. At that rate, there will be nobody left in the Green Movement by election 2017. Sorry, the War Lords will remain. All they care about is being called the boss, whether they have people to govern or not.
PRESS CONFERENCE WITH AGBA KHOLIFA: ONLY FIVE QUESTIONS PLEASE
We have just been informed that Agba Kholifa will finally address the media about his encounter with traffic warden Musa Kamara. The alert came to us through a third party claiming to be Agba Kholifa's spin doctor. Well, we've been waiting for this opportunity.
We believe a grave injustice was done to the poor traffic warden who was locked away at Pademba road jail following a complaint by Agba Kholifa. Agba never came to court to press his case. The magistrate was left with no alternative but to throw the case out of court. Agba thought the matter was dead at that point. No way bro, the SLRSA has since called the media to issue some demands. This matter is very much alive.
The third party contact says Agba Kholifa will not be making any opening statement as is usual in such news conferences and will only take five questions. Well this is the Mother of All Press Conferences. These are our questions for Abga.
1. Why did you drive a vehicle with an expired insurance cover? As a former policeman, now a lawyer and somebody who spent years in the first world, what do you think should happen to people who are caught doing that? (This is a loaded question, we know. We just want to ask all our questions now because we are not sure when the next opportunity to talk to you will be available).
2. If you were the boss of traffic wardens and Musa Kamara turned up with a taxi driver who commits the same offence, how would you have reacted? Please forget about your reading of Orwell's Animal Farm.
3. Why were you not in court to press the charges arising from the complaint you made to the police against Traffic Warden Musa Kamara?
4. The SLRSA is asking you to apologise and pay compensation to Musa Kamara, how about that? Musa will be unfettered to pass that letter on to the media so we can run with it.
5.We reckon the money will be in ten figures. Next week we shall do a spread sheet of what Musa intends to ask for. Will you pay? Please don't say you don't have the cash.
Anyway, this was all a dream. Agba Kholifa is refusing to call a news conference. We will keep pushing. Public officials should be accountable.
DISGRACEFUL REFEREEING AT AFCON: INCOMPETENCE OR MONEY WAHALA?
It is time for CAF to now explain why it was so lenient with that referee from Mauritius who was in charge of the match between Tunisia and host nation Equatorial Guinea. CAF must explain why they banned the man for only six months for his disgraceful handling of that quarter final which ended in a free-for-all punch-up.
We are still trying to find out why the referee called a penalty instead of booking the cheating attacker for diving. And look at what CAF has done, they fined Tunisia, the country that was cheated fifty thousand US dollars and the host country a paltry five thousand US dollars when their fans were clearly seen misbehaving.
We hold no brief for the Tunisians. We think some of their players who are true professionals went completely over the top with their protests but they were provoked. Yes they were.
We are now likely to have Equatorial Guinea in the final. That's what CAF wants. That tiny country has a lot of oil money flowing around, so they are not afraid to use some of it to buy success. This is what we think is happening right now:
1. The referee should be home now in Mauritius - a disgraced man but with a fat bank account. Job done, cash received. He can even stop refereeing local matches and concentrate on his day job.
2. Ghana is on the edge of being eliminated. They are a brilliant team but they are up against the host who want to keep the trophy. God Bless the Homeland, but we are very sorry. Unless the Ghanaians totally outclass their host and score three goals in the first half, they should be ready to leave that country.
3. The thing is, CAF can't afford not to the have the host in the semi-final at least. They don't want empty stadiums. That's the trick.
4. If Equatorial Guinea gets to the final, they will win the trophy. We are not clairvoyants but we have been around football on this continent for long to know how the game is played.
© Politico 05/02/15
