TWO NEWS CONFERENCES IN SIX YEARS:
DEMOCRACY WHERE ART THOU?
If De Pa were Arsene Wenger and our cabinet were the Arsenal FC, then the Minister of Education is Abu Diaby. The guy is completely missing in action for long periods but he remains a key part of the manager's plans and he collects his big money monthly under the protection of an absentee chief in a chiefdom plagued by human rights violations including unbridled political intolerance and corruption. Our absentee chief demonstrates his "loyalty" to De Pa backed by his favourite mantra - "THIS IS OUR TIME".
Abu Diaby gives one news conference every five years. He doesn't believe the people are important enough for him to update them on what is happening to the country's education sector. On the two occasions that he has managed to address a news conference, he threatened, attacked and disgraced his own teachers in his unending search for ghosts on his payroll with the sit-tight leaders of the SLTU cooperating with the minister against the interest of those who pay their salaries. Some of those SLTU leaders have been in office since Valentine Strasser was president of Sierra Leone. In the same period we have had at least five SLAJ presidents, each serving for four years.
Not too long ago, we urged Abu Diaby to call off this search for ghosts in our school system. Here's the point: After six years in office, the government has had to hire another group of consultants to further verify what the minister had already verified at huge costs. Only those eating from the minister's table will refuse to tell him he has failed.
The information coming out of the SLTU who are now the Public Relations people for the minister is that payment has been suspended for more than four thousand teachers until the end of another round of verification.
This incompetence is breath-taking. But as long as that absentee chief is around with his "this is our time" idea, Abu Diaby will continue to be part of the team. Welcome to De Pa's Sierra Leone.
ANOTHER GOVERNMENT PRESS RELEASE, ANOTHER ATTACK ON CITIZENS
Once again the De Pa's government has collaborated with Bababode's Council to launch a grievous attack on one of our fundamental freedoms – the freedom of movement. And they are doing this just because they want to clean Freetown. We know that the city is swimming in filth but we are scandalised that De Pa's government believes that curfews and enforced methods of cleaning the city are the best ways to go about the job. In fact it is more abput a show than cleaning. If you are wondering, this is why it was postponed to this weekend because De Pa was out of town last week. You see, he is being deified because of sycophancy – when he is not around nothing happens.
The NPRC tried the nonsense of locking people inside while “cleaning” was on, on every last Saturday of the month. And despite the initial euphoria, the project collapsed and by the time the NPRC were forced out of power, Freetown was neck-deep in rubbish.
It didn't improve in ten years of Tejan Kabbah. It's amazing that with all that background, De Pa has decided to go down the same road.
Cleaning one's environment is something that should flow naturally. If the might of the state has to be invoked to get people to clean their backyards and let the clean ones be imprisoned for the dirty ones, then we have a problem that looks intractable. In the meantime we want to have our say on the recent government press release on the issue. We quote directly from the document.
GOSL - "Towards this end, the Presidential Task Force on Waste Management, Improved Road Safety and Decongestion (WID) has been working closely with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve its objectives, while also analyzing the problems and learn concrete lessons from its interventions and activities in pursuit of its goals..."
TWITTER - What's the point here? We don't understand this paragraph and we are bright people, you know. Hahaha. Those who wrote this press release either didn't understand what they themselves wanted to write or they did it to deliberately confuse the people. Let them please explain what this paragraph is supposed to mean.
GOSL - "The cleaning exercise will start at six o’clock in the morning and end at one o’clock in the afternoon, during which time no unauthorized movement of vehicles or individuals will be permitted. Special committees, comprising key stakeholders will coordinate the cleaning exercises in fifteen zones specifically established for the purpose."
TWITTER – We have a big problem with the government meddling so much into our lives. We have said before that cleaning one's backyard is not something the government must meddle so much into. Isn't this the same government that bungled the sanitation contract between MASADA and Freetown Waste Management Company? One ministry gave the cleaning contract to MASADA while the SPU at State House gave contrary signals. Now, see the fine mess in which we landed.
Restricting people's movement for cleaning purposes is wrong, wrong, wrong. What about WAEC exams due on the same day? English Language is a core subject and the government is definitely unable to give special passes to all candidates. Even if they were given such passes how do the poor ones – in the vast majority – get transported to exams centres when taxis are off the road. Even more bizarre is the likelihood that church services will be disrupted as the cleaning exercise spills over to Sunday. Does Defence Minister Pallo Conteh for example, need a curfew for him to be alerted to the forest of rubbish at the back of his ministry?
GOSL - "At the same time, the General Public, including Traders and Market Women, Motor Bike Riders, Youths, Community Leaders, Civil Society, the Road Transport Authority and Road Transport Corporation, the Police, Army and others are requested to make selfless efforts to ensure that the cleaning exercise becomes a resounding success."
POLITICO – This is an intoxicating coalition of lawless people and failed institutions assembled for the most confused project ever implemented by successive governments since the NPRC. We predict that the rubbish collected from street corners and people's homes would be packed on the streets after the cleaning and rain would wash it into our homes again. We are no clairvoyants. It's just that we have lived in Freetown for a long time and we know that as far as Sierra Leone is concerned, the more things change, the more they remain the same.
MINKAILU, THE APC EMFORCER + KINGHO COMPANY = TOTAL INJUSTICE
Minkailu Mansaray, the minister of mines is running around seizing mining plots from different companies and passing them on to a Chinese company called Kingho. His lack of business ethics and abiding belief in the infallibility of political power is leading Sierra Leone into serious trouble.
In fact, Minkailu Mansaray is completely out of his depth in that ministry and he is only concerned about amassing raw cash for God knows what. ehh 2018?
Minkailu has just stepped on the neck of a Sierra Leonean-owned company called Transcend International Resources. The company had legally acquired mining leases for plots in Tonkolili, employing three hundred Sierra Leoneans. Minkailu has cancelled those documents and passed the license on to Kingho company even before Transcend International Resources started realising something from their investment. What kind of guerilla tactic is this at the heart of our government?
The community people can't believe what is happening to them. They have said categorically that they want Transcend International Resources to continue working with them but great Minkailu, owner of every mineral in Sierra Leone thinks otherwise. We warn this government to be very careful because people are getting fed up with injustice and political arrogance as is being displayed now by Minkailu Mansaray. It is totally impossible to do this kind of thing and get away with it.
We have a record of Minkailu's social circumstances before the Red Movement came to power in 2007. Now he is a completely changed man. We warn him that we are prepared to resist injustice. He must know that wickedness will prevail but only for a little while and there may be nowhere to hide. We are all Sierra Leoneans.
SLP TO WIN ELECTION FOR AUSTRALIAN PREMIER
Australians go to the polls on Saturday. Ahead of the polls we are hearing nothing but respectful even if fiery debates between the incumbent Kevin Rudd and his challenger Tony Abbott. If that election was in De Pa’s land we would have heard this in the news which, just imagine is being read on ABC: “Police in Sydney have opened fire on supporters of the opposition leader Tony Abbott who is widely tipped to win. Incumbent Australian premier, Kevin Rudd has hailed the action of the police saying it is to ‘maintain law and order by the force for good’. He has also asked for the homes of the Labour party leadership to be searched on suspicion of ‘arms and ammunition’ being kept in there and the military to make some arrests on allegations of mutiny and even coup”. That way De Pa’s police will deliver the votes. When shall Munu learn and spare the conscience of his boys whom we know sometimes do this unwillingly?
POINTLESS LEONE STARS MATCH IN FREETOWN
The boy coach of our national team and Pope John Paul the minister, have missed a golden opportunity to tell us where our national team is headed. They have spent a fortune inviting third-rate footballers to play in a match that we are only playing to avoid FIFA sanctions.
No magic, including an Arabian mat, can land our national team in Brazil. We were hoping the coach and the minister would use this opportunity to try out some of our home-based players who are registered for this competition and ease the economic burden on the nation but the boys are here to enjoy our money for something we have no interest in.
Pope John Paul has really messed up football and there's nothing that suggests to us he is in charge of anything except CEMENTING his relationship with an SLFA president who emerged from the most crooked election ever conducted anywhere in the republic of Sierra Leone.and we heard with disgust part of the interview SELECTED FA President said on the BBC that she represented “change” hence was being feared. What dishonesty! Who would have been so stoutly and fraudulently imposed on the FA by the status quo if they represented “change”. Wonders will never end!
© Politico 05/09/13
