RIBAR HOTEL ENDS UP WITH THE PEOPLE: ANY MORE RIBARS?
If the government considers the recommendation of the Commissioner of the ACC, we could soon have a new maternity hospital in Koidu town in Kono district. That’s a good suggestion and we applaud it. Some people are complaining about the ACC raiding and taking over certain buildings particularly in Freetown in the course of their investigations, but when we look at the situation of Ribar hotel we tend to be a little patient in reaching a conclusion. We don’t support any action not sanctioned by law even from the ACC.
The point though is that any property now under investigation can end up like Ribar hotel – meaning nobody turns up to claim it or the people claiming ownership now are not able to prove to the ACC that those structures are not the proceeds of crime which should be confiscated and returned to the good people of Sierra Leone. There is an crime called unexplained wealth. The ACC law, like any other law in this country, should be respected. The good people of this country are already putting papers together to help the government decide what to do with some of the buildings that would end up with the state:
1. They will become homes for our people living with disability who are packed in that squalor along Pademba Road near the prison.
2. We will create drop-in centers for destitute people to pass by at least once a day for hot meal.
3. Some of those houses will be used as police stations for the communities in which they were constructed. We want to do proper community policing.
4. We can sell them and put the cash in the government coffers.
5. Or we knock them down and build something else for the people. In fact some of the land was illegally acquired.
FLOODED FREETOWN REELS AS MORE RAIN FORECAST
More rain is forecast for Sierra Leone even as the city of Freetown struggles to emerge from floods that left seven people dead, according to reports. Our hearts go out to those who lost relatives and friends in the disaster but clearly we should be ready for more heavy rains and we are not sure how the emergency services would perform again, not just in Freetown but all over the country.
It is not as if the flood was a surprise to anybody. Perhaps the only surprise is that it came a little early this year. The last two floods took place in the month of September, except for the one that was caused by the devastating mudslide of 2017. What is also not a surprise is that the authorities know which actions to take to make their so-called flood mitigation actions meaningful. From our own little corner, this is what we think:
1. The drainage system is simply not able to cope with the volume of water flowing down from the hills above Freetown.
2. People are still cutting down trees indiscriminately and building houses on top of the same hills.
3. What is really the problem with enforcing planning regulations to stop illegal construction or people going outside their licenses to add more and more structures to the ones approved, just to make cash?
4. Fight corruption in the process of allocating land from the side of the Ministry of Lands. The ACC can do a system review in that ministry to help clean up the process.
5. Establish and enforce the green belt that politicians always talk about over Freetown. Is that too difficult to do?
FIFA-SUPPORTED ILLEGALITY CONTINUES UNCHECKED AT S.L.F.A.
The Queen of Sierra Leone football has entered the third year as president of the SLFA long after her four-year mandate expired. We have seen her put in motion all the tricks in the books, with the active support of FIFA, just to remain in office. Whether there was a court case or not is our business. The Queen does not want to face her own members in an elective congress because she will be defeated as easily as eating ripe banana. That’s as clear as daylight.
In fact she is very much afraid of calling congress to avoid answering uncomfortable questions about how she has been running the SLFA. We have never seen something like this. So while the gods of football in FIFA are taking the moral high ground and telling CAF what to do in their own backyard, here is their own protected woman refusing to submit to her own members.
The nation has reached breaking point now on the SLFA affair and the government which put so much money in football recently will not reap the benefits of that investment. In fact Principal will come under attack from the young people who believe something more concrete should be done NOW. Enough is enough. We say so because:
1. There is NO ROAD MAP that we all know and support. We are talking about the road map that will end with the election of a new SLFA executive.
2. Workers of the SLFA have not been paid for THREE months. What is happening now at the SLFA is very serious and should be checked.
3. The national league that we just enjoyed is under threat. The Queen is against the Premier League Board that did this fantastic job and she will do everything to kick them out.
4. The young people who are looking to make a career in football are once again very scared about their future in Sierra Leone. Watch out to see them going away to Guinea and Liberia.
5. When the whole SLFA crumbles this government will suffer the political backlash. The people will no longer listen to talk about this being an inherited problem.
BO GEARS UP FOR DEMONSTRATION AGAINST BLACKOUT
The people of Bo are completely fed up with blackout in the second city. They’ve been hearing promise after promise from one politician after the other about the coming 24-hour electricity supply for the politically sensitive district, but blackout has continued to reign. So we hear that a big demonstration is planned and the organizers have asked the police for the necessary clearance. The organizers say it will be peaceful and the message will get through. Long live sweet Bo.
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