WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT?
Looks like we will still be talking about the office of the Vice President in this country until we get Sam Sumana’s elected successor. It may well be a key issue in election 2018 - when the most important verdict will be delivered on the issue. The judges have done their bit and we respect that. But watch out for the people's verdict.
Anyway, 2018 is some distance away. Last week we heard about A Senior Vice President. We saw a statement from one of our normal official sources. There are proposals yet on that at the CRC but we thought we should attempt setting out criteria for who would end up in that BIG office. So here goes:
- Should be a Freetown-based lawyer with a name few people can pronounce correctly.
- Should be a person who must have undertaken a disastrous campaign for the presidency - a campaign that will forever be remembered for its greatest symbols - a T-shirt and TEN THOUSAND LEONES.
- Should be willing and prepared not to criticise the government even after he has been vilified and his supporters made to feel like second class citizens - as long as he is comfortable.
- Should be prepared to serve as midnight emissary to negotiate a way out after the controversial sacking of an ELECTED VICE PRESIDENT.
- Should be prepared to tell the party that brought him to political prominence that he was really never part of that organisation but that he only needed a path to power.
- Should be willing and ready to traverse the length and breadth of the country with a president to show statesmanship and prove that all our political parties in Sierra Leone are one and the same.
- Should seek the interest of the party that derided him not long before and retire from his own party which brought him to the political limelight.
More to follow
AS IT WAS WITH THE SAFE ABORTION BILL, SO SHALL IT BE WITH...
Our religious leaders have been all over the place in the last month or so campaigning - sometimes with vitriolic fervour - against the Safe Abortion Bill passed by parliament recently but ostensibly rejected by the president under the guise of sending it back to parliament for "more consultations". That's according to some people. We now face a real showdown between our MPs and our religious leaders. If the religious leaders win, we are right into saying that the MPs who passed it should resign their seats. That’s what happens in decent democracies. And even the woman who tabled it should sign her new job as Minister of State in our foreign ministry. And if parliament wins, may the religious leaders will boycott state functions or resign themselves.
We appreciate this sudden upsurge of love for the nation as professed by our religious leaders. Many Sierra Leoneans must be forgiven for thinking that their clerics had long abandoned them to wicked politicians over the last two decades because they had become too cosy with power. They were at all state functions making long speeches in praise of power - banquets, state opening of parliament, official functions at Miatta conference hall and so on. So we welcome this struggle against the Safe Abortion Bill. We may not agree with them but let them speak up.
But there are a few small matters we want to call their attention to in the interest of the good people of Mama Salone:
1. Corruption and the seeming selective prosecutions by the ACC. For example, the 50th anniversary case is sitting in limbo as teachers are tried and jailed for taking small money for report cards. The bus saga was to our mind swept under the carpet to save the skin of some bigwigs. The list is endless.
2. Police brutality - surely there is a small group of police officers who have no business being in the force. From the Kono diamond mine to the Tonkolili iron ore fields, to Wellington, Circular Road, Bo, etc… many have been shot dead by policemen who are still in the force. We need our religious leaders to speak out against their presence in our FORCE FOR GOOD and the apparent immunity they enjoy.
3. We know about a few cases now of people being thrown in jail for making comments deemed critical of politicians in particular. Intolerance is overtaking democratic behaviour in Sierra Leone. Are we truly in a democracy?
4. Unless some of our religious leaders have spent the last two decades praying on Mount Sanai or in Mecca, but in Sierra Leone we know that people are recruited to many top jobs not for their qualifications but for blood ties and friendship. That can be the topic for a two-hour sermon by our clerics.
5. There are too many beggars on our streets, life is hard for the majority of the people. Money and power are both in the hands of a few people. Why not address that with real power. We offer the pages of our newspaper for that.
6. Let our religious leaders also take a careful look at those they invite as Distinguished Grand Chief Patrons to church programmes. They make BIG DONATIONS but by Jove, they are the ones oppressing the people. These clerics will never question the sources of these monies. Jesus and Mohammad must be fuming with anger against some of these clerics who say they are following God’s words by crucifying the Safe Abortion Bill.
7. We urge some of our religious leaders to stop organising Fake DV Lottery weddings in their places of worship. The US embassy doesn't fall for that anymore. They have captured the trick. What's really happening to this country? Someone has just asked us to read about the Old Testament prophet Amos to see how even in those days, religious leaders stood up against injustice and corruption. And the Prophet Muhammad was a man who spoke out against injustice especially against the masses.
We will be back with our findings.
REBUILDING THE WALLS OF ALBERT ACADEMY BUT JUST A FEW POINTS
The job is going on slowly - perhaps too slowly - but at least somebody has decided to do something about the wall around Albert Academy. Still one of our best schools. It's located at the foot of the hill leading to Mount Olympus. Great job!
The academic fortunes of the school had deteriorated seriously as the walls fell off and the abandoned boarding facility became something like a squatter camp. The last time we visited late evening, we saw some street boys lurking with intent. We thought about arresting them for loitering but we doubted there was any practical thing in Sierra Leone called CITIZEN ARREST. So we have a few issues to raise about the wall. Let it be a WALL. Not a FENCE.
1. How come the wall builders allowed the situation to go so bad before doing anything about it? Was somebody trying to prove a point?
2. Why is the work progressing so slowly? Is there something we should know?
3. Is the wall an attempt to prevent encroachment, keep squatters and criminals at bay, cover the shame of the school compound or all of the above?
4. Can we see a prototype of the compound displayed on a billboard so we have an idea what it would look like when the job is completed?
5. How much does it cost anyway? Some of us are parents, you know. And how much of that cost comes from people like us whose children keep being asked to pay for such?
5. Can you also increase the height of the wall in the middle of Berry Street? Why have a wall, if the boys can scale it with ease daily - even when classes are supposed to be in session? And remember to make the wall along Berry Street very strong. Reckless drivers would come crashing through soon. Long live Albert Academy. Ese Quam…!
PADEMBA ROAD FILTH SPREADING TOWARDS CHRIST CHURCH
We have been ignored by those who matter in society on the question of raw sewage slithering down on one of our most important streets in Freetown. We have complained about that filth running from the drainage near the squatter camp right down towards Mends Street. Next time we call attention to this issue, we suspect that raw sewage will be threatening Christ Church.
How, in this day and age can we allow such rubbish to be flowing in such an important place. The whole PWD area at Pademba Road is unhygienic and chaotic - rotting abandoned cars, cookery sellers, an Ataya base, lottery ticket sellers and the normal idle young hands hanging around. Is anybody really concerned about that place and the health hazard posed?! There we have a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and disease. We will return to this place with pictures. We remain ceased of this matter. Not like the UN though. We mean it!
(C) Politico 10/02/16
