"UNOPPOSED" GALORE AT UDM CONVENTION, DEJA VU
We find it strange to realise that Orbangu and his UDM squad actually believe that somehow the people of this country are fooled by the elaborate soap opera they organised last weekend named CONVENTION. Why did Orbangu go to all that length when he knew it was always going to be a crudely stage-managed unopposed, unopposed and more unopposed? Ok, Orbangu can argue that he took his party through some kind of convention as prescribed by their party rules. But we ask again, what's the point when everybody knew where all this was leading to?
We have very deep reservations about political parties serving as vehicles through which people seek to achieve their political aspirations, particularly in Sierra Leone. Our parties totally and completely lack internal democracy and they encourage strongman rule which inevitably destroys them and the state. Here's the evidence:
a. PDP Sorbeh - Thaimu Bangura - He died with his party
b. UNPP - John Karefa Smart - He died with his party
c. NDA - Amadu Jalloh - Since he quit active politics, his party has virtually disintegrated.
d. RUFP - Foday Saybana Sankoh - Well, they had no chance from the outset but the people finally drove a nail into their political coffin in 2012. But the former rebel party are still pretending by being in total denial.
e. PMDC - Charles Francis Margai - The tangerine movement that started with so much promise is now a poor shadow of its former self. Even founding members are fleeing across the border, shouting that they felt happy to be doing so.
So where is Orbangu's movement headed? You can answer this question by taking very seriously the examples above. Meanwhile The Dalai Lama is digging in.
POLICE SPOKESMAN RIDES ON OKADA: WHAT'S HAPPENING TO SALONE?
They call themselves a Force for Good but we doubt they really are. We would understand if they told us they were aspiring to become a Force for Good. The gap between such a lofty claim and the reality on the ground is very wide. We invite them to challenge us for the details.
How can you be a Force for Good when your public face is more often than not identified sweating on the back of an Okada? This is not done!
Munu should visit the police Spokesman's office in neighbouring Liberia and see what Liberians call Police Media. In this country, we always pretend we are the poorest in the world yet the Big Men Eat and Live Big. Spokesman Samura's weak public profile is affecting the image of the SLP. He turns up at radio stations and newspaper houses on the back of the same Okadas his colleagues arrest for not being properly licensed. Does he have a choice?
We don't even know how important the Spokesman's office is in the SLP hierarchy or whether Munu actually believes in the work of the Spokesman. These factors may well have affected the budget of the spokesman's office and hence his public profile and ultimately that of the police force.
As Munu probably knows, we don't always agree with Samura's Public Relations tactics but we believe his office deserves respect. Is Munu telling us the police cannot afford an official car to move their spokesman around? Come on man, we can make some useful suggestions about how to fund that office if you formally ask for our help.
We will not even touch the recent promotions and the marginalisation of the current spokesman. That's for another day.
ATILLA AND THE SQUATTER CAMP SHAME AT PADEMBA ROAD
There is a very dangerous squatter camp along Pademba Road near the prison yard. The PWD compound that was gutted by fire many years ago and subsequently abandoned to dogs and reptiles, has now been taken over by people with disabilities. They have refused to leave despite calls for them to quit.
We have nothing against our less privileged brothers and sisters but we don't believe that place is good for any human being to live. We paid a secret visit there recently and we were scandalised to see the extent of human misery out there. This idea that people with disabilities must all converge in one place and invite the world to have pity on them is wrong. They have equal rights as those of us who by the special grace of God feel able.
It's on record that at the start of this year, the government issued orders for the occupants of that place to quit. At the last minute, the karaoke master of a minister told them to stay put because he had the blessing of De Pa. Even at that point, it was supposed to be a temporary stay of execution. Here we are half way through the year, the squatters are still there and the karaoke man is running all over the place shouting THIRD TERM, THIRD TERM.
De Pa's government must stop acting in this way. Ministers issue orders only for those orders to be rescinded at the 11th hour before execution? It has happened with street traders many times, it has also happened with illegal beach bars, now we have the debacle at the Pademba Road squatter camp. Government should be careful making decisions and issuing orders. Once those orders are issued, unless blocked by a court order, they should be carried out as swiftly as babies crying in churches.
Clear the squatter camp now. We will not accept any excuses about people failing to heed warnings if disaster strikes that place. You are now giving us the same excuses for the recent unnecessary deaths at Gray Bush. Whatever they take our intelligence for!
SHOOTING STARS SLAUGHTERED IN THEIR OWN ABATTOIR
The Ghanaians appear to have burst the Shooting Stars bubble. Shooting Stars were slaughtered by their illustrious Ghanaian neighbours inside their new and shiny abattoir located in the city of Bo. Shooting Stars squeezed past Ebola-ravaged Guinea and were so proud of themselves that they shouted "Bring on Ghana". Well the Ghanaians have come and gone and Shooting Stars have been left badly wounded and traumatised.
We are proud Sierra Leoneans and we feel badly let down by our football team yet again. We've been trying to find answers for the disgrace at the Bo town stadium. Here's what we found:
a. Many Sierra Leoneans still don't know the name of the team. We insist on calling them SHOOTING STARS even after Pope John Paul announced he was going to change their name to ERNEST BAI KOROMA ELEVEN. We absolutely hate this sycophantic hero worship.
b. The match was actually organised by the Ministry of Sport, while the so-called SLFA stood by in awe of the pope. We told Johansen almost a year ago that the pope would one day come for his pay for bringing her into office. That time is here.
c. Instead of getting things done properly, the pope was busy fighting with journalists over match accreditation. Idleness!
d. We are not sure the players received their allowances from the Guinea match. What they got was some small time premature party. May be the organisers should have waited after the encounter with Ghana over two legs before celebrating. But in Freetown where everything is tied to unreasonable political deadlines, we were not surprised.
e. The coaches performed under considerable pressure. The pope was constantly breathing down their neck. He has now announced that he will soon sack them. We have a long way to go as long as the pope continues to run sports in this country. See you in Accra.
(C) Politico 13/05/14
