KILLER ROADS AND BRIDGES – WILL PETITO NOW RESIGN?
Petito's counterparts in true democracies would have resigned by now following the unnecessary loss of life at King Jimmy. But, the last we heard about the man is that he was continuing to build his coalition and support base in preparation for his bid to replace De Pa at State House. De Pa is less than a year into his final term and already people like Petito are torn between performing their job as minister and actively campaigning to lead the Red Movement and give themselves a chance to fight for the top job.
Yes De Pa has visited King Jimmy where a bridge collapsed on Thursday killing ordinary Sierra Leoneans who, out of poverty, built what they called home under a bridge. It's difficult to understand why nobody has taken responsibility, let alone been held to account, for the King Jimmy debacle. In the same way nobody took responsibility for the collapse of Mabang Bridge. There are warning signs all over the country about dangerous bridges and culverts. Home constructions are taking place in clearly dangerous locations with permission granted by Petito's office.
Look at the condition of 99% of the roads in Freetown. All this talk about turning Freetown into a works yard has come down to huge craters filled with dirty water all over Freetown. Petito and his government don't want to hear people talk about this but how can anybody accuse us, as they always do, of being alarmist? The evidence is there to see. The road leading to Petito's office is constantly strewn with debris and plagued by potholes. Shoddy job by contractors who were harassed for Commission by senior government officials. So tell us, how can they hold them to account for the substandard work?
We really can't take anymore this excuse that the roads will be done after the rains. The roads were destroyed during the dry season. Look at the mess created at Model Junction. The road leading to Fourah Bay College is dead, with Leicester road junction turning into a mining pit. Petito has failed.
If he doesn't resign soon, he should be sacked. We don't want the president to go to any shanty dwelling again to shed tears for ordinary Sierra Leoneans killed by Petito's negligence.
SLPP CONFERENCE IN BO – DESTRUCTION AT THE DOOR
The much talked-about SLPP convention will go ahead this week in the party's heartland of Bo, it is hoped. The sign that everyone can clearly see is that a dangerous divide has emerged between the two uneasy bedfellows, Osuofia and Oponjo Underground. Instead of harnessing their collective strength for the good of their party, they are putting up candidates here and there to undo each other. They've been like that since Osuofia became flag bearer of the Green Movement. There's no doubt that the media will end up picking up the pieces from the internecine war due to take place in Bo. Headline writers already have their first drafts. At least Twitter has.
The wider public have found themselves deprived of a cohesive, high quality opposition to the overwhelming force of Almighty 444. The Green Movement have more than 40 MPs in parliament but because they are badly led by the flip-flopping Bernadette Lahai, they have merely added their voices to the Red Movement as the nation continues its downward slide towards Siaka Stevens-style ONE PARTY RULE.
We have no reason to believe that the delegates will be strong enough to give the squabbling parties an unbelievable kicking. Many, like their counterparts in the last SLFA rubbish, have received cash and other incentives to CEMENT their allegiances. They go to such places to "represent their people" but they turn round and betray them without compunction. May be the best thing was to have another candidate in the chairmanship race after those political spent forces pulled out in favour of the Chief. That candidate would be best suited to emerge as party leader and rid Sierra Leone's main opposition of the influence of Osuofia or Oponjo Underground. Bickering while the nation’s bubble is bursting.
“FULLAH FOR FULLAH” AT ROGUE SLFA CONGRESS AND THE NEW MATHEMATICAL FORMULA
A series of interesting meetings are taking place between De Pa and a group of football stakeholders led by Bo-based football organiser, Rodney Michael. This is the group that was crookedly thrown out of the last race for SLFA executive positions. Pope John Paul calls them drug barons, gamblers, crooked football agents and criminals. Here's some little logic to ponder: Given what Pope John Paul says these men truly are and the fact that he said that whatever he was saying "is the voice of the government", how come our dear democratically-elected De Pa is being meek and gentle with these drug addicts, gamblers, big time crooks and all-round criminals?
You know…the series of meetings we referred to are being held under Chatham House rules but as you know we are always there to tweet our concerns. At the last meeting, it was clearly demonstrated that actual shameless criminals were recruited and made delegates only minutes before they were due to vote in an election boycotted by more than 90% of the legal delegates. Then one of the people "elected" in that crooked escapade stood up and said it all: "Let's not hide it sir, the delegates were all Fullah for Fullah". Not everybody in the room understood what he meant by that. They thought it was some red herring. Actually the expression Fullah for Fullah goes back to Siaka Stevens' days. We will spare you the details of prejudice and stereotype, but it means if you can't get the original then get something that bears some resemblance to it.
Let's put this to work now in SLFA terms: 35 of 47 delegates (Fullahs) who were supposed to vote on that day boycotted the poll after their main candidates were disqualified by a process that was clouded in controversy, under suspicions of bribery, corruption and naked hate. They were assembled at the home of Mohamed Kallon with enough to eat and drink. The so-called Normalisation Committee needed 27 such delegates to conduct something that looked like credible elections. So they deployed some of their supporters in the general area of Kingtom to look for other Fullahs. It took twenty minutes for them to get the full complement. We are told of a taxi driver who had gone to drop off an observer but was taken from his car and transformed into a Fullah with full accreditation papers to vote. On completion of the job he was given something resembling a bag of cement for his troubles.
This is the election that CAF and FIFA have endorsed. Those who take these two bodies seriously are likely to have taken Charles Taylor seriously when he once suggested in Bill Clinton's days that all presidents were the same – the president of America and the president of Liberia for example.
By the way the new mathematical formula as propounded by the crooked SLFA is this: 47 minus 35 = 27. Even a child born yesterday knows the common denominator in that is CHEATING and CROOKEDNESS.
EVEN THE BLIND ARE NOT SAFE FROM MUNU’S MEN
The public outcry against the excesses of our police is growing louder and louder. Those who should do something about that must act fast. We have heard even those who ought to know better describe journalists as alarmists each time they complain about police harassment and heavy-handedness. Last week we compiled a grim dossier of police killing civilians in circumstances we can only describe as unacceptable. The nauseating part of it all is that the police have only acted when a police officer has killed a colleague. Civilian lives mean nothing to Munu because he will always appear on TV to defend his people and his spokesman will describe their victims as "miscreants".
It looks as if they have managed to pacify the family of a former Sierra Leonean-born US soldier whom they killed at Lumley Beach recently. Munu believes that's the end of the story and he owes the nation no further explanation. The truth is he has to come out and tell us how they "settled" the matter. We deserve an explanation. The police are not our masters, they are our servants.
Munu's men turned their attention to a group of blind people the other day and from what we heard on radio, they really roughed them up as they attempted to see De Pa at State House "on appointment". We can only call on Munu to explain what really happened at the entrance to State House.
Did the blind people have guns? Did they attack the police? These are simple questions but they will help us understand what's going on in Munu's head. The lesson from all this is that we should never assume it will not be us the next time. A threat to civil liberties anywhere is a threat to civil liberties everywhere. Munu if you do not learn from Bambay’s demise, you never will learn. He was far more powerful in those dark days of Sierra Leone than you will ever be.
(C) Politico 13/08/13
