NRA EXCEEDS TARGETS BUT SIERRA LEONEANS MISS ALL TARGETS
Recently, the NRA was all over the media celebrating that they had met the targets set for them by De Pa in terms of revenue generation for the tax year. We have nothing against the Lady Commissioner and her people but we absolutely believe that the tax system they are operating is totally unfair and on the wider question, it's not delivering what all tax systems promise. We don't necessarily blame them entirely.
The government and the NRA are busy taxing and taxing and overtaxing the same small group of people within a very narrow tax base just to meet those artificial targets. No Sierra Leonean should ever argue about paying taxes. It's our obligation to the state. But no Sierra Leonean should be too scared to raise the following issues.
1. Why is the tax base so narrow? The same group of people are paying all the taxes while many other groups that ought to be brought into the tax bracket are completely left out for some silly reasons. The NRA understands what we are saying.
2. The state of public services gives a lot of cause for the people to go to the government and ask what is happening with their TAX LEONES – many people, even in Freetown never mind in the provinces – are in total darkness, there is no water in their homes, transportation is a major headache. We hear Chinese buses are coming, but our roads can't cope with the demand and it is always a day's job to move from the east to the west of the city – if we could call it a CITY that is.
There are many more questions about public services in the area of human development that the people are asking. So we will continue paying taxes and asking these questions. The NRA must tell De Pa who sets the targets that the people are asking about the service end of the social contract. It's very important.
WHY IS COMAHS STILL IN LOCKDOWN? WE WANT ANSWERS PLEASE
It may not be a perfect situation at FBC and IPAM but at least their students have returned to class. But the third college in the University of Sierra Leone is still in lockdown mode. They may have given their bosses some justification but why haven't they communicated that to the rest of Sierra Leone. Do they think they owe us no explanation? We should let Dr. Samai and his colleagues know that they have to come out and talk to the people about the rationale behind the lockdown at COMAHS.
Look, we perfectly understand that the Ebola outbreak took a heavy toll on the staff on COMAHS, and we feel extremely sorry about that. But the nation has to move on. The government is now talking about post-Ebola recovery programmes and we believe that the health sector is the main focus, so where is COMAHS in all this? Vaccine trials and all that, we know, but when will the students return to class?
Now, we will hold back for another two weeks and allow COMAHS or University authorities to respond. We have a few perspectives we want to share with the rest of the world on the issue but good journalism is the journalism that is fair and timely. See you soon.
40 OUT OF 150 CANDIDATES? THE LAW SCHOOL IS NOT DOING WELL
Well, we are back with the Sierra Leone Law School. This time it's not about grades or of people being sworn in as lawyers today only for their wigs to be withdrawn after a month. There was this case of a lawyer who went to court one morning and returned home in the evening only to be greeted by his daughter who asked him how come people were saying he was no longer a lawyer. Daddy was embarrassed beyond belief. We hope we have passed that stage now.
The word we are getting now is that only 40 candidates will enter the Law School this year out of 150 who graduated from the university and applied. Again, no explanation!
On behalf of the people of Sierra Leone, the only ones WE serve, we humbly plead with the Law School to tell the nation how they selected those 40 candidates – was it by academic excellence or political connections, or an intoxicating mixture of both? We're getting some vibes about a few of those who made it through the Law School gate but we need urgent clarification. The only thing that will keep us off this matter is when those 40 candidates are satisfactorily accounted for in terms of their academic excellence. Otherwise, our own version of events will be shared with Sierra Leoneans.
And we hear that the fee at the Law School now is TEN MILLION Leones. May be SLAJ should set up the Sierra Leone School of Journalism Excellence and make it mandatory that to become a SLAJ member – or even a journalists – all must go through that institution and pay EIGHT MILLION LEONES. EIGHT MILLION LEONES from 600 SLAJ members is good money. We will admit 200 a year and hold classes at Bintumani Conference Center where Red Movement delegates recently confirmed the expulsion of Chief Sidikie through OPEN BALLOT.
We will move that motion at the next SLAJ congress in Kenema. HAHAHAH!
BOB MARLEY NIGHT IN STATE OF EMERGENCY...YEAH MAN!
This year's so-called Bob Marley Night passed off without much incident. Bob Marley Night two years ago was a night of total criminality at Saint John and areas around Brookfields. Young criminals attacked and robbed people on the streets and in their homes after a heavy dose of marijuana.
We have contacted colleagues in Jamaica who have told us there is nothing like Bob Marley Night out there – the observance of the day of his death by free-for-all marijuana-smoking. Our colleagues told us that Bob Marley remains a hero and many people study his words but they don't have this nonsense May 11 Bob Marley Night madness. So why are we crying more than the bereaved?
1. Young people are simply looking for every little opportunity to relax and enjoy some good time with a few pennies.
2. With marijuana cultivation taking over some rural parts of the Western Area the thing is very cheap and accessible to those who want to light up.
3. The police know the marijuana joints but they largely turn a blind eye. The agency that should set the policy and take actions to stop the marijuana culture in the peninsular areas is broke and woefully under-staffed. Let's be careful we don't set up with Columbia-style drug cartels even as SIM TURAY continues to cry for funds with no one listening.
4. Let's make Bob Marley Night one of our national holidays. Let's do it because many of our young people behave as if it is already. Wait until Pele dies. We will have Pele Day – football playing all day long.
5. Let's add a new module to degree courses in our institutions of higher learning – BOB MARLEY STUDIES. The campuses will become marijuana-free zones (aren't they already?) and the first graduates of that course would be in the vanguard to BRING BABYLON'S THRONE DOWN.
THE god OF MAN CITY, YAYAH TOURE'S BIRTHDAY WAS YESTERDAY. SO WHAT!
The Ivorian god of the English Premier League club Manchester City was very mad when the club failed to send him flowers on his birthday last year. He even served notice by a third party that he would leave the club at the end of season for their failure to appropriately observe his birthday. Stunning stuff eh?
This is what people get when they tie their destiny to just one man. We will not even argue about his date of birth like Jose Mourinho did with the Cameroonian international, Samuel Eto'o. But here's a man who is paid something like TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND POUNDS A WEEK crying about people not acknowledging his birthday.
In fact, from what we are seeing on the field now, Man City should move fast to sell the man. He is not the guy he was three years ago and the young guys coming into the game next season are not going to be intimidated by his mere presence. Happy Birthday bro.
© Politico 14/05/15
