HOW MANY MORE JOURNALISTS ARE UP FOR ARREST?
A string of journalists have been in and out the cells of the CID since an announcement came from the De Pa's office through facebook last year that the government was going to get tough with journalists - prosecute and lock them up. There were denials from the AG's office and from some other ministries too when SLAJ inquired but events since then have proved that those re-assurances were totally unreliable. Like a domino, police have been raiding one media office after another, arresting one journalist after another and locking them up.
Journalists in particular are denied bail and kept in prison and when the outcry grows louder they are granted bail attached with unbelievable conditions. The last six months have been the worst time to be a journalist in Sierra Leone since the rebel war.
We must never continue to fool ourselves that we live in a clean democracy. All media development organisations abroad are alarmed about what is happening in Sierra Leone.
For De Pa's government to believe raiding media offices, locking up journalists and threatening others on mobile phone will destroy the critical press in particular is like the delusion of one hundred years of apartheid. No journalists wants to be arrested and locked up but if the trend continues, we shall soon start going around with personal effects in our bags in preparation to serve time at the CID or even the dreaded Pademba road prison. The only difference between Sierra Leone and The Gambia is that we will continue resisting while our colleagues in the sister country have accepted their fate. LONG LIVE THE SIERRA LEONE MEDIA.
NEW PAY FOR POLICE BUT THINGS ARE STILL VERY BAD
The Commonwealth man went to parliament last year and told the nation that our average police officer will as from the end of this month receive SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND LEONES. He was applauded and he relished the moment. He smiled for the camera. That was true Commonwealth smiles.
But let's just scratch the surface a little by asking a few questions: what was the exact salary of the average police officer before the Commonwealth man's so-called increase? We want to determine how much real money was added on. Does the Commonwealth man accept that his so-called new pay is the most ridiculous ever? How much does he pay his gardener or his office messenger?
Now we know why there's so much corruption in the police force. A police officer who stands on the streets conducting traffic in the burning sun or in the rain with no rain gears get just over ONE HUNDRED US dollars a month but we know how much people holding positions out of jobs-for-the-boys system take home. We will not even start talking about the living conditions of our officers. Let the Commonwealth man take a walk to Kingtom, Ross road or Grafton Barracks and see for himself.
Police officers are suffering in silence and all we do is to complain about the coping mechanisms they use on the streets to survive which we call corruption. Sorry guys. The day you get a man who thinks like a Sierra Leonean living in Sierra Leone in the Finance Ministry, you will get more money.
BABABODE UNLEASHES SO-CALLED SANITARY INSPECTORS
Some guys who described themselves as sanitary officers from Bababode's crumbling empire called Freetown City Council were last weekend seen going around the place "checking" sanitary facilities and threatening to arrest owners of badly-kept toilets and all that. Well on the face of it this should be a good move but the men we saw at work did not properly identify themselves and appeared to be talking down on people. They behaved like some Roman conquerors inspecting territory captured by their troops.
We believe Bababode should train them a bit and tell them to respect people. That's easy for him to achieve. But as a way of contributing to the sanitation drive of Bababode let's bring a few issues to his attention:
1. We don't want any stray dogs in this city. They are a menace and they are spreading disease. All stray dogs must be put down and pet dogs must be properly licensed. Fourah Bay College alone has up to one thousand such dogs.
2. Squatters on the streets of Freetown have no toilets, en den borku. They are pouring raw shit in the drainage system around the city. Bababode, your city stinks.
3. You will notice that we have clearly avoided the Abacha Street question. On this you have no choice. Freetown City Council should dismantle that illegal market and clear all the criminals who hang around the place. You keep changing you timelines but we will have no sympathy with the FCC after February.
3. How about those boys who block packing spaces to sell to motorists? They use rotten tires, sticks, scrap metals, everything. This happens under the noses of the police and council staff. Bababode should not allow us to conclude that we are on our own in this city. When De Pa talks about lawlessness, this is it. We will make more suggestions next week.
MASADA WORKERS IN ORANGE-COLOURED ONE-PIECE SUITS
MASADA, the company hired to clean Freetown has not done badly so far. Slowly and slowly, they appear to be gaining the upper hand in this struggle. But, we have to be honest with ourselves, cleaning Freetown is the worst job in the world because the attitude of the people to sanitation issues is very backward and we feel sorry for MASADA and their America-accented spokeswoman.
Can we ask just out of curiosity, why MASADA clothed their staff in Orange one-piece suits that remind us those prison suits in America. Is that where these ones came? Every time we pass by these MASADA workers on the streets we are tempted to think that prisoners from some American state penitentiary have been brought over here to do hard labour. And the fact that their boss has this sharp American accent, has not helped at all. Anyway, well done MASADA but please change this suits. Hahahhaha!
(C) Politico 16/01/14
