Green Movement visits House of Commons, But why?
Green Movement people led by their chairman Somano Kapen are in London, attending political party conferences and addressing a Parliamentary Select Committee in the House of Commons. According to media reports, it was the Secretary General who spoke to the committee. We think that was a smart move because the Chief's accent and his verbosity enmeshed in his penchant for history and history lessons would have turned many of the MPs off. There brevity is the soul of wit. We are waiting for them to now publish the full text of Tejan-Sie's address to the Select Committee on international development so that we can have our say.
We expect them to have gained some good lessons in how to organise party conferences which they should put into practice next time they hold their own here because what we saw in Bo recently was well below standard – all the pre-conference backroom manipulation, campaign of calumny against candidates from the same party and the needless triumphalism that followed the election of the chief were very unnecessary for an internal electoral process. How would they have behaved if they had managed to dislodge De Pa in 2012? Is it any wonder why they are now at PPRC waiting for Tolla to deliver a predictable verdict that would further divide them?
By the way, we have good reason to believe that the case at the PPRC has taken another turn and the chief is a little uncomfortable.
Next, we want the same men to visit our own parliament to see who their own MPs are hanging out with and read the Hansards to get a feel of the very bad job Bernadette Lahai is doing to effectively turn Sierra Leone into a de-facto one party state.
Bernadette Lahai took office with a lot of promise. But the fact that all presidential nominees including people criticised in official inquiries for corruption and violence sailed through unchallenged speaks volume of her commitment to doing the work of a true opposition leader. Can she now just resign and take the government job offered to her not too long ago by De Pa? Or does she have a candidate to become principal of Eastern Polytechnic she wants De Pa to endorse? For how long must we betray our country for our survival!
SLBC Undergoing another Expert Study – Watin Lef Again?
We really don't know what is left to research about the SLBC after nearly half a dozen such studies have produced the same results, namely: that Gbanabom has no idea how to run state broadcasting, his deputy is completely out of his depth, the station is a huge debt, SLBC programmes are poorly produced, there are too many staff members around pretending to be doing something and morale plummeted three months after Ban Ki Moon left broadcasting house, and, above all, Gbanabom has turned the institution into a real His Master's Voice. The institution has failed and the people are absolutely disgusted.
The Public Sector Reform Unit, the organisation which recently threw the teacher verification process into a sea of chaos, has been asked to study and find out why SLBC failed. We don't know how much money is required for this job but we have good reason to believe we already have all the facts we need to end the shame at SLBC. And this other study is just another attempt to kick the SLBC problem further into the long grass.
We understand Gbanabom is not very happy and is not likely to cooperate fully with the PSRU. As citizens of this country, we assure the PSRU that despite our misgivings about the government's intentions at SLBC, we would make available all reports done on the SLBC to help them conclude their work very quickly. We would only do that if we received a formal request from the PSRU. Here are some of the documents in our possession:
1. The KPMG report of the Financial Situation of SLBC (Only the ACC knows why they have still not charged some very big fish using the findings of that report. Did you say SACRED COWS?
2. The Rod Mac-Johnson Report following that strike at SLBC
3. The Elizabeth Smith Report on the management of SLBC
The PSRU may want to ask how come a lady recently had cause to buy fuel for SLBC generators just to do a programme, and why the SLBC account at Commercial Bank has been in constant RED for the longest time like a faulty traffic light.
What's Really Happening Inside Pademba Road Jail?
Despite all the spin the Prison Service put on their shameful refusal to allow the Human Rights Commission access to the prison, the fact remains that the nation's premier human rights body was not allowed to visit Pademba Road jail, something that should be somewhat a matter of routine for them.
What is Sampha Bilo hiding behind those walls? He needn't fear anything. He is definitely one of the sacred elephants in De Pa's administration. We can count three jailbreaks since he replaced Moses Showers as director. Showers, certainly not a sacred cow, was thrown out of office for the same reason. Welcome to Sierra Leone.
The Human Rights Commission is a very decent organisation that has kept within its mandate and is widely respected at home and abroad. So we cannot believe that Sampha Bilo can be bold enough to behave like that to the HRC and get away with it as he seems to have.
The Prison Spokesman accused the HRC of doing nothing when a prison officer was killed recently or about their conditions of work in the Prison Service. This is the problem in this country – instead of directing his fire at the police and the judiciary for failing to bring to book the killers of their colleague, and the government for treating the Prison Service like a pariah organisation, he turns on the HRC. And this is not because the Prison Spokesman doesn't know what to do, it's because he is too scared that Sampha Bilo will deal with him if he named and shamed the government for the appalling conditions in the Prison Service.
Please, we call on Sampha Bilo to IMMEDIATELY open the gates of Pademba Road jail for the HRC to do their statutory job. We feel bad about the status of our prison warders and the detention facility but Sampha Bilo must know that brinksmanship, conniving with the authorities against your staff and noise-making, will not solve the problem.
Manipulated Text Messages + Greedy Politicians = A Manipulated Nation
The machinery which made it possible to manipulate interactive radio to the benefit of the Red Movement appears to have suffered some setback in that anti-democratic behaviour. But the bad habit has taken hold. Under that programme, well-selected Vuvuzelas were put in place throughout the country with a specific mandate to call radio stations during interactive programs to sing praises about De Pa's government. Huge amounts of money were paid for airtime and some stipend to keep the boys moving. How low can any institution go for the sake of propaganda!
We have two problems with this cruel manipulation of public opinion just for our leaders and their friends to continue controlling the people and their resources. One: It baffles us that almost all the radio stations have been unable to see through this manipulation and deal decisively with it in the interest of their listeners. The station managers have simply refused to think beyond opening up the telephone lines for the usual people to bla, bla, bla.
Two: We are very shocked that even in the 21st century we still have young people who are ready to put their talent and strength at the disposal of politicians in such an anti-democratic manner. They are only interested in the short-term bread on the table forgetting the consequences of the perception being created that De Pa was King Midas.
We know that not all text messages are manipulated. There are people who have made it a hobby to contribute to all radio programmes for the thrill of it, while others do so for the publicity they get into the bargain. The activities of all these people have continued to reduce the democratic space created by radio stations for citizen engagement with politics.
Now the boys are complaining that De Pa was ungrateful considering all the propaganda job they have done for. Indeed two of those Vuvuzelas have told us they are now going to turn their fire at De Pa's government because they have lost their income.
© Politico 16/10/13
