HUMAN SKULL AS FOOTBALL: JOHANSEN'S NEW YORK TIMES EXCLUSIVE
The last time we heard something so comprehensive from our embattled Lady President of the SLFA was when she gave an interview to The Guardian of London. That interview took place in the affluent London borough of Chelsea...that's good to note. The Queen of Salone football said early in her reign that she didn't need the local media to become great. She has kept that line throughout the last three years. Her latest outing is in the respected New York Times. Well done and long live the football queen.
But there are a few lines in that interview that caught our eyes. Let's say we believe New York Times ought to have scratched a bit more below the surface. Anyway, look at this, a reference to the RUF rebel war:
New York Times - "The war eventually caught up with her. She started sleeping under her bed to avoid getting struck by a stray bullet through her window. Once, she said she watched from her balcony as a group of rebel soldiers played soccer with a human head. She left the country and returned at the end of the war in 2002."
POLITICO - Frankly a lot of things happened during the war - a lot of nasty things. But we find it extremely difficult - almost impossible - to believe that human skull was actually used by any one - or a combination - of the fighting forces as a football. Even by AFRC/RUF levels of brutality, this looks like one of those Alice in Wonderland stories people told abroad to gain asylum, to the extent that if a journalist had given this account of themselves they would have been arrested under the criminal defamation provisions. Anyway…we have a few questions to ask as we go along:
1. Can Isha Johansen please tell us where in this city this grim football match took place and at which point of the war in Freetown? We need dates and place names.
2. How many fighters took part in this match? Was it a 6-aside match or a standard pitch? Or was it just a knock about kind of thing?
3. How long did this match last for? And from what she saw, at which stage in the decomposition process was this head while it was being tossed around?
4. Was the head that of a male or a female?
5. Could it be that from her balcony she saw what looked like a human head but was actually one of those Paul Kamara 'unpumpable and unbossable" balls?
We shall return to this in the next edition because we don't take kindly to people rewriting history to suit their convenience. We have applied for permission to be allowed to go visit Johansen's balcony to try and build a mental picture of what actually happened. We will return with other perspectives on this and other sections of the story. By the way we can confirm that this is definitely not one of those stories people tell to gain asylum in Europe. The Queen has no such problems. Ohhhhh sorry… We can assume that is part of her CV to run for the FIFA presidency in four years, as she says in the interview that she has such ambitions. Sheyyoooor!!! We go see day oh!! Pa rigged mandate!
EDSA BILLING SYSTEM IS LOOKING VERY FAULTY
We are receiving too many complaints about the billing system at EDSA, the new company supplying electricity to our homes - when and if they can. We don't want to create the impression as if we are expecting a perfect system. Things are just starting out and some problems are expected here and there. But we are getting fed up with a barrage of complaints about excessive billing and wrong calculations. EDSA is getting a bad name out of this.
There is a particular case they are looking into right now that is sounding some serious alarm bells as to how EDSA plans to do business. Already the tariff is high, electricity supply is being frequently interrupted and domestic electrical appliances are going down because of cruel voltage fluctuations. We don't want people complaining about wrong bills being sent to their homes.
We give EDSA another opportunity to correct all wrong bills and apologise to their customers. EDSA is owned by the people of Sierra Leone, not the other way round. And, IN FACT, we plan to investigate their tariff system as we understand from very reliable sources that Sierra Leone charges the most expensive electricity tariff in West Africa.
SALONE INVESTMENT CONFERENCE IN LONDON: WHY SO QUIET?
From the look of things the proposed Sierra Leone Investment Conference in London will happen on the 25 February with many people NOT knowing anything about it in Mama Salone. We've been waiting for the trade ministry or the local investment promotion body to open up and let the people know what is being done in their name in far away London.
Why the secrecy about such a programme? The people of Mama Salone need to know if only to wish our delegates well and to ensure the delegates’ list is not bloated as usual. So since SLIEPA and the trade ministry are not talking to us directly, can we ask the following questions in the hope that they would be forced to speak up at last?
1. What are they really looking to get from the London conference? We mean what kind of investment and in which sector?
2. Who are the people going to this place with our money. Local business people who are going there to get partners are not part of our question. What's the cost of our official delegation?
3. By the way, what IN REAL TERMS, did we get out of the last conference of this nature in 2010? If this is just another feel-good exercise, can we please take another look at the budget please.
4. In fact, can you guys please publish the full details of what will be happening in London? We want, the venue and a detailed programme of events. This is our business.
5. We doubt there's any media person in the delegation - we mean REAL JOURNALIST. We are used to being ignored. Anyway, we will be on the ground in London. See you! Oh noooooooo… Before we go, some (potential) investors have complained to us about corruption in the country, and how setting up a business is very herculean here as people stand in the way for their PALMS TO BE GREASED before the door to business is open. Hahahaha!
THE DAY OBREH COMMITTED SUICIDE ON WORLD SERVICE RADIO
The match-fixing scandal that Isha Johansen and her people have been talking about all this while appears to have claimed its first victim. While we believe she extended her probe beyond logical limits to accuse and bring down her political opponents, let's be honest guys like Obreh have a lot of explaining to do.
The Dutch say they have email evidence linking him to bookmakers. He went on BBC radio to deny all that. That's expected. Surely, Obreh is badly wounded now. In fact, is he still playing football? We may just wake up one morning and see some Interpol warrant out for him. The guys believe he has a lot more to say.
Left with us, it would have been good for his lawyer to have spoken on his behalf in that interview. How do you tell the world that there are other people using your email account on your behalf, therefore you are not liable for all contents. Ultimate responsibility for what comes out of your email absolutely rests with you.
Obreh simply committed verbal suicide. We warn him not to give any more interviews on this matter to the media or he hangs himself beyond reincarnation.
So we ask, who are those people who are likely to have tampered with his email if we decide to believe him?
1. Could they be members of his fan club back home? We mean those guys who receive some pennies from him.
2. Could it be his fellow players? Especially those banned by the FA? Those who let Salone concede crucial late goals all the time.
3. Maybe it's a Robot developed by Yahoo and Google and tasked with the responsibility of messing Obreh up.
4. Maybe Leone Stars fans who are fed up with losing matches to even the weakest teams in Africa, managed to hack his mails to throw that rubbish in.
5. Or we could say, we accept his version of the story because we are all Sierra Leoneans. OW FOR DO?
We make the point that Obreh should simply come clean, ask for forgiveness (for acknowledging that his email could have been breached) and take a plunge in the River Jordan for cleansing. We are hearing things about investigators having details of bank transfers and all that. Raj Perumal is a convicted idiot who has nothing to lose. He is very dangerous.
(C) Politico 17/02/16
