EBOLA MONEY WAHALA ROCKS YOUTH SECTOR: 300 MILLION LEONES, RIGHT?
One of the most distasteful things to happen in recent times was the story we heard on Radio Democracy on Monday morning. A real tug of war between the Ministry of Youth and the National Youth Commission over who gets to spend Le 300 million allocated for so-called "sensitisation" on Ebola . This was a real low, even by Sierra Leonean standards.
In this country, we are used to such struggles over resources between ministers and other government employees in the professional sector. The difficulty we have with this particular incident is that at the height of the war against Ebola, two institutions are fighting over who should launch a mortar bomb to bring down Ebola. Naturally, while this is happening, Ebola keeps advancing into new territory with devastating consequences. Ayyyyyyyyy bo!
Many internationals have left, but their diplomats are still here and they would have been absolutely gutted to hear such a thing. So while people from all over the world including our local business people and individuals are busy pouring money into this fight, we find ourselves in a situation where a minister is having a big media argument with his professional colleagues about who implements what project.
In the end, the man in the street doesn't really believe any of these people can do a good "sensitisation job" in our communities. Ask anybody on the streets, they would tell you, a good percentage of that cash would go into per-diem, hotel bills and fuel for all sorts of SUVs. We just plead with the warring parties to stop going on radio with such things. Do it in your offices and leave us in peace. May be we should just cancel the whole thing because many other organisations are busy doing the work on the ground right now.
SHOULD MINISTERS OBEY TRAFFIC RULES OR NOT?
We are definitely not the only people asking this question daily. In fact, we could have widened this question to take in the whole of keeping the rules in all places and at all times, not just on the roads. The other areas would be a little difficult to nail down because we are not policemen or lawyers but ministers' attitude to traffic is something we can easily track on the roads.
1. Minister of Energy I - last Friday, between 4 and 5pm at Lumley. We were all in total gridlock pushing slowly towards Regent Road Junction after the roundabout near the petrol station. The minister's vehicle simply engaged the other side of the road used by vehicles heading into town. He drove at top speed and went away. Police officers saw it all. Is the minister above the law? What emergency was that minister responding to?
2. Minister of Transport and Aviation - Monday 18th August at Hill Cot Junction. The vehicle was on the other side of the road meant for vehicles heading into Wilberforce from central Freetown. The rest of us were in a long queue. We are talking here about the minister of transport and aviation - it was definitely his vehicle, but was he inside at the time? Since it was morning rush hour, we have reason to believe he definitely was. We apologise if he wasn't but can he now immediately sack his driver if he was not!
There has always been this tendency for our politicians to act as if they are above the law. Some cover their vehicle registration plates. That is totally and completely wrong! We have seen politicians brought to order in other countries so why are we so afraid to speak out? Those police officers who should have arrested and prosecuted the drivers of those vehicles backed off because the vehicles had ministerial license plates. The same police officers would have thrown a taxi driver in a cell for the same offence. That's not the way democracies work.
AREN'T OTHER SERVICES AVAILABLE IN OUR HOSPITALS APART FROM EBOLA?
We want to call De Pa's attention to a very serious problem in what is left of our health care delivery service. When WHO said the system was dead even before Ebola came, many people accused the world body of exaggerating the situation. There are many other services that are simply non-existent these days in our hospitals because people say they are busy fighting Ebola.
In the last few days, we actually tasted the Accidents and Emergencies situation at some hospitals in Freetown. We are still analysing the results but we make bold to say that so far things are not looking encouraging. We appreciate all that is being done against Ebola but how can we explain the fact that a patient would turn up at two hospitals with high blood pressure only to find no medical personnel around to help.
Our attention is now firmly focused on the situation at the PCMH where many of our sisters go to have their babies. Our colleagues are busy gathering data on how the place is coping in the midst of Ebola. The survey is not about shaming anybody because we knew services would be overstretched, but to what extent? That's what we are investigating. The survey may even open the way for international help when victory is declared over Ebola. Soon, we hope.
This country has a very long way to go. The crisis we are witnessing now in the health sector is just about 50% of what has been underway in the education sector since the day Minkailu walked into that office with his unending teacher verification exercise. The difference is in the health sector, it's physical death. In the education sector, we are dying with illiteracy.
PLEASE LET'S WITHDRAW FROM THE NATIONS' CUP AND REST
This may not be the most "correct" thing to say but let's just pull out of this coming nations' cup tournament in Morocco and save this nation any further embarrassment. Tiny Seychelles, with no chance of beating us and wanting to make a big capital out of our national predicament to bolster their tourist industry stopped us from entering their country in a blaze of publicity. Now our neighbours in Ghana have told us not to go to their country to play football. This a real disgrace.
All our players are living outside Sierra Leone, our officials who are based in Sierra Leone spend half the time in the air going all over the world. All are Ebola-free but Ghana would have none of that. Mills told them never to get involved in other people's troubles - EAT YOUR HOUSE, he said, in one of the local languages. When he said that at the height of the political violence in Ivory Coast, he was criticised by some at home and many abroad. But Ghanaians may just have eaten their houses with our request to play our matches in Accra. Friend or no friend, Ebola is dangerous.
And please, why is the General Secretary of the SLFA giving us mixed signals? One minute, the Ghanaians have accepted, the other minute, they have rejected. Let's pull out. Besides, it doesn't really make any sense if you ask us. Here is a country begging for cash from all over the world to fight Ebola but at the same time ready to spend huge sums to take part in a CAF tournament from which we look sure to be eliminated. This artificial and corrupt FIFA-ranking thing has gone into our head.
Many people don't want to say this, but this is the only way out now. Sorry friends!
(C) Politico 19/08/14
