CONFRONTING VIOLENCE IN RED MOVENEMT HEARTLAND
Spin or no spin, the pictures that came out of the northern town of Lunsar throughout last week paint a very bad picture of our so-called democracy. The area has been very peaceful even after all those job losses following the collapse of London Mining Company but the moment a bye-election was declared, the people of the town have turned on each other.
The first pictures that came out of the town show human excreta splashed across the main entrance to the offices of the Alliance Democratic Party of Mohamed Kamarainba. Next set of pictures showed a trail of destruction of property belonging to the ADP leader – his car smashed and his driver wounded. We don’t yet have the full picture of what happened in Lunsar, but here’s what we must say for the umpteenth time.
1. There is nobody in this country who understands a little bit of politics that doesn’t have a good idea who splashed that rubbish at the entrance of the ADP office. It’s a favourite tactic of a particular set of political operatives to intimidate people. It remains a key weapon in the political arsenal.
2. When perfectly normal people go into some pit toilet and dig out mounds of rubbish to splash on their opponent’s doors just to make a political point, the only thing people like us can say is: “ONLY IN SIERRA LEONE.”
3. This rubbish is the work of the young people of Sierra Leone. They are so shameless. These are the same people who always cry about being used and dumped by politicians between elections. As soon as they receive a few cents, they go mad and do such incredible things. Shame!
4. As for the smashing of Kamarainba’s vehicle and the wounding of his driver, that’s up to the police. Let Munu now prove that he runs a truly national and impartial police force. It’s difficult to say but we still consider this country a democracy.
5. We know that the spectacle of a THREE MONTH old political party taking half the votes from an old Red Movement man in the Seat of Power of all places actually shocked many people. But to act in this way, fearing an even better performance by the small party is wrong. Totally wrong! But, is Kamarainba the only man in the ADP. Is he telling us he would be a candidate in the Kailahun bye-election also? Hello bra Spider!
THE RAINS ARE HERE AGAIN: IS THE STADIUM READY?
The people of Sierra Leone will soon come to terms with the reality of what actually happened last year when flooding in Freetown shattered homes and lives. In September last year, thousands made their way to the National Stadium seeking sanctuary from flood waters. We saw politicians and NGOs trooping down there with TV cameras in the background to make this point: WE CARE. HOW CAN WE HELP?
At the time, De Pa set up a military style camp management structure that was to re-settle the affected people in dignity and do something about places like Kroo Bay. Almost a year later, where do we stand?
1. We are at the same place. The only movement to report is that a few people managed to land and some PAN BODY structure just outside Freetown. We doubt very much whether those who actually deserved such help were the ones who got the homes.
2. Kroo Bay and such other places are actually more occupied today than before the floods of last year.
3. We pray it doesn’t happen, but all forecasts we have seen so far, suggest that we are in for a really wet rainy season with the risks associated with that. We predict the same pictures would be splashed across our TV screens again and politicians would make the same promises that they have no intention to make good on.
4. There are some people in Kroo Bay and other slum settlements who understand that they are being used as political football but the vast majority are blinded by partisan loyalties and would gladly spread their clothes on the floor for politicians to tread on again and again.
5. And once again, the media would allow itself to be pulled along by the political agendas of the men of power. No sense of their own obligations to the people and country.
CHEAP ALCOHOL DESTROYING THE YOUNG PEOPLE OF SALONE
Here is another issue we have been calling attention to for a long time. In fact we are not alone in the call for the government to do something about all the cheap alcohol being produced and sold in this country. We are complaining about the quality of the alcohol and the marketing strategy of the producers.
We are supposed to have a standards bureau in this country to make sure our people are not being killed with alcohol. We have a ministry of health with a mandate to keep us healthy. Where is the ministry of trade? The Standards Bureau is broke and weak. We want to be challenged on that. And the two ministries mentioned here are simply out of their depth dealing with this matter. It’s been going on for the longest time.
1. The heavy alcohol is sold in small sachets for small money that even school children can afford daily. Don’t the government know why that is so?
2. Look at the brand names given to the sachets. There’s one called OFFICER. Check out our police officers at checkpoints, traffic control junctions and on late duty in police stations. Just look around the area near highway checkpoints and prove us wrong.
3. Football violence in mini leagues around Freetown is largely fuelled by cheap alcohol. Nobody can convince us otherwise. It is sold openly, at all times including Sundays - trading ban or no trading ban.
4. We have no idea what the company producing the cheap alcohol is doing to clean up some of its own mess. The ordinary Sierra Leonean tax payer is made to pick up the bills taking care of alcohol addicts while they repatriate their profit abroad. This is Salone.
5. We are absolutely sure that many of the complications now being treated in our hospitals, especially among low class people, are caused by alcohol addiction. Let the health ministry investigate this claim. Our health comes first.
LET’S DISBAND FAILED SLFA 7-MAN COMMITTEE RIGHT NOW
With the euphoria of beating Sudan here at home now dead, attention has swung back to the efforts aimed at putting domestic football back on the rails. It was completely derailed following the controversial coming to power of Johansen, Queen of Football.
Inevitably, our eyes have been on the 7-man committee that was given a very simple task: Travel throughout Sierra Leone, talk to football administrators and produce a verified list of those 47 people, who make up the body of delegates for the next SLFA Congress due any time now. Very simple indeed! Even a small class FIVE pupil can do that.
After spending big money going all over the place, the committee has returned to Freetown almost empty handed – meaning only half the delegates have been verified. Now, we hear they want more money for another round of movements. Are we that stupid to be pouring money into what is looking like a failed exercise?
In fact here the thing with this 7-man committee:
1. We don’t even believe in such ad-hoc committees. Let the institutional arrangements be allowed to work. But when people allow institutions to fail, this is what we get – ad-hoc committees that are clueless and failure-prone.
2. We don’t believe some in that committee have any interest in the assignment. They just care about the cash and the status.
3. This committee has thrown us into more chaos than when they first started work.
4. This committee has lost the support of those who created it and must be disbanded.
This committee has lost the confidence of the people who pay the taxes from which they received cash. Let the go now!
(C) Politico 21/06/16
