DE PA'S NEW EBOLA WAR MACHINE: WHERE'S THE HEALTH MINISTER?
To us at Politico, this action by De Pa didn't come as no surprise. We knew since the three-day lockdown ended that Gaojia's management of the EOC was being seriously questioned in private. We saw bits and pieces of information floating in papers that give indications of the government's thinking. Gaojia is only hanging in there now because De Pa doesn't want the noise that could follow his outright sacking. What's the job of an EOC coordinator when we have a super guy like that civilian-soldier as Chief Executive? And what about the Health Minister and his two deputies?
We will observe Gaojia at work during this week and come back to our valued readers on that. But please don't expect too much. He probably has reached that stage where he will simply hang in there and earn his salary. By the way, did he get the cash he asked for? Did he ask for too much? The guy said he had no regret negotiating so hard for his salary as EOC boss. Or is he just not up to the job? Citizens shouldn't be afraid to ask innocuous questions.
So the civilian-soldier has finally had his first day at work. How was it bro? Do you still have that military escort and siren? Please don't use ambulances as your sweep cars. We need all of them at the frontline of this war.
Sir, we respectfully suggest that you fully deploy our army to fight Ebola. Let them form the burial teams, contact tracers and so on. Their discipline could help. And they will never go on strike. But please give them very tough rules of engagement. They might come up against lawless youths blocking roads. Don't keep the soldiers hungry for too long.
We ask you to deploy our soldiers for two reasons:
1. Other countries have deployed their own soldiers to work here, so why can't we involve our own soldiers?
2. It looks as though the Somalia Peace-keeping thing is in some jeopardy. Give the boys something to do at home. We take no fees for helping this much. Not even a bag of rice.
ELECTORAL COMMISSION EBOLA CONTRIBUTIONS WAHALA - STAFF BARANTA
Why is the Electoral Commission asking its staff to pay TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND LEONES as contribution to a basket of cash they want to present to De Pa to help in the fight against Ebola? Is the Electoral Commission's job to collect Ebola money or to conduct elections?
Yes we know that many institutions have donated money to the effort but we haven't heard of organisations where the bosses and the most junior staff members are required to pay the same amount of money as their bosses. We don't have the figures but in the NEC case, a commissioner who earns FIFTEEN MILLION LEONES would pay the same as the driver who earns FIFTEEN TIMES LESS than that.
The whole nation is not talking about this, but why are government departments cutting money from their already tight budget to put money into the Ebola fight when the world is now so involved? We suspect the publicity that accompanies such cash presentations at State House and the instinct to be like the others is very strongly influencing this.
The Electoral Commission has a big budget that has never been seriously audited as far we know, so they shouldn't be afraid to splash the cash on Ebola.
We believe that it is up to the government to cut departmental budgets to fund the war against Ebola and not for the different departments to either spend from their budgets or unfairly and undemocratically tax their staff.
Can we quickly have some credible Sierra Leonean appointed to the NEC job, please? There is some overzealousness and posturing among those at NEC right now, who want to catch the eye of De Pa. We know how cynical people can be.
THE STORY OF SIERRA LEONE AND A BAD MASTER CALLED FIRE
We are terribly fed up with this business of fire breaking out at government departments with such amazing frequency. In the last month alone, we have witnessed a fire at the Law Court Building and the Ministry of Energy. We are not suggesting anything because once again, Kamanda Bongay and his Fire Brigade people are investigating. That's what they always tell us. They will investigate until another fire breaks out in another government department and they will announce another investigation.
We are still waiting for the report on the fire incident at Youyi Building and the SALPOST office on Siaka Steven Street. Even the CID investigation into the SALPOST has not been made public. We can't continue like. If a journalist turns up at the CID now to ask questions about those investigations, he will hit a brick wall. We will not be surprised to hear of another government department going up in flames.
In fact, let's put in place all practical measures to ensure that fire outbreaks can be easily dealt with everywhere in this country, but especially in government departments. We cannot afford to be losing documents and equipment in this way. Let the fire service have a say in every decision made about building permits. That's what is done in serious countries.
KEEPING FIT DURING EBOLA BUT SEAWEED ALL OVER THE BEACHES AGAIN
We've noticed an unusually high number of people jogging along Lumley Beach every weekend these days. That's not bad at all. Ebola has keep everybody at home - no weddings; parties; night clubs and all that. Things are really bad. So going to Lumley Beach to jog and pretend as if things are normal is not a bad idea. But we have some concerns:
1. Please if you want to go jogging, make sure you have a car. We don't want sweaty bodies mixing up with us in public transport.
2. Be careful as you approach the Golf Club area. Criminal are hanging around the place. And they are so brazen. They recently attacked a lady and stole her bag containing many items. Hahhahahaha. The thieves won't need some of the things in that bag. Instead of chasing down those criminals, the police are waiting for another US marine to shoot down.
3. There is also that smelly seaweed that has made our beaches home. We have an Environment Protection Agency somewhere in Freetown but we still don't have clear answers as to why seaweed keeps appearing on our beaches. All Sierra Leoneans like talking about our beautiful beaches but few are bold enough to stand up and complain about the destruction of that same gift from God.
4. Finally, let the authorities make sure there is always a 117 ambulance and a burial team at the beachside ever weekend. Who knows?
QUARANTINED IN YAOUNDE, ATTACKED IN FREETOWN
Our sports journalists who were quarantined in Yaoundé are back in Freetown with tales of being branded as Boko Haram fighters from Nigeria. What? Farjah Barrie and the others are Boko Haram fighters? This is really crazy. Can we please see the deportation papers prepared by the Cameroonian authorities. In fact, was our immigration service involved in this episode at any point? We need to see those papers.
We have given up hope that our foreign ministry would ask simple questions even after two government officials representing the Ministry of Sport were among those deported. The Kamalo APC office man is busy campaigning for some international job.
To make matters worse for the sport journalists, they have been severely attacked physically and verbally by dark forces operating on behalf of the FA. We shall see if we are living in a democracy where the Rule of Law is paramount. We understand Western Police Station is investigating the issue. We remain ceased of this matter. Long live media freedom.
(C) Politico 21/10/14
