20TH MAY, 2014, "SADDEST DAY FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION, SAYS FRANK KARGBO". WE ASK: "REALLY?"
What did Attorney General Frank Kargbo really mean when he described Tuesday 20th May as the "saddest day for the legal profession" in Sierra Leone in his reply to Ibrahim Tommy's attack on the government's failure to respect the human rights of 14 soldiers now being tried for alleged mutiny at a court martial in Freetown?
After listening to the minister's full interview, we were left very disappointed. We understand he went to work that morning feeling very satisfied with himself that he counter-attacked "effectively". Hahahahahaha. We've been laughing since a close friend of his told us that yesterday. Does he really believe he did a good job?
The AG threatened Tommy with contempt charges. He even suggested that Tommy could well have been on the PLAN B side of the alleged mutiny. Serious stuff eh? Should we all now shut up and allow things to go the way politicians want them? They are busy closing down the democratic space all over again. The man who set up MANIFESTO 99 as a human rights NGO is now totally unable to live with critical human rights NGOs. 15 years is a long time eh? Let's open our eyes, people.
We are busy walking our way through that interview but let's note the days we believe are the REALLY WORST (pardon our grammar) days in the life of the judiciary.
a. The day we paid Wanza huge sums of money by settling, out of court, a case we could have won even at the ECOWAS court. Wanza didn't even try to exhaust the local remedies available to him here as required.
b. The day the state dropped Robin Fallay's indictment on alleged electoral fraud, only for him to end up in the Red Movement, SINGING THY PRAISE O DE PA.
C. The day a court ruling handed over two rock-solid opposition constituencies to the Red Movement in the east of the country even though they got less than a quarter of the votes cast in a two-horse race.
d. The day all the power and might of the national prosecution service was brought to bear on the trial of journalists Jonathan Leigh and Bai Bai Sesay but not in the case of a minister accused of rape.
e. The day meaningless injunctions became the best way to delay justice.
f. The day it became possible for people to be locked up for eight months without them seeing a judge or magistrate.
g. The day the AG told student lawyers that they would be called to the Bar even when their grades were under a cloud but that their wigs would be removed if found guilty later. At last the judiciary has something to learn from WAEC.
H. The day the law court building became a market place with marijuana and poyo flowing freely behind the wall at the State House end and when raw sewer started leaking into the gutters near the court building.
KEMOH THE FIRE FIGHTER STRIKES AGAIN: BUT IS THE DAMAGE NOT ALREADY DONE?
So we are beginning to settle now into a familiar pattern regarding dispute resolution in the Sierra Leone Football Association, SLFA. It goes like this: The Madam starts an unnecessary confrontation and when she is about to be drowned in a mess she created, Kemoh Sesay, the fire fighter would step in and do a last minute rescue. This is a strange country.
Not too long ago she attacked Mohamed Kallon, well ... according to some she gave Kallon a nasty slap or two. The incident threw the whole football community into a real frenzy. She would be out of office today had Kemoh not intervened.
Now she has antagonised her strongest ally - pope John Paul, thus provoking another nasty confrontation. At the last minute of disgrace, Kemoh stepped forward again with another rescue package.
We are very critical of the way the pope does most things but on this, we stand with him. We hear that it was the madam herself who provided documents to the pope alleging match-fixing involving the same officials she is now using against the pope. Let the pope clean the Augean stables that is the SLFA.
We want Kemoh to do his public service responsibilities in other needy areas of this country. Sitting at Youyi Building waiting to solve the latest skirmishes sparked by the Madam is not enough for a whole minister, sir. We are not rocking the boat now because we don't want to distract the team from what looks like Mission Impossible in Accra. See you next week, Madam
MUNU PULLS "INCH" ON RADIO BUT WHERE IS FREE SPEECH
When we come to write the history of the Sierra Leone Police, the period under Francis Munu will make interesting read. O yes indeed! The man has been so inconsistent that we really can't now understand where he stands between serving the people and doing anything possible to satisfy De Pa and so keep his job.
But you know, sometimes we feel sorry for Munu because the man just before him was also a very pathetic character. Acha Kamara it was, who, after heavy looting at the opposition SLPP office, went on BBC to tell the whole world that it was a case of "OPERATION PAY YOURSELF". In other words SLPP people stole their own property. That was the depth to which policing had sunk. So why should the SLP arrest anybody attempting suicide then? When the man was eventually sacked he quickly organised his tribal grouping to keep De Pa's attention on himself. Now he is our ambassador in Liberia.
So this is the guy Munu worked closely with. Here's Munu's own approach, anything done to promote the image of the government is fine. When other Sierra Leoneans do things against De Pa, Munu arrests them for INCITEMENT, RIOTOUS CONDUCT AND BLA BLA BLA.
At the same time, the government is busy telling the world that "AFTER U NA U" is an integral part of free speech but the flip side of that - AFTER GBAGBO NA U - is incitement. Are we really a democracy? We have to be serious in this country.
We ask because Munu has now told the country that anyone wearing a T-shirt with writings in opposition to "After U na U" will be arrested. We know where "After U na U" T-shirts are being printed daily and who is paying for them. We will cooperate with the police to make sure poor Solomon Cooper's counterparts in Freetown are also locked up. Pulling "inch" will not solve the problem. Let's have impartial policing as prescribed in TRUE DEMOCRACIES. That's all.
TROUBLE BREWING AT INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Looks like this AFTER U NA U bug is spreading really fast, almost like Ebola. How come they are having a problem replacing the Board of Governors at International School of all places? The full details of what has been taking place at the school have just landed on our desk. Trust Politico! But we are approaching the story with a lot of caution for the following reasons:
1. International School has been a very well-behaved institution over many years. It has produced some of the best children who have gone on to serve this country in many capacities. They do not deserve what is about to happen.
2. The details are damaging and publishing them now could seriously shake confidence in the school, causing parents to move their children away from the place. We don't want that.
3. This Centre of Excellence deserves an opportunity to pull back from the brink and continue its forward march. We are offering that over the next one week.
We warn however that we will not hold back for too long, especially if it becomes clear that those now creating all the tension were not ready to stand back and allow good sense to prevail.
(C) Politico 22/05/14
