ANOTHER STATE HOUSE MEETING, ANOTHER MASS SACKING
We call on all people holding big political appointments to do the following before going into any meeting with De Pa at State House these days. And we warn them to take us seriously.
1. Clear all your personal belongings from your office. Also make sure you quickly take out any incriminating documents from files locked away in some dark corners and in the days and hours leading up to that meeting, be nice to the small guys you used to brush out of the way. In other words, stop in the corridors to say "good morning" for the first time. They will be surprised but that might help when the inevitable happens after the State House meeting.
2. Fall down on your knees and pray that you make history by coming out of that meeting without being sacked almost immediately. Or on the Friday following that. God, they say, moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. You may have abandoned Him for years during the period of plenty - lots of cash, overseas travels, lavish official retreats, complete with female escorts. But in those last moments, he might accept your prayers.
3. Visit your political godfather and you know what to take along. En sef geh for go Konani.
We are so sorry we didn't publish this before the guys at NASSIT had their day at State House. We understand they heard about their sacking from a radio announcement. That smells a bit like a throwback to the Arap Moi years - simply wrong! Not all who serve the state are thieves - even if the minks may be many. Anyway the NASSIT guys should have seen it coming, especially after De Pa refused to see them earlier in the week.
We're not sure this will change anybody's perception of NASSIT being badly-run. The evidence is everywhere. NASSIT is busy putting our monies into hotels while police officers who are paid le 200,000 have nowhere to lay their heads. They've built houses which only people who have "unexplained wealth" can afford; and they are all over the world on holidays and worthless conferences.
Can De Pa please tell us when the next meeting would be and who would be attending? But he has to learn to give reasons for his sackings - we know it is his prerogative but civility and accountable governance should oblige such.
HIDING FROM THE PEOPLE AGAIN: NO TAXIS ALLOWED NEAR PARLIAMENT
It started with State House being blocked off from the people by a man put in there by the people. Now this business of hiding from the people has spread to parliament. They've built a WALL around parliament, erected three checkpoints around the place and have now stopped taxis from plying the road between State Avenue and Model Junction. We don't get this!
The point is, nobody has told us why. Private vehicles, owned mostly by the elite are free to roam but taxis used by the masses are not allowed anywhere near the House. We feel some pity for the thousands of people who worship at Mammy Dumbuya's church.
If this is about keeping out Al-Qaeda or Al-Shabbab, how did our security officers convince themselves that terrorists always come in taxis?
What if an MP's car breaks down on his way to parliament and he hires a taxi? Well, we suppose he will simply erect a flag pole and hoist the national flag on the taxi and he will be waved through. As for ordinary people wishing to attend parliamentary proceedings, they have no option but to walk up the hill. And terrorists do not move by foot. We can hear them asking whether it's worth it at all, given the quality of the debate these days - so un-researched and shamelessly partisan.
We give notice on behalf of our people that MPs shouldn't be surprised when they come campaigning next time to find road blocks in our communities. Our patience has run out.
BERNIE "MONITORS" SHAM ELECTION IN ALGERIA:
WE MONITOR HER POLITICAL FALL IN UPPER BAMBARA
Bernie's Spin doctors went into overdrive last week with the "news" that she had been selected to be part of some African Union monitoring group observing the shambolic presidential election in Algeria where the wheelchair-bound 77-year-old incumbent was returned for the fourth term with a fraudulent 81%.
What was the point of monitoring an election whose result was known even before campaigning began? We believe the tradition of election monitoring and per diem conspired against the overwhelming desire of the Algerian people to throw out Bouteflika's military backed government.
So while Bernie was out there, we decided to travel to Upper Bambara on an extremely tight budget, in a vehicle that Sarah Bendu ought to have taken off the road five years ago. Our mission was to gauge her popularity in her constituency as she commands an internecine civil war in her own party, backed by heavy artillery from the elite Field Artillery Brigade of the Red Army.
We can say that Bernie is now on political life support which could be switched off by her constituents at any time. We found a few pockets of support for her war but those against her were simply overwhelming. We believe that without this artillery support, she would have been brought down one year ago. How she intends to win a political case in today's courtroom and sustain that victory beyond 2017, is simply not clear.
We were warned however, to expect the Green Movement to become a colossal collateral damage in her war of attrition as De Pa's time in office winds down. We are willing to give this last word from Upper Bambara some consideration.
EASILY-EXCITED JOSIE KAY CELEBRATES "UNEXPLAINED WEALTH" CONVICTION
Honestly, we understand why Josie and his people were so happy the other day when Justice Paul convicted and locked up Solomon Katta and his group. It's not always that the ACC leaves the courtroom smiling, they've been wounded many times. We are losing count of the defeats the ACC has suffered in the courts recently. So here was a rare moment to smile.
But, you know, we are still waiting for the Court of Appeal. The ACC has fallen before the Court of Appeal a couple of times recently. We hope they don't this time. It will end all hopes in the ACC's ability to fight corruption.
To demonstrate how excited he was Josie went to his keyboard and wrote an article expressing joy that Katta was convicted for "unexplained Wealth". He syndicated that article and we are glad to have read it in full. Thank you very much sir.
But we picked out this paragraph from the piece because we found it very interesting coming from Josie. Here goes:
JOSIE - "It is not unusual for public servants to lavishly display wealth for which they cannot give account of its sources. Take a drive to Hill Station, Regent, Goderich, Sussex, and other affluent areas area of the city of Freetown, where eye-catching evidence is in abundance as public servants build estates in lavish splendour far in excess of their earnings".
POLITICO - Well. we've also noticed this pornographic display of wealth all along the Peninsular and our mountain villages. We are prepared to drive along the peninsula in the same car with Josie so that we can count the new constructions going up and then check the income of those who own them. We will do the same at IMATT, through Regent, down to Grafton. But also in Makeni and its surroundings. That should be interesting.
But why has Josie not gone to court to get these people to explain how they got their monies? 90% of those constructions started after "unexplained wealth" became a crime in Sierra Leone. Why is this most powerful ACC boss crying in the pages of newspapers about "unexplained wealth"? Get on with the job man. We are paying you a fortune, bro.
TRAFFIC WAHALA - LIONS PLAYERS WALK THEIR WAY TO CRUCIAL GAME
Had EE Lions lost their last match against FC Johansen, the players would have blamed it all on the traffic wahala in Freetown. On their way to the game at the Football Academy, the players ran into the usual heavy traffic along Siaka Stevens Street. After waiting for about half an hour onboard their not-so-new bus, they decided to alight and walk.
We understand many of them walked the mile and a half journey to Kingtom Bridge and then jumped on to the back of Okadas to make it to the field. Welcome to the most efficient city in the world.
EE Lions won the match by a solitary goal but their fans left the field furious that their overall performance was terrible. They could have rioted.
Well the ABU BLACK idea is partly responsible but the fact that Lions have packed their team with expired old players is equally responsible. They have adopted the quick-fix formula adopted by Kono Diamond Stars two years ago. Where are they now?
(C) Politico 23/04/14
