PREGNANT SCHOOL GIRLS THROWN OUT OF EXAMS: THE PROBLEM IS BIGGER
In the end the Ministry of Education's position on this issue prevailed. Pregnant girls have not been allowed to enter any examination halls in the country for any of the on-going public exams. But, we have also heard from people with different opinions and accents on the matter - please, we are not talking about the Ambush Commanders, Koroma APCs and Mbompas of this world who would never disagree with anything this government does. Is such a situation real or is it manufactured on the altar of something? No, those are not the kinds of views we are referring to.
Many people say because schools were closed down and their children were home all the time, an argument can be made as to why they became pregnant. We are not here to criticise anybody's position. All we can say is that we have heard you loud and clear. Let's put a few things on record to enrich the discussion.
1. About three years before Ebola attacked, this country was facing a serious teenage pregnancy problem. Don't we remember the girl mothers of Pujehun and Koinadugu? Why are we now pretending that this thing only happened as a consequence of Ebola?
2. Let's also consider the fact that at the height of the Ebola wahala, private clinics and even some peripheral health units were forced to close down either by government directive or out of fear of medical staff catching Ebola while treating patients. So there was nobody to help these teens abort their pregnancies. Do we also want to deny the growing rate of abortions - legal or illegal in Sierra Leone?
3. When parents abdicate their responsibilities, believing that the government and NGOs must serve as parents, this is what we get. And the idea that somehow an examination center for all pregnant teens ought to have been set up was, is ludicrous. They would have collapse with stigma. By the time twenty journalists and some idle people besiege that center to see these special candidates at work, the whole thing would descend into a face. It's all about PARENTING, PARENTING AND PARENTING AND SOCIETY, SOCIETY AND SOCIETY.
LARGE SCALE XENOPHOBIC VIOLENCE: HOW TO STOP IT DOWN SOUTH
We understand Jacob Zuma has finally deployed South African Defence Forces into communities in Durban that are racked by a wave of xenophobic violence against African immigrants in that country. So the police have reached the end of their strength and intelligence? We believe that many South Africans have been truly shamed by the actions of those criminals on the streets and politicians in offices who blame their woes on particularly African migrant communities in South Africa.
Here's what we think the government and people of that great country can do to stop some of their politicians and criminals making a scapegoat of people fleeing persecution and death in their own countries. Or even those trying to find food to feed their families in a foreign country.
1. Let them start with a complete re-write of their history. Yes, their liberation fighters who were on the ground did the job of sabotaging the Apartheid regime to make them uncomfortable at home. Those activists spent long hard years in jail but support came from across Africa.
2. This history book must adequately capture the sacrifices made by the so-called Frontline States and the rest of Africa to bring them to where they are today. Even little Sierra Leone played its part. Thousands of them were in our schools and colleges preparing for their return. Their leaders used our passports to travel all over the world to mobilise support against the Apartheid regime.
3. Let them also fairly implement the so-called Black Empowerment programme. Every black South African should benefit. Creating a few super-rich black guys and holding up as examples of the new South African is deceptive.
4. The government should stop behaving to the rest of the continent like some Western countries do - they only come down to exploit mineral wealth. Let them interact with the rest of Africa a bit more.
5. Finally for now, all those who killed and displaced our people down there, should be made to feel the weight of the law. This is not a joke. They have African blood on their hands and they must pay for that.
ABORTIVE SLFA CONGRESS AND THE FUTURE OF THE LOCAL GAME
Frankly, we've heard a lot from the Queen of Salone Football and the Stakeholders in the game about what to do in terms of the management of the game. They've been squabbling all over the place. They can't even run their own congress - wasted money, wasted energy and dashed hopes. Now, we've been trying to hear from the ordinary fans, the long suffering fans. Here's what some of them have told us.
1. They are sick to the back teeth with the constant squabbling and want it all to end right now.
2. They want the Johansen regime to gracefully leave office right now
3. They want the stakeholders who are on the other side to evolve a new leadership and push the regular big guys to the background as advisers and so on.
4. The people want a proper audit of the SLFA - FINANCIAL AUDIT AND A STAFF AUDIT. The people honestly don't believe the secretariat is run in a very professional way.
5. They want an SLFA that is able to assert at least a modicum of independence even with FIFA and CAF money in their accounts. This business of running to CAF and FIFA for any small decision is unacceptable. Do we really have to send somebody to deliver some award to Issa Hayatou in far away Egypt? Consider cost and all that. Isn't that something that a courier service can easily deliver? This is what the people are totally against.
So how do we know all this. Well, while the fighters were inside the hall trying to decide who the real delegates were on the floor of the congress, we were outside talking to the fans of the game whose voices are never heard in matters like this. Now you've heard from them.
ELECTRICITY FOR SIAKA STEVEN STREET? THAT WAS ONE MONTH AGO
Is NPA or what is the new body called, waging a war against Siaka Street? Load shedding or no load shedding, Siaka Steven Street has not seen electricity for a whole month. Why?
There's no doubt that electricity supply improved under De Pa and we perfectly understand the challenges that have caused the current load shedding programme but for an area as important as Siaka Steven Street to be without electricity for a whole month is unbelievable.
Siaka Steven Street has been at the wrong end of this load shedding business and somebody has to explain this. The process is unfair and it's easy to notice that if the load shedding exercise was well administered, this anomaly would have been corrected without putting it on paper.
If the new NPA has a case against Siaka Steven Street, can they go to court please? Those who have businesses along the place are willing to go there with their lawyers to defend themselves. We understand that each house has a lawyer. Yes!
© Politico 23/04/15
