CDC, WHO and their Doomsday Ebola Projections
We believe most Sierra Leoneans appreciate the work of the CDC and WHO in the fight to defeat Ebola. We hope they will continue to support our efforts. That said, their periodic projections about caseloads create so much panic and despondency that we begin to wonder what really is going on. The latest we've heard from them is that more than 20, 000 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone will be affected by Ebola in the next five to six weeks "if nothing is done". They always add that caveat.
We don't know how they arrive at such figures. In school, we were encouraged to "show all working" so that the examiner would understand how we arrived at the answers we gave. Can these organisations also "show all working" so we know what's happening to our country?
And can they also clearly spell out what needs to be done so we don't get to their worst case projections? We ask because we know De Pa receives a lot of cash everyday from individuals and groups wanting to support the war against Ebola; we know the Chinese are here; we know the British are here; We know the Cubans are coming in a few days; UK nurses are on their way; we've heard about big money from abroad and all that. So what are we missing here? What else should be done so we don't get to 10, 000 infections in Liberia, 5, 000 in Sierra Leone and 6,000 in Guinea.
These projections are killing people in Sierra Leone as much as the disease itself is. The economy is on the brink, the December 2014 budget should be very interesting. Sometimes we need something that gives us hope at a time like this. But misery is being poured on us daily. Things are really bad in Sierra Leone. Nobody wants to have anything to do with us anymore. Didn't we see this coming? But did the approproate authorities act as necessary?
72% Ebola Soap is "contaminated with Ebola virus", What is happening here?
Even as Sierra Leoneans who've lived in the country for almost all our lives, we sometimes marvel at the extent to which some of our compatriots go to spread rumour about the issues they know nothing about and are not capable of rationalising. But we are not surprised at how ordinary people buy into those rumours in making decisions as serious as washing their hands with soap against Ebola.
How can anybody believe the makers of that soap contaminated it with the Ebola virus? How much money and time does that involve? And when did they do that, last week?
During the same period, there were rumours that a dead body had been found in the Guma Valley dam - in effect Freetown's main water supply source is contaminated with the Ebola virus. Many in Freetown went along with that again and were seen looking for so-called pure water in plastic sachet. How foolish! That's Guma Water packaged for your money.
As far as we know, the "Ose to Ose" Ebola campaign went very well but for Freetown's notorious rumour mill which manufactured these cheap lies to distract the people.
But we are extremely disappointed that even with all the means of communication and resources available including those many spokespeople, such rumours were able to flourish, forcing the EOC to issue a press release in an attempt to defeat the rumour mill.
Many spokespeople on thousands of dollars as salary, in air-conditioned offices and cars, huge resources, a state broadcaster, dozens of community radio stations, many megaphones and vehicles but we still can't communicate to a population of six million. We're not impressed.
Dial 117 or Cause Traffic Chaos? Good Morning Steven Gaojia
Hello Steve. Hope this finds you well bro. Congratulations on being appointed to this very difficult job of coordinating this EOC on Ebola. It's not an easy job, we know that. We hope this time De Pa will give you chance to prove yourself and not sack you because you refuse to give unqualified endorsement to the Red Movement. Are you on your way now to your new political destination as you promised? Well, almost everybody conjectured on where you were headed so we wonder why you tried to keep people guessing. Such tricks work very well for politicians with a large following. The last elections confirmed that your former party, PMDC, has no serious following.
Anyway, please try and improve this 117 service in terms of their response time. We know the call centre is not the problem because all they do is receive the calls. Those who should act on the requests are the real problem. People are complaining all over the place. We understand the enormity of the task but we don't understand the pace at which calls are responded to. We've put a lot of money into this Ebola fight by sacrificing many other national priorities, so we really don't deserve the kind of mediocre treatment we are getting from 117 respondents.
Steve, see what people are doing now to get attention. They block main roads and embarrass commuters just to compel 117 to act. We've witnessed four such incidents recently. Come on bro, this cannot continue. Thanks so far and please ignore the detractors. That's life in the public eye.
Freetown City Council's Love Affair with RITCORP
We've always been complaining about the parking chaos on our streets in central Freetown and the need for the Freetown City Council to act to stop criminals collecting money from the people for parking in designated areas of Freetown. Sometimes motorists who assert their rights to use the spaces without paying the criminals, have their cars broken into or their tyres deflated in broad daylight. The Freetown City Council doesn't think our complaints are serious enough for them to act.
But here's what we mean by their love affair with RITCORP: Check out the insurance company's new shiny offices at Percival Street and see how the FCC protected the parking spaces near RITCORP. We have been to other places around Freetown to see if any other organisation is so powerful, or lucky for the FCC to treat them like RITCORP. We definitely have nothing against RITCORP but as ordinary citizens who pay taxes in the same city, we wonder why the numbering of parking spaces approved by the FCC started and ended in front of the RITCORP building.
We repeat here again that the FCC is failing to collect a huge amount of money from parking fees in Freetown - something other councils all over the world are doing with remarkable success. If it's possible at RITCORP, it should be possible all over Freetown.
We will not allow Mayor Bababode to get away with being the mayor of Freetown and not doing anything about those things that mean so much to the residents of his city. Those things include questions about stray dogs and pigs, houses without toilets but still paying city rates; Victoria Park in advanced state of decay and lot's more. Has Mayor Bababode regretted ever seeking that office? His body language at official functions communicates that message so loudly.
Salone Hosts Cameroon In Cameroon: Is All the Stress Really Worth It?
How many artificial homes does Sierra Leone have in terms of football in the days of Ebola? Well first we had D R Congo, now we have Cameroon. Next it will be Chad of all places. We are doing too much just to participate in the CAF tournament - spending billions of leones, causing serious embarrassment for our players and officials in those foreign countries who think all Sierra Leoneans are carrying the Ebola virus. It's too late now but we should never have continued in this tournament.
Guinea can justify their continued participation because they used their long-standing ties with Morocco to host their matches there and they are winning. We were unable to get Ghana or Nigeria - countries that we think are close to us. We understand the situation with Nigeria but Ghana had no reason to turn us down because the whole Leone Stars team is based abroad - far away from Ebola. But that's where we are now. Please don't say we are now missing Col. Ghaddaffi, the honorary member of the Sierra Leone parliament. Hahahahahahahaha. He would have hosted our players and officials in Libya throughout the tournament on Libyan money. Where is the Jamahiriya now?
The way the FA in D R Congo treated our team and officials was disgraceful. How would Cameroon behave? Our solution remains a complete pullout even at this stage. Forget about costs. Too much national disgrace.
(C) Politico 25/09/14
