LIGHT RETURNS TO KONO BUT VP MISSING IN ACTION AGAIN
Well, as they say, there was LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL for the good people of Kono after a few weeks of fast moving events. There was the Adamu wahala - two people killed, no investigation, no booking, no punishment - about 35 others arrested and brought to Freetown, a press release from the Kono diaspora and lots more. Now De Pa has shown Kono the light at the end of the tunnel. He shouted: “let there be light”, and there was light.
But we observed that once again Chief Sidikie was conspicuous by his absence at the ceremony in Kono – his homeland where he had turned the sod on the electricity project. What's wrong chief? We refuse to understand that you were too busy with other matters of state. This is Konoland people! We totally agree with some people who told us inside Koidu that Chief Sidikie or no Chief Sidikie, as long as they have electricity, they are ready to move on. And we probably shouldn't read too much into Sidikie's no-show because the VP has been absent in many other places. We went to Kono even though nobody invited us to this special occasion. It was just too serious an event to miss.
Next time Chief Sidikie turns up in Koidu, he wouldn't have to bother buying diesel for his generator because like Lungi like Kono, love live De Pa.
But what's the latest on those many people arrested in Konoland? Where is Adamu Eze now? And did the police pay the ransom after all to the local people who had helped them arrest Adamu? We may have light now but there are many more unanswered questions in Konoland. Many people told us so.
WITH ROBIN THE SON OF FALLAY NOW AT SALWACO, THE FLOODGATE IS OPEN
And it came to pass that in the year of our Lord 2014, Robin the son of Fallay became the head of SALWACO the company that should bring water into our homes. Here's how our man came to this job: Fallay was arrested in the east of the country on allegations of vote-rigging and remanded in custody.
On the 10th day, in jail, he had a dream. In the dream he was clad in RED, sitting in a huge state office with some SALAMUTU boys outside shouting “De Pa Dae Woke”. He made up his mind to make that dream a reality.
On the last day of the previous parliament, Fallay was involved in some melodramatic gestures in the house. He announced he was now a Red House Man and so struck a deadly blow at the heart of a troubled Green Movement.
Fallay became vuvuzela number two for his new organisation and not long after that, he launched the infamous AFTER U NAR U CAMPAIGN - essentially, he was campaigning for De Pa to succeed himself against the dictates of the national constitution. Today, that dream is dead in the water – courtesy of Ebola.
Now we know how to get a big job in Salone:
1. Look for a friendly radio station or newspaper to help you get just one message out: De Pa is the greatest and all roads must lead to him - in fact describe him as a “natural born leader” even if you were not sure.
2. In the process of doing that you will surely annoy or even injure the feelings of some friends – forget about them for the moment, keep your eyes on your goal. In fact, avoid those tempestuous and totally unproductive radio interviews involving some journalists.
3. You may lose your constituency. It shouldn't matter much because you can still have a big office paid for by the state with the kind courtesy of De Pa.
4. People may insult you all over the place, don't mind them they are jealous. Your business is getting a big job. That's it. In fact a lot of people have now decided to use this method to land some interesting jobs. Long live Robin The Son of Fallay.
DEADLINE FOR RIGHT-HAND DRIVE VEHICLES APPROACHES
SLRA and their friends met somewhere in Freetown in September and decided not to take right-hand drive vehicles off the road until December 2014. The Ebola attack was advanced as the reason for the three-month deferment. We honestly didn't see any reason for that because just what right-hand drive vehicles mean to this Ebola fight is what we can't evaluate.
December is here and we will not encourage any further postponement. The ban on right-hand drive vehicles must be carried out now. The government spent a year preparing the few people who have such vehicles for September 2014. Now we are in December and we will hold the Ministry of Transport responsible for any further shift in the timetable.
When the decision was taken to clear right-hand drive vehicles from our roads, safety was put forward as the reason. That safety is still being compromised everyday right-hand drive vehicles continue to ply our streets. Action now please! No more right-hand drive vehicles please.
WHEN FOOTBALL OFFICIALS "RANT" AND SLFA SCRIBE BLASTS
We are building up to the much-anticipated clash between the Sierra Leone Football Association and an eclectic collection of football managers calling themselves STAKEHOLDERS – the date will be 20th December 2014, Venue National Stadium, the home of Pope John Paul of Bishop's House, Freetown. Be warned though that the venue might change at the last minute because Munu and his men might move in to disperse them in the name of Ebola.
Already we have witnessed the opening exchanges. The STAKEHOLDERS broke with tradition and announced the date of an extraordinary congress that the SLFA is planning to hold in January. On the face of it, it looked like some innocuous action by members of an association, pressing home their rights under their constitution. But then came a bad-tempered reply from the SLFA General Secretary that opens up a lot of questions. Here we quote a few lines from the letter:
SLFA GEN SECRETARY - "I also want to draw your attention to the seemingly misguided perception and unwarranted ranting at the Executive Committees of the SLFA, as one that is clearly made out of ignorance, and lack of respect of leadership, thus it will be treated as an imprudent opinion."
POLITICO - Wow! Let's ignore the obvious grammatical challenges here. We are all learning the Queen’s language. But what was the General Secretary thinking when he reacted so angrily? “misguided perception”, “unwarranted ranting”, “imprudent opinion”. We have dozens of polite substitute expressions to offer. Our lines are open 24 hours a day for help.
SLFA GEN SECRETARY - "The said correspondence is written or purportedly signed by unauthorised stakeholders, and does not warrant any sound attention. It is evident that so many petitions from clubs and Associations' executives have been presented to the SLFA challenging the undersigned as fake..."
POLITICO - Again, the SLFA has a lot of experience dealing with fake delegates. How did the Queen come to office? We were at Kingtom and we knew the real delegates were somewhere in the far west of Freetown. But if you decide not to give them any 'sound attention', we can only say GOOD LUCK TO THOSE STAKEHOLDERS WHO SOLD OUT FOR THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER LAST YEAR.
The letter called for 'calmness' and 'peace' but how can they call a dog home with a big stick in hand? So the stage is set. There will be no Christmas presents for the SLFA from the STAKEHOLDERS.
© Politico 25/11/14
