BLAMING THE BRITISH FOR OUR OWN WAHALA Ayyyyyyyy SALONE
The British Ebola response team in Sierra Leone has come under some fire in the last few days from sections of the media, civil society groups and some ordinary Sierra Leoneans over the impact their work is having on our effort to defeat the virus. References are being made to the good news coming from neighbouring Liberia where the Americans are doing a good job. However, the situation in Liberia is more complex than the media reports. We are in touch with Liberia and we know what's happening on the ground.
We have a problem with the way the Kerry Town treatment center is run, no doubt about that. We are struggling to convince ourselves that the agency running the place, Save the Children is not out of its depth. But we equally have a big problem with the way we appear to be responding to the humanitarian support from the British taxpayer. We hold no brief for them. Here's why we think the British are being attacked in this way.
1. They have no detention facilities here to lock up some journalists, civil society organisations and politicians who instead of holding their elected government to account are busy fighting those who came here to help with their taxpayers' money. Unlike Sierra Leone the opposition in Britain is perfectly able to hold the government to account. Here opposition politicians harass the media when they attempt to hold the government accountable.
2. The British themselves allowed the impression to be created that they can end the Ebola attack within days of landing on our shores.
3. The people of Sierra Leone have no idea what the precise role of the British forces in Sierra Leone is. Yes we know about building treatment centers and bringing in some medics but why has our own government not laid the document that brought the British here before parliament so we all get to know what to ask the British for. Or can we now ask for it under the Access to Information Law?
4. People are complaining that the British are living in hotels. We have no such concerns. We don't expect them to live in Kroo Bay just to demonstrate their love for Salone. They are used to living in good housing with electricity and running water. We don't even understand why the British Forces Television is not on air. With DSTV cost rising daily and shambolic SLBC messing up, people in Freetown would have access to high quality programs, free of charge.
5. At the end of the day, Sierra Leone is the country attacked by Ebola not UK. Sierra Leoneans are dying. The fight is ours and our leaders are the ones responsible. They give approval for strangers to come here and help. Let's ask them all questions.
LOCAL LOCKDOWNS, THE NATIONAL POLICY AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
Apparently some communities are being locked down in parts of the country with local authorities saying they don't want De Pa to with draw their staff of office. We know that even in Freetown people are calling for a seven day lockdown. What is this? We believe that when it comes to decisions as far-reaching as locking people in their homes for two weeks (that's what we heard), it should have national blessing. This overzealousness in the Ebola war is a danger to civil liberties.
The three day lockdown of Freetown was described as a success. We wouldn't normally argue with other people's opinions because we didn't see the facts to support the claims of success. Since then however, Freetown has seen an unbelievable rise in Ebola cases. So was it a success.
We appreciate people doing their bit to defeat Ebola and at the same time preserve their jobs but we should never trample on the civil liberties of others. Particularly those who can't complain. A two week lockdown will be too difficult to handle for many of the rural poor.
WHEN JAMBODY'S OFFICIAL VEHICLE FLOUTS TRAFFIC RULES
On Tuesday 25th November at about 08: 30, we saw something at the Cotton Tree. De Pa's convoy swept through heading for State House. Closely following that convoy was the vehicle belonging to the Minister of Internal Affairs. At Politico, we call him Mungo Park. He is one of the mostly widely traveled politicians - we mean between the two main parties. Let's demonstrate - from SLPP to APC, from APC to SLPP and now back to APC. Let's leave that for another day because another important transition in coming. Who Knows?
Back to his vehicle, we can't tell whether he was in there at the time. We suspect he was. As De Pa's convey entered State Avenue, Mungo Park's vehicle continued on Siaka Steven street instead going round the Cotton Tree as demanded by the rules of traffic in that area. Police officers were there. They smiled and allowed Mungo Park to speed away and continue with his exploration.
We will test the fairness of our legal system soon by doing the same thing. Watch out for a Hummer Jeep marked POLITICO. Hahahahahahahahahah! We are not ministers but we are Sierra Leoneans.
NO 2014 CHRISTMAS IN SIERRA LEONE: SO WHICH WAY NOW PEOPLE?
We've been looking for fire crackers, garlands and CDs of Christmas carols in central Freetown but we can't find any. It's a sad state of affairs but we know why. Ebola has destroyed everything but while there will be very little public ceremonies to mark Christmas in the usual Sierra Leone way, certain activities will still take place. Here we go:
1. People will still call their relatives abroad to ask for Christmas cash. And we hope our brothers and sisters will be a little more generous because this is Ebola Christmas.
2. Be prepared to receive calls and text message from people asking for handouts as usual. But don't hesitate to tell them Ebola has destroyed your business and your contacts so nobody should expect much from you this year.
3. One thing that will definitely not happen is that no mask devils will be on our streets. We are very happy about that. The free-for-all daylight robbery is definitely not happening this Christmas, sorry!
WELL DONE NP STATION: SO WE WERE RIGHT AFTERALL
We've been observing the central NP station close to the Cotton Tree over the last week or so and we notice that some refurbishment is taking place on that old building. That's very good then. When we complained recently about the condition of the building, particularly on the Walpole street end, we meant no harm. We wanted NP to show the whole nation what they were made of.
There are fantastic NP stations going up in many parts of the country. Even now, look at the work being done on the NP station at Campbell Street. It's great; look at the one in Makeni - well, Makeni is in a league of its own. But we really couldn't understand why the headquarters was left struggling.
For us to be able to monitor the work on behalf of the customers, can we know who the contractor is please and how much they've been paid to do that job. Long Live NP Cotton Tree.
© Politico 27/11/14
