POPULIST ORBANGU TO DRAG WAEC TO COURT? ELECTION 2018.
From "corrupt police", to Abacha Street market relocation, the SLPP leadership question, etc. now to the WAEC results, Orbangu's UDM bandwagon rolls on. We stand by the WAEC candidates/pupils who want to be told why their results were withheld but frankly we find it absolutely ridiculous that for the purpose of securing the services of lawyers to drag WAEC to court, Orbangu would actually lead a march to the law courts building. This is the mindless populism we are talking about. Utterly disgusting populism!
We wonder why Munu didn't throw them out like he did to those SLPP supporters whom he accused of singing "inch songs" over their petition case that was before the courts. Lawyers are attached to chambers and that's where they are supposed to meet clients. We have even seen a public notice from the judiciary urging lawyers not to look for clients within the courthouse. So what was Orbangu thinking? The passage to State House requires something far more profound and rational.
But in the spirit of Orbangu's populism, we would like to graciously call his attention to the following issues to keep his bandwagon rolling:
a. What's happening to those soldiers who were arrested for so-called mutiny at Teko Barracks? They are in jail and there is still no Court Martial and Government is keeping sealed lips over their issue.
b. Where is the justice for those people who were killed when King Jimmy Bridge collapsed? Like the bridge and road, we think they've been abandoned. The relatives of the deceased, like the abandoned road itself, need your populist intervention.
c. Since Orbangu took his new victims to the courthouse, we must call his attention to the smelly, totally unhygienic holding facilities in that building and the hundreds of people needlessly kept on remand for years by the slow, weak and manipulated judicial system.
INSECURITY IN MAKENI AS OKADA KILLINGS RISE
When all is said and done, Makeni town has improved greatly. Night life is fantastic and one gets the feeling that Makeni is the most confident city in the whole of Sierra Leone. But scratch this surface and a frightening reality is revealed. Insecurity has now gripped the town and night life is the biggest casualty. And businesspeople and those 17-year-old girls - or younger - and the shameless and mindless clients are complaining.
The police appear to have no clue as to where the recent OKADA killings came from and how to tackle the menace that looks very well organised. One OKADA boy told us the reason for the thieving and killing is "DE TRANGANESS" - hardship. When we suggested this was the last thing we expected to hear from De Pa's homeland, the 21-year old looking boy, chuckled and said, "well this is also the home of DE TRANGANESS".
Many people close to De Pa' government would deny this but there's deep resentment among some people who've told us that the prosperity flowing from De Pa and his boys is largely personal. We've been taken to many new housing developments where whole streets are named after the big man with the palaces on that road - a hotel or guest house and an Igwe-type dwelling. We've nothing against them. However, we wish to say two things:
a. We knew and interacted with most of these people before De Pa made them ministers or this and that. They were ordinary mortals like us and we had some clue of their bank accounts.
b. In six years, well...less for those who joined later, those people now "bestride the narrow world like a colossus" with over-flowing bank accounts and a fleet of vehicles and mansions.
c. The ACC has powers to go after "unexplained wealth" but JOSIE's hands are probably tied. The ACC will continue operating long after De Pa is gone from State House. Then the people's case will be heard in a court, totally free of any manipulation. Hahahahahaha! Leh we sidom wait ya!
ONCE UPON A TIME, KAMARAINBA AND THE RED MOVEMENT
The Red Movement is trying to deal with the new phenomenon called Mohamed Kamarainba Mansaray. The guy says he returned to Sierra Leone from the US where, he says, he lived a comfortable life. Well they all always say that, don't they? to "change Sierra Leone". He says he is so patriotic that he named his daughter "Sierra Leone". That is very funny. What's in the name? You know how many people name their children Emmanuel or Mohamed and are very satanic in their behaviour? Bo lef nor! Kamarainba says he wants to be president after Koroma and naming his child is part of his credentials. Isn't that interesting?
Anyway...He's now been ordered to stop campaigning and apparently fall in line with the GRAND PLAN. He says his Obama-style grassroots campaign will go on nonetheless.
Well all this sounds interesting to people like us writing about men and things. These are the kind of issues we believe the Red Movement must be very careful with especially when they will soon have a lame duck as leader with the opposition believing this is the biggest opportunity to re-take power.
We believe Kamarainba is not a LONE RANGER as the Red Movement imagines, and he could well be the catalyst for the kind of implosion that the Red Movement would hate to wake up to one morning.
We believe that in Kamarainba's camp would be Red Movement people who are absolutely fed up with the endless manipulation taking place in the movement - look at the selection of candidates for parliament, with particular reference to Mile 91 and the mountain villages in the Freetown peninsular and the last Red Movement convention.
Please don't take us too seriously because Kamarainba could well be a political frog trying to be a cow. But what if you discover a few hours after the 2018 election that you should have taken our point at Kamarainba seriously. Twitter will still be here to pick up the pieces.
BRITISH COUNCIL REACTS
We were pleased yesterday to receive a letter from the British Council in Freetown following our Thursday Tweet of the deplorable state of affairs at the premier international cultural and educational outfit of Great Britain. We were encouraged though that the Council says it welcomes "both positive and negative comments" about itself and its activities, referring to our Tweet about the auditorium as "a helpful criticism that we take notice of".
Well we want to salute the Council for its decency and civility for acknowledging things the way they are and not being overly defensive as is so common in Sierra Leone especially by public officials and where KUS KUS is the order of the day for truth-telling.
Anyway the British Council, in the same letter, wishes to inform the public that it is "in the process of a complete refurbishment of the entire building - including the auditorium" with the interior "nearly finished" and external painting underway.
However we could not help but laugh at the letter saying that our reporter was there at the wrong time while the scraps and cobwebs and dust had just settled. Hahaha. Thanks for your response but we would rather hygiene had been kept regardless of the work in progress, so long it's open for business. Nice talking to you, though. We salute you, BC.
RUSH HOUR TRAFFIC PARALYSING FREETOWN DAILY: WHY?
There's nobody in this city who hasn't suffered because of the gridlock and paralysis the city faces during every morning and evening rush hour. The road management people have no reply and the suffering is compounded by illegal parking and the activities of lawless Okada riders, and Taxi and Poda-poda drivers in Freetown.
We are not engineers but we find it ridiculous that vehicles coming from Leicester and Mount Aureol heading for the town centre, for example, are made to head towards New England first before turning into the already choked Pademba Road. Whatever the reason for blocking the road through Model School into State Avenue is the mystery we are trying to unravel. And the road was blocked without foreboding - a disrespect uncharacteristic of clean democracies or even decency.
We must also say that in the midst of all the gridlock, all those with state flags disobey the traffic rules and speed their way as if they are a special breed. All this resentment against politicians, in part, stems from such blatant display of power and influence and the affluence that begets in our society. But this is Sierra Leone where SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.
(C) Politico 28/01/14
