DID WE LEARN ANY LESSONS FROM THE AfDB ELECTION IN ABIDJAN?
In the end our candidate, Samura Kamara was the first person to be sent packing from the race to become AfDB president. We've said in this space that the man is more than competent for that job but from what we've now realised, it takes more than that to land a job as important as the presidency of the AfDB. Kamara should be back at his desk in our Foreign Ministry right now. We hope he has recovered sufficiently and is not distracted from his job back home by this AfDB issue.
Please, before we put up any other candidate for serious international jobs we should make sure the following things are in place.
1. We should be an oil producing country like Cape Verde, Chad and Nigeria. It's very important.
2. We should make sure that Nigeria was not putting forward any candidate and that West Africa was not going to be so greedy to field half the number of candidates
3. We should mobilise the whole nation in good time. It probably wouldn't make any big difference but a Sierra Leonean candidates should truly belong to us all
4. From now on, let's try and play an even more active role in world affairs. Peace keeping is not bad but we must do more
5. Let's not allow any other calamity like Ebola or unnecessary conflict to give us more bad publicity abroad.
6. And finally, any other Sierra Leonean candidate for big international jobs should be a bit more friendly with the media at home and abroad.
FROM ZURICH WITH LOVE: QUEEN VOTES BLATTER AMID CONTROVERSY
Well, we can only assume from this warm embrace that the Queen of Salone football voted for Sepp Blatter to serve a 5th term as president of FIFA. Otherwise we can appreciate our gracious lady for this Oscar-winning performance.
In the days leading up to the Congress, it was reported on some social networking sites that the Queen was breaking away from the African group that has always been Blatterite. But this picture tells a different story. Hmmmmmm, secret ballots are almost impossible to track.
You know, apart from the 'congratulations Mr. Blatter', we suspect she whispered a few words in the ears of the 79 year old and Grand Pa Blatter also said something. We inserted an imaginary rogue microphone near the two but what we picked up was largely inaudible. Let's see if we can make out something. Hahahahahahaahahaha:
1. The Queen may have told Joseph Blatter that pressure was mounting back home and he must do something urgently
2. That Awoko has dissolved her executive for a second time and things were now reaching final decision time.
3. That it was looking increasingly unlikely she will be unable to stay away from her delegates for much longer...why did FIFA write that letter to Paul Kamara indicating a shift in their position
4. That FIFA should be ready for the consequences of her almost certain impeachment when a proper Congress is put together before the end of the 2015 with the active engagement of Awoko's revolutionary army.
BLATTER'S REPLY - "You said you voted for me, right? Thanks for that and thanks for congratulating me. As you can see I have just come through the most difficult election ever in FIFA. There's a lot of work to do here so you go back and deal with your own issues in Freetown. I cannot give any clear cut guarantees but I will keep monitoring the situation." That's non-committal eh? hahahahahahahaha.
Awoko's army has already told FIFA that the Queen's vote was cast without the expressed approval of all Stakeholders. Blatter is a wounded man these days and for how long is he going to hold on to FA presidents who have lost the support of their members?
DE PA ELECTRICITY - ON, OFF. ON, OFF. ON, OFF. LONG LIVE KABBA TIGER
De Pa must forgive those who are speaking openly in favor of the much maligned Kabbah Tiger these days. He will probably be right to accuse them of being ungrateful because in his early days on the throne, there was electricity for many households in Freetown. But as citizens of this country who pay all their taxes, they expect their RULERS to deliver. At least, that which they themselves promised before being elected. In this case, ELECTRICITY.
In fact, a good many of those citizens are telling us that as far as electricity is concerned, things are very bad. Sometimes even worse than in 2007 when De Pa came to State House. Well, except for the people in the town called Seat of Power - Makeni. They don't know blackout.
Right now, many people are busy studying the Act which created the new bodies now pretending to be generating and supplying electricity to Freetown. We want to take them to court for damaging our expensive electrical equipment with electricity supply that goes on and off even more Christmas decorations. We prefer the certainty of being in perpetual darkness despite all the consequences of that than having electricity supply that goes on and off more than twenty times in twelve hours - total madness. Just cut off and let's stick with Kabbah Tiger or Chinese Bumbuna.
Now that we have more ministers, more board members and many more institutions receiving crazy salaries and juicy fringe benefits in the same sector, electricity supply has suddenly shifted to Makeni. May be we should run power lines from Freetown to the Seat of Power so we can enjoy the benefits of life in the land from which power flows.
ARSENAL TAKE THE FA CUP AGAIN BUT CAN WENGER GROW ABOVE THAT?
You may not be in any danger if you placed bets now, on the proposition that Arsenal were favourites to land the FA cup next year. It's becoming their property now. It's not a bad achievement but the reality is that everybody wants to win the Champions League and their domestic league titles. Arsenal are not even close.
And you know, the longest serving coach left in the English Premier League has just announced that he had two more years left on his contract and he was looking forward to going on from this FA Cup stuff to win the EPL and the Champions League. He must make sure though that this year he is not eliminated by lowly Monaco or a team like that.
We have other things to tell the owners of Arsenal.
1. Maradona has already said that Tiki Taka football is dead. So Arsenal's attempt to operate a carbon copy of that style will make them vulnerable to teams like Monaco
2. Sure, Arsenal must now confront the same situation Manchester United have had to deal with following the departure of Alex Fergusson. They should start talking to Sam Alladyce who's just been sacked by West Ham to be their own David Moyes. The post-Wenger era is at hand.
3. Those who watched the FA Cup final against Aston Villa, know that a little bit of imaginative play by Villa would have made things very difficult in the first half. But a team that relies on just one distracted guy trying to head balls into the next cannot be sure of beating even a Leone Stars team assembled by Isha Johansen.
4. We warn Wenger that in his bid to win the EPL and Championships League, he should never sign rebellious Raheem Sterling. In the actual game he is just like Walcott or Chamberlain. He is very bad in front of goal. And his manager is not afraid to splash expletives around. What's the point?
4. Anyway, congratulations Arsenal but tell Jack Wilshire to be a little respectful to your opponents. Hope he doesn't run off to Texas again for a little smoke.
© Politico 02/06/15
