KKY AND THE BATTLE FOR THE SOUL OF THE GREEN MOVEMENT
Kandeh Yumkella is still a member of staff of the United Nations but last week he made a very clear push into Sierra Leone politics. He tried to keep himself on the edge but persistent probing by journalists lured KKY into stating that he would be fighting for power in 2017 under the banner of the SLPP.
So several months of shadow-boxing has now ended, crowned by the distribution of 1,275 bags of rice by a group calling itself The KKY Movement. Is this so called KKY Movement not another Reform Group?
Anyway, we welcome Pa Kandeh into the ring. He says he understands the scale of the task ahead - winning the nomination to run on his party's ticket and then taking on and beating the Red Movement candidate. Would it be a third-term De Pa or one of the many anointed or pretenders?
We understand that from his base in London, Osuofia has unleashed his troops to shake up the KKY Movement. So look what we have here: Osuofia, who, following recent misfortunes with his people in the Green Movement in USA and UK was looking like a Tiger losing its tigeritude. He is now looking to make a devastating last stand at Pa Kandeh who reminds us of Pa Kabbah; another UN breed is planning fearless campaign. It's a fantastic duel.
We warn, however, that there is a dark in horse in this race. It's Alpha Timbo. They can go ahead and write him off at their own peril. Timbo believes he has his fingers on the pulse of the delegates and that the momentum is with him this time. At stake in all of this, is the soul of the GREEN MOVEMENT and State House. Long live DEMOCRACY!
WE CLOSE IN ON ADAMU EZE BUT Le 5M BOUNTY IS PITTANCE
Last week we announced that we were joining the search for Adamu Eze, the strongman of Konoland, because the police are finding it extremely difficult to catch the man they blame for inciting the recent unrest that caused the death of two people in Koidu.
We deployed our drones and other surveillance equipment and highly-trained intelligence personnel. Our forces are as tough and efficient as those US Navy Seals who tracked down and killed mass murderer Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbotabad.
Today, we announce that we are closing in on Adamu. But we feel scandalised by the Le 5m bounty the police put on the head of the strongman that they are so far unable to pin down. We urge the police to make it Le 50m to demonstrate they are serious about the hunt for Adamu. We have so far spent more than Le 20m to get to where we are in this search. Hahahahahahahaha!
We have decided not to give too many clues today as to the whereabouts of Adamu because the police are not treating this very delicate operation with the seriousness it deserves. In fact, how is it that our criminal justice system has been unable to put the man they describe as dangerous away all this while? He's been arrested many times and released after a few days for the same public order offences.
As soon as the police raise the bounty to Le 50m, we will start active cooperation with them. We are confident that in less than a week they will have their man. Just a little clue - CAMP ZOGODA will be an interesting place to visit. Also, there is that place in TOMBODU where the RUF performed surgeries during the war. Adamu knows those places well. He has always been a key part of what De Pa calls “networks of lawlessness”. No more clues please! Hahahahahahahah.
MINISTER OF FOOTBALL BANS 7 MORE FROM ENTERING NATIONAL STADIUM
The Minister of Football is in fighting mood. He is trying to get back at his opponents who made life difficult for his coaches and officials in Yaounde, a few weeks ago. He has announced his usual ban on 7 people - they should never be seen near the walls of the national stadium. The 7 include coaches and other technical staff appointed by the SLFA. The minister is threatening to dislodge a pepper soup seller, if any of the people so banned are found at her pepper soup joint. Things are really getting crazy.
Since coming to office, Pope John Paul has banned many people from entering the national stadium. We have no idea where he got the power from to ban people from visiting public spaces without a court order.
He's been issuing bans willy-nilly - that's the way he settles even the slightest disagreement. That ban is illegal and must not be respected. The national stadium is a recreational facility belonging to all Sierra Leoneans. Only a court can ban people from going to such places and it's never an easy decision to make.
Ok, we will not say more. We don't want to be banned for disagreeing with LORD HAW HAW. The guy likes banning people from places. Even his new found friends in SWASAL were once banned from the presidential stand and the terrace and were told to buy their match tickets.
Running a government is a really difficult thing - the president is busy fighting Ebola that is killing hundreds of his people and at the same time, he is being distracted by calls for him to restrain a rollercoaster minister who is fighting everybody. We will remain in our newsroom.
CHEMICAL WARFARE ROCKS ROBERT STREET ON BABABODE'S WATCH
The people of Robert Street in central Freetown are having sleepless nights these days as they try to deal with an intensifying chemical warfare in the backyards. Imagine this: you wake up in the morning hoping to enjoy the sweet morning breeze but your nose is immediately assaulted by some foul smell from your nice garden. Ok, you decide to check it out only to find a mound of human waste so high that you begin to wonder how long it took how many human beings to deposit it there. Hahahahahahah.
With such human waste being one of the principal ways to catch Ebola, other communities must be on alert because it is extremely very possible that their sick neighbour could deliberately infect them with the deadly virus. This is not a joke.
We know that this could be the work of small time criminals looking to harass their neighbours. It could also be the desperate act of residents of Freetown who have no toilets in their homes. Their landlords are busy collecting rent and paying taxes to Bababode which is all the Mayor is interested in.
Bababode should not blame Ebola for this. There are hundreds of thousands of homes in Freetown without toilets and we still have not seen even a plan from Bababode as to how he intends to deal with this. It is his responsibility to ensure that our communities in Freetown are safe and that we don't wake up every morning to find a load of human waste deposited in our compounds by neighbours who just can't find a place to relieve themselves.
Maybe De Pa should remove Bababode from office in the same way he is threatening to deal with chiefs who can't work with their people to defeat Ebola.
AMBULANCE DRIVING AND THE NEW SIREN CRAZE IN FREETOWN
We have to be honest with ourselves. We are not used to seeing ambulances at work in our cities. Before Ebola attacked, it was a kind of luxury to be driven to hospital in an ambulance. Ayyyyyyyy Salone! In fact, every time we heard siren blaring, we thought about two things: that De Pa was on his way to work or that former Vice President Albert Joe Demby was back in office. Hardly anybody talks about this guy any more. He retreated in dignity to Gerihun after he was dumped by the late Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and has remained in splendid isolation since.
Somebody should please tell the ambulance drivers that they should use those sirens only when they want to make their way through heavy traffic. We are getting fed up with unnecessary noise all over the place. Ambulance driver going to Hasting through Fourah Bay College, Leicester and Regent, have no reason to call attention to themselves when the road is so open that people can drive with their eyes closed.
We appreciate the work of the ambulance drivers but we believe there is a more responsible way to use the siren than is happening at the moment. We can assure them that they are busy shortening the lives of people in communities with their siren.
© Politico 28/10/14
