AGBA KHOLIFA vs. THE TRAFFIC WARDEN: WHERE'S JUSTICE?
We thank the Sierra Leone Road Safety Authority (SLRSA) formerly known as SLRTA, for finally waking up to their responsibility to protect their staff against the awesome power of Agba Kholifa and the Munu Boys. It's no secret that a Traffic Warden we know only as MUSA was arrested and detained by the police Local Unit Commander at the Freetown Central police station, brought before a court and remanded at the so-called correctional center for a few days. The matter came up for hearing three times after that but Agba Kholifa who filed the original complaint with the police failed to show up to make his case in the course of justice. The magistrate dismissed the case and MUSA went home to lick his wounds.
We have said before that there are many Musa's in this country. Some are in that jail we euphemistically call Correctional Centre. Here is an opportunity to tell the world we have something in this country democracies call THE RULE OF LAW.
The chairman of the SLRSA Board, the Rev. Michael Samura is facing his first big test. The facts, according to the SLRSA and our own independent investigation, is that Agba Kholifa was driving a private vehicle without a valid registration or insurance cover. That was not an offence. What was an offence was that the poor warden attempted to pull him over like they do to all of us when we infringe the rules. Whatever happened, we don't know. Agba Kholifa has denied the world the opportunity to get those details. We ask again:
1. What is happening to MUSA's case against Agba Kholifa - the un-insured vehicle thing.
2. What about the fact that MUSA was locked up without Kholifa stepping forward to make his case against the young man?
3. Who will compensate MUSA and his family for the embarrassment and discomfort of spending three nights at Pademba road jail?
We make this point again that this matter will not be allowed to rest until MUSA receives a letter of apology and hefty compensation from Agba Kholifa. At that point, it will be up to De Pa to sack or retain him in office when a senior minister in London, who only called a police officer “a plebian” was sacked or forced to resign.
US DOLLAR FALLING IN SALONE: BUT FOR HOW LONG?
We don't know if this is something we should celebrate but we have noticed a slight downward trend in the value of the US dollar against even our very weak currency, the leone. We have been trying to find the reason for that so that we are able to determine whether this will be sustained or it's just one of those things that happen in Sierra Leone – a flash in the pan.
A guy came to see us in the office the other day and found us trying to make sense of the situation. He told us the simple answer was that a battalion of Sierra Leone soldiers had just returned home from an extended tour of duty in war-ravaged Somalia with the rucksacks full of dollars. He said the soldiers had been splashing cash around. Isn't that wonderful? Now we understand why their colleagues were crying all over the place when Somalia rejected them over fears of Ebola. Yeeeeeaaaaaaaah. But could it also be that the return of the UN in large numbers is a factor?
We appreciate this but we will hold on for now and see if this drop is sustained beyond March, the magic month. And if there will be a corresponding reduction in prices which are always hiked using the rise in the US dollar as a pretext. Long live AU Peacekeeping!
BURNING TYRES TO PROTEST FOR SEVERANCE, IT'S COMIUM
We have found a new way to recover our money from debtors. We don't know how effective it will be. So we are waiting to see what will happen to those Comium workers who burnt tires outside the main Comium office in Freetown to press home demands for their severance pay following the collapse of the company.
It was a sight to behold - burning tyres to call attention to your salaries? What would these guys have done if somebody eloped with their wives? Hahhahahahahah Wahala! Anyway let's treat this with some seriousness. Where was NATCOM and the Ministry of Labour when all those who matter at Comium left this country one after the other amid reports in Politico that the company was going burst and complaints by staff that the future was in peril?
A senior labour official said on radio that Comium bosses had left Sierra Leone on the pretext they were going on leave. In fact, we believe that one of the reasons for the unexpected sacking of the NATCOM board was their inability to deal with the Comium question. Now about 400 young Sierra Leoneans have lost jobs and their families are in difficulty again.
Everybody in Sierra Leone knew Comium was on its way down more than a year ago but the regulators pretended things were ok. We understand that even their fees were not paid. Even their NASSIT contributions are in peril. A commission that cannot collect its own fees should be scrapped.
We are waiting now to see if De Pa's clearing exercise will go down to some of the professional staff in NATCOM.
Meanwhile, our brothers and sisters of the former Comium should pray for God to take control. Ebola dae! Hahaha. Sorry, folks, we know it is serious but teet nor dae muni.
BETWEEN PARALYMPIC SPORT AND SLFA CONGRESS
What's the difference between the Paralympics Sport Association and the Sierra Leone Football Association, in terms of them being Sierra Leoneans and obeying the laws of Sierra Leone but also in terms of how Munu Boys deal with them? We ask because the Paralympics Sport people have just held their congress at which they elected their executive. They had 26 delegates and 20 guests, total, 46. The SLFA Stakeholders had 47 delegates but were denied permission to hold their congress under emergency regulations.
The stakeholders were arrested and brought to the CID where they made statements. So we live in the same country, under the same laws, applied by the same Munu Boys, but differently to different groups of people. What's going on?
May be MUNU boys didn't know this was happening. Well they now know it happened, what are they going to do? Let's follow the same pattern. Munu Boys must first issue a press release denouncing the congress, calling it illegal and asking those now elected to return to the status-quo. Next step, they should arrest all the delegates to that congress and obtain statements from them. They should continue to squeeze them until De Pa intervenes. Long live justice, the Sierra Leonean style!
© Politico 29/01/15
