A HEARTY WELCOME TO De Pa
We understand De Pa returned to Freetown on Tuesday evening after more than a week abroad. At the time of his departure we were told he was off to see his wife who’s receiving hospital treatment in London. The nation would appreciate it if De Pa called the media to State House for another of those monthly briefings he promised recently.
We have already missed two months but we will use this opportunity to clear up a number of outstanding issues. It would also be great if De Pa briefed us on the other leg of his trip which took him to Germany. Our sources in London and Hamburg have told us a few things but in the true spirit of professional journalism, we shall put questions directly to De Pa himself. How many days did he actually spend by our First Lady in London which was the official line given to us for his visit. How about that? In that way we probably shall avoid being jailed like our colleagues at the Independent Observer.
By the way, did De Pa manage to see Alhaji Tejan Kabbah? We have heard rumours here and there but we think his wife clarified speculations about his health just in time to stop the famous Freetown rumour mill from going into overdrive.
Besides questions about De Pa’s trip to London and Germany, we have collected a number of other questions on our travels around the country that we shall put to De Pa on behalf of the people.
Once again we welcome De Pa back to his fatherland and we are waiting for the call from State House for PRESIDENTIAL NEWS CONFERENCE NUMBER TWO, based on ADVISORY NOTE NUMBER EIGHT.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL AT LAST: GOD BLESS AMERICA!
It was strange to hear Kan Kan Kan speak so highly about the virtues of a Freedom of Information law in parliament. Kan Kan Kan is part of a cabinet, most of whose members are implacable opponents of democratic openness in state governance. Scratch just a little below the surface you will discover that his performance in parliament was like having to drink a very bitter pill prescribed by a trusted medical officer. Most of the MPs – on both sides of the House – really don’t like FOI, but, and it’s a huge “but”, MIGHTY AMERICA has been at work behind the scenes on our behalf.
After having been tossed here and there, the FOI will become law before this week is out with De Pa’s signature in place. We have written a lot about how American power and money tipped the balance in favour of the people of Sierra Leone against their own elected government. And it’s now six years since Koroma came to power promising to enact the FOI and “REVIEW” the criminal and seditious libel. Six years on, it’s American pressure that has moved the FOI bill to where we are now and certainly not a genuine commitment by De Pa to make good his election promise.
On his behalf, THE STATE PROSECUTION SERVICE HAS LOCKED UP TWO JOURNALISTS for allegedly publishing an article that offended De Pa. He promised to review the criminal and seditious libel law to make it impossible for politicians to use the resources of the state in this way against the media. He is in fact now using those same laws against journalists.
And this talk about Separation of Powers: please! It exists only on paper in Sierra Leone. FOI will become law soon just because the Executive wanted it now – they want to strengthen their case to claim American money. That’s all.
Let’s congratulate Society for Democratic Initiatives, SLAJ and all other bodies in the coalition who even after ten years believed that the will of the people would prevail in the end.
MUNU SAYS SALONE UNDER THREAT, BUT BY JOURNALIST???
Francis Munu is an interesting Inspector General of Police. His recent moves have taught us many lessons in how our police operate and how civil liberties can be easily threatened and curtailed by the police. Let’s say Munu discovered some security threat from a MOBILE PHONE text message that came from somewhere. Strangely enough, he had to wait the SLAJ declared Black Tuesday to send out a memo, which we have obtained from our police sources and will deal with next week.
Let’s put this into context: there were rumours in some parts of Sierra Leone that journalists would demonstrate in front of the law courts building against the continuous detention of their colleagues when they appeared before a magistrate for the second time. Apparently, that was what triggered Munu’s raising of the security alert.
We want Munu to know this: we appreciate the fact that his job is to help secure the nation but this is a democracy and certainly this must apply in all democracies. There is nothing wrong with citizens deciding to demonstrate about anything they feel strongly about. His job is to provide the necessary security cover for such events, and not to stifle it, so that the business of other citizens is not disrupted. We have witnessed scenes inside courtrooms where witnesses are jeered in cases involving politicians; we have witnessed demonstrations on behalf of politicians; we have seen hundreds of people enter the court premises on behalf of politicians with the police cooperating fully with them. We are no strangers in this country.
We will never dispute any suggestion that our police sometimes manufacture evidence to nail people. It could be a text message, false witnesses and all that.
So, security threat – probably. But journalists trying to cause problems – absolutely false. The police memo reminded us of the atmosphere in Freetown in particular, the day after Eldred Collins of the RUF issued his Operation No Living Thing threat against Sierra Leone. Journalists are peaceful citizens. We are not TERRORISTS!
MASADA TAKES OVER WASTE DISPOSAL PROJECT, AGAIN
The people of Freetown woke up a few days ago to the news that MASADA was back in charge of Freetown’s waste disposal job. We hope they will now be allowed to clean Freetown without being pursued by another organization with interest from somewhere. We still remember that acrimonious news conference where MASADA almost fought with Freetown Waste Management Company over the simple question of whose job it is to clean Freetown.
MASADA have their job cut out for them – Freetown is very filthy with rubbish heaps in many parts of the road and there is a general Sierra Leonean attitude of not paying directly for garbage disposal even when they are fed up with all the mounds of rubbish all over Freetown .The stage is set.
We however urgently need a few issues cleared up: Government should tell us the value of the contract they signed with MASADA and what the deliverables are. We also want to know those behind MASADA and which government ministry will monitor their work. We ask because we are not sure about the role of the Freetown City Council in all this.
Can the government also explain what will happen to FWMC staff, equipment and liabilities? We hope the government will not give us cause to get those documents through the FOI channel. This is simple straight-forward information gathering.
We are not doctors but we can safely say diseases will continue to kill our people because we are living in filth. At the same time, we are all pretending as if everything is perfect and we are bound to live happily ever after. Sidon!
BREAKING TWEET…MINISTER SLAPS
It has just emerged that a cabinet minister slapped the head of a state Parastatal some two weeks or so ago. Over what? Hahaha! Stay glued to Politico. We will bring you details on Tuesday.
(C) Politico 31/10/13
