WHY THROW CIVIL SERVANTS OUT TO BUILD AN EMBASSY?
If the Ministry of Public Assets gets its way half a dozen Senior Civil Servants and their families would be thrown out of the government quarters they’ve occupied several years now ostensibly to make way for Turkey and Saudi Arabia to build embassies in Freetown. By the plan, which we believe is not sufficiently consultative; those families would be kicked out before the end of February 2023.
We understand cash payments have already been made to some of the affected people while others have rejected the money because they believe the process of knocking down their quarters is flawed and rushed and in any case the compensation and relocation money is ridiculous. There is really no indication as we write that the Public Assets ministry is even thinking about pulling back from their plans. Against that background, we want to say the following on the issue:
1. We have no problem with Turkey and Saudi Arabia building embassies here. We welcome them. Many of the affected people we spoke to, told us the same thing. We are also sure that those two countries do not want to build embassies on disputed land. They would hate to have their diplomatic presence shrouded in controversy. So the ministry should drop this eviction thing and look for another space.
2. The Public Assets ministry approached this whole thing like a Landlord executing a court order to clear squatters from his land. The people facing this threat legally acquired those housing units for their services to their country. Civil servants are badly paid in this country so to hurriedly send them back into the hands of wicked estate agents is wrong and insensitive. There are alternative locations for those embassies that would hurt nobody.
3. We don’t even want to talk about the relocation money they offered the people because the package simply speaks clearly of what the ministry thinks about civil servants. The ministry didn’t even think about the dislocation the families would suffer, the disruption of normal family life and all that.
3. Like the affected people, we are increasingly coming round to the idea that some of those implementing this relocation plan have their eyes on parcels of that land for private development. As they say in the UN, we remain ceased of this matter.
PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTION IS BACK: JUST A FEW ISSUES NOW
The nation’s Supreme Court has ruled that the elections in June this year, should be conducted using the Proportional Representation or PR system. Unless the same court overturns its own decision, there’s nothing anybody can do about it. Of course there are arguments here and there about the verdict – that should be expected in a democracy but let’s all prepare for PR.
This is not the place to start teaching people about PR but we can simply say that in the end, political parties would put candidates forward on a list and depending on the number of votes they get in a particular district, seats would be allocated to them. Those utterly divisive and chaotic bye-elections are gone because in the event of somebody leaving office and dying, the next person on the list takes the place automatically. So the whole thing starts with getting on the list in the first place. It is about those lists from all parties that we want to talk.
1. Already we are hearing about party executives in some districts doing things that are clearly against the letter and spirit of PR. It is up to political parties to allow party hacks to cheat good candidates and force them out of the district lists. They’ll see how local people would react.
2. No matter how genuine some district executives are, unless the process by which people appear on the list is made absolutely transparent and fair, there would be cries of foul play and political earthquakes may follow.
3. Political parties MUST set out criteria that are not skewed to satisfy certain people and follow their own rules for putting people on the list. The criteria must be widely publicized so the people can monitor how things play out.
4. Please let’s eliminate money from this process of putting names on the list. In other words people should not be made to offer bribes to be on party lists. We are not from Mars, it’s possible. Maybe the ACC should be ready to investigate these things, after all a corrupt individual might just end up in a big office of state.
KKY TELL NGC: THE FURTURE OF YOUR PARTY IS IN YOU HANDS
Kandeh Kolleh Yumkella or KKY is finished with the National Grand Coalition, NGC. He hasn't said that in these same words but after listening to what he told the party big wigs at their last Executive Council meeting, we believe we can safely conclude that he will not be on the NGC ballot in June. That’s a long time in politics and things might change rapidly but we know the angle we are coming from. This is a fact the NGC should stop hiding from the good people of Sierra Leone. Their leader is gone. He is waiting to complete his term in the House in April. That’s very clever.
We can also say that he is heading back to the SLPP and that would end this Tolongbo front group called CoPP, a kind of coalition of some political parties. We don’t intend to go over what is now widely shared on social media but KKY repeatedly told NGC that he would continue his liaison with Principal and would work to UNITE Sierra Leone. KKY is a powerful politician who took FOUR seats from Tolongbo in their stronghold of Cambia in 2018. He is internationally respected and many at home put him above the typical corrupt Sierra Leonean politician.
There are some in the NGC who are either opposed to going the GREEN way because of personal issues with those leading that group. They want to take the RED road to which they have already committed themselves. Others just want to be part of KKY’s meetings with principal.
From the look of things the KKY side of this NGC issue would triumph for two reasons: The bulk of their membership, apart from those in KKY country in Kambia comprise people who left the GREEN way to join NGC. They feel comfortable enough to simply go back to their root. The second point is the whole NGC project is made relevant by the power of KKY. He didn’t say it as clearly as could be but he left us with that impression.
NGC came out of their party convention with some disagreements and petitions but they’ve managed to keep things under control. Now, they have a decision to make. Things are looking bad for Tolongbo in Kambia and Koinadugu. Let’s keep our eyes wide open.
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