ANOTHER SERIOUS DISRUPTION IN THE PEACE OF SIERRA LEONE
Once again the people of Sierra Leone have another date to reckon with on the calendar – it’s 26th November, the day urban combat returned to Freetown. The quietness of the capital was badly shaken by armed men who are now accused of trying to seize state power. Traumatized Sierra Leoneans in Freetown are now either hiding in their homes or are ready to close businesses at the slightest scare.
Police have made some arrests and have declared many wanted. The nation is waiting to get the full details of what’s really going on. Meanwhile:
1. People should simply cooperate with the authorities and give as much information as possible to the authorities to help them arrest those who attacked the city and are now on the run.
2. We urge prisoners that were released from lawful custody to peacefully hand themselves in to the authorities. There is no HIDING PLACE. Even the neighboring countries are totally unsafe these days for criminals.
3. We applaud the police for the bounty placed on the head of the fugitives. We hope it will encourage people to be active in the search. We also kindly ask the police to protect people who may be left exposed after helping them get any of the wanted people. They need to be protected. We are dealing with very dangerous people.
4. For the sake of the peace of this country we call on our brothers and sisters on social media to stop causing panic with their incendiary posts. We need confidence to return to the streets as soon as possible so that people can get on with their normal lives. Many Sierra Leoneans are absolutely FED UP with disruptions in their daily activities.
ARE DOGS REALLY MISSING FROM KONO
There was an intriguing headline in one of our local newspapers the other day claiming DOGS were missing in Kono. We have not made any effort to fact-check for this column but in our usual way we have joined the search for the missing dogs. For starters let’s make the following suggestions:
1. Maybe the people of Kono don’t really like to keep dogs as pets and with time the few ones that were around have died. That’s a possibility.
2. Maybe the people of that Diamond rich district have suddenly discovered that dog meat was a fantastic delicacy and have been helping themselves. Why not?
3. We know that a neighboring country and another one not too far from us enjoy eating dog meat. Could it then be that suddenly suppliers in Kono have signed contracts and are under pressure to supply? If that is the case then even pet owners in districts around Kono should pay attention to the dogs.
4. Another possibility is that this is the hunting season and dogs have been taken to the bush by their masters for the hunt. Let’s observe the situation for the next two weeks to confirm or reject what our colleagues published.
5. All said and done, this could all be one of those stories journalists run on a slow news day to get things running. Readers are encouraged to read and move on. In fact just smile and don’t allow it to spoil your breakfast.
AWARD SEASON IN UPON US AGAIN
As we approach the end of year we enter what we now know as the AWARD SEASON. Between now and the middle of January 2024 organizations with all times of names and mandates would pass on awards to people, mainly those in big state offices and private corporations celebrating them for God knows what.
Nice pictures of the smiling awardees and the heads of these organizations will be all over social media backed by heavily sexed up commentaries telling us about our new national angels.
We don’t have anything against organizations giving certificates of merit to people they believe are doing well in their areas of work for the benefit of our country but we have some concerns about some of the things that happen in AWARD SEASONS.
1. Some of the organizations making these awards are not even registered under our laws; they are on the hard drives of laptop computers kept in a few briefcases. Surely, it makes no sense to receive and feel proud of such awards but our people in public life are looking for every opportunity to be on social media so that they take even the dodgiest ones.
2. In fact a good many of those distributing awards actually get those receiving the awards to pay through their noses for those awards. We can’t really understand why people fall for such cheap tricks every year.
3. We have reached a point where we believe the government should step in and stop this naked criminal behavior. At least the government should insist on the awarding bodies registering with the government and that criteria are established for ordinary people like us to be able to understand why people actually merit what they get.
SLAVE MASTERS MUST PAY REPARATION FOR THE SLAVE TRADE
The President of Ghana may be having a rough time with his economy at the moment like many other presidents given the harsh economic realities of today but when he appeared at the UN the other day he re-opened a conversation we always like to take part in.
He called on those who enslaved Africans for many years to try and make amends for that. This is not the first time civic and political leaders from Africa have made that call. The guilty parties in the industrialized West have always played down the issue.
Nana Akuffo Addo has thrown that debate wide open again and this time we believe we should push things so hard that we will eventually reach a conclusion.
For some people every time we mention reparation they think only in terms of container loads of money being sent down to Africa. Yes we want all the money they refused to pay us for work done in those plantations and in building certain cities but that’s not all.
1. Let’s start with an apology that is genuine – an apology that comes from the heart. We are not impressed by those qualified apologies they keep churning out. They apologize but quickly tell us that our ancestors also played a part in the trade. We don’t want to litigate that here again. Give us an unqualified apology and let’s take the next step.
2. End the unfair world economic practices forced upon Africa in particular. We are talking about the system operated by the World Bank and IMF. The burden those bodies have put on Africa is on that we cannot carry. We want a seat among the permanent members of the UN Security Council with full VETO powers.
3. Stop encouraging and sometimes participating in wars in Africa. All those arms shipments and mercenaries are not needed in Africa. The beneficiaries are those who enslaved Africans all those years ago.
4. Stop racism in the West. There’s a constant racist KNEE on the NECK of the African diaspora.
Let’s start with these actions while we calculate the amount of cash we deserve. The pay day MUST come NOW.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (01/12/23)
